|| The Oldies ||

From today on, Merel and I would muck out the stable of the older donkeys (the oldies, photo) every morning. Joy taught us the most efficient and quick way to do it, but I know for sure she would be twice as fast as we were together. We just had to find the flow. The technique was to clear a circle in the middle of the stable, scoop the clean straw onto a pile in the middle of the circle and put the dirty straw into a wheelbarrow. When that was done, we had to fill the big hay and straw bags. This task was quite annoying to do. You constantly had to bend your back, which made hurt after a while and you got stinging straws in your shoes. Scooping poop and feeding was next. After that, Joy showed us a DVD about 40 years of the Donkey Sanctuary. It was an old film, sometimes inaudible, but I thought it was a good documentary so far I understood it. Then we had to brush Arnie again (he was just as dirty as yesterday). We said Chris goodbye and at the same time we left the Sanctuary. Chris had some days off, so we wouldn't see him anymore.

Today I could recgonise the different characters of the staff members in the break. Joy was an older woman who wanted to tell anecdotes and ask question to us. She was the one who kept the conversation going. Nikita and Hannah were younger and were more focussed on work. They didn't really show interest in us. Dave, the technical member of the staff, we didn't see often. Until now, I am just as introverted as I left. On the other hand, I learned how to groom a donkey, about their needs and how they differ from horses. One goal fulfilled.

Will be continued tomorrow...