Wish, wash

Bonjour!

It’s about 10:45 pm, and the sun just came out.  I feel like I should be out there getting ready to play, but instead I’m about to close my curtains on the first sunlight of our journey.

This morning we went for an exploration of the area surrounding Longyearbyen. It was really interesting. We saw the old mines and all the houses on stilts. I can’t imagine what it would be like to live there. There are actually quite a few kids around; in the afternoon, they all come out and ride around on their bikes. And they’re always really bundled up.

I just can’t imagine growing up in such a cold place. When I was little, I always hated the cold. What I really noticed on our walk was that everything looks really wind-beaten. There are tiny flowers practically hugging the ground for dear life, and trees that are about a centimetre high. These plants are so unique; not something you see everyday in Vancouver. All the rocks and the grass are beaten up as well. Life here seems to be in such a fine balance – everything is working as it is, but if anything were to change, I feel like it would all fall apart. The beauty of the Arctic is in its fragility.

This afternoon, we loaded onto the boat … after camera shot after camera shot. I feel like a movie star. It’s really cool to be on the boat, though. The quarters are very tight; the smallest washrooms I have ever ever seen. We’ve been in safety and security briefings, telling us about lifeboats, polar bears (guns?), and pirates (uhh … Tristan?). Its beauuutiful out there, though. We’ve been driving past huge snow-covered picturesque pristine mountains all day. They just don’t stop. I remember looking at a topographical map of Svalbard; and it looks exactly like the map described it. Weird …

It’s so exciting to spend all day talking about the environment, about climate change, about politics, and about people with all these amazing people from all over the world. Everybody comes with his or her unique life experiences and opinions, many of which are new to me and provoke me to think more (not surprisingly). It is also inspiring and exciting to be thinking of what should be happening and what we can do about it.  And then to think that I will be doing these things, is the most exciting part.  Too many ideas tend to fall by the wayside because of lack of contacts, or any idea of how to go about doing them.  But all this inspiration has got me thinking to actual action.

We’ll be heading to Ny-Alesund tomorrow, so I’ll talk to you then.

Love, Jayme