Connecting from the Tundra to School Kids
Posted at 11:59 pm October 4, 2007 by Ronit Abramson
Ronit is the San Diego Zoo’s 2007 Arctic Ambassador. She and other teens from around the world are in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, to partipate in Polar Bears International’s Polar Bear Leadership Camp. Read her previous blog, The Wildlife Can Be So Distracting Here!
Please excuse the delayed post; the storm mentioned in this blog knocked out our Internet.
The wind is blustering and howling at the windows. The Lodge is actually rocking and shaking, as I write, from the gusts. Walking from car to car of the lodge is an adrenaline rush with the incredible strength of the wind whipping my hair and forcing the door wide. If I don’t grab the door and throw all my weight against it, it smashes me against the wall as the wind blows. It is incredibly frightening and exhilarating to watch the tundra completely bashed by the wind. The temperature has also dropped significantly. This morning, rain droplets were being hurtled at the windows by the wind, but now the precipitation has frozen into icy snow—the ice hurts much more than the water when it is being driven into your cheeks at 60km/hr. The windows are actually sheeted with ice and the tundra is becoming covered in a thin whitish layer of icy snow.
Today’s moment of humor occurred as I was standing outside on the patio, marveling at the strength of the wind. There was a window that was leaking from all the rain, so we had positioned a pitcher underneath the drip to catch the water. Connor followed me out onto the patio to empty the pitcher and didn’t consider the direction of the wind. He tossed the water right into the wind so that the droplets of water froze and flew right into my face! Omar happened to be standing just inside the door, watching the incident, and we burst out laughing! Connor stammered an apology as we teased him about his computer brilliance yet inability to understand the basic laws of physics.
Anyway, today was especially exciting because we had our first videoconference. We talked to a class of Grade 4 students from Manitoba, Canada and answered their many creative questions including “Why do polar bears have to go to zoos?” and “Why are polar bears orange when the sun sets?” We learned a lot from this experience, especially an appreciation for the teamwork that goes into executing a videoconference. I am amazed at how well our group of student ambassadors works as a cohesive unit. We were able to bounce ideas around and rely on each other to complete concepts during the conference. We also had a presentation about zoo regulations for polar bears and how we can advocate and use our leadership skills when we return to our respective countries and cities.
I hope that the snow continues through the night and tomorrow morning because I think seeing polar bears in snow will be a extraordinary experience. Yet, I also hope it stops soon so that we can go out into the Buggy and see active wildlife!
Never a dull day on the Tundra Buggy, and my arctic family is more than entertaining!
Ronit
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October 17th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Hi, we found your blog to the San Diego zoo and were really surprised to see you mentioned us and the video conference. Thank you for mentioning some of our questions and answering them so well during the conference. It was cool that you remembered us when writing in your blog. We learned a lot from the video conference. Are there any polar bears in the San Diego zoo? How many bears are in the zoo? We saw your comment about animals in zoos around the world. Are you back in San Diego or are you still in Churchill? Is anyone still doing research about Polar Bears in Churchill? Do you get to do the International Student program again?