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![](../../2009-2013/Iglu/IMG_5929-k.jpg) |
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Mike had secretly checked the internet and tells the kids what he found out about igloo-building in the Arctics. He tells them that the Inuits saw their snow
bricks out of dense snow, but in Rheinbach you have to press bricks into a plastic wash basin, that these bricks won’t tumble down because they stabilize each other, and more of that sort. Franziska remarks that she
wants to press the snow bricks, Felix reminds the others that it’s high time to start, and Katharina knows that a skilled Inuit would almost have completed the igloo by now because it would have taken him not more than 30 minutes, and that they’d better believe her because she learned that at school. From Ms. Johnson and Ms. Wolfe.
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![](../../2009-2013/Iglu/IMG_5931-k.jpg) |
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Then the real work starts. Mike shovels snow from the street onto the driveway. There, Franziska presses the snow into the little plastic
basin, Katharina carefully takes out the bricks to haul them in her barrow into the backyard were Felix assembles them into what is to become the igloo.The kids start with a little tunnel to form the entrance and a first row of
vertical bricks. The second row of bricks is then already somewhat inclined marking the start of the dome. The kids struggle, strive, and work, and they find out - although not everybody likes to talk about this - that
not all theories live up to their promises. |
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![](../../2009-2013/Iglu/IMG_5939-k.jpg) |
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“Daddy!”, Felix suddenly shouts, ”your self-stabilizing snow bricks tumble down!” |
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“Hey Felix, you know that this can’t be the case.” |
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“Yes it can! Do something! Get some support!” |
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How good to have Franziska. A little mess can’t unsettle her. She quickly gets some paddles and a sled from the garage. With these
supports, the snow bricks stay where they belong. Of course Katharina has some helpful advice, too: |
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![](../../2009-2013/Iglu/IMG_5943-k.jpg) |
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“This wouldn’t have happened to a skilled Inuit. Actually, a skilled Inuit wouldn’t have to do anything by now any more, because he would be finished with
the job in 30 minutes.” |
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Anyway, from now on things go fine. Felix and Franziska build the dome together, which is a safe solution, and for the two of them setting the keystone
isn’t much of a problem. |
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