southbound?

mac town storm
hut contents
greetings from the lovely mc murdo library!

i am still here, but do to fly in the morning, they got a 'herc' - LC 130 in today and i'm still due to fly in on a Bassler, at this point i'm willing to give up the Bassler dream, as long as we get out of here soon! i took all of my belongings with the exception of 1 bag to be 'palletized' (packed for transport at a later date) last week and have only my ECW and the clothes i'm wearing now, not so bad really, others have been without their things for almost a month!

there are simply too many people here, over 1000 now, i think the female pop is 28%. i definitely don't think i'd enjoy a summer season here, although there's lots to do like awesome hikes, skiing, parties with live bands, sports, ect, it's just too much.

i have quite enjoyed the opportunity i've had to be a 'hut guide'- i am able to acquire the keys to the explorers huts and take folks in, essentially to insure they do not touch anything. it's an amazing experience, it truly feels like the huts were abandoned in such haste, kettles on, clothes hanging, all still beautifully intact over 100 years later! if you are interested there's a great website to enjoy: www.antarctic-heritage.org

the BBC is here now working on their new series. they have amazing footage and they are scheduled to come down to pole at some point in the season, keep your eyes open for the series, it looks spectacular!

we all keep passing the crud back and forth here, it's been a sickly sort of month, i'm getting over having it for the 2nd time, there's no escaping it, the quarters are too close. all the anti-bacterial foam and hand washing is no deterrent for this strain of yuck!!!

i got bumped to an earlier flight so that i can open the post office at pole, the woman who was slated to do it has to open the science carp shop and i am going in to get all the winter-over's mail out, last year there was 3 tons of mail from these 13 month inhabitants!! i am looking forward to the challenge!! i am an official APO mail clerk, it's quite dreamy, i even have a laminated card, big time. last weekend there was a rockin' party in the carp (carpenter) shop- 4 bands, free beer and a mini golf course!! sadly, i had to go to a crane rigging training at 7:30am sunday morning, probably for the best. i've enjoyed all the training opportunities here, it's kept me busy. i wonder (if we make it to pole) what sort of halloween shenanigans we will get into, thankfully it's saturday night, as we usually have sundays off! all in all i have enjoyed my mac-time, but have tingly fingers and toes at the idea of going to pole... oh wait, that's the Diamox (high altitude medication i started today) ha ha ha... i hope the next time i write is from the bottom of the world!! wishing you all a happy halloween wherever you may be haunting!

take care, karengrace*

10/29

we're not going anywhere tonight... the wind is so very intense today... crossing our fingers for tomorrow!!