Just so you can place me-- I am sitting in Hotel Cal, one of the dorms here, looking out the balcony doors at the Helicopter landing pad and the trans-Antarctic mountain range.

I'm starting to feel a little attached to this place. It took a little while, but this has definitely become more than a growing experience and crazy adventure. It's starting to feel like home : ) And that is most likely due to things like this:

-There is a weird obsession with Raisin Bran. I know this because an hour after anyone re-fills the Raisin Bran it is completely gone. I think people bring a lot of zip lock bags from home because I know they don't sell them in the store.
-There is a massive tea selection with hand written labels dominating the condiment station.
-There is homemade bread everyday. It is better than any bread I've ever tasted...and that has nothing to do with the fact that everything here is frozen and two years passed it's expiration date.
-The Jello and salads always have endearing, hilarious personalized names like; "Lou's Bomb.com Ambrosia Jello" or "Sexy Tex Mexy Chicken Salad." The other night I even had Beet / Pear / Carrot salad named after me: "Kira's Fave Beet Salad."
-During stretch breaks we are lectured on how we need to throw away all of the bread in the bread box if we find one slice with something that resembles mold, but we need to be better about using the expired Juice Boxes for the Flight Lunches.
-In the Pot Room there is a shelf labeled "Plastic Containrz."
-The Coffee House looks like a quaint well-lived and loved old cabin in Northern Minnesota.
-I am asked frequently by people I don't know to help them play pranks on their friends.
-A friends and I invented a game called "Galley Tally." Our intention was to have this game spread throughout the community and eventually become one more of those "things" McMurdians just do. We plan on this happening by word of mouth...and also by the DA's yelling "woo woo woo!!" every time someone scores a point.
The game is simple. It is based on honesty and requires relatively no skill. If you take a point where a point is not deserved because it was contrived in some way or another you should feel really bad about yourself. There are racks that hold cups and mugs. If you take the last cup or mug in a rack you get one point. If you complete a rack by putting the filling the last available space with a cup or mug in that rack you get one point. I have 10 points as of today. That's pretty good...I'd say I'm in second or third place.

I don't know what to write about it. It is difficult to explain what it so endearing about McMurdo. Even after listening to endless stories about this place from Kirk and Mari I still didn't understand it until I came. I can see why this life-style is so attractive to so many people. When I first got off that C17 I had no intention of returning to the ice. Now I'm in a constant limbo of deciding whether or not I should return for another season.

I've decided that McMurdo is a culmination of the movies Groundhog Day and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers combined. Like in Groundhog Day, everyday everything is esentially the same. The same variety of activites, people, food, schedule, weather... luckily there is so much to do that I can't do it all in one day so my days don't have to be identical. (The cool part is they could be!). It also looks like someone shipped the set and cast from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. There are almost 700 huge, strong, gruff, dirty and hungry mountain men. I have yet to see a man without a beard and carhart attire on this continent. As for the women, well, this is where my comparison becomes a little weak... Let's just say the women are just like the men. The interesting part is that the women are still being courted and pursued in the same way they are in the movie.

I think another reason why McMurdo is starting to feel homey is due to the increasing number of activities I do that have now become traditions.
Here are some of them:
-Sunday Scrabble Club. There are usually around 6-10 of us that play around 4:15...It officially starts at 4:00 but they patiently wait for Leslie and I to get off of work, run upstairs to our rooms so we can throw off our smurf uniforms and run across the way to 203 B lounge.
-Wednesday night "Fun Night" at 9:00pm. There are never any specific plans, you just have to show up and see what happens.
-Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I go yoga classes in the Chapel. This small little white and blue chapel and sits right at the edge of the hill so all you can see are those gorgeous mountains. Right next to the door there is a little old fashioned sign that says "Snow Chapel." Inside there is a stained glass window with a cross and a penguin. It's absolutely precious.
-I have two 30 minute breaks during my work day. During those breaks we play Yahtzee, Taboo, or Sequence depending on our mood. I always laugh hard. Like really hard.
-Every Sunday night I go to the science lecture with Leslie, Chris, Eli, and Cedar. We usually play cribbage while we're waiting for it to start, since we usually get there early enough to get "our" table, which is the best table of course. The science lectures have been incredible. The first was one from the producer of the show Planet Earth!!! That's when I decided I was going every week.
-Sunday brunch. Even though I work on Sundays and can't enough this special time, it still feels like Christmas Eve or Thanksgiving in the Galley. And I like that. Sunday brunch is one of those meals where people come with the intention of sitting for a long time and having really delicious extra special dishes and treats. It smells especially good in the kitchen, like cinnamon rolls and cheese from New Zealand. People have mimosas and good conversation. Maybe take some time to reflect on the night before. Sundays are the days I miss home the most.

I'm enjoying work a lot more these days too. I'm used to it and finally feel comfortable. I love all of the other DA's and we've become really close. The fact that we all endure the same pain creates a strong bond. I'm already planning the next time I'll see some of these people. But the thing that makes me really happy I'm in Antarctica are the small little adventures I have when I'm NOT working.
Some fun things I've done recently:
Skua Hunt.
Skua's are large seagull like birds whose only purpose it seems is to dive bomb people who are stealing food from the Galley and bringing it back to their room. Skua Central is a Goodwill like place where one can donate ANYTHING they want. In addition to the actual "store", there are Skua bins in every building. One day Leslie and I walked around to all of the Skua bins on Station. I'm guessing there's around 20. We found some crazy things: new clothes, a fake beard, soccer socks, Christmas decorations, neck warmer, and even a Fondue Pot! I think we took something in every bin.
Ice Caves.
One lazy Wednesday evening Leslie and I happened to be in the right place at the right time and were asked by "Rec Gene" if we wanted to go on the Ice Cave Boondoggle (there had been people standing in line for an hour waiting to get signed up for this trip earlier that evening). (Side Note: People here are often called by name AND position, like " James the Wastie", "Environmentalist Kevin", "DA Kira" these are actually real examples... ) So we of course said 'uhh, yes!', grabbed big red and our bunny boots and hopped in one of the Deltas with the other 10 people that got to go. These other people had played by the rules and had spent 2 hours that evening waiting in line down Highway (hallway) 1 to get signed up for this trip. We drove an hour to get to a recently discovered Ice Cave that will probably be gone 2 weeks from now. Ice Caves such as this one have been featured in National Geographic. They haven't found one here for 10 years, so I feel really lucky to have been able to go inside. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done. We were only allowed in there for 20 minutes, but that was enough to take 127 pictures and slide down the entrance hole a few times. : ) Leslie and I were trying to not act like inexperienced dorky DA's but our not stop oohs, aws, gasps, giggles, and grins completely gave us away.
Waste Barn.
On our day off Leslie and I followed a friend, Nick the Wastie, to his work Center to learn what happens within the world of Waste Management down here on the ice. It was incredible! Many were confused as to why we would choose this activity for our day OFF. I just think that if I'm here I want to know what is going on around me. It was really cool to see the facility and learn a little bit about how they sort the incredible amount of trash, what happens to it and where it goes. I learned how to properly package up huge cardboard boxes of waste, sort trash, and even got to jump in the sorting bins. Cool, huh!! The best part about being a Wastie is that among finding the occasional underwear with skid marks you find the Station love notes. I think it's almost worth it for the juicy gossip!

I think you've all had enough for one entry. Whew! I'll try and update it a little more frequently so I don't end up giving everyone headaches again. But I did want to say one more thing. Someone said recently that all the people without ties fall to the bottom, and end up in Antarctica. I've been thinking about that statement... trying to figure out what my loose ends are and how or if I'm going to get them tied.

Thanks to those of you who hung in there. : )

Love and miss everyone at home!