My first weekend here in Fez was quite the adventure. Mohammed, an employee at the Fondouk, showed us around the "new downtown" area, which is much like a U.S. city; it has a lively atmosphere with many places to shop and eat. I also got a superficial view of the Medina, which is the ancient city. The Medina is kind of a sensory overload, with its crowded narrow alleys packed with merchants, all of whom seem eager to speak with Americans (many of them speak very good English). We’ll be seeing more of the Medina later this week.

The injured foal is loaded back onto the moped to head home. We hope to see him back on Wednesday.

Today’s work started with a somber case. A neonatal donkey (only a few days old) came in after having been mauled by a dog. The obvious severe tissue damage and multiple puncture wounds were not the foal’s worst problems. He was markedly depressed, clinically dehydrated, hypothermic, and showing signs of hypovolemia (low blood volume), undoubtedly due to significant blood loss from the attack. On palpation, we could feel "crunchy" air pockets beneath his skin over almost his entire body; this condition is referred to as subcutaneous emphysema, and was also caused by the bite wounds. The jennet (dam) was nowhere in sight, as the foal had been transported from who-knows-where in a milk crate attached to the back of a moped. We administered warmed intravenous fluids with glucose, antibiotics, and tended the wounds the best we could. We had no choice but to send the foal back home to rejoin his jennet, where the owner would hopefully assist nursing. Back in the milk crate went the foal, and the moped drove away. At this point we can only trust that the owner will work to keep the wounds clean and help the foal nurse. He is supposed to come back in two days–I really hope we see him again