Day 29 June 19 – Useless
Today was gloriously useless, I woke up at 2:30PM (might be a new personal record.) I spent the day messing around of facebook.com and watching movies. I watched Pluto Nash and Anchorman. Both of the movies were pretty stupid but my movie selection is somewhat limited. I discovered I have a next-door neighbor, a black French woman about 35, she doesn’t speak any English.
I am so tired of bread and frozen chicken.
I have had the same conversation with about three Egyptians about the election. He asked me if I supported Obama or John McCain? When I told him Obama he makes a strange face and says “but he’s African?” I thought it was strange that an African would seem surprised that I supported an African. Sorry Opa, but McCain? Not a chance.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
It's Good For You
Day 28 June 18 – It’s Good For You
Today I spent the day at the Nutrition Department laboratories; there are three of them at Abassa. One is a lab for making experimental fish foods, one is a wet lab for testing the fish food on tanks of Tilapia, and the third is a lab used to analyze the chemical makeup of foods.
Here is part of what I learned today..
1Kg of Tilapia Fingerlings Feed consists of
140g Fish Meal (ground up dried less valuable fish)
365g Soy Bean (provides plant protein)
165g Wheat Bran (ground up- adds mass to the food, filler)
195g Ground Corn (provides plant protein)
20g Cod Liver Oil (provides amino acids)
20g Corn Oil (also provides amino acids)
10g Vitamins (C K E D are the major vitamins)
20g Mineral Mix (Fe Cu Mg)
25g Cellulose (makes it all stick together)
40g Starch (also helps it stick together)
*This mixture is 35% protein
*Fish meal can be 75% replaced with dried chicken parts at 1/7th the price
*Adult fish are given 25% protein in their food.
The fish pellets are made by a quick and simple process. First, all the pieces are ground up until they resemble a powder. Then each ingredient is precisely weighed and added to a large pan. Once all the ingredients are added, everything is poured into a large industrial blender/beater. The “cook” then adds the correct amount of water to make the food just sticky enough that it will hold its shape. Then the mixture is scooped into a giant machine that spits out fish pellets. The pellets are still very soft so they must be dried in an oven for approximately one hour before the food can be given to the fish.
The water content of the food is also important. The perfect amount of water is between 9 and 10 percent of the foods weight. If the food has too much water it will mold and made the fish sick. If it is too dry the food will be too hard, making it hard for the fish to eat. If it is so hard it will also sink, most fish food is eaten at the surface; some of the food that sinks in wasted.
After another good discussion about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan I headed home. I laid around with nothing to do for a few hours until I found Gladiator on TV. After everyone goes home this place is pretty boring, especially with no internet.
Today I spent the day at the Nutrition Department laboratories; there are three of them at Abassa. One is a lab for making experimental fish foods, one is a wet lab for testing the fish food on tanks of Tilapia, and the third is a lab used to analyze the chemical makeup of foods.
Here is part of what I learned today..
1Kg of Tilapia Fingerlings Feed consists of
140g Fish Meal (ground up dried less valuable fish)
365g Soy Bean (provides plant protein)
165g Wheat Bran (ground up- adds mass to the food, filler)
195g Ground Corn (provides plant protein)
20g Cod Liver Oil (provides amino acids)
20g Corn Oil (also provides amino acids)
10g Vitamins (C K E D are the major vitamins)
20g Mineral Mix (Fe Cu Mg)
25g Cellulose (makes it all stick together)
40g Starch (also helps it stick together)
*This mixture is 35% protein
*Fish meal can be 75% replaced with dried chicken parts at 1/7th the price
*Adult fish are given 25% protein in their food.
The fish pellets are made by a quick and simple process. First, all the pieces are ground up until they resemble a powder. Then each ingredient is precisely weighed and added to a large pan. Once all the ingredients are added, everything is poured into a large industrial blender/beater. The “cook” then adds the correct amount of water to make the food just sticky enough that it will hold its shape. Then the mixture is scooped into a giant machine that spits out fish pellets. The pellets are still very soft so they must be dried in an oven for approximately one hour before the food can be given to the fish.
The water content of the food is also important. The perfect amount of water is between 9 and 10 percent of the foods weight. If the food has too much water it will mold and made the fish sick. If it is too dry the food will be too hard, making it hard for the fish to eat. If it is so hard it will also sink, most fish food is eaten at the surface; some of the food that sinks in wasted.
After another good discussion about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan I headed home. I laid around with nothing to do for a few hours until I found Gladiator on TV. After everyone goes home this place is pretty boring, especially with no internet.
Egypt is Paradise for Parasites
Day 27 June 17 – Egypt is Paradise for Parasites
Today was my third day with the people from The Fish Diseases Laboratory. I sat down first with Sofia who was messing with a bag of blood and guts. She told me she was examining the entrails of dead fish to discover what was causing the lumps, hemorrhaging, and discoloration of the intestines. This was done by using small medical scissors to cut open and examine what is inside of the intestines, especially if there are any parasites. So let me clarify, there is fish poop inside fish intestines, outside of the intestine is slimy and covered in fish blood and guts. I joined in the fun and also tried to cut the toothpick think intestines open lengthwise, not easy. Then I would smear whatever is inside onto my hand to see if I could see any little parasites. After 4 hours of work we found 5, actually she found 5; all I found was fish poop.
The lady on the other side of the table was examining another type of fish for a similar condition, a different species of worm. This parasitic infestation was much more severe, her method was to cut open the intestine and put everything in a Petri dish. Then she would use a small paint brush to pick up the worms. I would estimate she found about 500, she said this was not a severe infestation, it can get much worse.
At about 11AM one of the women closed the door, the windows, and turned off the fans. The room quickly became miserable, then she turned on a giant Bunsen burner… I asked what she was doing and she didn’t immediately answer, only when she put the cover back on the Petri dish did she respond. It turns out she was testing a tissue sample for bacterial diseases. (I’m not sure I completely understand this so please leave comments if you can clarify) This is done by taking a small tissue sample from the possibly infected fish and placing it in saline solution. Then the scientist must make a medium for each disease that might be present in the sample. The medium is a mixture that encourages the growth of the bacteria of the disease while inhibiting growth of anything else. So when the scientist smears a tiny bit of the sample on the medium, if anything grows you know the specific disease is present. The reason the fans had to be turned off was so that the medium would not be infected by any other bacteria in the air. The Bunsen burner was used to sterilize everything that comes in contact with the medium.
We finished the work at around 2PM and I headed back to my room. On the way back I had a discussion with a scientist about Israel. He believed that Israel started the Yom Kippur war with the intention of simply killing Muslims. I think that is ridiculous, I don’t know if Israel was right or wrong but I don’t believe that was their intention. I also disagree on the point that Palestinians are without blame. I think both sides are wrong.
Today was my third day with the people from The Fish Diseases Laboratory. I sat down first with Sofia who was messing with a bag of blood and guts. She told me she was examining the entrails of dead fish to discover what was causing the lumps, hemorrhaging, and discoloration of the intestines. This was done by using small medical scissors to cut open and examine what is inside of the intestines, especially if there are any parasites. So let me clarify, there is fish poop inside fish intestines, outside of the intestine is slimy and covered in fish blood and guts. I joined in the fun and also tried to cut the toothpick think intestines open lengthwise, not easy. Then I would smear whatever is inside onto my hand to see if I could see any little parasites. After 4 hours of work we found 5, actually she found 5; all I found was fish poop.
The lady on the other side of the table was examining another type of fish for a similar condition, a different species of worm. This parasitic infestation was much more severe, her method was to cut open the intestine and put everything in a Petri dish. Then she would use a small paint brush to pick up the worms. I would estimate she found about 500, she said this was not a severe infestation, it can get much worse.
At about 11AM one of the women closed the door, the windows, and turned off the fans. The room quickly became miserable, then she turned on a giant Bunsen burner… I asked what she was doing and she didn’t immediately answer, only when she put the cover back on the Petri dish did she respond. It turns out she was testing a tissue sample for bacterial diseases. (I’m not sure I completely understand this so please leave comments if you can clarify) This is done by taking a small tissue sample from the possibly infected fish and placing it in saline solution. Then the scientist must make a medium for each disease that might be present in the sample. The medium is a mixture that encourages the growth of the bacteria of the disease while inhibiting growth of anything else. So when the scientist smears a tiny bit of the sample on the medium, if anything grows you know the specific disease is present. The reason the fans had to be turned off was so that the medium would not be infected by any other bacteria in the air. The Bunsen burner was used to sterilize everything that comes in contact with the medium.
We finished the work at around 2PM and I headed back to my room. On the way back I had a discussion with a scientist about Israel. He believed that Israel started the Yom Kippur war with the intention of simply killing Muslims. I think that is ridiculous, I don’t know if Israel was right or wrong but I don’t believe that was their intention. I also disagree on the point that Palestinians are without blame. I think both sides are wrong.
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