Day 29

 So I haven't had a chance to update my blog very much because we are working 12 hour days now that the fair has started. The mornings consist of alot of husbandry and preparation for the first show and the afternoons consist of 4 30-45min shows 7 days a week. The first week of shows were a little slow but the crowds were surprisingly big. Our stadium can fit 5000 people i think and yesturday,it was a tuesday, we filled  a little over half that. Supposly the school system here gives kids a day off to see the fair. I think that is sooo weird.  It also helped that the OU and TexasU game was on saturday. It was a sea of red and orange drunk people. But it was great to see from the ferris wheel. I was sending the score back to the backstage crew as I was riding the ferris wheel. Overall, a successful first week at the fair.
 I have learned so much this far in to the internship like how to unload and load different species of birds, proper diets, husbandry, how things work behind the scenes during shows, proper training techniques and that every bird is different when it comes to their personalities. Granted that the days are really long, I still love being there.  One of my favorites jobs that I have is releasing birds from the texas star ferris wheel. The adrenline that builds during the release of the birds is huge. I posted two videos that were recorded this week of the release of two birds, Mason the harris hawk and Lakota the Lutisitc Redtail Hawk. So if you are interested in seeing a release just click :-)

Last night was great because I got to sit in a room with world renown trainers and pick their brains. Steve began his lecture of " The secrets of training". So far its extremely interesting. I think we are going to continue the lesson on thursday.

Alot of things have happened since the last time I update my blog. But for the most part my day schedule stays the same. I am having an amazing time here in dallas and I love working with everyone here. But reality is setting in. I am heading back to va beach in 16 days and a month after that I will have no job, no house, and will be offically divorced. I am to the point where I just want to stay here in texas. Life is perfect here for me and I dont want to leave. Finding jobs in the animal training world is so hard but I know this is exactly what I want to do as a career. So I am working my butt off to prove to the NEI staff that I am a valuable investment to their company and just maybe I can get a start with them or someone they know. I just cant imagine doing anything else with my life. I am trying to stay as positive as possible but sometimes the weight of this divorce brings me down.  I guess its just one obstacle that will take time to get over.

To make matters worse the attack of the student loans are coming out in full power. I think they call my phone 15 times a day. They are not understanding that I have no income right now. But the only help they can offer me is to pay a large sum and then I have to still pay in November. Ahh!

Well time to go do laundry :-)  But if anyone wants to send me cards or packages I am going to post my Address on here

Katherine Byers (RM 212)
Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham
7900 Brooksriver Drive
Dallas, TX 75247

 I love and Miss everyone and I look forward to sitting down with everyone to share my dallas stories.  Thanks everyone for your cards. I love them and I am starting a nice collection on my wall.
More updates to come...

Day 10:

 So today was the first day off since I have started here on 9/7. This day off was sooooo needed and it felt great to sleep all day. These past couple days have been amazing. Training has really kicked in to gear preparing for the upcoming show next week. All the birds are doing amazing and have progressed a long way since they started their training.
My typical day usually starts with basic husbandry. This includes cleaning enclosures and preparing diets of all the birds on site. This usually takes all of the morning to complete so lunch break comes pretty fast. After lunch is usually the peak training time. So if there aren't any projects needing to be done then we are allowed to watch the sessions. I have been updating my facebook daily with pictures of all the sessions.
I am also beginning to make friends with the staff here. Everyone seems to be extremely accepting and its very cool to talk with people with the same passion as me.

 Tonight we are all going to the dallas zoo to play a prank on the hoof stock keepers.. So I will have pictures posted either tonight or tomorrow.

 I have also started on my skype account now so ifyou are missing my face feel free to shoot me a message or video call. Kat. Byers is my ID and Lovablekitty2000@yahoo.com . So look me up..

Time to run.. But one of these days I will actually have time to keep this up to date lol.

Day 3

 What a great day!.. Today I got to see Steve Martin work his magic TWICE. The first time was with some corbids (Ravens and Crows). They were having issues coming near the bird door at the bottom which is used to load them in to travel crates. Steve started small with just stepping in and giving them small amounts of food through the bigger door. He did this a couple time before he moved down to the ground with them. He finally got the birds to be right in front of the bird door without them freaking out. It was crazy. This took all of maybe 15 mins. It was sooooo cool.  The next event was with a hornbill. This hornbill had never worked with steve so as soon as he stepped in to the birds enclosure the bird jump back in to the far corner to get as far as he could from him. So steve understood that behavior and stepped out and closed the door. The little steps were needed. Steve started with giving the bird blueberries (Her favorite) in her bowl. He waited for her to take the fruit from the dish before placing more in there. Once the bird was okay with steve being right there, steve moved to the front of the enclosure and open the door handing her a blueberry. Once she took it he would close the door. Steve repeated this step 7 more times . Once he noticed he had her trust he stepped in and started giving her fruit while he was in her space. She was perfectly fine. He even began to let her head fall backwards to allow steve to give her scratches.. It was soooo cute and so amazing. He had never worked with this bird and within 10 mins she was allowing him to touch her.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The connection that they had at the moment was strong. Steve believes that the relationship with the birds should be a partnership not a battle of who is dominate. This thought would be great for relationships with animals or people.  The rest of the day the gang and I worked on getting 500lb tents up  and putting up their heavy siding. We also discovered how mean Red Ants truly are and how fast they can react to intruders. They litterally covered about 2x6 feet area. Looked like a streak of red covering the tent. One thing I learned about fire ants is that they dont all bite randomly, one ant will send out a chemical cue telling everyone to bite at one time. So not only are you getting attached by ants you are getting I nice bite from every freaking one of them at the same time.. Freaking sucked. Around 6pm we called it a night a went home. Interns decided to do left overs for everyone so we just chilled again with a cold beer and good company. However, I was exhausted so I went to bed early.  Truly was an inspiring day.

Day 2

First day at work.. It was great. It was only my self, 1 staff member and 2 other interns there because the other staff had the next two days off. The work day went fast because we had alot to get done. Unfortunetly, the tropical storm was moving through so we did it all in pouring down rain.  I looked like a hot mess . One of the assignments that we had was to do food prep so we watch jose (Staff) show us the proper way to do things and the amounts each bird gets.  Also got to see a training session with the ravens and crows. These birds are soooo smart but their current issue involves their new enclosures. They are not liking the Bird door attached to them. So Jose tried to get them more comfortable by feeding them around the door. They were way to scared to even come close. Another big project that we had was building a weathering tent for the Birds of Prey when the rest showed up.  The top part of this tent was sooo heavy and the rain didn't help at all. We ended up leaving the top part of the tent so we could do small repairs the next day when we returned.  On this day we also got to try a new resturant. Its called One podner. It was real southern cooking lol but it was good.  I praying the so called dallas 10 doesn't catch up with me lol. Good thing I am poor haha. After work the other interns and I decided that we are going to cook dinner for everyone.  So we all went back to our apartments and cleaned up so we could go shopping for supplies. While I was in the shower a huge tornado touched down two miles from our apartment. It was so big that it made the news and all my friends and family were texting me to see if I was okay. I swear I did not hear the alarms go off. I was so surprised because It could have been worse and closer to my place. My guardian angel was surely looking out for me that day. We finally got to the store and bought our stuff then returned back to the apartment.  We ended up having spaghetti, chicken, and a nice salad.  It really hit the spot after a long day at work.  It was really nice to sit back with a beer and socialize with the staff as well.  Finally hopped in to bed about 11pm. It was a great day.

Day 1

 I finally arrived in Dallas Texas around 3:30pm. Flight was good but because of the tropical storm that was moving through it was really bumpy. Read my book "Wesley the Owl" (Amazing book!)  and listened to music.  I was picked up soon after I landed by Marco a staff member for NEI (Natural Encounter Inc.).   We left the airport and went to the fair grounds to see the spot that I will be working for the next six weeks. I meet some ofter staff members and of course Steve Martin himself. I was so nervous but he was very nice. Once 5 pm hit we packed up and went to the apartments. I first had to check in when we arrived  and figure out where my room was located. The apartments are pretty cool. I took the bedroom on the second floor and I love it. Kinda a loft set up were as my roommate has the first floor room.  After getting settled in I went over to another staff members apartment with everyone to enjoy a beer and get to know each other a little better.  It was a great night but I was soooo happy to go to bed.

9 days left

 Looking around the house I am noticing so many things that still need to be taken care of.  Part of me wants to jump right in and just packing things away but the other part of me doesn't want to. It really shouldn't be this hard for me. I am getting the chance to do something amazing and career changing but the only thing I am thinking about at this time is how much I am going to miss my friends, family and animals.  I just wish I could take them with me to texas. Pack them up in my suitecase just in case I need my support system. I can honestly say I have never been away from family ever. I have always had someone there that was only a car ride away.   My animals are a different story... I am going to miss them like crazy. I know I will have people here in virginia beach taken care of them but I still worry. These animals truly mean the world to me.

  I guess I just wish that I wasn't so afraid to be doing this alone.

On a positive note... I had a great day yesturday. Went with mom and her friend to ECSC (East Coast Surfing Competition) to support my step sister in the swim suit contest and Josh Turner Concert. Sooo much fun just hanging out and absorbing virginia beach at its best.

Erin has the Orange Flower in her Hair

Actual Surfing portion of the Weekend Event.. MMMM surfers

Mom and I on the Beach

And of course Delicious Josh Turner...

And to top the night off had a great conversation with my  buuuuudddy. Its great to have such a good friend that had so much in common with me. FTW

Alright.. Time to go for a run and then pack or vice versa.. Depends on this heat

Song of the Day: Kings and Queens by 30 seconds to Mars