I was in biologie bachelor degree in France at Angers, I wanted to be ethologist and doing a master after,but a lot of things change.

First of all, my first year at the university wasn’t very good ( my grade were bad), so i decided to dotwointernshipsto enrich my file, I went to a rescue center in the south of France for turtles!  I was so excited and it was a very good experience and afetr this one I also went to another rescue center for farming animalsin Belgium, very enrich also. I spend 1 month on each. And I pass my first year.

After this 2 internships, I was sure to work with animals,but I wanted to keep going with university. Unfortunately, it was a disaster, for me it was very complicated, I don’t like to learn without practise. I think it’s more easy, my brain learn betterthat way.

Carnet de route Franco-Luxembourgeois pour un voyage de 3 jours à Athènes

[for English see below French...]

Nous sommes parties le 17 novembre au soir, à bord du train Thessalonique-Athènes, pour rejoindre la capitale grecque. Après un voyage de plus de 4h, nous atteignons notre Airbnb, en plein centre de la  ville. Une petite nuit de sommeil plus tard, nous partons en direction de l’Acropole. Sous un grand soleil, nous découvrons ce patrimoine culturel impressionnant. Le Parthénon fait parti de ces monuments  incontournables. Malgré sa renommé, on ne peut être déçu.e en le découvrant. Si vous voulez en savoir plus sur son histoire, vous pouvez regarder cette vidéo sur Arte : (cliquer)

Les théâtres et temples qui l’entourent sont tout aussi impressionnants, sans parler de la vue sur la ville. Bientôt 15h, nous allons manger dans une taverne non loin d’ici. Puis nous passons par un magasin de thé grec, proposant aussi d’autres spécialités régionales. Nous ne pouvions pas résister à ces odeurs riches et alléchantes... Nous avons ensuite déambulé dans la ville, notamment vers Plaka. Bien que ce soit  très (un peu trop peut-être) touristique, l’ambiance est très joyeuse. Nous allons ensuite visiter le musée de l’Acropole, qui tous les vendredis propose des nocturnes jusqu’à 22h. En plus de pouvoir profiter du musée de nuit, nous sommes presque seules dans le bâtiment. Et quelle vue sur l’Acropole ! Plus tard, nous trouvons un bar-restaurant où nous poser, avec de la musique grecque en live. Soirée réussie !

While going on walks through the Axios National Park I noticed dumps of bathroom renovation debris lying around. Here and there on these dumps colourful bathroom tiles sparkled. I felt it would be a waste to just let them rot there seeing as they were still intact. I started to collect them on my walks and carry them back to Drasi.

Earlier in the day at Drasi I had tried to tidy up the front space a bit, which is akin to a Sisyphus task but that never stops anyone from trying. The rectangular space underneath the volunteer’s entrance in all its messiness and unevenness bothered me a bit and I felt it should be beautified. Perfect for a Mosaic!

After getting the approval of Sophia, Froso, Penelope and Anastasia and excavating the site to a deptht of around 15cm the project stagnated a bit. The tiles had to wait in their boxes and watch us go about our work or carry our suitcases early in the morning to the cars waiting to take us on our adventures to Olympos, Athens or elsewhere. They were also witness to Thomas, who had freshly returned from one of his voyages and didn’t yet know about the hole, tripping and scraping open his leg. But where would we be without a bit of human sacrifice?

Yes in drasi it is not only birds, we also receive reptiles and mammals. So I’m going to talk to you today about the only mammal flying actively: the bat! A little-known animal that I particularly like. These surprising mammals mostly use echolocation to orient themselves in the dark that acts like whale sonar. They emit ultrasound from the larynx, which is inaudible to humans. But they are not blind! The sounds then meet potential obstacles and prey and “bounce” to the bat indicating all the information needed for a good move and a good hunt.

Bats have a particular life cycle :

• The absence of insects in winter encourages bats to hibernate in roosts with constant temperatures and humidity such as cellars, underground cavities, trees, bridges… During hibernation, bat metabolism slows to the extreme. They are immersed in a deep sleep that will last several months with a few short phases of activity to rehydrate about every 3 weeks. We must be very careful because any sudden awakening can be fatal.
• At the arrival of spring, the bats, thinner, come out of their lethargy, replenish their reserves and join transition lodges. It is also during this period that females will trigger ovulation followed by fertilization and embryo development.
• In summer, the females settle in lodges, in colonies of a few individuals to several thousands, to put down their young and raise it, whether in attics, church steeples… These gatherings can occur between the same species and between several species.
• At the end of the summer, individuals will build up fat reserves to prepare for the hibernation phase. They will also gather in the thousands at intermediate sites to mate. A delayed ovulation then takes place in the female for the majority of species: sperm is stored and kept intact throughout the winter.

Many species are insectivores, so it is an excellent natural insecticide! It can eat 1/3 of its weight in one evening and play an essential role in the balance of natural environments thanks to the regulation of nocturnal insects.

They are very useful and must be protected for the proper functioning of our ecosystems.