Four months, quite a long time. The last post I was being reflective and was all ready to conquer the world a couple times over. I will say that I have had good moments and some bad moments these last four months. At times I have been able to recapture the feeling of my last post and be super motivated. Other times I have been bored, complacent, and not as driven as I'd like to be. I have been in this cycle for a while. I feel I'm once again motivated and hope it lasts this time.
I thought that the best way to approach this new post was to start with some pictures of the last four months and add some info on top of that. To start, the end of the Ecuador trip.....
Marsha, Erica, Charlie and me up on the top of the Mountain overlooking Quito. Erica I knew from New Zealand when I traveled there last Spring. Charlie and Marsha were in Erica's Spanish school/homestay and while I was in and out of Quito I'd meet up with them for some adventures around Quito. The best of the moments were laidies nght at Bungalow Six in the Mariscal and dancing till my knees hurt. I do miss those nights.
Me in the Cuyambe River in the Amazon Basin in Ecuador. There weren't too many photos of me from the 4 day trip to the Amazon so it is not the best of the best of the pictures. The beauty of the Amazon is hard to capture in a picture. It was a great trip living in bungalows, relaxing to the sounds of the forest at night, and touring with some new friends on the trip.
Overall the trip to Ecuador was fantastic. The people I met were the best part of the trip. I wish I had spoken Spanish well enough to communicate with the locals more because I defnitely missed out on learning more about the people and culture of this country. As it is, the travelers I met and hung out with and traveling with my friend Angie made the trip so much fun. I want to go back to South America at some point. However, I imagine it could be a long time before I get back there as I have so many other countries ahead of any in South America. Maybe this will give me time to learn some Spanish before getting back that way.
After Ecuador I headed home and had a month back in the states. In that month my Sis had her first baby. Abigail Grace Boissy was born September 22, 2008. She is absolutely adorable and I can't wait till I've got more time at home to see her and the family again to hang out. During the time home,I visited all the famly once again and had good times with all. During the month, I was in a bit of a rut or funk as I did have very little to keep me busy. I was just waiting for October to come and my flight south to Antarctica.
Back in Antarctica. I got back October 15 and it has been the fastest two months I can remember. The above photo is from the top of Observation hill looking out to Mount Discovery on the last sunset of the year. It was about two weeks into the season. As it was last year, the ice has been a very good thing for me. On the plane ride down it felt like I was coming home. In some ways the ice really is my home right now. It is the place I have spent the most time at in the past year. Being able to see your good friends every day just adds to this feeling.
Audrey and I on the top of Ob hill at the last Sunset.
Another picture up at the top of Ob Hill with my friend Kris. This is her firfth season and this was her first trip Ob Hill. I was privledged to be part of her hike up the hill. 
A view of my space in my room of 155. The room is shared with three other guys. My friends Kris and Lisa decorated the space and surprised me with the new layout. It is an absolutely awesome design. Just to clarify (because I feel it absolutley necessary), the fabric on the wall is not purple, it is actually blue but for some reason it looks purple in this picture. My friends decorating the room was one of the nicest gestures I've been given as this is my home for four months. To be able to go home and be comfortable and not have to look at ugly walls and ceiling tiles is huge.
A Shuttles Thanksgiving. A look at Thanksgiving dinner with a majority of the Shuttle Drivers. A great Crew and a great dinner. Hanging out with this group fills the void of not having any family around. Last year it was very special to have Deb and Matt down here, especially during the holidays. Now that it is just me the friends I've got made Thanksgiving a great experience.
Shuttles picture for the 08-09 Season. With 12 of 18 drivers returning from the year before, life in shuttles has not changed all that much. It is a great group of people to work with. From Joe and Bill in the over 70 group and friends like Taryn, Kris, and Audrey to work with it is the best job on station.
The ice caves off of the Mount Erebus glacial tongue. The formation has not happened in eight years and I got lucky enough to to see and go down in the cave. The caves are by no means huge, just one good sized room. There are all sorts of great ice formations and with the sunlight coming in through the ice to light the cave it is one of the best sights I have seen. It is truly breathtaking.
A view of the roof to the ice caves. That blue coloring is for real and just amazing.
The parties of McMurdo. Absolutely the best. A lot of fun people being goofy and dressing up. Two more months to go and more parties to come. This photo is of the prom party a couple weeks before Thanksgiving. Yes, that is me with my shirt open in the background. Luckily the pants aren't shown in this picture as they were crazier than the shirt. 
Halloween at McMurdo. This is the biggest party of the year on station. That is me in a bathrobe in what is supposed to be a shower. I attempted to do the Karate Kid shower and it worked out pretty good. Thanks Chris U. for doing this a few years back and giving me some ideas on how to construct one down here. Friends Kris, Sharon, Kashka, and Patty in the picture.
Some nice kiwi girls decided to check out the shower. And stupid me kicked them out when the shower started to fall. I should have just let the thing fall and get trampled.
Overall the season on ice has been good. It has been a little different from the first year and I sort of expected that it would be. I keep extremely busy and feel that I'm busier this year than last. After working 12 hour days there isn't a whole lot of time left in the days. I play volleyball and soccer so that takes two nights of the week. In the free time I do have I hang out with friends, watch movies, have learned how to knit, go out to the parties on Saturday night, hike a little bit. I haven't had a whole lot of time to be on the computer or to read this year. I'm going to make a better effort to set aside time to get in touch with my friends off ice and to get lost in a good book. For work, I've been lucky enough that I've had the same schedule the entire season. I work the 7 to 7 day shift and there is a very good chance I'll be able to continue working this shift until the end of the season. Which means I won't have to be on nights this year. While there are benefits to be on nights I am really happy I won't have to go. A lot of my friends will be on days and it would be tough to be away from people I have grown even closer to this year. It is the midpoint of the season here with Christmas coming up soon. Last year the last two months was far better than the first two months. I'm not sure if that will happen again this year as the first two months of this season has been pretty good. If it continues like this it will be a great beginning to 2009.
