Okie dokie, so I missed a week, what's a FNG (Freakin New Guy) supposed to do? I wish I had a good reason as to why I missed a post but I really don't. There just wasn't all too much to report last week. However, a lot did happen in the last 4 or 5 days.
So down here the weeks become really long at times. We work a lot. Monday thru Saturday I work from 7Am - 5PM. And most of the time the work is pretty much the same. I try to mix it up as much as I can and try to see as much as I can but some times it just doesn't work out that way.
Last week was one of those weeks. The week before nothing all too exciting had happened and I was finding that I had a lot of free time on my hands. I've been watching a lot of True Blood (on HBO Awesome Show!) and Californication (Showtime hilarious). Both of which a friend of mine's husband mails them down to her and a big group of us watch. It sounds nice, which it is, but it's also far too normal for my liking. The reason I don't like the normal is because when things are somewhat normal like that I really start to miss all of you guys back home. Then comes Thursday...
Thursday was starting out to be one of those really normal days I was talking about. Then, at around 11:00AM my supervisor says "Hey Danny, I've got a question for you." To which I respond "What's that Gingleho? (her login ID)"
"How would you like to go to Happy Camper tomorrow?" (see what I did there with the title of the blog?)
I was kind of out of it at that point but after about a second or two to sink in I responded, "Absolutely!" and so the craziness of the weekend was underway.
Let me give you a quick run down as to what exactly Happy Camper is. Happy Camper is a trip they take FNG's on. They get a group of about 16-22 people, load them up in a shuttle, drive them out to the middle of the ice-shelf and say "Hey you're going to learn how to survive out here for the night." Now that may sound intimidating but it's not so bad. It was actually a lot of fun!
It all started at 8:30AM on Friday morning. Everyone meets at the Science Support Center and we get a 2 hour briefing on the events that are going to transpire over the next two days. They tell us ways to recognize the onset of hypothermia as well as frostbite. They also give us ways to avoid both of these conditions from occurring. At around 10:30AM they load us on the shuttle and drive us to the I-Hut which stands for Instructors Hut. At that point they show us how to use these little tiny camping stoves to make hot water as well as they fed us lunch.
After that short little education we are drivin out to Snow-School. Once out there we are going to be out in the wild of Antarctica for the next 24 hours. On our way out there we pick up all kinds of supplies, first we picked up our sleep kit which comprised of a sleeping bag, a liner for the inside as well as two insulated mats to put on the ground. After that we loaded up a sled with shovels, saws, tents, and other camping equipment.
The first thing they teach us when we get out there is about the best ways to set up our tents in relation to wind and snow and not getting snowed in. Along with that train of thought we were taught how to construct an ice-block quarry. That way we could build a wall to help and block the wind from getting to the tents and what not.
Continuing after that our instructor taught us good ways to build snowcaves and all about how much room and space we should try and make. And after that we were taught how to build a Quinsy (basically a tent made out of snow). Hopefully I never have to use any of the knowledge that I learned over the weekend but it is definitely a good thing to have learned. I ended up building and sleeping in a hole in the ground. Surprisingly I wasn't very cold at all, my fingers were about the only things to be cold on myself the next morning.
The following morning we had to pack up camp and be ready to go by 8:30AM, which we were and it wasn't a problem. After we packed up camp we headed back to the I-Hut and went through a debriefing as well as some survival scenarios. We finished up the trip by watching some videos on helicopter safety, hopefully I get to use that information sometime soon!
I was glad to be back so that I could get some sleep. Only to find out that all sorts of parties had been planned for the evening. There was a Prom, a Pajama Jam, a Hut 10 party, as well as HeavyShop Pride Night. And mom, don't worry I didn't go to all four, I missed the Pajama Jam.
The night was crazy and was a ton of fun. I woke up the next morning however with a huge lump on my head from the HeavyShop Pride Night where I got headbutted by a 5' tall garden gnome named Tom. And all day Sunday, like god intended, I had a day of rest. And tonight well of course I played volleyball and of course we are still undefeated. That's it for now, I'm tired of typing and I'm sure you're tired of reading. Blast off everyone! Have a good night and I shall talk to you all soon. Let me know how things are going.
Love and miss you all!
D
Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Amazing!
Hello to all of you back in the world of reality. If you don't want to hear my political views skip the first paragraph. Man has a lot happened since I last wrote. We have a new president elect, which I think is amazing. Regardless of your political views you have to admit that the United States electing a Black Man (Even though he is only half black) president is a monumental occasion. I am quite impressed with our country and proud. At the same time I'm a little bit unimpressed with the state of California. It's quite amazing me to me how progressive our state likes to think we are yet we still can't allow people to marry whomever they wish. I understand the argument that marriage is a religious term and that homosexuality is a sin, but if you take emotion out of it and look at it in the sense that our constitution has a stipulation that church and state be separate then outlawing gay marriage based on religious views is wrong. And if we can't separate our religion from the word marriage then the legal title shouldn't be marriage. Anyways I'll get off of my soapbox and get to the stuff that I am really down here to share with you all.
Saturday night was AMAZING! That secret trip I referred to in my last post took place and can I say how completely mindblowing the entire experience was? I mean, simply put if I got injured and had to go home tomorrow I wouldn't be terribly heartbroken. I don't know how much cooler of an experience I can have down here. So let me start and tell you about it.
The trip that I took went to two different locations down here. It lasted about 6 hours and was by far the best six hours of my entire trip so far. The first location was Cape Evans. If you don't know anything about it from the name a brief history first. When the first, original explorers came to Antarctica and decided to take a trip to the South Pole this is where they set up their base. It's called Scott's Hut at Cape Evans. Essentially visiting Scott's Hut is like going back about 100 years. Because of the cold temperatures down here, nothing has deteriorated all too much at Scott Hut. The original food and bed's and even a dead penguin are pretty much fully in tact. The penguin was being set up to do some sort of an autopsy on it but they never got to it. In fact Scott's group all died, horses dogs and all. Thanks to the Kiwi's (who have a preservation team) we are able to tour the hut and see how things were. The pictures I have posted tell a better story of the hut than what I am able to do. I may even have some info wrong, but if you are interested there are a lot of great books on it as well as stuff online. I was even given a book about the explorers which I intend to read very soon (thanks Aunt Jackie!) But I feel very lucky to have been able to go into this time capsule.
After leaving Cape Evans we were on our way to the ICE CAVES! However on the way to the ice caves we ran into a little Adelie Penguin. He was quite adorable to watch run down the ice road. We actually followed him for a bit until our driver manned-up and gunned it off the beaten road around the penguin. Once we were ahead of him we stopped and we all got out of the Delta (big ass van/truck type thing) and waited for the little guy to come to us. He came within about 10-15 feet it was awesome! I'm glad I don't have to leave the continent having the only penguin I see is one that's been dead for 100 years! It's extremely cool to be that close to the animal in the wild rather than at a zoo with a barricade separating us.
After the penguin siting it was time for me to go into the Ice Caves, breathtaking is all I can say. The natural light in the caves is that blueish hue you see in some of the pictures. Those are the pictures that were taken with the flash turned off. I feel really lucky to be able to see this because it is the first time in about 5 years that they have had them down here. In the past the water wasn't able to get into the glacier's to carve out the caves (which in a very brief way is how it is done). And since it is getting warmer down here, we aren't too sure how long these caves will hold up and how many people are going to be able to go and see them.
Not too sure what it is about tonight but I really don't have as much of a stream of consciousness as I usually do. I apologize! But in case anyone is wondering I no longer have the crud I feel fantastic and aside from a little homesickness I'm having an amazing time. I'm glad not everyone can come down here but I think that everyone should get to experience something like this at least once in their lives. I hope that everyone is having a good start to their week. Hopefully I'll have something new and exciting to chat about next week. If not I'll still blog but it will be a lot shorter.
Love and miss you all!
D!
Saturday night was AMAZING! That secret trip I referred to in my last post took place and can I say how completely mindblowing the entire experience was? I mean, simply put if I got injured and had to go home tomorrow I wouldn't be terribly heartbroken. I don't know how much cooler of an experience I can have down here. So let me start and tell you about it.
The trip that I took went to two different locations down here. It lasted about 6 hours and was by far the best six hours of my entire trip so far. The first location was Cape Evans. If you don't know anything about it from the name a brief history first. When the first, original explorers came to Antarctica and decided to take a trip to the South Pole this is where they set up their base. It's called Scott's Hut at Cape Evans. Essentially visiting Scott's Hut is like going back about 100 years. Because of the cold temperatures down here, nothing has deteriorated all too much at Scott Hut. The original food and bed's and even a dead penguin are pretty much fully in tact. The penguin was being set up to do some sort of an autopsy on it but they never got to it. In fact Scott's group all died, horses dogs and all. Thanks to the Kiwi's (who have a preservation team) we are able to tour the hut and see how things were. The pictures I have posted tell a better story of the hut than what I am able to do. I may even have some info wrong, but if you are interested there are a lot of great books on it as well as stuff online. I was even given a book about the explorers which I intend to read very soon (thanks Aunt Jackie!) But I feel very lucky to have been able to go into this time capsule.
After leaving Cape Evans we were on our way to the ICE CAVES! However on the way to the ice caves we ran into a little Adelie Penguin. He was quite adorable to watch run down the ice road. We actually followed him for a bit until our driver manned-up and gunned it off the beaten road around the penguin. Once we were ahead of him we stopped and we all got out of the Delta (big ass van/truck type thing) and waited for the little guy to come to us. He came within about 10-15 feet it was awesome! I'm glad I don't have to leave the continent having the only penguin I see is one that's been dead for 100 years! It's extremely cool to be that close to the animal in the wild rather than at a zoo with a barricade separating us.
After the penguin siting it was time for me to go into the Ice Caves, breathtaking is all I can say. The natural light in the caves is that blueish hue you see in some of the pictures. Those are the pictures that were taken with the flash turned off. I feel really lucky to be able to see this because it is the first time in about 5 years that they have had them down here. In the past the water wasn't able to get into the glacier's to carve out the caves (which in a very brief way is how it is done). And since it is getting warmer down here, we aren't too sure how long these caves will hold up and how many people are going to be able to go and see them.
Not too sure what it is about tonight but I really don't have as much of a stream of consciousness as I usually do. I apologize! But in case anyone is wondering I no longer have the crud I feel fantastic and aside from a little homesickness I'm having an amazing time. I'm glad not everyone can come down here but I think that everyone should get to experience something like this at least once in their lives. I hope that everyone is having a good start to their week. Hopefully I'll have something new and exciting to chat about next week. If not I'll still blog but it will be a lot shorter.
Love and miss you all!
D!
Monday, November 3, 2008
So I've got the crud...
Well it's been another crazy week down here in Antarctica! I still haven't gone and done that thing I've been teasing about but I plan to go and do that on Saturday. It'll be really nice to get out of town and go see some really amazing things.
The last week has been full of its ups and downs. Number one Up was Halloween and the big Halloween party down here. So I didn't come prepared for Halloween, that just means I didn't bring a costume. I was definitely prepared to make something work and to have a blast, that should go without saying. So what did I wear you're wondering? Well what would any heterosexual male do in the event he doesn't have a costume to wear for Halloween? You guessed it he goes to Skua (think salvation army except all is free and down in Antarctica). And what does he pick out and wear? Man you are good at this, of course he finds a wig, a skirt, and makes a bra out of cereal bowls and goes in drag!
I do have some pictures from Halloween but not really that many. I'll try to get them up as soon as possible. But my faith in humanity was renewed on Saturday night. We had our huge Halloween party in the big gym down here. It was all decorated for the festivities and we had plenty of music and drinks and costume contests. But that's not really what renewed my faith. I believe in Karma, to a certain extent. My good Karma finally made it's way back to me. Early in the evening I must've have dropped my camera. I don't know how long I had been missing it before I noticed but when I did notice my stomach dropped.
I couldn't believe that I could lose something that was so important to my being down here. The trip would still be amazing but without photos to remember in 50 years the memories would fade. Well much to my amazement someone tracked me down, in the dark drunken party and returned my camera to me. If it had been somebody I knew that'd be one thing, but it was somebody I hadn't even met down here yet. I was so relieved to have it back but scared to lose it again that I really didn't use the camera much after that. I do have some photos of my embarrassing costume and those should be posted in the next few days.
So probably by this point in the blog you're wondering what the hell the title means? Well I have the crud, more accurately I have the McMurdo Crud. Basically what that entails is that I have a cold, but it's much worse than your regular cold because it's really hard to get better when the weather is so cold all of the time and you have so much you have to do on a regular basis. Someone I work with went to the doctor on station and the doc told him he should feel better in about 2 weeks! 2 weeks?!? I sure as hell hope I'm better much before that. I thought I had beaten it in 3 days until I woke up this morning and felt like shit! (pardon my french).
I started feeling sick on Friday, which was fine because I had to work Saturday so I went to bed at like 9:00PM got a great night's rest and woke up on Saturday feeling fine. Went to work and then partied until about 2:00AM I woke up on Monday and felt fantastic. Played volleyball (more about that later) and went to sleep, only to wake up this morning feeling worse than before. So I hope to again find the pillow very early tonight so I can get some rest.
Ok so back to Volleyball, my team won, again! But this time not without some controversy. The team we played comprised of some people that come down on a regular basis and win the league every year. Just beating them was sure to upset some, but the fact that it went three games and there was a call they didn't fully agree with didn't help. The way we play the players are supposed to govern themselves, there was a play where a guy on the other team essentially grabbed the ball and threw it backwards over his head and it hit the ground on our side. We called him for a lift and their team captain was pretty livid. Aside from that it was actually some really fun good volleyball.
So this week has been a lot tougher than weeks past. I've already made some really great friends and there are always people to hang out with and things to do. But life is definitely lonely when you don't have anyone around you that truly knows you. Being that it's been about a month since I've been away from everyone it is really starting to hit me. I can handle it but it is definitely a tough thing to handle. I couldn't imagine being in the military and having to leave your family for 13 months at a time. Talking through the phone and email isn't the same as that human contact that you get from your loved ones on a daily basis. With that I will bid you all farewell for tonight. I need to get some sleep because I AM TIRED!
I miss you all!
Much Love
D
The last week has been full of its ups and downs. Number one Up was Halloween and the big Halloween party down here. So I didn't come prepared for Halloween, that just means I didn't bring a costume. I was definitely prepared to make something work and to have a blast, that should go without saying. So what did I wear you're wondering? Well what would any heterosexual male do in the event he doesn't have a costume to wear for Halloween? You guessed it he goes to Skua (think salvation army except all is free and down in Antarctica). And what does he pick out and wear? Man you are good at this, of course he finds a wig, a skirt, and makes a bra out of cereal bowls and goes in drag!
I do have some pictures from Halloween but not really that many. I'll try to get them up as soon as possible. But my faith in humanity was renewed on Saturday night. We had our huge Halloween party in the big gym down here. It was all decorated for the festivities and we had plenty of music and drinks and costume contests. But that's not really what renewed my faith. I believe in Karma, to a certain extent. My good Karma finally made it's way back to me. Early in the evening I must've have dropped my camera. I don't know how long I had been missing it before I noticed but when I did notice my stomach dropped.
I couldn't believe that I could lose something that was so important to my being down here. The trip would still be amazing but without photos to remember in 50 years the memories would fade. Well much to my amazement someone tracked me down, in the dark drunken party and returned my camera to me. If it had been somebody I knew that'd be one thing, but it was somebody I hadn't even met down here yet. I was so relieved to have it back but scared to lose it again that I really didn't use the camera much after that. I do have some photos of my embarrassing costume and those should be posted in the next few days.
So probably by this point in the blog you're wondering what the hell the title means? Well I have the crud, more accurately I have the McMurdo Crud. Basically what that entails is that I have a cold, but it's much worse than your regular cold because it's really hard to get better when the weather is so cold all of the time and you have so much you have to do on a regular basis. Someone I work with went to the doctor on station and the doc told him he should feel better in about 2 weeks! 2 weeks?!? I sure as hell hope I'm better much before that. I thought I had beaten it in 3 days until I woke up this morning and felt like shit! (pardon my french).
I started feeling sick on Friday, which was fine because I had to work Saturday so I went to bed at like 9:00PM got a great night's rest and woke up on Saturday feeling fine. Went to work and then partied until about 2:00AM I woke up on Monday and felt fantastic. Played volleyball (more about that later) and went to sleep, only to wake up this morning feeling worse than before. So I hope to again find the pillow very early tonight so I can get some rest.
Ok so back to Volleyball, my team won, again! But this time not without some controversy. The team we played comprised of some people that come down on a regular basis and win the league every year. Just beating them was sure to upset some, but the fact that it went three games and there was a call they didn't fully agree with didn't help. The way we play the players are supposed to govern themselves, there was a play where a guy on the other team essentially grabbed the ball and threw it backwards over his head and it hit the ground on our side. We called him for a lift and their team captain was pretty livid. Aside from that it was actually some really fun good volleyball.
So this week has been a lot tougher than weeks past. I've already made some really great friends and there are always people to hang out with and things to do. But life is definitely lonely when you don't have anyone around you that truly knows you. Being that it's been about a month since I've been away from everyone it is really starting to hit me. I can handle it but it is definitely a tough thing to handle. I couldn't imagine being in the military and having to leave your family for 13 months at a time. Talking through the phone and email isn't the same as that human contact that you get from your loved ones on a daily basis. With that I will bid you all farewell for tonight. I need to get some sleep because I AM TIRED!
I miss you all!
Much Love
D
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)