TravelStream™ news feed for member cweickum on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/cweickum en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 29 Jan 2006 21:10:22 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cweickum/antarctica/1138585620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cweickum/antarctica/1138585620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cweickum/antarctica/1138585620/tpod.html Sun, 29 Jan 2006 21:10:22 -0500 Blue Ice

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McMurdo Station, Antarctica

Last week I was allowed to go to Snow School. Snow School is where a group of us go out, and learn to survive in the Antarctic. We learned how to make a snow wall (whichs protects a tent and campsite from wind) made out of large ice/snow bricks. We learned how to make a quinze. A quinze is a shelter where you sleep. There were 4 of us girls sleeping in the quinze. We learned how to put up Antarctic tents, and securely fasten them to the ground so the wind wouldnt blow them away. We learned how to cook outdoors.. and a bunch of other things. It was really interesting, and I had a great time...although it was A LOT of hard work...shovelling and sawing!!
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McMurdo, Antarctica

Every year an ice breaker has to come to McMurdo to make a path through the ice for the supply ship, cruise ships, and the science vessel to come in. The icebeaker this year is the Krasin. It is a ship from Russia.
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McMurdo, Antarctica

The following are pics of a field trip that the DA's got to go on to the Golf Ball. The Golf Ball is a satellite dish that is used for NASA stuff.
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McMurdo, Antarctica

The following are pics of things around the town of McMurdo. We have various places to go, things to do here. There is a coffee house that is very nice. There are workout facilities, a "gerbil gym" or cardio gym, and the weight room. There is a church, and two bars.
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McMurdo, Antarctica

3 days a week I work at the Long Distance Balloon Launch Galley. We are providing lunch at an area about 8 miles from the town of McMurdo for the scientists and construction workers that are on the Balloon Launch project. There are two balloons that are launched from the area over LDB. The balloons carry payloads that weigh from 6000 to 8000 lbs. The actual balloons are the size of a football field, and top out at the elevation of 120,000 feet. The two different balloons are studying different things. The first is the CREME and it is studing cosmic rays. There ultimate goal is to study highly charged rays to prove or dis-prove the big bang theory. The other balloon is the ATTIC balloon. I cant remember what they study...but will find out and re-do this part of the entry.
The following are some pics of the area that I work. I will try to get more pics of the inside of the buildings...
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McMurdo, Antarctica

The following are some of the most beautiful pictures I have of Antarctica. They are truly breathtaking. Some were taken by myself, and some were taken by others. I hope you enjoy them all.
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McMurdo, Antarctica

In our spare time (which is sparce) we have many options of things to do. There are bars. There is a bowling alley. There are parties. There are recreational activities, such as 3 on 3 basketball tourneys, bowling, dodgeball, volleyball, pottery, etc. Since I have been here, I have bowled 4 times.. 2 having been cosmic bowling. There have also been various parties. They have had an 80's party where people got decked out in their finest 80's outfits and danced to Devo. There was a S&M rave where crazy outfits were abound and music was thumpin. There was a carp shop party (which was thrown by the Carpenters..hence Carp Shop.. held in the carpenters shop)This was far the best party. There was a few bands that played, comprised of our talented co-workers. The first band was a bluegrass band that even had a strumming banjo player. The next two bands played covers of various artists. It was nice to hear live music by great musicians.
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McMurdo, Antarctica

On October 5 Tammy and I got the opportunity to go fishing around Cape Evans. We wentg with two girls named Jill and Ann. We got driven to fishing huts where we had to chip at the hole in the ice that had been made earlier by big drills. We would then pull the traps up out of the sea ice and remove any fish inside. The scientists study the fish to see how they survive in such cold water. There are usually bunches of starfish and these foul smelling worms in the cages too.
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McMurdo, Antarctica

On one of our first days off there were 4 of us that decided to hike the Castle Rock Loop. Is a 7 mile hike to a place named.. you guessed it, Castle Rock. We geared up with our ECW (Extreme Cold Weather Gear)and took off. Before heading out for the actual hike, we were required to check in with the Fire Station. We gave them the time we left and how long we thought it would take for us to complete our journey. If we dint get back in time they would be required to send out a Search and Rescue party.( so.. you obviously allow for more time then you think it will take)

It was a beautiful hike. It was the first time that I was actually happy to be here. Along the way are safety huts, referred to as apples. They are placed along the hiking route in case weather turns poor and you need a place to seek shelter.

It ended up taking us about 4 hours.
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McMurdo, Antarctica

I lived in a dormitory they call MMI, or Mammoth Mountain Inn. It sucked. There were 2 of us girls living in a box. The girl they chose to suit me the best as a roommate is a girl named Vera Elektra Eppard. We are very different, and at first I thought it disastrous. She is a smoker, and a heavy drinker, and unnervingly intelligent... opposite of me. Now, having lived with her for 6 weeks (or so) I find us a perfect match.

I work in building 155. I work as a dining attendant. My responsibilities include (but are not limited to) washing dishes, washing pots, sweeping and mopping floors, stocking food, maintaining food lines, deep cleaning EVERYTHING, cleaning bathrooms, maintaining and cleaning juice machines, milk machines, kool-aid machines, ice cream maker ("Frosty Boy"). There are two shifts that rotate every 2 weeks. One shift is from 6am till 4pm. The other, 11am till 9pm. Makes for long days.
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