I know I haven't been very good at journaling recently, but since I've arrived here in McMurdo, there has been a whirlwind of activity. We arrived on the afternoon of December 6th and were rushed into town orientation. In addition to the required NSF/McMurdo arrival talk, we had dorm check in, linen pick up, a tour of the necessary buildings: Crary Lab (where the science happens), Building 155 (containing the galley, offices, store and dorms), Post Office/Mail room, Science Support Center (SSC), and the Berg Field Center (BFC).
Tuesday and today (Wednesday) I've been at Snow Craft I Class (aka Happy Camper). This is a 2 day course on basic survival skills. After class was over today, I had a 2 hour window where I took a nap and then it was back to work. My Principal Investigator (PI), John Stone, presented our research project at the Wednesday night science lecture in Crary Library which I attended. There I met two more members of our team, Brenda Hall and Gordon Bromley, who are both from the University of Maine Climate Change Center. After John's presentation, we sat down and went through a 14 page list of available food and made our meal plans for the field.
It is now 11:00 pm and I'm exhausted from spending 36 hours outside in the sun, wind, and cold and am slightly overwhelmed at the magnitude of everything: the landscape, the weather, and the planning that goes into an expedition of this nature. I promise to write more later about my flight down here and both days of Happy Camper. I'll also get more photos posted.