Day 1: After the Elephant Sanctuary- you can never have too much tater tots

We made our way to Walmart, and shopped for groceries we would need for the rest of the trip. The budget we are dealing with is the poverty line: $1 for breakfast, $2 for lunch, $3 for dinner per person per day. We decided as a group during the pre-departure meetings that it'd be a better idea to pool together all of our money.

During the car ride we decided to go with the following meal plan:

Saturday dinner: green bean toter tot casserole and mash potato

Sunday breakfast: french toast, cereal, fruits, Chobani greek go-gurt etc
Sunday lunch: leftover dinner or pb&j or quesadilla (up to the individual to decide)
Sunday dinner: alfredo & pasta, steamed broccoli on the side

Monday breakfast: same as Sunday
Monday lunch: leftover dinner or pb&j or quesadilla
Monday dinner: spinach lasagna

Tuesday breakfast: cinnamon buns, and the usual other options
Tuesday brunch: stopped at Pancake Pantry in  Nashville, TN

Amanda was our calculator/recorder person that kept track of how much money we were spending as we put items in the cart. In addition to the essentials for the meal plan, we had so much $$$ leftover in our budget that we also got cliff bars, pop tart, cheese, clementine, banana, apples, and other snack food. It was amazing how little of the budget we spent. I think we spent around $150ish to feed a group of 11 for Saturday breakfast - Tuesday breakfast. That's 10 meals total X 11 people = 110 meals for $150ish! I still remember how I was worried about starving when we were first told about our poverty line food budget.

During lunch earlier, we also decided that we would have a dinner making group, and clean up group. That way everyone contributes in ways they can. While the dinner group made dinner, the clean up group was able to shower/have free time, then dinner making group had shower/free time after dinner. Everyone had the option of making lunch the night before, or the morning of…I think we all decided the night before was easier.

After clean up, we circled up for group discussion in the youth room. Amanda and I showed this video: Who wants to be a Volunteer about how stereo typing cultures can hurt dignity, and how voluntourism is a problem. We thought this tied very well with the Elephant Sanctuary's policy on not posting pictures of the elephants we see there. These animals have been essentially kidnapped from the wild, exploited, abused, and neglected throughout their lives prior to retirement from zoos and circuses. They are now here at a sanctuary, and that means this place is about them, not us.

We also did the "helium filled item" team building exercise. Originally used with a hula hoop, but we didn't have one so we used a foam board. I still remember how much of a struggle this was back when Amanda and I did it during ASE training…this group had it figured out in like 1 minute. I like to think that it is because they had just spent a whole day working side by side with each other, so they got the whole teamwork thing down by the time we did this activity.

Overall, our first day was amazing. We learned so much about elephants in general as well as the individual residents at the sanctuary. It was really cool to see the group cohesiveness (…for the most part) in our team of students, and how well we all were able to work together despite the crap weather.

Day 1 at the Elephant Sanctuary

First day at the sanctuary, we first went to the welcome center in town and met Todd, education manager at the Elephant Sanctuary. There we learned about some of the elephants histories, and how they ended up here at the sanctuary. We also learned about protected contact, and positive training with target poles (rather than bull hooks) being implemented at the sanctuary. 

Todd working with us 

We then drove to the sanctuary and worked on fruit trees to help them get ready for the cold winter. These fruit trees are still really young, but once grown, they will bear fruits that will be fed to the elephants as treats. 

Though it was cold (low 50's with wind chill) and rainy, we were able to get all the trees that needed to be done. We first had to use a shovel to loosen up the dirt around the tree base, pile on some elephant compost, then cover with some hay. The hay will be broken down by weather and rain over time, and will become available organic matter that the trees can use as nutrients. 

At lunch, Todd took us to the Asian Elephant barn. Half way through lunch we saw Tarra walk up towards the barn. Though she was far away, we were extremely exciting. This was our first elephant sighting here. We took pictures, but we are not posting them because we don't want to send people the wrong message about what the sanctuary does...it is not a zoo; these elephants are not here for our entertainment. It's amazing how the sanctuary keeps its promises to the elephants, and treat them with every bit of dignity and respect they deserve. 

Pictures taken throughout the day:

 

Taking a much needed break from all the shoveling 

After a while, we were able to figure out a system that made moving compost more efficiently

Taking and break and chilling in the gator

Adding molded hay to give the tree essential organic matter. Nothing gets wasted at the Elephant Sanctuary! 

So proud of our work by the end of the day. These are smiles of labored workers after a day in the cold and rain.

To close the day, Todd brought our group to what they called "the overlook". It has a vast view of the Asian elephant habitat. At the overlook were 3 big boulders (like the ones above) that were placed there to commemorate the 3 elephants buried there. The little rocks on it were placed by visitors as a token of remembrance of the elephants that are buried there. Here we also go to see 3 of the Asian elephants: Minnie, Debbie, and Ronnie from afar. We were glad that the elephants were so far away that we couldn't see them very well, because this just shows us how much space the elephants have to roam.