I have been in Antarctica for almost two months now, and it doesn’t feel that long at all. However, Winfly feels very far away. I miss the calm and peace and quiet of it, but meeting all of the new people has been fun, and with the increase in people, all of the new DAs are definitely needed. We are at about 700 people now, and the population will increase to be about 1200 in a few weeks. A lot of the new people coming in for the season are people working on scientific research. Every Sunday there is a science lecture so the people in the community can learn about the research being done. There have been lectures about nacreous clouds and weddell seals that I have gone and heard. They are very interesting.

We are getting flights in a few times a week, which means lots of freshies. We are serving salads every night and fresh fruit out all the time, which makes the community really happy. I never realized how much I missed fresh fruits and vegetables before now. The daylight is getting longer and longer which is weird. Even in the middle of the night it’s not totally dark out anymore, and by the end of the month it will be very light all the time. It definitely messes with your head; when you are inside you get tired like normal, but the second you walk outside you kind of wake up because of the light.

So things are pretty business as usual here in McMurdo. I work from 11-9 now, and then either go hiking, out with my friends, or just read and relax. A few Thursdays ago I went to American Night over at the Kiwi’s Scott Base. It was a beautiful walk, and you get a good view of the pressure ridges, which is where the sea ice and the ice shelf meet. They look like piles of snow that have been plowed, and are pretty cool to look at.

Besides hiking one of the other things I am getting into here is photography. There is a photography club here, and last week I learned how to work the settings on my camera, so I can learn how to take better pictures. I bought a Nikon Coolpix P100 right before I left but haven’t used the manual modes yet. Lots of people here know how to use their cameras really well, so it’s been great to get advice on how to use mine.

I feel like I am running out of things to write about in this blog; things here seem so normal to me now, I don’t really know what to talk about anymore. If anyone has any questions about stuff here, just let me know and I will be happy to answer them!