Thursday, May 1, 2014

To all my readers, I apologize for my absence. Last month, I was sick for the Metro Journey (MJ), and I wasn't able to make it, but I'M BACK with the 10th and final MJ, which was pretty awesome if I can say so myself.
In honor of this MJ, Ms. Anna, our instructor, gave us riddles that we as a class had to unfold to figure out our task for today.
Riddle #1: 28 IS THE NUMBER OF OBJECTS YOU WILL FIND HERE. THE OBJECTS FLY & THE OBJECTS SIT. THE OBJECTS GORGE.  FIND THEM BY SOLVING THIS: THIS NORTHERN STATE & THIS HISTORICAL (27th) MAN HAVE A COMMONALITY.      Hmmmm? The 27th man? Hmmm? Well, naturally, we first looked up the 27th President of the United States, who was in fact from Ohio! A NORTHERN STATE! Although we thought we were finished, we were not.  We still had to find the commonality.  Well, in DC there is a bridge, called the Taft Bridge located on Connecticut Ave.  Wait, hang on? Connecticut is also a city in Ohio! There's the commonality! So our first stop is the Taft Bridge located on Connecticut Ave. in Woodley Park, a neighborhood in DC!

The Taft Bridge, also known as the Connecticut Avenue Bridge or William Howard Taft Bridge, is a historic bridge located in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It carries Connecticut Avenue over the Rock Creek gorge, including Rock Creek and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, connecting the neighborhoods of Woodley Park and Kalorama. On July 3, 2003, the Taft Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Classical Revival bridge, the first name for the bridge,  was fashioned in 1897 and ended in 1907.  Constructed by engineer George S. Morison and architect Edward Pearce Casey,  it is an arch bridge with unreinforced concrete arches and a reinforced concrete deck. The total length of the bridge is 274.5 meters (901 ft), and it has been called an "engineering tour de force" and the largest unreinforced concrete structure in the world.  In 1931, the bridge was renamed in honor of U.S. President William Howard Taft. 

Now you might be wondering why we would find 28 objects on the bridge that fly, sit, and gorge. Waittaaminute! Gorge, you ask. What does that mean? It means to eat a large amount greedily; fill oneself with food. Now what you now what 'gorge' means, let's get back to the 28 objects. Once we found the bridge, this one was quite easy. Positioned on the bridge are 24 lampposts and 2 lions on either side of the bridge! 24 plus four makes 28!

Riddle #2: ON TO NEXT CLUE. à pied seulement. (FIND 2) OF 1 OF SAME IN #1. THEN ENTER.
This clue was really confusing. Let's first start out with the french word, which means 'on foot only' or 'walk.' So, we had to walk somewhere, but where? Find two of one of the same in #1? This meant we either had to find 2 birds or two lions. At the entrance of the National Zoo, there are two lions! So, walk to the lions, then enter the zoo! Second riddle solved! The National Zoo was founded in 1889 to preserve, teach, and conduct research about the animal world. The zoo opened in Rock Creek Park in Washington DC in 1891 on a site designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Over the years, the National Museum has hosted a myriad of events including Easter Monday. Have you ever wondered why Easter Monday is not celebrated in all states? Well, that history, explained Chuksorji-Keefe, is more than 100-years-old and was created for African-Americans who were not allowed to attend the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.  "This holiday has a very dubious and shameful history," said Chuksorji-Keefe.  Because blacks weren't allowed to attend the White House, they made their own on Monday at the zoo.  Now, with segregation presumably conquered, the Zoo made this day into a holiday for everyone, which is why schools are out in this area but not everywhere.   

Riddle #3:  Find 7 very still gatherers from Uganda. Now go to gatherers & go in building behind gatherers. spend 10 minutes at least here; maybe more?
Positioned in the zoo are seven life-sized chimpanzees sculptures in bronze, by acclaimed Maryland arists Bart Walter. It is a famous attraction at the National Zoo. Named "The Gathering," this sculpture sits in a garden near the Zoo's "Think Tank," the building behind the statues. In this building scientific investigation about orangutan's brains is explained.

Riddle #4: Look up, up, up and find a cheeky forest friend. Monitor & watch & talk to this friend for 15 minutes. Look up y'all.

At the Zoo is this awesome attraction called the 'O Line.'  It was sooooo cool to see the orangutans traveling on the Zoo's Orangutan Transport System. The O Line gives the orangs freedom of movement, an expanded living area, and choice of location. Orangutans are brachiators, which means they can swing hand over hand from branch to branch. Kiko, an adult male, often demonstrates this form of locomotion on the O Line. The other orangutans, however, usually walk or shuffle along the cables, holding on with two or more limbs.   

Riddle #5: FIND THE UNCLE (WHO'S WORTH A LOT OF BUTTER) ON THE ISLAND FROM THE BOOK. Go to the uncle & check him out.

The Uncle, who's worth a lot of butter? That was a pretty funny riddle once you figured it out.  "Uncle Beazley," a fiberglass triceratops is a life-sized statue named after the dinosaur in the children's book The Enormous Egg. by Oliver Butterworth. Haha, get it? Worth a lot of butter...Butterworth? *slaps knee* This statue is found on Lemur Island, which is the island in the book.  

Riddle #6: MUST BE @CIRCLE @10 +3 (13) TO SEE THIS: (share the story of B.L.A.C.K. w/the people/person you see there & interview them.) First off, 13 is military time for 1pm.  So, we had to be at a circle at 1pm.... well, at the zoo, there is a circle called the Great Cat Circle.  What do you think is here? Lions, and tigers, and... not bears... OHMY! These are amazing and majestic animals.  They were so beautiful!
CEGT CS TFFKFLZ EZ CJF UFFA KLSQDAF FWILDRJXFWC DCFXZ CS CJF RSIZDWZ SU RELERFGZ.
You read that twice, didn't you? Maybe she had a typo. She should have given it to her mother to check before she published this. That was in fact not a typo. It is a cryptogram, a type of code, which when deciphered means, TALK TO KEEPERS AS THE FEED PROVIDE ENRICHMENT ITEMS TO THE COUSINS OF CARACALS We were to go to the lions', cousins of the animals called the caracels, and interview the keepers there. This was really fun! We interviewed a keeper there and she showed us lion fur and teeth. She explained behind the scenes of becoming a 'show' lion, and the different tasks lion cubs had to accomplish to be able to be displayed. There were 3 majestic lions, 2 females, and one male. We even got to hear the male lion, Luke, roar! It was so beautiful!

Riddle #7: LUNCH MUST BE CONSUMED under the vines of the circus flappers who are near the moon worshippers.
Pretty pretty easy! AAARROOOOOO!! *failed wolf sound* The moon worshipers are wolves! And the circus flappers ARR ARRR ARR *failed seal sound* are the seals! The seals are the cutest show-offs ever! They're cuties, and they know it!

Riddle #9 : Find 10 african things of which at least 7 countries must be represented.  
Cheetahs (Algeria): Built more like greyhounds than typical cats, cheetahs are adapted for brief but intense bursts of speed. They have wiry bodies and small heads. Their coats are golden or yellowish, embellished with many small black spots, and their tails are long with a few black bands and sometimes a white tip. Black stripes run from their eyes down to the corners of their mouths. 
Zebras (Kenya) : Big heads, large and rounded ears, and thick, erect manes make the Grevy's zebra appear more mule-like than other zebras. In fact, many experts consider Grevy's zebras to be striped asses that are not closely related to other zebras. Their coats sport dazzling narrow stripes that wrap around each other in a concentric pattern and are bisected by a black stripe running down the spine.
Dama Gazelle (Chad): This large gazelle has a slender neck and legs, and somewhat S-shaped horns. It is white with reddish-brown coloring, but the pattern varies by region. Dama gazelles in the western part of their range are more reddish-brown than those in the east. Coloration also varies by age and season. The head is typically pale.
Scimitar-horned oryx (Egypt): mostly white with reddish brown necks and marks on the face and a long, dark, tufted tail. The white coat helps reflect the heat of the desert.
African Clawed Frog (Namibia): This is a unique family of frogs that lack a tongue and a visible ear. The males also lack vocal cords. Instead of moveable eyelids, a horny, transparent covering protects their eyes. The body is flattened and the head is wedge-shaped and smaller than the body.
Caracel (Northern Africa): Sometimes called "African lynx" or "desert lynx", these tufted-eared cats are about three feet long, with a tail about a foot long, and reddish brown fur, except for a white chin, throat, and belly, and a black line running from each eye to the nose.
Kori Birds (Botswana): The chin, throat, and neck are creamy white mixed with black bands. The underparts of the bird are buff colored with dark brown vermiculations. The tail has wide bands of grayish brown and white. The primaries, or flight feathers, are also similarly marked. The shoulder area has a checkered black and white pattern.
We finished our journey with heading back to the Woodley Park Metro Station to embark home. This MJ was so much fun, and I loved seeing the animals! I can't wait to come back to the zoo again!