Day 19 - Productive Day

Today was such a productive day!! We officially sampled our 300th cow! :) Now that does not mean we got blood, milk, AND urine from each cow, but just that we somehow sampled 300 cows. Still, it was great to reach that goal number! It helped that we went to an official dairy farm called Ambassador Dairy Farm. There were about 40 cows there, and we got to sample close to 30! 

There was a super cute lamb at the farm too :)

Elsbeth learning how to draw blood from a tail vein :)

Somatic Cell Count - under 200,000 is considered ok lol

After the "big" dairy farm, we went to a catholic school that had a few cows. The grounds of this school were really nice, with nice landscaping and beautiful tropical plants all around. Once the sampling was done, the people working at the school (bishops or clerics or something? They were in long robes) ushered us into this nice room with comfy chairs and proceeded to serve us coffee, tea, and traditional Ethiopian bread they had made that morning. It was all delicious! We were so honored that they would prepare something like that for us when they were actually doing us a favor, letting us collect samples from their cows. It was a really cool experience. :)

Part of the catholic school

Beautiful coffee/tea service

After the catholic school, we ate a quick lunch then went back out to farms. The afternoon was going reasonably well until we got to a farm owned by this really old looking woman. She invited us in and said yes to us taking samples, but then seemed really confused as to why we wanted to see her cows? Sharon and I couldn't tell if she was mad that we were there or if that was just her personality lol. We conduct a survey as part of the research, so when we asked her age, she told us, "At least 100." Then, when we asked what her occupation was, she responded, "Why do you need to know my occupation? Are you going to give me a job?" She was a spitfire lol. She kept saying things in Amharic that would make the Ethiopian veterinarians Mulugeta and Sadam laugh, but I have no idea what was being said. I have never wanted to speak Amharic so much! Needless to say, it was an interesting way to end the day. :)

Tomorrow is my last full day in Gondar! That's crazy!! But also super exciting. Here's to enjoying my last day of farm visits!

Much love,
Joslyn :)

P.S. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

  He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

  He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

 for his name's sake.

  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

  You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

forever." Psalm 23. Amen. :)