Back Again!

Well, most of you know that I made it back to the Ice for Round 2. And most of you probably already know that, while this is my first blog about it, I've been here for about 2 months now.

But let's let bygones be bygones, eh?

I got a job in the Waste Department this year-big promotion, from washing dishes to sorting trash! (No, but really, it IS a big promotion, and I'm about to tell you why). The Wasties (as we are known) are an awesome group-great team spirit, great management, lots of pranks and all around silliness. I know what you are thinking, "Aileen couldn't POSSIBLY fit in with a group of tricksters!" Well, I am here to tell you that I have left my serious and somber ways behind.

My season started way back in July with Hazmat training in Corpus Christi, TX. I went from working in Alaska all summer to what felt like the hottest place on earth. Hazmat training consisted of three days in the classroom (with the AC on so high we all thought we were going through some type of cryogenic freezing process), and three days outside where we were either on dinghies learning how to clean up oil spills in the water, or in Hazmat suits, learning how to clean up chemical spills and sweating to death in the process.

I had a GREAT time! I got to meet everyone on the team, stay in a hotel for free (baCHING!) and warm up after my long, cold summer up north. Not to mention how much my brain grew with all the new information I got to absorb :)

Then October 6th I made it down here. Unlike last year we were only delayed one day in Christchurch, NZ. But one day is good enough for me! We arrived midday, and after some housing snafoos (I was put in the tiniest room imaginable...seriously, take the worst college dorm you ever saw, and make it half as small, and then stick a bunkbed in there...with a man! GASP!) I got it taken care of right quick, using my charm and intellect, and the fact that men and women don't get housed together, and am now living with three wonderful ladies.

It's been a good season so far...GREAT in fact! And I intend to write more often than last year, and way more often then this season leading up to now. Hold your breath! I may surprise you :)

Voted Off the Island

Well, maybe not really voted off, but whichever way you look at it, I am outta here!

My flight was supposed to leave today but was canceled due to weather. I am in a state of limbo right now because we had "bag drag" yesterday, meaning all of our checked luggage was taken out to the arifield already. So I have about two more pairs of underwear and zero clean shirts. But I am expected to work if my flight does not go (I worked today). So basically it's up in the morning, check the flight, check the flight, check the flight, and the final answer could mean "get out of here!" or it could mean "get to work!" It's an odd situation, but I am dealing with it just fine.

So now it's on to new adventures. Working in a ceramics studio in New Zealand? Bungee jumping? Scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef? Black water rafting? (the same as white water except it's on underground rivers...too cool). Summer job in Alaska? All of these things are possibilities on the horizon. And of course, I will keep you all updated as much as I can :)

I summed up what I did down here in my head the other day and was surprised that I could have possibily done it all on the harshest, least inhabitable piece of land in the world. Here it is, maybe you will be surprised, too, and maybe you will join me next time!

I...
played in an indoor soccer league
played on a dodgeball team
took belly dancing lessons
did zumba
guested dj-ed on the radio
took boxing lessons
took a photography class
read my poetry at an open mic night
saw penguins (Emperor and Adeli)
saw so many seals (including a pup with it's mother!)
saw the inside of ice caves in a glacier that haven't formed in the last several years
saw pressure ridges where two ice shelves collide
lived in close proximity to Mt. Erebus, an active volcano (one of three in the world with an open caldera. That means that the top of the volcano isn't crusted over, but is a bubbly pit of lava. It's the kind of volcano that was common in prehistoric times, and featured in such dinosaur movies at The Land Before Time. It is good because without a hard shell formed over it, a massive and violent explosion ala Mt. St. Helen's is impossible).
saw 24 hours of daylight every single day
shaved my head
wore flip flops outside almost every single day
dressed up like an anime character for Freezing Man
saw so much live music
danced my face off 5 nights a week (hyperbole...but still!)
washed the pots and dishes it took to feed roughly 1000 people twice a day
saw an impromptu haka at 2 am (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haka)
ate food made with ingredients almost universally expired...but still tasty!
took a sauna and cooled off in the Antarctic wind in just shorts and a tank top
had my first facial
jumped for joy at the sight of the moon
met some of the most interesting, creative and eccentric people I have ever met

So that's it. And it's pretty good.

The Moon!

Just went outside and I saw the MOON! It's still daylight out 24 hours a day, but the quality of light is changing, and nighttime feels like nighttime. And the moon is finally out!

I don't know if I am conveying the right feeling about this...but it's so exciting! 3 days!

Whales!

There are whales in the bay!!! I just went out and saw them spraying water up through their blowholes! They didn't come to the surface enough for me to actually see them, but people saw flippers and stuff earlier today. The bay is about 1/4 open water at this point, and the whales are all hanging out just beyond the open water where there is still ice but its all broken up. Too cool!

Here are some pics :)

This is the view from my dorm (that's Mt. Discovery in the distance). Town itself isn't too pretty, but the view over the bay is incredible!



Closer up of Mt. Discovery.






More mountains across the bay-I think this looks like something out of a fairy tale.



Me with penguins! Emperor penguins!

Calm down, this post is not about penguins! (well, maybe it is, but mostly it isn't!)

Here's a little summary of general things that have been going on, as opposed to awesome seal/penguin/holiday super hero adventure stories.

I keep saying that things here are busy busy busy, and here is what they are busy with:

I've joined a dodgeball team. The team is strictly galley (kitchen) staff. I've found that I am quite nimble, but am not good at throwing the ball. We've all decided that I should be a sneaky assasin catcher (for those who don't know, in dodgeball you split the court in half. Each team has to stay on their own side, you get out if 1) the ball hits you or 2) someone catches the ball you threw. Therefore, you have to be nimble and either a good thrower or a good catcher). I've only taken one ball to the face, but its a soft ball, so it's all good. We are in first place right now and going into the championship tournament, so send good thoughts our way :)

I have also been playing indoor soccer. There was a league going on when I first got here, but all the teams were full, so I was a roaming sub. Now its open soccer every Friday, so you just show up and play. Its interesting, because we play on a basketball court, which is smaller and more slippery than a normal indoor soccer court. Here, too, I've only taken one ball to the face. Soccer balls are rather hard though, and it was kicked very forcefully. Don't worry though! My face is A-Ok, and it shouldn't effect that modeling contract I have with Gucci next summer. (For those who witnessed my ball-to-the-face outdoor Denver soccer move, this was totally wimpy).

I am taking Zumba, which is a type of dance aerobics with latin dance moves. The morning classes are usually full of the Kiwi army guys. They always make up in enthusiasm what they lack in rhythm, and the class is super fun. I just starting boxing lessons with one of the cooks and a photography class with one of the janos (janitors). I plan on coming home a Raging Bull type wedding photographer who can break it down on the dance floor when the entertainment needs a little rejuvenation. I'll have to charge double for the service.

I also just started belly dancing classes! It feels ridiculous, but we get to wear these jangly noise making belts, so thats a lot of fun! And, as of a few days ago, I am certified to use the indoor climbing wall. I thought there would be nothing to do here, but I don't think I could possibly do everything available!

I try to volunteer in other departments when I can. Its good for networking, seeing what other jobs I might like if I come back another season, and giving my heart that warm, fuzzy feeling.

And, of course, I try to get out of town whenever I can. (Here is the part where I write about penguins, even though I said I wouldn't). I got out twice recently and saw penguins both times! The first time I saw Emperors again. They were molting (shedding their feathers and growing new ones). When they do that they go far inland and stand basically still for about ten days. We couldn't get to close to them, and they just looked like statues. Still very pretty. The second time I wasn't that far from home, just a 15 minute walk to the edge of town, and I saw Adeli penguins! They are smaller than Emperors, and much more playful. They were all sleeping when we got there, but woke up when they heard us and started walking towards us! There was a large crack in the ice so they had to stop about 20 feet away, but they weren't scared at all! It was pretty amazing.

The sound is still mostly ice right now, but the ice breaker has been coming in every day, breaking up all the ice. The vessel that brings in supplies for winter is due in about two weeks, and when all the ice is gone and the boat comes in there will be much more wildlife in town. People have been talking about the possibility of whales coming in! I'm going to go out every chance I get to look.

There's only three weeks left, and I feel like I still have a lot to do. Time has just flown by! I guess that means I really am having fun :)

Icestock/Freezing Man

January is high summer down here, and as summer is the season for festivals the world round, McMurdians did not want to miss out! Enter Icestock and Freezing Man!

For those in the know, both names sounds familiar. But let me enlighten you, just in case. Icestock is, of course, the Antarctic version of Woodstock (oh yeah, that one!). Freezing Man might be a little more obscure. Every summer in the high desert of Arizona there is a music/free spirit festival called Burning Man. There they burn a giant effigy of a man, dress in wild costumes and listen to live music. Here at McMurdo, we froze a slightly smaller effigy of a man, dressed in wild costumes, and watched dances performances, as well as danced ourselves.

Icestock was on January 2nd (the day that the station celebrated the New year). Since everyone was at the show instead of stuffing their faces in the kitchen, we galley folk had very little work to do and got a few hours off to go see things! It was held outdoors and the weather was beautiful! There were people in costume, face-painters (I got my bald head painted), people selling wares they had made, and of course, a large stage from which many musicians played. After the outdoor part of the festival was over (about 7:00 pm) things moved into the bars, with acoustic and electric shows, depending on where one went.

Freezing Man was two days ago! It was held inside the "Big Gym" (not as big as you think...about the size of a basketball court-no bleachers). It was lit by black light, and even more people were in costume for this one! There were a few stage performances, including belly dancing, a play, and some badass break dancing (done by my roomie).

So! It may be cold here, it may be isolated, there may only be 1000 of us here! But we still like to celebrate the summer season just like everyone else :)



From Freezing Man.

New Year's Eve...and Day!

McMurdo is in the first time zone after the International Date Line. Know what that means? It means we will be the first in the world to hit midnight tonight! (New Zealand is in the same zone). My friend keeps saying that this year will be very good for all of us since we are ringing it in first. I can't agree more.

I will be celebrating tonight at Scott Base. I would stay here, but, as usual, McMurdo is not celebrating this holiday on the actual day. We are waiting until the weekend to pretend its New Year's, and I will have to work the holiday anyway. I have tomorrow off and I can't let the chance to celebrate first in the world slip through my fingers! Plus, it'll be a cool cultural experience to see if the Kiwis do New Year's differently than us.

This weekend at McMurdo is Icestock. It is exactly what the name implies: an all day festival of music. Like I said, us galley staff will be working, but we each get an hour off to check things out. There will be contests such as "Beautiful Beards," "Best Snow Suit," etc. I will be entering the "Beautiful Heads" competition for baldies only. I'm thinking that I will have an advantage being the only girl competing against a bunch of old men.

Speaking of which, I am still happy to be bald :)

I hope the New Year brings good things for all of you, and I can't wait to see you again next year!

My First Christmas Away From Home

Christmas here at McMurdo was nothing short of bizarre. For me anyway.

My Christmas usually goes something like this:

last minute Christmas Eve gift buying spree (demanded by long tradition instilled by my father), big turkey dinner, mad wrapping rush, hang up stockings, go to sleep with sugar plums dancing in my head. Secretly wake up and open the stockings with my brothers in the dead of night, wake up again Christmas morning at the crack of dawn to see what else Santa brought, festive breakfast followed by a day of relaxing and a night time drive to see the lights for the last time.

Christmas this year went a little like this:

Worked all day Christmas Eve to get ready for the big party that night and even bigger meal the next day. Went to the party (with almost the whole 1000 people who live here) and danced the night away. Woke up Christmas Day, went into work to have "family meal" (special meal for kitchen folk) and immediately after stuffing our faces had to work a 10 hour shift to feed everyone else. (I think this is worth noting: we stuffed out faces with lobster and duck, and a hundred other delightful little side dishes. Much better fare than I ever expected here). It is probably also worth noting that the delightful fare did not agree with me and I was sent home sick. No tree (there is no vegetation here whatsoever) but I made one out of construction paper, complete with ornaments, and hung it on my door. My roommmate made a fire with stockings hanging on it (also out of construction paper) and put it on the fridge. All very festive.

I ended up celebrating my own little Christmas a day later than real Christmas because a) I had the day off and b) we are a day ahead, so the day after Christmas here was Christmas back home. I got a little tradition filled package from home (that I opened secretly, in the dead of night on Christmas Eve, just to keep things real) and was able to call home, so I didn't feel too far away.

I think if things had been more "normal" here I would have felt much more homesick, but as it was it just felt like another adventure here on the Ice. And really, my first Christmas away from home was in Antarctica. How good is that?

Look what I did!

Under Pressure

In the past week I have gone on TWO tours of the Pressure Ridges.

You may be asking yourself, "What are the Pressure Ridges?" Never fear, I am here to answer all!

When a glacier flows onto the ocean it is called an "ice shelf." There are two ice shelves here, the Ross ice shelf and the McMurdo ice shelf. These two meet near the Kiwi station (Scott Base), and where they collide is almost like a frozen earthquake on the ice. Think of how two plates under the Earth's crust collide and form moutain ranges, just on a much smaller scale. These little mountains are called the Pressure Ridges.

They are very beautiful and often intricate ice sculptures. Some of them even look like they must have been crafted by humans. Others look like frozen waves. We hiked out over the sea to get to them and, once there, the trail weaved in and out of the Ridges, almost like a silly maze out of a Dr. Seuss book. There were places where the ice was mostly melted called "melt pools" and also many crevasses in the ice. All of these ultimately lead to the ocean below, but the ice is so thick it didn't feel like there was actually water beneath us.

And now for the cool part. On the first tour, towards the end, we saw a baby seal and its momma across one of the melt pools! It was adorable. The mom was lying there, clearly just trying to bask in the sun, and the baby was flopping all around, slapping it's mom with his little flippers and being the cutest thing on earth. Then, on the second tour, there was this huge seal lying about fifteen feet away from the path! We got so close, it was amazing. And then we continued hiking and that same baby seal with it's momma were there again, but this time they weren't across a melt pool, they were literally two feet from the path! We didn't want to bother them (if you get too close/make the animals upset here its grounds to ban you from the Ice forever) but it was the coolest thing to walk by and see their faces up close. They were just looking at us, curious, and then the baby started flopping around and burying its nose under it's mom's flipper. It was so cool, seeing something so wild and so untouched, so close up.

My friend is sitting next to me, trying to get me to walk down the sea ice in an attempt to see more seals and maybe some penguins. I may just have to take him up on that offer :)

But first, a little treat. One photo (that I did not upload, but stole from a friend) of me at the Ice Caves. Enjoy!

Danger! Adventure! Penguins!

Emperor penguins! But let's start from the beginning:

Two nights ago I signed up to go on a tour of some ice caves. There is a volcano here called Mt. Erebus (southernmost active volcano in the world) and it has what is called an "ice tongue" at it's base. The "ice tongue" is a fast moving glacier that slides off the side of the volcano into the sea. The waves go up under the glacier and, when they freeze in the winter, form caves.

The caves themselves are really beautiful. The glacier is this deep and bright icy blue color, and the stalactites and stalagmites normally found in caves are icicles with these tiny, really delicate ice crystals all along them and the walls. The floor of the caves is the frozen ocean.

To get out to these caves we had to drive what is called a "Delta" (read: huge truck with monster wheels) out onto the frozen bay for about an hour. We were trucking along, everything was fine, and then the Delta just stopped running. We tried to start her back up, to no avail. The driver couldn't get a good signal on his radio to call for help and ended up going off on a snowmobile. The driver came back after a bit, and an hour after that we got the Delta running again, only to stick in the snow and have to be shoveled out every 200 feet. We got a tow eventually and now our 3 hour trip had turned into about 4. We thought we were just going to turn home, but no! The tractor towed us out to a spot where there were 5 (count 'em, 5!) emperor penguins! Just hanging out!

We got about 10 feet away from them, and they weren't even scared. They were just waddling along, flapping their wings, sliding on their bellies when they were sick of waddling and looking like a mix between adorable toddlers and old school gangsters. Then! We thought we were going home, but again, no! We stopped at the ice caves and noticed some big lumps out on the ice in the distance. What were they? They were seals! GIANT seals! (I thought they were giant, but apparently they weren't that impressive by Antarctic standards). We got even closer to them, and while most of them simply basked in the sun, one of them was doing little waves with his flippers, rolling his body around, opening his mouth at us and posing for the camera like he was made for it.

It was awesome. Apparently a lot of people don't see any wildlife down here, but I've seen animals every time I've left town. I think I must have been some sort of animal witch doctor in a past life. Not sure if I liked the penguins and seals best, or the ice caves. But, fortunately, I don't have to make that decision. We ended up back at McMurdo at about 2am. Still broad daylight out.

In other news: work is going well. The long hours actually aren't too bad. After you count up all the breaks, stretch breaks and other miscellanious downtime, we only work about 8 hours and 45 minutes. Wimpy, I say. But there is certainly a lot to occupy my time. So much, in fact, that I haven't been able to get online very often. Hence my lack of blogging and also my delayed responses to emails (for which I apologize).

Our Thanksgiving meal is happening tomorrow (Saturday down here). They changed the day because 1) people have the weekend off, and 2) this is Antarctica and we don't play by the rules :) The kitchen is a frenzy of acitivity, with something ridiculous like 1300 lbs. of turkey being roasted, with many more lbs. of all the fixin's being prepared. Speaking of food, the food here is surprisingly good. I was expecting canned beans and dehydrated veggies, but we get freshies delivered every few days, and always have at least 3 choices for each meal, including a usually delicious vegetarian option (the head chef is vegan). Tomorrow should be a fun day; I still have to work, but not as much as usual, and who doesn't love being in the kitchen on Thanksgiving?? And I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday yourselves!

And lastly, a note about an earlier post: McMurdo Station is not actually on the coast of Antarctica. It is on Ross Island, which is just off the coast of Antarctica.

Made It!

Made it in yesterday afternoon! The flight was really cool-we flew in a C-17 which is a huge U.S. Air Force plane, the inside is basically a cargo hold with some seats strewn about. It was so loud inside conversation was pretty much impossible and we had to wear earplugs. It was only 5 hours though-after flying 20 to get to NZ, 5 hours seems like nothing :) I got to go up into the cockpit once we got out over Antarctica to check it out. The views were incredible!!! (I'll posts pics soon).

We landed on the bay--yes, the bay! The ice over the sea is about 90 inches thick right now, which doesn't seem enough to land a jumbo jet on, but apparently it is. The ice should be melting soon though, so they aren't going to land there for too much longer. Once it melts the water will come right up to the base and there will be a lot more wildlife.

Speaking of wildlife! I was told by almost everyone I spoke to coming off the Ice in NZ that I wouldn't see any wildlife and not to get my hopes up. But yesterday (my first day) I went for a little hike with Tia and saw the biggest seal ever! It was HUGE! It was way out on the ice shelf and started wobbling its way towards us and came so close we could hear it breathing! It was very cool. We stood there, mesmerized, for about 30 minutes.

It still feels like a pretty alien place to me. For one, its Antarctica, and when I look out over the bay I am impressed with two things. How insanely gorgeous the view is (I'd have to say it trumps any view of the mountains from Denver. Imagine the Rockies there, only bigger, and covered in pure white snow, with a flat bay 60 miles wide in front of it). The other is how desolate and empty that beautiful landscape is. And then McMurdo itself feels totally strange; its clearly a base, with odd buildings that look like barracks, all numbered itstead of signed. But once inside, it feels like a college campus! Dorm rooms, the dining hall, bulletin boards all over the walls, new people everywhere I turn and me, with no clue as to where anything is or how anything works...yet.

I'm learning quickly, and finding that there are about a million fun things to do here! There's hiking and cross country skiing and other recreational trips, but also a lot of clubs and activities indoors. There is a big gym and a few small gyms, saunas all over the place, and the people are super friendly. I also started work today. Its going to be long hours, and not a lot of down time, but the people seem like a lot of fun. I get 1.5 days off, not just 1 a week, so that's a nice surprise!!

Oh yeah, the other crazy thing about being here is that it is daytime ALL the time. And not daytime where the sun is high during the day and close to the horizon at night. Last night I went to a coffee house around 10pm, and when I left at 11pm it was so bright out I had to put on my sunglasses! Right now I am in a room with no windows, but its temporary. Its kind of nice because it actually gets dark at night, but I am hoping when I get my permanent room assignment I have a window--I'm willing to sleep with a little light in order to get fresh air once in a while! Its not very cold here either, and the summer is just beginning. So I am prepared for a few storms, but mostly the weather should just get nicer. Its about 30 or so degrees now, just like a beautiful winter day back home!

That's it for now. I miss you all, and love hearing from you, so keep the emails coming :)

Oh yeah

I found some good not too expensive shampoo. I know you were all very worried.

The word on the street is...

That we are flying out tomorrow morning. For real this time. We'll see about that.

I decided to believe the rumors despite their tendency to be untrue, and treated today like my last day in civilization (for a while at least). Really pushed out the boat at dinner tonight. Tia (my new found Alaskan adventurer friend) and I went to a fairly fancy restaurant, where we consumed quite fancy meals paired with quite fancy cocktails. Fancy fancy. For those who want to know: a little cocoa liquor with chili flakes makes a surprisingly tasty spicy beverage.

Also took a wonderful hike along cliffs by the coast today, got a ton of beautiful pictures, dipped my feet in the pacific, and got a snazzy shirt at a thrift store for two bucks. Not bad.

Now I am all packed, ready to wake at 4:30 and take the last leg of my trip to the bottom of the world. I am very, VERY excited.

Hopefully my next transmission will be from the Ice and will include photo evidence that what I say is true. Until then, :)

Again!

Delayed, that is. Until Tuesday. Which is nice, because it means tomorrow I don't have to wake up at 4, take a shower and then get a call that says don't come. Not that I should really complain-that's been about the ONLY annoying thing thats happened so far, and its not really that annoying.

Last night I went out with some fellow Antarctica-ers (what should I call them...er, us?) and found that Christchurch has a much more vibrant night life than I was expecting. Its a small city, but it didn't feel that way last night. I also met a guy who had just finished wintering on the Pole (which is pretty hardcore-its extra cold there and dark all the time instead of light) and he told me that McMurdo has a ceramics studio! I am really very excited about that. And they have two art shows a summer, both of which I am going to enter.

So hopefully my next post will be from the Ice, but we'll see if the weather holds.

Also, just an fyi since I left so abruptly I didn't really have time to fill everyone in on what was going on: I met a guy in Denver who told me he had worked in Antarctica about 6 years ago, and I thought that was super cool so I applied for all the jobs available. I got hired to be an alternate Dining Attendant (read: dish washer) for the South Pole in early October, but then they decided they needed me at McMurdo Station instead. They called me about two weeks ago and asked how soon I could be ready, and 5 days later I was flying down!

The National Science Foundation has 3 US bases on Antarctica, plus a number of field camps. Palmer Station is closer to South America and is the smallest base with about 15 people working there. Next is South Pole, which has about 50-60 people, and McMurdo is the largest with about 1000. McMurdo is on the coast due south of New Zealand. The National Science Foundation has a contract with Raytheon to provide support to the bases in the form of electricians, carpenters, fire fighters, etc. Raytheon sub-contracts all the cooking and cleaning type jobs to a company called NANA Services, and that's who I'm working for.

Its a pretty cool gig-the pay isn't spectactular but I don't have to pay room and board and Raytheon has paid for all my travel down here. I figure whatever gets me to Antarctica is pretty cool, and the opportunities for world travel after are pretty amazing. So the plan right now is: finish my contract at the end of Feb. and then travel until I can't travel no mo'. Anyone who wants to join me in the latter part of this plan is, of course, more than welcome!!

And I'd love to hear what you guys are all up to! So shoot me an email-I've met a lot of nice people, but its still nice to hear from friends :)

Delayed!!

Our flight down to the Ice has been pushed back 24 hours due to the weather at McMurdo. So I'm stuck in New Zealand for another day, wah wah wah...oh wait, I'm stuck in NEW ZEALAND??? That's pretty freaking awesome.


Not trying to rub it in :)

Burt's Bees

Just a quick note- I went out to pick up some Burt's Bees shampoo and conditioner because it is usually about 8 bucks a bottle and I thought it would be nice to have some good shampoo (I don't know what they will have for me on the Ice) and it was $40 a bottle!! New Zealand dollars are worth slightly less than US $, but not that much less! I have noticed that food is a bit more expensive, but thought that might be because I've only eaten out here. It's an interesting fact, because, as I said earlier, Christchurch is a very small city. It's not as if I'm trying to buy shampoo in Tokyo! (although, apparently, it is).

I guess I'll just go with whatever they give me. And honestly, I think my hair will probably not be my number one priority when I'm living out of my backpack for the next 6 months :)

Christchurch, NZ!

Landed in Christchurch a few hours ago. Its so pretty here!!

I left Denver at 4:30pm Monday, and landed 2:30pm Wednesday! (not as badass as it sounds though-we jumped past Tuesday because of the time change. I still haven't wrapped my head around that completely, I think I need a map).

They put me up in a very nice hotel-my room is teeny tiny but way cool. There are colored lights under the bed and in the shower, it all feels very futuristic. And Christchurch is a very interesting little city. Its very dense and packed in downtown, but its also very small. You can walk right out of the city and there are mountains and the coast right there. No sightings of Aragorn yet....(knee slap here).

I've met quite a few people going down to the Ice, but only a couple to McMurdo. They have all been super nice and helpful. If they are any indication, I think I will be enjoying my time down there quite a bit!

And, in closing, when I got to this internet cafe after already deciding Christchurch was pretty awesome, Bryan Adams's "Have you ever loved a woman" was playing. Officially in love. Sigh.

Going to Antarctica!

Whoa.

I fly out this afternoon, have a quick layover in L.A., a slightly longer layover in SYDNEY! and then two days in Christchurch, NZ. From there, I fly down to "the ice" and get right to work.

So this is my blog. Read it if you want. Read it sometimes even if you don't want. And keep in touch!

alubold@gmail.com

Aileen Lubold, NANA
McMurdo Station
PSC 469 Box 700
APO AP 96599