Hello and welcome back to the second installment detailing some of my life while working and living at McMurdo. I know the burning question that may be on your mind after reading my previous post is did I get my laundry done? The answer is YES! It was a fairly painless procedure. the dorm building I live in, Building 155, has a small laundry room equipped with 6 washers and dryers. No money needed, and all the detergent is provided. I have decided to make Sunday's my laundry day, cliche I know, since it is my day off. I was worried that would be most people's same plan but to my surprise, I had no issues getting a machine. I was even able to do two loads! So, luckily for my coworkers and roommates, no smelly clothes in sight. 

Speaking of roommates, I figured I would use this second post to go over what the living arrangements, and the day to day is like outside of work. 

I live in what is known as Building 155, the largest dorm building on base which also contains the galley (cafeteria), lodging offices, recreation offices, barber, computer lab, store, radio station, craft room, and multiple lounge areas. It's where a majority of the sleeping space is on base, however there are multiple other dorm facilities spread around. I share a room with, currently, 3 other guys. We have a total of 5 beds, as the one I am in is a bunk bed. Word on the street is due to a lot of construction and different contract crews coming in at different parts of the summer, there is a good chance we will have 5 people in our room, at least for short periods of time throughout the summer. I will be honest here and say I hope it does not come to this, as the space isn't huge, but we will make due if need be. Each quadrant of the room is separated  by a large wardrobe for clothes, and getting some tips from my roommates who have all spent multiple seasons down here, we have hung sheets around each of our part of the room from the ceiling to add a little more privacy. My roommates are all fantastic, which can mean some different things to different people. For me what that means is friendly, and quiet. For the most part, the only thing most of us are doing in the room is sleeping, so that's why the quiet part is important, especially since we do not have the same days off. On Sundays, for example, I do not have to work, and may want to sleep in an extra hour or two. Having roommates that are conscience of that and will get ready in the morning quietly is something that is very much appreciated, and I repay that favor on the days I work and they are off.

Outside of work, there are tons of things to do to break up the monotony of the day to day. Whether its fitness related, by hitting one of the multiple gyms, or exploring the multiple libraries, or attending workshops and joining clubs, thee only way you can really be bored is by trying. For me, i have been focusing on running again. On the cold days, there is always a treadmill to run on, but now that summer is setting in and the temps are getting above 0 degrees F, as long as the winds are modest, the trails outside are great for exploring. I will post a few photos from one of my more recent runs at the bottom of this page. They are still a little snowy in spots, but easy to navigate. I also spend time in the dorm lounge, which is where I am currently sitting to write this. The lounge also has a large TV and someone is always playing a movie of some sorts that you can sit around watch. Currently "Crimson Tide" starring Denzel Washington is on over the top of my laptop screen. There are plenty of organized events as well, like movie marathons, running marathons, music festivals, art workshops, and weekly scientific presentations. The last one of which, being an overview of working in mission control for NASA, specifically overseeing Space Lab, which was given by one of the National Science Foundation Administrators on base who, before working here in Antarctica, worked in Mission Control for over 10 years. It was an absolutely fascinating presentation. Now that more of the science grantees are on base the presentations will start to focus more on their work here.

Outside of the dorm buildings there are 2 bars, which I have not spent any time in up to this point. If i get the wild hair to drink a beer or two, I may hang there for a bit, but I have not really had much of a desire to partake. Once things settle in and I find more time, maybe I will spend more time there, but after a 10 hour work day and getting is some exercise, I'm typically ready for bed! There is also a coffee house with a movie theatre, that up until today had been closed for maintenance (burst pipe over winter), a large gym with a basketball court and small climbing wall, and even a sauna. There area tons of board games to play, books to read, sights to see. During the summer, there will be opportunities to get off base and to a few different parts of the island as well as onto the mainland, granted you have gone trough the proper trainings for spending time off base. These classes consist of emergency survival training, as well as environmental impact training. The continent is guarded by the Antarctic Treaty, which requires any country who is actively conducting operations on the continent follow strict regulation regarding contamination, and keeping the untouched environment just that. Untouched, as well as protected. Countries in violation of the treaty can be barred by international law from setting up any legitimate research anywhere on the massive landmass. There are a ton of details about the treaty that I'm not going to go into here, but I highly recommend looking into it if you are curious. 

Finally, the last bit of recent news i would like to share is that after an application and interview process, i have been selected as a volunteer on the Auxiliary Search and Rescue Team. While there are multiple full time positions for SAR, each season they recruit 4-6 volunteers from other departments to assist the full time team, and train with them to assist in the event of an emergency. I will now be spending my Thursdays , one of which i have already had, training on technical rope rescue, medical aid, and all sorts of other Search and Rescue fundamentals. It's definitely not something I even knew about before getting down here, but figured I would throw my name in the hat. I've only had one training so far, but it is something I already know I will deeply enjoy. I'm learning a ton of new skills, and perfecting a lot of the skills I've already learned through my background climbing and living in the outdoors my whole life. This also means I will be on call for two different jobs, but it has all been cleared through my supervisors. It also means I will possibly be spending some time on helicopters, as well as operating Hagglands, which are a Swedish made tracked military vehicle which are widely used down here for extreme terrain.  

I think I will wrap up this post with two photos from my recent run:

The first is a shot looking out into the Ross Sea over the tom of Scott Base, which is operated by New Zealand. It is only about 2 miles by road from McMurdo, and we share power and fuel with them. It's very normal to see Kiwi folks on base, stopping by to visit the store or just to hang out. The Kiwis also host an "American Night" at their bar, and invite folks from McMurdo to come over and see the base and drink. 

Second, another shot the Ross Sea from the trail which heads around Observation Hill, a steep hell just on the edge of base. The stake in the foreground is what is used to mark the designated trails around the area. There is a trail that also climbs to the top, and on my next opportunity, I will head up there with the camera to get some shots of the base and surrounding area.

That's all for today!

Matt