We went to a Zoo!

Hello to everyone on the Internet! I’m on a very good mood today and for a very good reason: I volunteered at a zoo and practically worked there for a few hours. It is a very exciting activity and I would recommend it to anyone, literally. In fact, I recommend you to go to your local zoo and ask if they need any volunteer work and you can work there from time to time! You can get to spend time with the animals, feed them, learn about them, pamper them, and maybe get to touch them, though I only touched a two-week old jaguar. Anyway, it is a lot of fun, and now I’m going to tell you about it!

First of all, what were we doing there? A few years ago, the teenagers that were in 8th Grade that are Seniors right now went to the zoo to do the exact same thing. Though, because they broke some stuff in the very end, the zoo didn’t allow us to go for all this time. Until now. By teacher and her subject coordinator had been begging the zoo people to let us go once more, because they were sure we would behave and make an even better job than the Seniors. But it was until now they agreed. We were all able to go into the zoo and feed the animals, though without them being in their cages. The zoo people requested us to make 2 things: fruit ice-cream, which is made of a fruit concoction containing strawberries, papaya, watermelon, melon, and other fruits in an ice-cream containers, to which you later pour water into it and freeze it, and piñatas filled with meat and others with nuts. It was a lot of fun making them, and to tell you the truth, I would do the process again even if I didn’t go to the zoo. And, of course, what exactly did we do there?

First of all, we arrived and started to get everything out before it melted. Then we started to gather in front of the Giraffe, Zebra, and some kind of goat (of which I don’t remember the name)’s habitat. There, we saw the zoo people empty the ice-cream containers for the giraffes and hang them tall on this post, so it would seem as if it came from a tree. Then, they poured some carrots in the ground for the zebra and the goats. Some time afterwards we went to see the monkeys. They gave them the piñatas filled with nuts so they would go and play around a little and eat the nuts inside. Though it was a lot of fun watching them eat as well as seeing the baby cappuccinos, there came a point when this mean monkey started to bully a mother. He wouldn’t let her eat, and eventually, she got rid of him, but it still looked rather angry in my opinion. Then, we started to move to the elephant’s habitat. There I kind of smuggled with the people that were going in to take a few pictures from the inside. It was very interesting to see the elephant stomp the ice-cream to break it into chunks and eat it with such delicacy. Then we saw her eat the nuts they left inside her habitat with the same delicacy as if she was carrying a baby. It was very interesting, and while we were going to her habitat, we heard a discussion. Apparently, Mr. Lion didn’t take the garbage out and Mrs. Lion didn’t like so much. We saw her hop into him and attempt to bite him while roaring, and then we saw Mr. Lion walk away with a sad face as if it was a 5 year-old that was just scolded. Apparently, lions also suffer marriage problems.

Then we split into two assigned groups. The first group was going into the bear’s habitat, and the second group was going into the tiger’s habitat. I was assigned into the bear’s habitat, and we were able to see them while they were in their cave-cage, which is where they take refuge if it’s raining or when they are putting their food in the habitat, as we were doing. They are VERY big, but also very cute. When we got in, we started to place some fruit and fish (we were also asked to take fish ice-cream) ice-cream around and also some raisins. We also poured a lot of honey around on top of some logs and rocks. As soon as we were finished, we started to rush towards the visit area, where you could see them eat. It is very interesting how they love the honey. No wonder Winnie the Pooh likes it so much… Anyway, moving on. Then we went to see the tigers. The second group went in and started to place the meat-filled piñatas around. Most of them were zebras, but the one I made with my group was this kind of Minecraft-antelope. Well, every piñata was Minecraft-ish anyway but you get the point. And everyone made fun of it, but guess what, it was the first one they attacked. It was mounted in a tree and the white bengal tiger jumped at it and brought it down. It started to smell it and tear it apart, but then another piñata caught its attention. This time, it jumped at it and brought it down to this pool they have and tore it apart there. Then the other tiger, taking advantage of the process, started to take the piñatas down and eat the meat. We later set off for the rest of the animals.

We then saw the racoons get their ice-cream and their honey. As soon as they saw the zoo people go in, they darted off to this tree they have. Apparently, they do this all the time, so you could say they can be easily scared. Then we saw this baby jaguar on its daily stroll we could say. They are about the size of one hand, and are completely black. They are so tiny they can even go below the doors! In fact, it almost escaped twice, but two partners caught him right in time. I was able to touch him once, and it has the softest hair I have ever touched. We later set off to see the new penguins, which seemed pretty confused to me though. They were all cramming agains the glass, though they did look healthy. We then went to the cafeteria, where I amazed a lot of people. First, some friends bought some chicken fingers for $7. They were literally finger sized and there were only six. Then a friend of mine bought a personal pizza for $3 and it was tiny as well. I instead bought a calzonne which included a refill soda for the same $3, it was even bigger than the chicken fingers and the pizza combined, literally. We later went into these slides to which we got tickets for everyone on the zoo’s behalf, which was very nice of them. We went there and took a few slides all together, it was a lot of fun. Sadly, it was time to go. We left with a completely new experience, everyone with a smile on their face. It is one of these experiences I would never trade for anything in the world. I just hope we can repeat it next year.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post, as well as get inspired to volunteer in a zoo. Maybe you can do it in groups with your friends, that way it is even more fun! I hope you have a nice day!

Greetings,

J.A.A.

P.S. Here’s a pic of a friend of mine down one of the slides. Tell me if I’m wrong but he looks like a kid having fun. This picture was taken by the great photographer Maria Jose Zebadúa. Thank you for your pictures. Enjoy!

Down Syndrome: Good or Bad?

Hello Internet. You must probably have heard of Down Syndrome. You may wonder if it is something contagious, is it dangerous, what are the symptoms, does that make the people who have it stupid or retarded, and most importantly, are they different from us? Throughout this post I’m going to tell you the answers to this questions, and a lot more, about Down Syndrome.

First of all, what is Down Syndrome? Down Syndrome is NOT a disease first of all. It is not contagious, and most certainly it is not dangerous. Down Syndrome is genetic. It has no cure, as it is not a disease as I mentioned before. It occurs when a human being is born with a third copy of the 21st Chromosome, therefore giving it its other name, Trisomy 21. This extra copy will make a change in some physical and psychological traits. Most notable of which are the eyes and head’s shape and the tongue’s size. The first two do not affect them at all in any way, but the tongue size does give them a difficulty to speak. This is why it’s hard to understand them sometimes and why some people think they are retarded. Among other physical differences can be found the lack of strength in some muscles and a lot of flexibility. The lack of strength in the muscles is also a factor to which why they have speaking difficulties. The physical differences can also be found internally, such as heart or digestive problems. As for psychological differences there is just one: slower learning. They take a longer time to learn things and remembering them. This doesn’t mean they are retarded or stupid. It’s just their brain will take longer to process the new information, therefore making it slightly harder for them to understand as fast as normal people do. But they can learn them. It will simply take longer. They are not retarded. At all. It’s just a little harder for them. I want you to understand this right now, because if you don’t and still think they are either retarded, stupid, dumb, or any insulting thing that comes to your mind, I want you to stop reading this post right away and NEVER come back to my blog, because they deserve respect and you’re not giving it to them, and I’m not going to accept that anyone like that reads, shares or comments on my blog. Understand? Good. If you are among the people who understood, keep going.

Now, what are the social difficulties these people face? If they’re not retarded but simply learn slower, why don’t we see a lot of famous and/or successful people with Down Syndrome? Because of SOCIETY. We are a very close minded society. We have ALWAYS been, and will probably stay like that for a long time. We all know that african-american people were discriminated in the United States, and that African people were discriminated by the Europeans. And what about Stereotypes? Asian people for example. There’s the stereotype that they are all smart and good at math and music and pretty much everything and for that people make fun of them when they should actually admire those that actually do and not think that every single one of them is going to be able to do that or that they are all the same and only they can differentiate themselves! Or that all african-americans are thieves, or dirty, or that they carry diseases, or that they only care about themselves! Have you seen these new Vine videos about White People VS Black People? Let me give you an example: An african-american appears and says “White people be like:’Billy, where are you Billy?’ Black people be like: Man, forget Billy, Billy’s Dead!'”. It may be funny but we’re promoting RACISM with that. We’re promoting stereotypes. As many people in the past have said, WE ARE ALL THE SAME. Haven’t you seen pictures of babies from other ethnicities hugging, or playing together? We are not born with racism, we create it. It’s not in our nature, it is NURTURE. We develop it. And we have to teach the following generation that we are all the same. And not only ethnically, but psychologically as well. I once saw the following picture on the internet, and I think it’s true. Take a look:

We are the ones that decide how our society is, and we will not be able to achieve all of our potential until we unite as one. They can be just like we are, we just have to give them some time and pay attention to them. They can be normal people. They ARE normal people. They can achieve great things, but they can’t because they feel like they can’t. And why is that? Because people don’t let them be themselves. They look at them and make faces or talk bad about them, and that lowers their self-esteem. They need to feel they can so they can actually accomplish things. And proof of this is Pablo Pineda, a teacher who has a BA in Education Psychologyand has Down Syndrome. He is also an actor that appeared in the Spanish Movie, Yo También. And now he gives talks to promote equality. Just let that sink in. Someone that is believed to be retarded or stupid is a university graduate and also a successful actor. He is the inspiration to people with Down Syndrome. He inspires them, and he has proved they can accomplish great things, and still have Down Syndrome. That it shouldn’t hold you back. We are all the same, and we all have the same capacity.

For those of you who want to listen to some people with Down Syndrome I’m adding a link here. The video includes the thoughts of their best friends and their own thoughts on Down Syndrome.

Well, I hope you now know more about people with Down Syndrome. They are very nice people, and if you don’t understand them when they speak, tell them and ask them to repeat so you can understand them because they might think you are understanding and maybe they are talking too fast. Don’t be afraid, they won’t get offended. And they are literally lovely. They hug a lot.

Have a nice day.

Greetings,

J.A.A.

P.S. Here are a few pics of people with Down Syndrome. Enjoy the pictures and enjoy life the way they do!