I clicked the lighter I borrowed from another volunteer, praying that this time the cardboard would light. It was cold, at least in the minus temperatures, in my small hut called 'The Dome.' If I couldn't get my wood burner lit, I was going to freeze. I prayed, and frantically lit the card. It took. I hurried to throw on more card. The flames began to trickle over the kindling and started to smoke. I had made my fire. I would be warm this evening...
I have arrived at this strange land in New Mexico. Although I've been here for four days now, this is my first post as i've been so busy with looking after my general well being! My evenings have been spent chopping firewood, sorting out my clothes for the next day, starting a fire, trecking a mile to the shower block and cooking my dinner in the communal volunteer kitchen. It's hard work, but one of the most rewarding experiences I've had to date.
I'm currently staying on site at the wolf sanctuary, which is located within the Navajo community, a third world country located within America. Natives still live in caves around here. Due to the persecution of natives by the white man, if I were to enter one of the pubelos in this region, I'd properbly be beaten up or killed! Trees doted across mountanous landscapes, which are covered with snow and ravens line the sky. The most wonderful part of this place is the silence. We're literally in the middle of nowhere! In fact, where I'm, staying, 'the Dome' is about a mile away from the sanctuary site, meaning that if I want a shower or something to eat I have to treck through the snow and trees on unmarked paths to find my way. This is quite interesting when in the snow! Even more so when I need the toilet, and have to dart across the freezing cold snow at night to find the nearest outhouse!! Backtracking, the silence is wonderful, but even better when I wake up at 6am to the sound of howling wolves. The Dome is backed up against the farthest enclosure, meaning that when I step outside I can see two wolves about 10 meters away.
The wolves are beautiful. Wild Spirit currently have 54 wolves, and I'm expected to know them all by name. This is difficult with the Nola Pack, a pack of 5 wolves who mostly look the same! My days thus far have been very testing, getting up at 6, starting work at 7.30 and going on until about 5, when my attempts to look after myself begin. It's worth it though. Watching the other volunteers interact with their animals, something I'll get to do once I have been trained on certain wolves (each wolf requires seperate training on how to behave around them) i'll be able to this, and I can't wait! At the moment, we can watch others interact, and are learning the daily routine so we can eventually be left on our own devices to do it. I have been able to feed the wolves, which involves throwing frozen red meat loaves in opposite directions into the enclosures (or 'habitats') to ensure the same wolf doesn't get fed twice! This was really good fun, the most interaction I've had yet.
The best moment so far has been learning to drive the pickup truck. George, the caretaker, took us out to the 'shit pit' where all the bones and skat are thrown. We took it in turns to drive the pickup truck around the circut to the pit. It was wierd to drive over solid snow, and thought of all the drivers in England who couldn't drive over a few small patches! It's been a life long dream of mine to live in the mountains with my pickup truck and dog. I have achieved the first two, and Layton, the sites director, has mentioned about me being able to take a dog home with me so that I can better understand dogs, and thus wolves.
Tonight I'm watching a movie with the other voulnteers, Katie, who's from Texas, Robin from Oxford and Jason from Ireland. We're all new volunteers who've started at the same time. We cook together which is nice. This evening was lasagne! Everyone here is really nice, which is helping with the settling in. I'm starting to get more relaxed with this lifestyle. Instead of wasting time worrying about the trivial things, Im totally occupied with looking after myself. It's hard work, but the kind of lifestyle that if I could adopt when in the comforts of home, would lead to a peaceful, relaxed life.
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