Yesterday we went to see a layer operation (eggs). It was amazing! The farmer had 100,000 birds producing 5 tonnes of eggs per day. It was a massive operation. We learned a lot about the challenges he faces, one being the heat. He ends up losing 0.01% of birds per day on average, and on a really hot day even more. Out of 100,000 birds, that really works out to be a lot of dead birds! We also got to tell him a bit about egg farming in Canada and what it is like, pointing out the major differences we could see. It is kind of weird to me, but all of the farmers ask us for our opinion and advice on what they should change to better their farming. Although it seems logical that they would ask us questions like that, I wasn't really expecting it because we aren't finished school yet.
After our visit we stopped on the way home in a little restaurant run by a family on the side of the road. We had goat satay with rice and some delicious peanut and sweet soy sauce. I wish we could get the latter at home...it was amazing! Afterward we went to the mall to see Angels and Demons. The book was better, but it was entertaining to say the least...and the A/C was a welcome change! It is ridiculously hot here. We are expected to wear pants as shorts are considered rude. We have met a girl named Sally from Cornell University who is also in the vet program who is doing work with the University and the person she was with who was helping her get set up wouldn't take her to the school because she was wearing shorts that went to her knees! Needless to say, it has definitely been a challenge to adjust to long pants in 30 degrees C or hotter weather. In fact, usually it is close to 30 at night when you consider the 90-98% humidity here!
This morning we got to go on a tour of a huge poultry slaughter plant that was built last year. It was very modern and they are trying to implement programs such as HACCP like we use in North America. It was really impressive to see! I found it to be fairly draining emotionally, but very worth seeing.
After our visit they took us a 'hill' outside of Bogor. It was beautiful and MUCH cooler. There were tonnes of tea plantations and there was even a place where you could go parachuting for about 30 dollars a person! We didn't go though. On our way back we stopped for lunch at a Sudanese restaurant. It was really cool! It was set up kind of like buffet and you eat with your hands (no knives or forks or anything...). You just pick what you want from the display they have and they cook it up for you. I had some chicken and fried tempeh, along with rice and a corn-like dumpling. I also got this spicy mango salad, which was the spiciest thing I have ever eaten. My head was throbbing and my eyes were watering it was so hot! It was delicious though!
Tomorrow we are going to a safari place they have in Bogor and then we are going to a wildlife rehabilitation sanctuary run by one of the people working for CIVAS.
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