Elephants!

Today some of the students went to an elephant sanctuary. Thailand only has 6,000 elephants and what I found most interesting was how dedicated these people were to protecting their elephants. In this village, when a person becomes old enough, they are given an elephant and it is their duty to protect and take care of it. This is a 24/7 job because if these elephants go without their partner for even an hour they become worried and anxious, often resulting in housing or village damage. These people legit devote their lives to these elephants and often times never get to leave the village.

Upon arrival we were given blue outfits to wear because elephants can only see two colors, blue and yellow. When the elephants see our blue outfits, they think of food and come running up to us. It was amazing to see how massive yet gentle these creatures were! 

Unfortunately, today ended on a sad note as we had to say goodbye to Jono who had been advising our trip for the last week and a half. He is a UNE alumni who currently works in a critical care unit in Houston, Texas. In our short time with him, he managed to not only teach us a great deal of pharmacy, but created relationships with us that will carry far past this experience. He will be greatly missed!