Some random impressions about being back here

Some random observations from week 1 back on the ice:

Skin on your hands turns to sandpaper within a couple of hours of arriving in Antarctica because it is so dry here.

For about 24 hours, there is a deep sense of loss at not having a cell phone or wireless internet.

After a day or so, you fall into step as if you never left, and your “regular” life seems like a distant memory. Every moment of the day is filled, which is both a blessing and a curse. You fly into Antarctica in the evening, then you go to work at 7:30 the next morning and work until 5:30, then do the same thing for the next 6 days. Sundays are very precious indeed.

You clearly can identify winterovers (folks who have spent a year here) by their indifference for hygiene, but they have largely cleared out and gone home as more and more mainbody (summer workers) have arrived. Winfly folks (a handful of people who come down in August) tell us that they were ostracized by some of the winterovers, treated as if they were invisible, or worse, told not to touch their lathe or their milling machine, for example. (All equipment down here is owned by the National Science Foundation, not by any of us.) People who have been here a long time have a very strong sense of ownership (some have been working here seasonally for 30 years) and I have found it is best to defer to them whenever possible.

One winfly person told me when I arrived that she would do just about anything for an apple – there had been no freshies (fresh fruits or vegetables) in over 6 weeks. Now we have lots of fresh produce because the C-17 has been coming in every day from Christchurch. The freshie budget was increased by $150,000 this year – good news indeed. I ended up eating a half-rotten banana I brought down from New Zealand my second day here, just because I knew it was a rare and precious commodity at the time. Lines for salad (always just three ingredients – tonight it was lettuce, sliced tomatoes and mushrooms) have been 25 people long.

Scott and I have noticed that our fingernails have grown extremely fast since we got here.

The hairdresser (a fellow Hungarian) told me to never let Scott cut his own hair again. She was aghast at how many different lengths he had when she gave him a trim yesterday. Finally, after almost 5 years, Scott has agreed to let me cut his hair when we get home. He looks great!

When you step outside, your nose hairs immediately freeze and when you walk or jog outside, the invisible fuzz on the side of your face transforms into unsightly mutton-chop sideburns in a matter of minutes. Eyelashes form tiny icicles that take several minutes to melt when you go inside. Tears stream down your cheeks as you pass from building to building, messing up your mascara. Surprise, surprise, Antarctica is cold.

It is so much easier this time around! Hardly any stress at all, but a newbie (or FNG) confided in me today that she has cried every night since she arrived because it has been so hard to adjust. I remember feeling like that last year too. It's a different world here.

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