This past weekend I decided to have a “stay-cation” of sorts, and so I did not travel anywhere in Europe. Instead, I explored my host city of Braunschweig, and saw a bunch of interesting attractions. I saw the famous Braunschweig lion statue, and explored the Braunschweig Cathedral. I also visited the Braunschweig Zoo, as well as the Braunschweig Natural History Museum. As fun as visiting the zoo was, seeing all the animals locked up made me feel sad. The Braunschweig Zoo wasn’t like any American zoo I had seen, even the smaller zoos near my hometown. The cages seemed far more cramped, and the habitats were not well-suited to the animals. The cheetahs and baboons did not have nearly enough space in their cages, and the owls were all awake during the day time, as they had no suitable shelter under which to sleep. The German tourists were also not very respectful, and kept hitting the cages and trying to disturb the animals. The experience made me much more grateful for the laws we have around zoos in the United States.

Regardless, despite the zoo being a somewhat sad experience, the rest of my stay-cation was pretty fun! I got a Döner (kind of like a gyro), got some much-needed rest, and planned out how to recruit more participants.

Right now I have 18 participants scheduled, and I’ve run 8; while 18 is definitely better than nothing, I would really like as many participants as possible, so I’m continuing to seek out new participants. I’ve been asking friends and colleagues, visiting classes, sending out emails, hanging up posters, and a myriad of other activities. I emailed Alison Kelly (the PIRE student who went to Braunschweig last year), and asked for her advice as well. Please let me know if you have any tips for recruiting participants, because I definitely need them!

This weekend I plan to take a day-trip to Cologne to visit the chocolate museum- Yum! I’ll be back next week with a new blog!

-Shane