The housing department used a variety of information to determine where I would be placed. One key piece of information they used was my departure date, which is October 19, 2010. Only when they saw October 19, they assumed it was 2009 and that I would only be in McMurdo temporarily - possibly in transition to the South Pole (commonly referred to as Pole) or a Field Camp. Therefore, I was originally placed in temporary or transient housing. But heck if I knew what was going on, I just assumed I was where I was supposed to be, until people kept asking me, "Why are you in transient housing?" So I finally asked the housing department and the mistake was uncovered.
Thankfully, I am now in a fabulous room, with more storage space and a fabulous roommate. Amazingly enough, almost all of my roommates thus far have been quite awesome.
Here are some photos from my housing/roommate experience so far:
LauraLee on the far left is an undergrad doing some kind of robotic underwater science research. Bekah in the middle is a Diver from Davis California - post doc, so she actually gets to dive under the ice here and out at Lake Bonnie - she is here studying the microbial matts in the lake for community structure similarities between ancient and modern microbial communities. And then me, the pickle driver and supposed station Excel expert.
What a great word - "microbial" - it's just so much fun to say.
Me and Bekah in the Galley
Me and Martha - I love how her expression changes in these three photos. Martha was in my second transient housing room along with Hilary and Carol (not pictured) - who were all on their way to Pole for the season!
My current fabulous roommate - Lola - an awesome punk-rocker chick that works in Environmental. She takes samples and does inspections at various locations to determine the environmental impact we're having on Antarctica, and I SO want her job!
Anyone recoginze that phone? The one with the cord? Yeah...it's like a trip back to the 80s.
The awesomeness that is my current dorm room:
My super dooper closet, which is actually quite exciting as the first two rooms I was in didn't have one for each person. Since I'm planning on being here for the next 11 months, it's important to be able to put stuff away. In my previous transient housing rooms, I was limited to one night stand (with three small drawers) and underbed storage.
Whoever said happiness is a big closet, was totally right.
On the outside of my closet I have posted some inspirational quotes, cliped pictures from magazines and MY FIRST PIECE of ANTARCTIC MAIL, which was this fabulous Halloween card!
My Antarctic Bed, not the most comfortable, but better than sleeping in a tent.
My Antarctic Clothesline. Thanks to my ever increasing handywoman skills, I was able to craft this baby out of some nylon cord. All of my long-underwear are silk, and cannot be put through the dryer, so this has been most helpful in conserving available surface area in the dorm room.
The Antarctic Coat Rack - super important as our coats are like our cars. The coats also function as the Antarctic purse, having a total of nine pockets, of which all nine are usually full.
The back of my Bunny Boots with my Happy Buddha!
The Antarctic Window - seriously, I can open this thing and outside is Antarctica! It has two covers, a cover that goes over only the glass, fastened by velcro, and then an outer cover that covers the entire window box - to keep out the cold and the light.
My Antarctic Trash Wall - we separate all of our garbage into many different categories, so I created a sorting trash wall, which I empty once a week.
Luck has been in my favor this season, as most rooms are not fashioned with any sort of shelves outside of the closet, but these crates were left by my room's previous tenant. Also - my current roommate Lola is the queen of consideration and saved the shelf area for me, as well as sole use of the desk.
The Antarctic Desk - where my genius contemplates the nature of the universe.
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