My Penguin Summer

 My Penguin Summer

    "Here you are Elizabeth," said Dr Uribe. "I believe you're ready." After just three days, I had become a penguin washer. I walked into the washing room. I held a toothbrush and a pair of gloves.

    At first I was a bit nervous. Then I remembered what Dad had told me earlier. "Just treat them like the animals back home. Keep the penguins calm and handle them gently."

    I put on my gloves. Then I was paired with a girl named kali. "Washing a penguin is a two-person job," she told me.

    I quickly learned that washing a penguin takes about 30 minutes. If a penguin is covered with lots of oil, it takes much longer, though.

    First, the handler picks up a penguin from a pen and carries it to the washing room. Then the handler puts it in a little tub of warm water. He or she tries to keep the penguin calm so it won't bite or die of shock.

    As the washer, it was my job to clean the oil from its body. I used a special soap. First, I picked up a toothbrush. Then I used it to gently clean the sticky oil from the penguin's face and head.