We are getting down to the last of the cores. We are expecting to examine about another 100 meters (about three days of work) and then quickly write up the initial report and then head home. In terms of activities here we had our Thanksgiving last Saturday as the base gets all day Saturday and Sunday off. Well, except for the Andrillians who for us every morning is Monday morning and every evening is Sunday night. In other words, if one wants to go out to the bar and have a fun night, they do it at their own peril, as the next morning there is the perpetual 8 am meeting. Here the calendar may move forward, but the days of the week stay static. However, outside of our seven-day workweek, the community functions on a six-day work week, with a number of activities each day of the week. These activities actually remind me of where I am in the week. These activities include everything from exercise classes with names like “boot camp” to “butts and gutts” to movies, science and travel lectures, arts and crafts, to an opera evening. Of course, the bars have their own special evenings. One of my favorites is Burger Bar at the Gallagher’s (it’s a bar). The line is usually long and I have had to wait up to an hour after placing my order for the food. The burgers are a bit greasy and thin, the fries are nothing to write home about (well, except in this case), but there is something special about sitting down with a burger and a beer and actually spending money to get it. Also, in the galley (i.e., cafeteria), no alcohol is permitted except on Saturday evening and then it can only be wine or beer. There always seems to be an event going on here, especially when the holidays arrive as the community here are a quite an eclectic bunch.
Thanksgiving here is the biggest holiday here outside of Christmas. The festivities begin on that Friday evening with parties scattered among the dormitories and the various buildings. That evening I was a bit tired, but first went out to the wine bar called the Coffee House around 11 pm to wish Fabio a happy birthday. There were a couple of parties going on, one at the carpentry shop and the other in what called the BFC, which is where the field equipment is kept. I was extremely tired, and was about 5 feet from the steps of my dormitory and when a thought hit me, saying hey try to experience life to its fullest. So I went to see what it is all about and thought that I would stay five minutes and then go straight back to the dormitory. I kind of knew that this 5 minute plan was probably not going to hold up as I could hear the music from a hundred meters away (well it is a quiet place). The first floor of the building is a long wide space that extends a hundred feet back lined with Scott tents either hanging or leaning against the wall as well as other camping gear. With most lights either dimmed or off, eerie feelings of the ghosts of past expeditions were in there in a forest of yellow trees. Upstairs was typically Mac town stuff, the xmas lights were strung all over, large cardboard posters with writing and drawings covered the walls, a large box of costumes that anyone could wear. Well once I got upstairs, I knew I was going to be staying more five minutes. Firstly, it was an 80’s party, so all of the music was the stuff I danced to so many years ago. Secondly, lots of the Andrill gang was there, with the co-chiefs Dave and Fabio dancing up a storm with some of the usual suspects (i.e., mainly the Italians). The music was so much fun. There was Devo, Soft Cell, Aha, and it seemed that everyone loved these songs. Many of the dancers were singing along with the lyrics and dancing in unison. It felt like the early 80's all over again back in my apartment of those long ago years. If only that Steve could imagine that he would be dancing to those same songs twenty plus years later in Antarctica. Although I swore off drinking anything but water as I knew I had to be ready for tomorrow, I knew that I wanted to hang out with the gang and dance to the music that I knew and loved.
Well, the best-laid intentions don’t always work and I ended up not getting much sleep at all. The 8 am meeting was a total struggle, the sampling of the core was painful and then I blazed over for the annual McMurdo Station 5 km Turkey Trot, which started promptly at 10 am. Conditions were as best as we could hope for, with temperatures in the teens and a moderate wind giving wind chills in the low single numbers. Just another brisk spring day in Antarctica!! The course took us down on the transition road (the road that goes from town onto the sea ice) and then out to the airport and then back. The views as we ran were incredible, I have not been down onto the ice much, and running with hundreds of Mac towners was clearly a real adventure. The sky was clear and Mt Erebus, Mt Discovery, Mt Morning (all volcanoes) were rose up above the icy flats of McMurdo Sound, with the Royal Society Mountains looming above the hills of the Dry Valleys, like majestic lords of this frozen land.
BTW, I am sure that you are wondering, “well, how did you fare in the race?”. Well, needless to say, the world record for the 5 km was not in jeopardy that day from me although a few people did quite good. I did get through the race without stopping, except to slow down to take pictures. Actually, it would have been real bad if I had stopped as with the biting winds, the front of my legs were tightening up as they cooled down as the wind went right through my sweat pants.
Turkey night was a huge celebration with all of us getting to sit all in the same area. The only thing that I was disappointed with was it ended so quickly. We had all of the typical trimmings and everyone loaded up and ate like they had just left the desert after 40 days in the wilderness. In fact, more than a few guys, did not use plates and just loaded up the food directly onto their trays. It was a sight to behold. The rest of the evening included more parties and revelry.
