Well, it’s official. I am now a resident of McMurdo base, Antarctica. On Wednesday morning we boarded an Air Force C-17 for the final leg of the journey. Flying down there makes you feel like a big deal. You’re strapped into a jump seat, dressed in the official USAP red parka and full cold weather gear and you’re riding down with essential supplies and equipment.
So far McMurdo is pretty badass. The food is really good, my bed is fairly comfortable, the people are nice and there is actually a lot of stuff to do down here. We have three bars down here, there are hiking trails, cross country skiing, science lectures, yoga, a ball sports gym, weight room, pseudo Movie Theater and much more. Do keep in mind that we’re all here to work, but it’s nice having a variety of things to do after the job is done. As far as my work goes, I am a General Assistant for the heat trace project. I’ll get more in depth to the details of my work at a later date, but my basic job description is indentured servant.
The weather has been pretty nice. When I got off the plane it was 10 degrees out with no wind. It wasn’t long before I was sweating in my heavy cold weather gear. I guess yesterday was kind of cold, with the wind chill factored in we were hitting as low as -40 degrees but if you wear the proper clothing and keep your skin covered it is quite manageable. I can already tell I’m acclimating to the conditions. If you like getting sunburned this is the place to be as well. It is imperative to wear sun block or you will crispy up in no time due to the intensity of the UV rays.
This first week has been spent getting settled into base life and job. Tomorrow I have training that’ll allow me to venture off base to places like observation hill and I’ll have a few more recreational things to do. Speaking of rec. classes: I’m thinking about doing yoga. Is this a good idea or a bad idea? It is something to do and it’ll probably be good for my muscles, which get quite the workout on the job. Well, time and internet bandwidth are limited here. I’ll have plenty more to write about how things are going here in a short time.
I hope everyone back home is having a good time ‘cause I sure am!
Hey, Daniel. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying yourself!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I haven't taken much Yoga this year quarter beyond the WiiFit over the summer, but I always find it enjoyable. It not only works on your muscles but it trims them up and helps you be more flexible. I would recommend it.
Do you know what kind of classes they offer? They're hour classes where someone leads you through various positions over 40 minutes to an hour, right? At OU they have different strengths of classes: Yoga, Power Yoga, Yoga Flow. I'm not sure what Yoga Flow is but regular Yoga is for beginners, and Power Yoga is a class that goes through the various positions much more quickly than Yoga.