It’s Manitoba Time

I started my day this morning at 4 am (and let me tell you, I am not a morning person). My plane to Minneapolis left Cincinnati at 7 am, and I then had a 3 and a half hour layover. As it turns out, I met up with 7 others attending camp who had connecting flights from Minneapolis to Winnipeg. Both flights were only a little over an hour. Not too bad!

My group from Minneapolis was actually one of the first flights to arrive. The first sign I saw in Winnipeg said “It’s Manitoba Time” and it had a polar bear on it, I couldn’t believe I was actually in Canada though and I still don’t to be honest. We then literally walked right across the street to our hotel. People have been arriving from all over ever since. There are girls from Pittsburg who had serious flight issues and won’t get here till midnight. One camper from Tennessee, Olivia, hasn’t been feeling good since she arrived. They said if she isn’t feeling better she has to go home because of the risk of getting others sick. Hopefully she will sleep it off tonight.

This whole experience is still surreal to me. I have met people from Oregon, Connecticut, North Carolina, Minnesota, Tennessee, and other places from all over the U.S. and Canada. They all are just as excited as I am, and I feel like I have known some of them for a long time. I have also met adults associated with different zoos and aquariums because the teen camp is combined with the communicator camp this year. Everyone participated in different games to get to know each other better, and then had a wonderful dinner. Following our meal, we got to hear from Bill Watkins to learn a little more about the Churchill area. He is a biologist who lives here in Winnipeg and studies endangered species. So, we are off to a great start! It is off to bed now because we have another early morning ahead of us. Our flight to Churchill leaves at 7:20 am, can’t wait!