Update

So...tomorrow Lindsey and I get our first (of three) Rabies vaccine! We got our first Japanese Encephalitis vaccine on Monday...the shot didn't hurt, but the next day our arms were really sore.

Since Monday, Lindsey and I have also been working on writing our first scientific journal article on bat birth that we hope to submit and get published in a biological journal!

We are just waiting for Dr. Sherwin to get back from his trip to the Galapagos to show him all of our work!

Also, after hours of searching online we found really cheap plane tickets to the Philippines - they only cost $2043 per person. Unfortunately, there are only a few tickets left at this price, so if we can't have Dr. Sherwin book them soon we will have to pay more (like hundreds of dollars more). :(

Oh and it turns out that our friend/co-author Christianne is a talented artist so she is drawing awesome pictures of the bats that we can put in our scientific article!

That's all the new information for now. We will leave you with a picture of a lady bat and her baby bat!

- Ambre and Lindsey

Important Dates

Here is our vaccine schedule for those of you who are interested!

Our first dose for Japanese Encephalitis is May 23 and our second dose is June 20.

Our first dose for Rabies is May 26, our second is June 2, and our last dose is June 23.

On top of those vaccines we also have to get Typhoid, Hepatitis A, and Flu vaccines. We also have to have blood drawn to test for TB and Chicken Pox anti-bodies... This should be a busy, painful couple of weeks.

FUN, FUN, FUN!

- Ambre

Lindsey's Picture of the Week!

Picture of the Week

I have no real updates for you so here is a picture of a cute bird instead.

Good News

Our stay in the Philippines is officially approved! Our anticipated length of stay is 5 months - if you can believe that. And more good news is that Lindsey and I both got approval from our insurance companies to get our vaccines. Pretty soon we will nail down our date of departure and I can share our itinerary with everyone!

More updates to come!

Graduation in less than 3 days!

- Ambre

Receiving Updates

For those of you who don't know how Blogspot works:

1. You click "Follow" (scroll down and it's on the right) so that I can see everyone who follows my blog.
2. You have the option to sign up to receive emails that tell you when I have actually updated the blog. To do this you submit your email address in the "Follow By Email" box (scroll down and it's also on the right). Once you do this, you will receive a confirmation email. PLEASE NOTE: you will receive a single email at the END of the day if I update the blog; you will not receive individual emails for every update I make (this ensures that you don't get inundated with emails).

Hope this helps everyone figure out how to navigate the website.

- Ambre

To Do List

Here is just a tiny idea of how much still needs to be done before we can leave for the Philippines. We need to:

• Get vaccines
• Purchase plane tickets
• Apply for visas
• Schedule classes for the fall semester
• Purchase water filters, insect repellent, etc.
• Take the GRE
• Attend graduation on May 15th

You can see how busy the next couple of weeks are going to be!

- Ambre

Update

I just wanted to make everyone aware that both Lindsey and I will be posting updates on this blog. We will make sure we put our signatures after our posts so everyone knows who typed what!

- Ambre

New Gadget

I was able to add a Google Maps gadget in order for everyone to see where I will be traveling to. The island I will be staying on, Samal Island, is located off the coast of the southern-most island of the Philippines, which is called Mindanao. This gadget gives you the ability to zoom-in, zoom-out, and pan in order to see where the island is in relation to the rest of the world. Have fun!

First Post

Hey Everyone!

As many of you know, I will be entering the Graduate Studies program at Christopher Newport University. In order to collect data for my Master's thesis, I will be travelling to the Philippines to study Geoffroy's rousette fruit bats.

I got to talking with some friends and decided that the best way to keep everyone up to date with my adventures in the Philippines was to start my own blog! I give to you: http://batgirlbatboy.blogspot.com

For those of you who don't know, my friend and fellow biology major, Lindsey, is travelling with me to the Philippines, too! We haven't booked the plane tickets yet, but it looks like we will be leaving in the middle of June. Once we reach our destination, I hope to post daily updates. Meanwhile, all of our friends and family back in the United States can check in with us at their convenience.

Here is a picture of a cute bat to keep you occupied until then.