Edith Provides a Glimpse at Her Experience . . .

Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 64

Here is a posting from Edith, a senior from UTEP in Texas. . . .
I'm up here surviving a bloody cold summer! We've seen the sun brightly only 4 times since we've been at Isfjord Radio though it is daylight at all times. The rest of the time it's rainy, often sleeting, foggy, extremely windy, and no more than 30-35 degrees Fahrenheit, though briefly during one morning the temperature was in the 50's for about two hours before a major storm hit. It has been cold and stormy every day since, though some days are better than others. Well, I'm surviving, but my fair feet are beginning to look like rocks and my skin has aged quite a bit with wind burn. I'll be back in two weeks (thank goodness)!

My arms and shoulders are getting quite strong because I must always carry my pack of survival gear, research equipment, and extra clothes to adjust to the weather conditions like heavier socks, spare gloves, a balaclava, rain gear, etc. We also must always have extra water because we hike several kilometers in and back out each day from various data collection sites. I carry a 30.06 rifle and the ammunition for it. I keep it on half load so that it is safer yet ready to get a round in the chamber within a second. We also carry a flare gun to act as diversion if we encounter danger.

No polar bear sightings at this point though there have been several sited in the immediate area since I have been here. We frequently see reindeer and arctic fox though. We have discovered a fox den close to the field site. In it live 5 fox, two parents and three of them are juveniles. I took pictures. Lot's of birds here, too. I'm recording my sitings on a Svalbard Birds and Mammals book I bought in Longyearbyen.

I miss my family and I hope they know that I am in good health, eating a lot of bread, fish, and a lot of chocolate! Norwegian food is good here, and I will make sure I write the name of some of the stuff they've been preparing here. Possibly I will bring home some recipes. I need to remember to tell my family about the little boy meat, caviar, dense nutty bread, wienie soup, fish chowder, brown Norwegian cheese (yuk!) and "graut".

We eat the same thing every morning and then make our lunch from the leftovers from breakfast, adding in a chocolate bar for variation. It is served buffet-style and consists of fish, fish, cheese, fish, and more cheese with very dense bread. Oh yes, there is also some kind of sliced meat and a bowl of tuna. For a condiment there is caviar. Not what one would expect since it comes in a toothpaste tube! I really miss Mexican food and dream of breakfast tacos with eggs. Actually, some eggs and milk were delivered by boat the other day, but the sea was too rough so the whole delivery was smashed before the boat could unload.

My research is interesting and keeps me thinking all the time about all the possibilities for interpretation of what the data is showing. I have been gauging the river that comes off the glacier and at times it can be rather tricky to do, especially in gusty winds and freezing rain. We must hike quite a ways in heavy survival suits and then we enter the river and work across from one bank to the other. It takes over an hour to get across and can be scary at times. The suits keep us remarkably warm, except for our faces and hands which are in constant contact with the icy-cold weather and water. It just is not work that can be done easily without using your bare hands. We joke and laugh as we work, making it seem a bit easier and we think about a warm meal in a few hours! Perhaps it won't be raw fish, reindeer meatballs, or wienie soup! Here is a picture of me working in the river along with Sandy!

I hope that some of you who navigate to the TREC site will post me a question to answer in the ASK THE TEACHER area! I look forward to hearing from my fans, especially those of you who are handsome and intelligent!