It’s amazing to think that a year ago I was living in San Francisco and getting ready to start an adventure in the Virgin Islands. Now, I’m at the bottom of the world – literally! We arrived around 1230pm and the weather and cold wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I was thinking super freezing so I put on 3 layers of thermal underclothing as well as 2 jackets and wind pants. It was cold on the plane but by the time we got off the plane and was walking to our living quarters, it was so hot! Course I did have to stop and catch a breather for a few minutes but I really thought it would be worse. I guess with the barometric pressure the elevation was around 10,000 ft. The actual elevation is 9,130 ft or something like that but the barometric pressure is what makes it feel like it is higher.
So I live in what they call summer camp. They are jamesway tents – kind of like thick canvas and they insolate it with snow to retain the heat. I live in a small 6’X8’ room. They weren’t joking when they said it was small. My twin bed is almost a foot short of touching both walls. If you put stuff on the floor, expect it to freeze. So most of my stuff is hanging on screws on the walls. The walls dividing everyone’s rooms are plywood which is super thin! It’s true; I can hear my neighbor turning the pages of the book he’s reading. The bathrooms are across the way in a different building so hopefully, I won’t have to go in the middle of the night! They actually give you a #10 can to utilize when that happens – I don’t know if anyone took any since the pile was still quite large. All the things I thought people were joking about are actually true – frozen floors and pee cans.
The new station is extremely nice. I’m tempted to come back next summer and winter over just to stay in the nice building! And it’s warm in there. Good thing I brought my sleeping bag. I’ll definitely be sleeping in my long johns and wool socks!
A co-worker of mine from Wyoming came here for 3 summers. She and another co-worker suggested I take my own snow boots and they recommended these shoes called Steger mukluks. I had never heard of them before but I’m so glad I got them! They are so comfortable. The only thing is that I tried them on with 2 pair of cotton socks so they don’t fit with wool sock at all. Anyway, they are extremely warm even with just 1 pair of cotton socks on. Thanks Mary Kathryn and Emma!
I’m partaking of a high altitude sickness research program sponsored by the Mayo clinic in Minnesota. They did some tests on me at McMurdo – breathing and took some blood. I checked in with them today and have to fill out some paperwork everyday for the next week on how I’m doing and if the diomox is working…some people chose ginko and some didn’t want any drugs. Anyway, the research is to find out why it happens. So this Friday I’m to go in and give more blood.
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