Settling in

I can't believe how time flies down here. It's been two weeks since my last entry and it seems like it was just yesterday. There really is a ton of stuff to do here and after working 12 hour shifts there isn't much time to sit in front of the computer. I should be a little more regular on my entries. And I swear there will be more pictures to come.

So over the last few weeks I've just been settling into life here in MacTown. It's been fun almost all the time and there is rarely a dull moment. The twelve hour days leave me pretty exhauasted so I find myself hanging out for a few hours each night, either playing volleyball, working out, or just popping in a movie with a few of my roomates during the week. Going to sleep varies considerably down here depending upon what's going on in the evenenings.

Thursday night has to be the best night of the week. It's American night at the New Zealand base, which is only 2 miles or so from MacTown. I've gone to it the last two weeks and have met a bunch of really cool Kiwi people. They are absolutely the friendliest group of people I've met. They are all very kind and sincere. One of the Kiwi's I've met is this great girl, who I liked instantly. She's a very sweet and smart girl ( a scientist). Too bad she will be leaving the ice in two weeks. I'm hoping for the chance to get to know her better.

The biggest party on the ice has come and gone. The Halloween party was a week ago Saturday and it was the best I've ever been too. The people down here are so creative in what they dress up as. There were a few robots, a camel toe, a run down shuttle driver, a bunch of tiger costumes made out of old flags for the GA's, some cowgirls, pirates, death, a guy as a blow up pony. Deb, Matt, and I did the Super Mario theme and it turned out great. Deb's costume almost didn't work since the princess costume she got made her look like a prostitute at first. But it all worked out and the party was a lot of fun. Not as crazy as it is made out to be from people who have been down before, but still pretty crazy. It was said if your single by the end of the Halloween party then your single the whole time on the ice. I really didn't see the mass hooking up everyone was saying would happen. So I still may have a chance :)

The week after the Halloween party is follwed by the 70's vs 80's party. Much lower scale but still a lot of fun. I got a great 70's shirt from a roomate and had fun hanging out mostly with the kiwi group all night. The party scene is now officially kicked off and supposedly there are more to come.

Driving in shuttles is really the best job on base. It doesn't pay all that much, which is great for me because I didn't care at all what they paid me down here. There is a ton of down time in shuttles just waiting at the bus stop or waiting for a taxi call to come in. It's extremely nice to just have this time to think and reflect on where I'm at or dive into a book here. I read the kite runner in three days here with the down time I had while "working". The shuttles crew is definitely an awesome group of people. There are a lot of differences between us - age and background - but everyone seems to get a long real well. It should be a good time with them all this season.

The today show is here in MacTown. The did not make it to the South Pole because of weather and are going to do three days of broadcasting starting tomorrow morning US time. People here were really excited at first about the chances of getting on TV. However, it looks like most of the broadcast is going to be on the science conducted down here and not on the people who keep the base running. There is about a 9 to 1 ratio of support people vs science so some people are a little upset they aren't going to show the ture operations of the Antarctic program. I was lucky enough to drive around the today show crew one afternoon to the place they are thinking of filming from. Then yesterday I got to pick up Anne Curry returning from a Helo flight. She didn't say much. Though very kind, I think she wants to return to warmer weather.

Talking about the season, it is already November now. I'll probably be out of here and back in New Zealand at the end of February. It's already down to about three and half months left. I am kind of hoping things can slow down a little as everything seems to be moving by a little too quickly.