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