The First Four Days of Life at McMurdo

"When you live your life with an appreciation of coincidences and their meanings, you connect with the underlying field of infinite possibilities." ~~William James

 

Current Weather:  

-21°C|-6°F Temperature  

-21°C|-6°F Wind Chill
Skies: Overcast
Visibility (miles): Unrestricted
Winds (knots): Calm

It’s hard to believe I’ve been here for four nights, five days and it already feels as if I’ve been here much longer. The transition from stateside to instantaneous winter went smoother than I expected. I had my momentary brief breath taking stab of cold air when I exited the Airbus and from there, I pretty much hit the ground running. Acclimatization occurred in a matter of 24 hours.
 

The last four days have been filled with meetings, lectures, power point presentations, driving lessons, hands on learning, and social interactions. Little down time and it was great.

McMurdo Station was like no other community I had ever been a part of. It was a town and yet it wasn’t a town. It was like a college, but a college for mature, professional adults who enjoyed letting their hair down at the end of a long six day work week. Parties were hosted in style, yet when it came to work, it was some of the most quality, professional work I had ever seen. We lived and worked with limited resources, yet McMurdo was one well oiled machine. I had flown from Alaska to Antarctica and had arrived with not a single glitch. All I had had to do was get on the plane and hand my life over to Raytheon. They took care of the rest. They delivered me safe and sound into the arms of McMurdo.

Friday, the day we arrived from Christchurch, was a day of rest for us. We were briefed on the harsh climate of Antarctica, told to drink LOTS of water, make ourselves eat even if we weren’t hungry, and try to get some rest at a reasonable hour.
 

We were told in no uncertain terms that the weather would kill us if we let it.
 

It was quite the welcome speech.
 

From there, we were turned loose to find our dorm rooms and get our linens for our bed from the laundry room. I discovered that my room was located in Building 155. 155 was one of the biggest buildings on the station and it had been recently painted a vibrant blue. You couldn’t miss it. It was also the same building where the cafeteria, the store, the recreation department, the library, the weight room, and the computer kiosk were located. I soon discovered that it was the building where they put all the 1st season newbies.

Blue Building 155 (My Dorm)

I then met my supervisor Sharona Thompson. It was great to finally put a face to the name. As soon as I shook her hand I knew I was working for a good person, everything about her exuded confidence and genuineness. She made sure I was situated and knew where I needed to go. We agreed to meet the next morning at 7:25am to go to the Shuttles Office where I would be working for the next four months.
 

From there it was time to locate my dorm room and get my boomerang bag from up at the ATO Building (Antarctic Terminal Operations). I had discovered that my checked bags would be coming in on the second flight from Christchurch (the C-17) so I couldn’t get them until around 5:30pm.
 

I knew I would have roommates, but the quantity of roommates was unknown. Some people would have anywhere from three to six. I soon learned that I would be living with three other women. We had a tiny room and since I was the last one to arrive, the other three had already arranged the room, making it so that a bed was in each corner and that was our designated space (home) for the next four months. It was the smallest space I’d lived in other than my car in a while. But thankfully I didn’t have much. I had a twin bed, a decently large wardrobe, a bed stand, and a lamp. It was all I needed.
 

Due to the fact that quite a few people who work here at McMurdo work different schedules such as night shifts, some roommates will be on different schedules. It turned out all four of us would be on varying time shifts. We had one “day sleeper” as they termed it. She worked night shift in the kitchen so she slept from 10am to 6pm and then went to work at 9:00pm and worked until 9:00am. Another worked 10:00am to 9:00pm so I wasn’t going to see much of her, and then the other two of us would be working a 7:30am-5:30pm shift for the time being. Once the season got into full swing, I would be working night shift from time to time as would my other roommate. We would also eventually be working 12hr days so I would have the opportunity to get two days off a week when most people got one.
 

My first night in Antarctica I crashed early. The 4am wake-up, long flight, adjustment to cold, and zero humidity had all caught up to me. I ate dinner in the cafeteria and was soon passed out in my bed by 7:30pm.
 

I woke up feeling as if I was coming down with a cold, but I knew it was because of the lack of humidity in the air. The lymph nodes in my neck felt swollen, that feeling you get when a sore throat is coming on. Antarctica is so dry that every part of your body feels it. They weren’t lying about the need to drink water. Every cell in my body was craving agua. Giving into my thirst, I threw on my cold weather gear, brushed my teeth and made my way to the cafeteria for breakfast.
 

At 7:30am I met a few of my other co-workers in the shuttle department. It turned out our offices were located in the same building our boomerang bags had been in, the Antarctic Terminal Operations Building (ATO). We were informed that we still had at least ten or more people coming in to work shuttles over the next two months. So we weren’t the last to arrive. Eventually there would be a total of 26 shuttle drivers in our department. There were four that had arrived a week before us and they seemed as if they were veteran warriors in the world of shuttles. The rest of my co-workers were termed “Senior” drivers. They had been there for several seasons and could drive all the vehicles, including Ivan the Terrabus. Our ages ranged from 72 to mid-twenties. We were from all over the globe with all different backgrounds. It was amazing to see such a diverse group of people put together as co-workers. We were all different, but it was obvious that we had been chosen carefully and for a reason.
 

The four of us that had just arrived spent the day getting acquainted with the vans and the Airporter. We watched a video on “light vehicle” safety and how to properly check out the vans for a day of service. We were driving Ford Econoline Vans, something I have been driving for years. However, these vans were nothing like I had ever driven. They were equipped for extreme cold weather climates.

 

These vans were four wheel drive and equipped with a specialized mico-brake that worked as the emergency brake. The tires of the van were so gigantic that the van’s bumper was about chest level on me. There was a special step welded to the side of the van to help you get into the vehicle.
 

The Airporters which turned out to be dual wheeled in the back were just as interesting to drive. We soon learned that all “small” passenger vehicles were kept in four wheel drive for better traction on the ice and snow since some of the roads we would drive would soon be nothing but an ice slick as McMurdo warmed up.

We drove around to get a feel for the vehicles and before we knew it, our first day of work was over. The next day, Sunday turned out to be the station wide day off so we had the opportunity to sleep in and get officially settled into life at McMurdo. I spent it hiking around and getting caught up on the Rugby World Cup at the Southern Exposure (One of three bars on station). We were in Antarctica, but even people in Antarctica need to be able to watch the Rugby World Cup play offs.
 

I had had one day of work in Antarctica and I knew without a doubt that I'd made the right decision. It was indeed a life changing experience. It had already changed my life in just two days. There was a lot to learn when it came to operating the radios and learning all the dispatch lingo, but it was going to be awesome. I was driving these gigantic badass vehicles in harsh climates, shuttling people such as scientists and researchers all over the station. It was all in the name of science. Could it get any better? So many people were asking how I was getting adjusted and what I thought. Did I have any second thoughts?
 

No. 

 

I haven’t had a single second thought. They looked at me a little surprised. Well, give yourself a week, they said. It takes about a week for your body and mind to really realize what you’ve gotten yourself into. I just smiled. I knew what I had gotten myself into. I was exactly where I wanted to be. It was all in the way you looked at things.

To the naked, inexperienced eye, McMurdo looked like a dirty little mining town. My world was devoid of all colors on the outside except for white and red really. There were no trees, no birds, no sounds other than machinery and the rumble of voices. Inside the buildings, it was easy to forget you were in Antarctica until you stepped foot outside and got blasted in the face with a stiff -46 degree breeze. You were quickly brought back to reality.
 

And that was what I liked about it. I was brought back to life and put into survival mode every time I went outside. You could get frost bite in seconds on the right kind of day. Your eyelashes would freeze together in a matter of minutes. My skin stung from the cold. We were driving gigantic vehicles out onto sea ice that was constantly shifting and creaking with the tides. My life had turned into something where it took twenty minutes to get dressed just to go outside. Maybe a total of five inches of your face showed from time to time. Eyes were often hidden behind reflective glacier glasses or ski goggles, hair hidden beneath a beanie. You quickly learned to recognize people by the way they walked rather than their faces.

You learned to adapt to a unique environment because you had to do so in order to survive.  

 

Five days have passed. I still feel the same as I felt the first moment I stepped out of that plane on Friday. I’m here for the adventure and the adventure has officially begun. It’s now time to live it.
 

Yesterday another C-17 and Airbus landed with new arrivals. This morning we had four new co-workers, looking as wide eyed as I’m sure we looked on our first day of work just three days ago. We were standing outside of the office doing our morning stretch routine and one of the new men turned to me and said, “You just look so seasoned. Like you’ve been doing this forever.”

I took that as a compliment.