First Weeks

Hey Everyone!

Wow.  What an amazing adventure this has been already.  I am in full-blown honey moon stage with Antarctica right now.  Let me start from the start though...

I had a lovely couple of weeks home in Colorado with my mom spent gathering all the things I needed for my trip and a whole lot of well needed down time.  I didn't get nervous about leaving until a few days before my it was time to go but soon after I arrived at orientation those feelings quickly went away. Orientation took place in Denver for a day and a half and then I was loaded onto shuttles to DIA with about forty other people.  That day of travel was by far the hardest (I got to DIA around 1pm on Monday and didn't land in Christchurch, NZ until Wednesday at 2pm - which in CO time was really Tuesday at 7pm - needless to say it was a lot of travel) but it was an awesome opportunity to meet new friends and get to know people before getting to the ice.  The flight from Los Angeles to New Zealand was really cool.  I just kept thinking, this is all free!  I'm going to the other side of the world for free!  Luckily, we flew over what was essentially all of our bedtimes anyways, so I just ate my dinner, drank my free wine, watched a movie, slept for 8 hours, and was there shortly after I woke up!  (I believe the flight was 12 hours total).



Decent Plane Food! 

                                                                        
I then got to stay in the quaint city of Christchurch, NZ for two nights and two days and was given plenty of Kiwi dollars to keep myself full and happy.  Since the Southern hemisphere is on opposite schedule from home, I got to see springtime complete with beautiful flowers and baby ducks. 

                                                                               
Friday morning at 9am we boarded our military C-17 aircraft and were on our way to Antarctica.  The flight was a short 5 hours and I was able to go up the stairs into the cockpit and see the breathtaking landscape as we flew in.  I was almost jumping out of my seat when we landed I was so excited to finally be there.  (Plus, I was really glad to be safely on the ground - landing on snow and ice is a bit nerve wracking for the average joe like me).



C-17 Military Plane





First Picture of Antarctica from the Cockpit!  So beautiful.



                                                                    
We were loaded into shuttles and drove about 10 minutes to my new home, McMurdo Base.  For some quick facts and a map check out:  http://www.coolantarctica.com/Community/mcmurdo/mcmurdo_base_antarctica.htm
Waiting for me and my new friend/coworker Lindsay was our Waste Crew welcoming us to the continent!  I feel so lucky to be a part of the team I'm on.  I got the opportunity to meet many of them at a training I attended in TX in July so it was great to see some familiar faces so quickly!

Waste Crew!!

                                                                     
The next few days were a bit of a blur meeting new people, moving into my room, (four roommates, but they are all cool ladies) learning the lay of the land, and trying to soak in all the information about my job responsibilities that I could.  Friday evening I went to my first band practice - I'm one of two lead singers in an awesome new blues/funk band down here called Banana Hog (inspired by the sign in the Galley cafeteria that reads: "No One Likes a Banana Hog - One Banana Each Please") - and afterwards went to visit my brother Marty at work!  He works the overnight shift in the heavy machinery shop as a mechanic so pretty much the only time we see each other is at my breakfast/his dinner.  We were both so happy to see each other!  What a cool place to meet up with family!


Marty and I at the cafeteria!  Yay!  We're finally here!

The base itself is very Americanized.  I live in dorm style housing and walk down the hall to take hot showers and use the restroom.  My room is just big enough to fit five twin beds plus dressers and drawers and has a window!  I love getting back to my room around 10pm and still having light coming in.  Don't worry though, I have no problem sleeping.  I just put in my earplugs and I'm out.  My room resides in the same building as the Galley (where you go to eat/socialize) so it's pretty stress free in the mornings.  Work at the Waste/Recycling Barn begins with stretching at 7:30am and goes until 5:30pm Monday through Saturday.  This includes two short breaks and a break for lunch.  Along with our waste barn duties, our entire staff is also responsible for any oil spills that may happen on base.  This means that when I'm on call I could be cleaning up a spill day or night (and I've heard spills rarely happen during regular hours of course).  But in the meantime, it makes for relatively stress-free days full of sorting trash/recycling, moving around bins on fork lifts (I was so excited to finally learn how to drive one!), and various other tasks around base and the barn.  The Waste Crew is known for being a really tight team and I know I've lucked out with my coworkers and boss.  We laugh a lot and just generally enjoy being at work.  The base also has three small gyms, a coffee house, two bars (with reasonably priced beer/liquor), a small store, a library, a radio station, and much more that I haven't even found out about yet.  There's always lots of recreational activities going on as well so there's always something to do if you're interested.  It feels a lot like college except way cooler.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday I attended "Happy Camper", which is an intensive Antarctic survival class geared at teaching you the basics should you find yourself outside for an extended period of time.  (Temps range from -20 to +40 throughout the summer months - right now it's been getting up in the low positives most days).  We spent the first day outside learning the basics followed by camping the night outside and ending with real life scenarios to help us practice for a real situation.  I loved being outside in the sunshine (we lucked out on weather - sunny with almost no wind) and learned lots of applicable tricks including how to build ice walls for protection and how to dig out a trench to sleep in should you be without a tent.  Crazy! I stayed relatively warm most of the time except for sleeping at night.  I was way cold at one point and had to get up out of my trench and move around to warm back up.  Definitely not my favorite night ever but well worth the experience.

Building a protective snow wall for our camp.

My ice trench/bed.  This baby took about 4 hours to construct.



My view from inside the trench laying down.



The ice "kitchen" where we boiled lots of snow for water/dehydrated food.

View from camp - 11:30pm



Brrrrrr.

  I was also lucky enough to have sea ice training later in the week which involved learning how to recognize cracks in the ice and how to measure them to make sure you can actually cross them by foot or in a vehicle.  I am awed by the beauty of the landscape and recognize that I'm very fortunate to have the opportunity to get out and see so much of it.  (Many departments can't authorize these types of trainings because the positions don't require the workers to be outside much). 

So, to conclude, I LOVE ANTARCTICA!!!  It is freakin' sweet here and I'm so happy to be here.  Thanks everyone for all of your Internet well-wishes and notes.  I love hearing from all of you.  (And please forgive my bad manners if I haven't managed to write back - things have been a little crazy here). 

Again, my address is on the right side of this post and you can always e-mail or facebook me!

I miss everyone and hope you're well wherever you are!  Talk to you next time!

                                                                   



Preparation

Hey Friends and Family!

You have found your way to my first blog ever!  I have seen many blogs through other traveling friends and hope this will be a great way to keep in touch and show pictures of what I'm up to in the next few months.

 Leaving New Orleans last week was surreal and hard but I have a very good feeling we are not done hanging out yet.  That city will always be a home now.

I have 10 days until I leave for McMurdo base in Antarctica.   Soon, I'll be hanging out with my brother Marty!  Quick background for those of you who I haven't told:  my mom's boyfriend went to Antarctica to do research in the 90's.  After my mom retired the two of them decided to go down for summer season (Oct-Feb) 2008-2009.  Last year, my mom and my brother went down, and this year so far it looks like just my bro and I will be there.  McMurdo houses an average 1000 people during the summer and is the biggest base on the continent (there are actually 19 bases of which the U.S. runs 3).  Essentially, any job or function that is needed to run a small town is done there.  So, I will have the illustrious job of....solid waste/recycling technician!  Anything that comes onto the base must also be disposed of properly and taken back off the continent.  Trash smell here I come!

I am elated to be going on this adventure.  At first, I was pretty opposed to the idea.  But, as usual, my mom broke down all the benefits and general coolness of it all and I was hooked.  Free trip to the other side of the world, good pay, medical and dental benefits, food, housing, and lots of world traveling.  Sweet!  And hey, it's only four months, so I'll be back before you know it!

I'll post pics and stories as they come.  I'll have internet the whole time and you can leave messages on my phone that I'll be checking sporadically.  Talk to you soon!