Antarctic Field Course - Study Abroad

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Cathy's Journal

QA

Please use the links below to view a specific date further down the page. December - 2003 Sat. 13 Sun. 14 Mon. 15 Tue. 16 Wed. 17 Thu. 18 Fri. 19 Sat. 20 Sun. 21 Mon. 22 Tue. 23 Wed. 24 Thu. 25 Fri. 26 Sat. 27 Sun. 28 Mon. 29 Tue. 30 Wed. 31 January - 2004 Thu. 1 Fri. 2 Sat. 3 Sun. 4 Mon. 5 Thu. 8 Sat. 17

Photos credited to Cathy. Click an image to enlarge, hover over an image for a description.

December 13, 2003, Saturday

My plane left around noon, so we had time and finally Mom, Dad, and I left for Midway airport. Mom made Dad park so that they could come in with me. We went in the line to check in and then had my bags checked. I am traveling with Beth's backpack and I saw them take her bag off the line and pull stuff out of it. I am not sure if it was because it was a backpack or if they take every certain number bag, I hope that everything got put back in though. It made me a bit nervous. Mom is being herself, very nervous about the whole thing and is very nervous that I won't meet up with the group. She made me keep my cell phone with me so that I would have it to find the group, so she says, but really she just wants me to call her so that she knows I am safe and sound, she worries too much!

I was around with Mom and Dad for a little bit and of course had the time to take out the travel pals for a quick photo or two. I began the trip with three travel pals, Chippy, Gingerbread Fred, and Chocolate. I am hoping that I will be able to pass off one if not two of them to other students just for the sake of variety. The travel pals are from the school my Mom teaches at, which also happens to be my grade school. The travel pals are from third graders and the kids then ask someone who they know is traveling if they would be willing to bring along their travel pal. They are generally stuffed animals and carry around little notebooks/journals in their bags. The traveler (myself) is to write in the journal and take a few pictures on their trip with the travel pals included. Also it is nice to send a postcard or two while you are traveling, so that they can try and track their animal. It is a very interesting concept and the kids get real excited about where their travel pals go. I think that the kids really can learn something from it.

After the pictures I had to separate from my parents to go where only passengers are allowed. I was a bit sad leaving them, I think because I knew that I would not be around for the holidays and because I expect Mom to be sad as well. I got through the detectors and security and then waited a bit for my plane. I had a three-hour flight to Atlanta and then I waited an hour to get on my flight to Miami. Once I got there I called Craig to be sure that I could find the group ok and then went to baggage claim and he ended up meeting me there.

This is it I am in Miami and have met up with the MSU group; we are really headed to Antarctica. I had to then wait in line for Aerolineas Argentinos. While in line I called my Mom to let her know that all was well and that I met with whom I needed too. Then I called my siblings Beth and Bill to talk to them for a bit. Bill apparently didn't even know that I was leaving today. It was nice to talk to all of them especially since I don't know when I will next. It also helped to pass the time in line. I went through customs, etc and then found the MSU group. We had to wait and hang around for a bit for our plane. Most of us used that time to get some reading done for our course since we were all so busy with our finals and stuff the last few weeks. There was a random group of 15-year-old Argentine girls that were singing loudly in the airport! Unfortunately, they all ended up being on our plane. 9 I ended up sleeping during most of the flight, which is fine by me! I actually slept through dinner, and woke up as they were starting to clean up. The stewardess still brought my meal though, so that was nice and some people were still finishing eating.

Once we arrived in Buenos Aires we had to rush to get on our next flight. They were actually waiting for us since we were running so late. Our flights were not scheduled very well in terms of leaving us time when we needed it. We had to collect our baggage and then had to walk outside from the international airport and into the domestic flights, so we got to breathe Argentinean air! They then drove us out to the plane on a bus, as we boarded we found that most everyone else were already waiting on the plane.

It was Sunday by now and we were now 3 hours ahead of Chicago time. I slept on this flight again also, right through the snack even. We landed and I thought that meant that we were there, our final destination, Ushuaia! Apparently however we had just stopped and still had one more flight. Finally we landed in Ushuaia. It was a very tiny airport, and there was a lack of customs. The security staff made me a bit nervous, all dressed in black looking as though he was prepared for more then just tourists. When we got outside we could see mountains, they were beautiful! That first view, very exciting. And I really still am not sure what to expect out of this experience. A bus picked us up at the airport and then drove us to our hotel.

December 14, 2003, Sunday

Alyssa does speak a little bit of Spanish so that was helpful. Then Mike walked by and joined us for lunch. He had papas fritas and a hotdog, I was afraid of the hotdog, but I am at home also. He was very excited to learn/know Spanish, "papas fritas" is french fries. Lunch there wasn't very expensive; we paid with American money, because that is what we had. After lunch we walked around a bit and stopped at the tourist information center to see what there was to see. That didn't really seem to work out very well though, again with the whole language barrier. Jaclyn wasn't feeling 100% so she decided to go back to our room while the rest of us just kind of wandered the town. The whole group had talked and had decided that we would try to go out at 8:30 for dinner. I went back to the room and attempted to do some studying and eventually took a shower. I got some more reading done before dinner, but not really.

We all met downstairs for dinner and hit the streets. Again, we ended up splitting up because our group was so large. The first group went to a place that was later coined "the meat restaurant" and the group I was with kept walking and went to tante sara down the street. I ate gnocchi it was pretty yummy!!! Everything in this town seems pretty cheap I ate for like $7 (US). The conversion is not quite 3:1 so it is not bad, I really can't complain when my own currency is worth more than the local currency. On our way back from dinner some people stopped at the bar, I had decided not to because my head hurt a lot so I went back to the hotel and took some tylenol and water. I can tell that I am dehydrated. Then Jaclyn and I went with Kannan to walk down to the dock. I hadn't gone down to the water yet, so I was anxious. We found Mike and Amanda on our way down the stairs, so they joined us as well. Kannan is way into pictures and photography, so he just wanted to look at angles and views, etc for the future. He wants to be sure that he can get some good pictures and would like to win the study abroad photo contest.

December 15, 2003, Monday

We were sent to town to find the museo del mundo and the museo yamana. We went to museo yamana first and then decided to get some food before stuff closed again. We ate at the XBurger, which was supposed to be good according to others, but I must say that I was disappointed. It is probably their version of McDonald's, but I think I would have preferred that. We then went to the other museum. The first was one on world history and Pangaea and Gondwana and the second one focused on the people of the area and talked about the animals a lot. It displayed stuffed birds, penguins, and a seal. We went back home and then I wrote out my answers and thought about doing my reading. The museums were interesting because we were able to learn more about Antarctica and how it got to where it is and where it is going to move. We also learned about the past people of Argentina and it is always good to have some knowledge of the history of the country you are in. I also liked the museums because it was more hands on then just reading a text.

We met again in the basement of Cap Polina (our hotel) to have our review and turn in our answers at 6pm. We did a lot of reviewing of the reading material, but before that we also discussed the course, 30% of our lecture course is our journals. And apparently it is more formal then I had thought. We HAVE to include something science related or something new that we learned or that challenged our way of thinking for each day. They also have to typed and submitted in electronic form and include pictures. They are then going to be put on their website. I am not very thrilled about this website thing, but oh well I guess. It will be kind of cool to have this up for all to read and see. (Are you enjoying it yet??) I would imagine that it would also be a good tool for anyone who may be planning a trip to the same destinations. I am just surprised how formal it is becoming and beginning to stress me out. I have to go out and buy a journal soon because I forgot about it when I was at home and I need to get started on it so that I don't get anymore behind than I already am. The review itself was real helpful and calmed me because I was beginning to flip out about things. At our review we also found out that we have to be downstairs and packed by 9:45 tomorrow so that we can check out and have the exam at 10:00. Then we have lectures and are changing hotels.

After the review we were going to go out to get food, but Amanda and I decided that we weren't really hungry and that we could probably use the time to study so we decided to have ice cream for dinner. It was very yummy! We then walked down along the water while we were eating our ice cream. The shoreline there is not the prettiest or cleanest thing that I have ever seen. The water itself and the landscape are both so pretty, however there are several scattered pieces of trash around, it is kind of sad. We went back to the hotel and I tried to call home with no success. I did go and check my email and emailed Mom, technology is nice, it is a touch with reality for this little random town that isn't much of anything. Thinking how nice it was to have the ability to email made me realize how attached and accustomed to certain things that I am back at home. I have technology at my fingertips and just expect it to be like that everywhere. Same with studying I know how and where I like to do it at home, but when I am out of my environment or safety zone I don't know where t start.

I stayed up really late doing studying and reading in the hall on the second floor. Amanda was up with me for a bit and then I was up with Justin, other people would sporadically stop by and discuss some terms, etc for a bit.

December 16, 2003, Tuesday

We met in the basement and were all trying to get some last minute studying done before the exam. It was on a projector on the wall because of the difficulties with the printer, which kind of sucked and made me not the happiest. I am not sure how I did on the exam, but at least it is done and over with. After the exam Bob lectured about system science, which I felt like I was going to fall asleep during. I was so tired from being up late studying and for sure there in no Beaner's around here!

We changed hotels and I am sure looked like fools all carrying and dragging our bags the 3 or 4 blocks to the new hotel. We pretty much left the Albatross Hotel right away to grab some food and go to the third museum. We had a more expensive lunch at a restaurant on the coast; it was real good food, which of course only means that it was more on the pricey side.

We were then off to the museum, it was a bit more expensive, but was also a bit larger than the other two. It was also depressing because it was an old prison in the past. They used to keep political prisoners there until the government changed. At this museum we were to pick 5 things of interest from the Darwin museum, which was not a museum at all, it was a small room that we were all trying to get 5 facts from. It was funny to watch at least 12 of us try and find interesting facts in this room. They had one hallway left, as it was when it was a prison, which was dark and gloomy, and they had the bathroom at the end of it left alone which was kind of disgusting. Back in the normal parts of the museum there was this cat Cataleńa that just wandered around the museum, apparently she was born there and just hangs out and walks around. She reminds me of a much skinnier version of my old cat.

We had to be back for a meeting by 6:00 to review and prepare for the boat. We stopped at a grocery store on our walk home to buy some stuff for the boat. When we got back we talked about the plans for tomorrow and our group projects. Mike and I walked around the town for a bit to buy some alcohol, a journal/notebook, and I was looking for my grab bag gift. I bought a bottle of Vodka to take on the boat with me. I figure that the boat will be expensive and I am a poor college student. We went back to the hotel and I worked on my journal for a bit and then watched some television. Kannan and I ended up walking around town, we were both looking for grab bag stuff, he got his and I didn't. We saw the sunset, it was a bit cloudy but still beautiful. We ended up going to a pizza and pasta place. We split a pizza and it was pretty good, but I guess that it was a lot like all the other pizza in this town. I am not sure because I have been avoiding pizza, I can have that anytime at home.

December 17, 2003, Wednesday

After lecture I walked around town with Brad, Carrie, Kannan, and Stacey. We had to buy our grab bag gifts and some other random stuff. I ended up buying stuff from the first store that I had gone to with Kannan yesterday, so I am sure that he won't let me live that one down. We had a quick lunch and then ended up going to our old hotel to use their internet. I was able to check my email and my grades so that was nice. I am not too happy with at least one of them, but oh well, not like I will let that distract me and ruin my trip. At least I will try not to let it.

Then we were back to the hotel at 3:30 to meet with everyone else at 4:00. Poor Mark, he has been at the hotel all day sleeping or attempting to, he is feeling pretty shitty. Then we were off, across the street, to the water, and down the long dock. It was a long and very anxious walk to the boat. I was so very excited!!! I know that I am a total dork, but it was for real! We were getting on our boat, that is in the water headed to Antarctica The Orlova is a bit bigger than I had expected, but I had also forgot about the space for the crew. We were taken to our rooms and our bags were already there waiting. We had sometime to unpack and then we all met in the lounge and found out that we weren't going to leave until like 9pm because we were waiting for our head engineer (or so they said) to get to Ushuaia due to being late and flight delays. We then had our life jacket safety drill as well as the Captain's toast and Captains dinner. This was all while we were still at the dock. We had some champaign at the toast and then dinner, it was yummy. There was soup and salads, options for the main course, yummy steak for me, and dessert of course.

There are definitely a large number of older people on the boat, which I guess is what I had expected. Then there was more unpacking time, which was real nice to unpack for once. It made me not feel so on the move, gave me a chance to relax and have a home. Then it was really time to leave. Most of us were up on the top deck to watch the departure, Brad and Mark were not in attendance because they were both kind of sick in the past day or so and I think that the doctor may have visited them both before we even left dock. We stayed outside for a while because we could and it was awesome. We were estimated to hit the Drake Passage at 2 or 3 in the morning.

December 18, 2003, Thursday

I woke up pretty regularly throughout the rest of the night, but would just go back to bed. At 11:00 I decided that I would get up and get dressed, half way through that I decided that it was too much effort to walk around and do stuff so I crawled back into bed. All the lectures that had been planned for today were cancelled due to the weather conditions. Also, no one was really up and around. I decided that I would go up the front lounge to work on my journal in the afternoon for a bit and then I found out they were going to put in an Antarctica video. That room on the boat seems to be very active and accentuate the wave action, so I decided that I didn't want to be in that room nor did I want to watch the video, so I went back to my room and went to sleep. I guess that is something I have going for myself, I swear no matter how rested I may be or where I may be I can always go back to sleep!

By the time dinner came around there were many more people around and about, but for sure not everyone. Some people were waiting and passing time until dinner in the bar and since I was feeling well I decided to have the drink of the day "The Drake Shake." It was pretty yummy. I figured that since I was on it I should have the drink, I mean why not. I already knew that the boat isn't the easiest thing to walk around in, but it is so much harder when you are trying to carry food or something in your hand. I don't know how some of the staff does it. After dinner they showed two different Antarctica videos that I watched and dozed off here and there during both of them. I went outside on deck for a bit in the evening, but then was off to bed.

December 19, 2003, Friday

I got out of bed to go and hear the talk on seabirds by Delphine. It was real informative and had lot of pictures. After that was lunch and then I watched another Antarctica video. I took a nap and slept through the next talk, my bad.

After dinner tonight we had a mandatory meeting that talked about the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators Guidelines, which led straight into a mandatory zodiac safety training talk. This went over all the procedures for getting into and out of the zodiacs and how the landings would go. We also talked about staying at least 15ft or 5m from the wildlife and being sure to stay out of their way, we are to never block their route to the water. It is really weird too since this means that we are really, really going and really going to see Antarctica and the wildlife, I don't know what to think or even expect and have no idea how I am going to feel tomorrow.

All of the MSU group met after the safety training and discussed our group projects. I am officially in the penguin group with Bethany and Justin. We met quickly and all feel that our first (of three) landing tomorrow we should use to see and observe. We need it to try and figure out exactly how things will work, we don't know what to expect at this point. Justin had bought the two of us each a penguin for our group project. I am apparently doing my project specifically on environmental interactions. I am very excited about tomorrow we have so much to do with three landings planned; I was very anxious, but still able to easily fall asleep.

December 20, 2003 Saturday

We climbed down the gangway, stairs to the water level, and were then assisted by the sailors into the zodiacs. We were driven a short distance to the landing site on Aitcho Island and climbed out. The first impression… lots of penguins and they sure smell! Most of the site was covered with guano so that is so far the worst part. They are real cute and it is funny to see the way that they waddle. (By the way they really do.) It is even cooler that they are that close to you with no barrier in between! We walked down the path and over the mountain and back down and there we saw a bunch of elephant seals. There were lots of them, probably all male because it was so early in the season. Most of them were younger except a couple that had very large developed noses. They were all real calm and laid still; they seemed to be barely bothered by our presence. They were definitely aware of our presence, but that is about it. Well, one of them was a bit more of a noisemaker; some people may have gotten a bit too close for his comfort.

They use thigmotaxis, for heat, they all lay closely with body contact. There were also 2 or 3 Weddell seals that we saw. We did see a few skuas around us; these birds prey on penguin eggs. Unfortunately one Skua landed over by me with an egg in it's mouth and the ate it with another skua. It was interesting to see the two birds eat the egg; they kind of fought about it first and then ate it. It was a bit depressing to see, but that is the way that the food chain works and in order to live, all animals must eat something. We were then rushed back to the original site to get on zodiacs, however this was simply done so that we could just wait for a zodiac to take us back to the ship.

Back on the boat we had our lunch and got ready for our next landing at Yankee Harbor. There we saw a whole bunch of gentoo penguins. They have the white triangle patch above their eye as opposed to the chinstrap species with a black head, white chin, and black strap. The penguin group sat there and watched penguins to collect data, we again wanted to do some general observing and watching, we also had our journals out and wrote down information about their nesting habits and feeding habits to look back on later. At this point it seems as though this trip is going to be very scientific and not as relaxing as I may like. I know that this is a course so we therefore have to do some amount of work, but I guess that I hadn't thought this far into the future earlier. We also happened to see a macaroni and an adelie penguin individually amongst the other penguins.

Once we were back at the boat we had a brief discussion and some free time and then of course dinner before our next landing. The last landing was on Half Moon Island. It was cool to be able to do the night landing and since we are in the southern hemisphere and therefore daylight most of the time. It is way crazy how light it was. There were chinstrap penguins nesting here all over the place. It is weird to think about how much you can learn without trying to. The "norm" for education is reading and reciting and repeating and being told, but to go out and just observe teaches you so much as well. Today I learned about the seals and what they have to do for warmth and some of their adaptations for the cold, and the food web, without even trying to. The ability to observe that much and therefore learn it is amazing. Not to mention that by being forced to sit and collect scientific data I was also able to sit and enjoy things that I might not do all the time because life moves too fast. It also is surprising how much it interests me into the subject so that I want to learn even more about the subjects.

December 21, 2003, Sunday

After lunch, we went to Whaler's Bay (Deception Island). There we saw a Weddell seal on land that would pose for us to take the picture or so it seemed. There was also a plane and hanger as well as other remnants from the days of whaling. This was interesting, there were these old large canister things that would have been used for fuel storage and the processing of whales and seals. This would consist of burning blubber into oil among other things. This is also the site of an active volcano in the South Shetland Islands, and that is why the staff was able to dig hole in ground (black lava stones) and made a "hot tub," if you could call it that. Only a few people could go at one time, several of us girls went together and the next thing you know everyone was standing around with cameras, kind of creepy. Most of us went into the Antarctic waters, real quick, before we sat in the hot tub for a bit. The worst part was afterwards, when you were trying to put your clothes back. The wind just made it so cold, if you stayed huddled to the ground it was not as bad. As soon as I got back to the boat and could I took a nice warm shower!!

We were then told to meet in the forward lounge for our recap and briefing and told to bring our cameras along. The staff then sang a few Russian songs for us and celebrated Yarmaka (or something like that) with us. That was the theme of the night; they also had some Russian dancing and had us participate. The dinner was also Russian themed and as we went to the dinning room we were give a free vodka shot, very fun and a cultural experience!

December 22, 2003 Monday

Back on the ship we went down the Lemmaire Channel and couldn't have hoped for better weather. We were then able to spend lots of time outside. We were just enjoying ourselves, doing observations, we had the Spartan flag out and got it hung on the front of the boat. It was wonderful! I did get frustrated with Craig at one point during the day and was then able to voice to him my concern as well as some other people's frustrations. When things are out in the open it always seems to help smooth things over and for sure allows me to be calmer and more at ease. As the ship continued along the Channel we then found that two icebergs blocked the pathway and we would not be able to maneuver around them. So, as always in Antarctica, play what is dealt, we had to turn around. Along the channel we were able to see a humpback whale and calf swimming, playing, and jumping in front of our boat, it was very cool! (Cool has been used a lot throughout my journal and that is due to the fact that there is no way for me to describe to anyone what it was like or how amazing things were so everything then just becomes cool. I don't think that anything that you read here or any website or any pictures or videos that you see can in any way truly describe what this experience was like.)

For dinner we had a barbeque outside on the deck, the weather was beautiful and we had free beer! Not too much more that anyone could ask for. There was lots and lots of food and desert, this could have possibly been considered there American night, but who knows. They also had music playing on the deck to make it more enjoyable for all.

After dinner we had a landing at Peterman Island. This landing had a large Adelie penguin colony. They were super cute, I think that they are my favorite of all the penguin species that we saw. This is also the first place that I saw any penguin chicks, they just look like big grey puffs under their parents and I also was able to see a few of the baby chicks be fed by their parents. This is also where we saw the one species of grass that exists on Antarctica. There are many different moss species around, but this is the only grass species.

After that landing Sally did a lecture on continental drift and how the continents ended up where they are. Also about the future and what the future path of the continents will be. She also discussed why penguins are where they are. This is a very important concept and something that I want to make known to all. Penguins ONLY live in the Southern Hemisphere, from the equator and further SOUTH! There are no polar bears that live there. POLAR BEARS ONLY LIVE NORTH!! Therefore there is no place on the earth that penguins and polar bears live together naturally, (also a reason that there are no pictures of polar bears on these pages!) Afterwards people were out dancing on the deck, so much of the MSU group including myself joined. We were all up pretty late and helped in closing the bar down. I probably should have gone to bed earlier, but oh well. I am VERY anxious for tomorrow!

December 23, 2003, Tuesday

We then headed back to the ship for lunch and I was literally giddy, I couldn't have taken the grin off my face if you threatened my life. I couldn't stop thinking about it and how excited I was!!! I was so incredibly content.

After lunch we had one more landing. This was to Couverville; it was scheduled to be a short one. I would have been completely fine if the last one, the continent had been our last and final landing. We were reminded that this was our chance to say good-bye to Antarctica, our last chance to breathe in the air, sit and observe. That made me sad, because I was ok with being there and would have been fine to stay there longer. I didn't want to head back to Argentina, I didn't want to not live in close quarters with 19 other Spartans, I wanted to keep talking to these strangers that were a wealth of knowledge and from all over. Olle, our expedition leader had just made me realize so many things that I wasn't ready to. I knew that if we left Antarctica that we would have to sail the Drake Passage yet again and that we would eventually be docked and be back on land, completely separated and away from this experience and these wonderful people. Knowing that nothing in my life would ever be quite the same and that I could never recreate anything that I had experienced.

This was my mindset for our final landing. On our way there we saw a crabeater seal and got pretty close to it on the zodiac, it was sitting a top an ice chunk. There were gentoo penguins on the island that were further up in the snow, I didn't want to bother them or disturb them so I didn't walk up there at all. The "penguin highway" was very obvious here, the path that the penguins travel on from nest to shore. We sat along the shore and watched the animals and our fellow tourists. We took some last pictures as the tide came in. There were these two super cute Adelie penguins that came into shore while we were there. They were separated by ice pieces and were so cute trying to find each other. The wind had picked up and more and more ice kept coming in to shore so we were told to go the zodiacs a half hour early to go back to the ship. We did a short last tour and some icebergs and drove over one that had a low point that was filled with water. It was sad to get on that last zodiac back to the ship; I tried not to think that I would never be back to this place because it was so awesome. I want to go back and I would go back, and I would do it all over again!

The boat had already turned and began heading back north so were to hit the Drake Passage in the evening. By the time it was dinner (at 7pm) we had already hit it and the ship was again rocking and rolling. At dinner I made the complete observation that the tablecloths are wet when we are here, and confirmed that the heavy weighted glasses are used then also. I mentally felt that the ship could make me sick and nothing from dinner seemed appealing to me, so I got up and went to my room. I took about a 40-minute nap and took seasick medication, just in case. I then went upstairs to go to the talk and as I was going up Ellise commented that the room was terrible, so I just decided to skip it that it wouldn't be worth it and went back to my room to go to bed. I learned about this concept that all parts of the boat do not work in the same way at all. There is for sure a BIG difference in the way that different locations act along the water. It is pretty weird, but they just need to find a way to balance things out better so there is not so much movement and then more people would sail and less would be sick.

December 24, 2003, Wednesday

Throughout the day we had many lectures global warming by Sally and Antarctica 50 years ago by Charles. This also included a video of Charles' that was black and white from the days of whaling. It was a whaling boat and showed what these men did with the whale and also what there boat went through and what they would have to do to keep it all in good working order in order to return home safely. It was absolutely crazy and I appreciate that much more how luxurious our lives are on the sea. After dinner we had an Antarctica Swedish history lecture of 100 years ago by Olle.

It was Christmas Eve and therefore many of the staff began drinking outside. We all joined them went inside to the bar. I was talking with the 20-30 year old group for a bit, some of us wrote a message and put it in a bottle and threw it over the boat. We ended the evening with Tequila sunrises to go along with the sunrise.

December 25, 2003, Thursday

We had lunch and just after that we went around the tip of Cape Horn The weather was nice, so we were able to enjoy the time outside as last day on the ship. We had to pay our tabs from bar and could buy stuff from gift shop. Then we had the talk on "Roughy Toughy Divers of the Polar Seas" by Jason, which was pretty interesting. I also found out that they do scuba diving stuff in the Arctic and Antarctic, which sounds very exciting, expensive, but still exciting. I was surprised to hear about this simply because it is so cold and I would imagine to be prepared for all that a lot of money would also need to be spent on equipment.

We then had the Captain's Farewell Reception including all the staff and all the crew. We had a champaign toast in the forward lounge and then were able to anchor for a more pleasant dinner. The Captain's Farewell Dinner was a bit more fancy, not just the normal 3 options to choose from. We were served a 6-course meal, with cookies and bread as well, and to top it off beer and wine was free. The staff sang another Russian song for us. All in all it was wonderful Christmas dinner even without the family around.

At 10:00 (which was almost immediately) MSU met in the lounge for a gift grab bag exchange. It was fun and at least amusing for all and we all got to open something even if it was just a brown bag. Then we were off for drinking, Brad bought the bread group drinks and we stayed at the bar for another drink. Everyone had to get his or her packing done and bags in hallway before bed. I spoke with the 20-30 year olds, who all wanted the MSU gossip. It was pretty funny! No one was up too late because we have an early morning.

I did have this nervousness about today since it was Christmas. I thought that it would be a disappointment and that I would get home sick and that it just wouldn't be the same. I found that of course it wasn't the same since my family wasn't around and I didn't do the traditional things with my family, however it wasn't terrible. It was a Christmas that I will never forget and I won't forget the people that I spent it with. We were all in the same boat (no pun intended) and we all made the best of it and participated with each other's holiday celebrations.

December 26, 2003, Friday

At 10:00 at the hotel, only some of our rooms were ready so we put all of out stuff into those that were ready. We had a meeting regarding plans for later in the week. Jaclyn checked her email in the basement while I tried working on journals, but that failed because I was so exhausted. I then took a nap on the couch, and woke up when we got our room 30-45 minutes later.

Jaclyn, Amanda, and I went grocery shopping, while we did we saw people (both staff and passengers) from the ship around town, kind of weird to see people out of context. The staff has to be back on the ship around 4pm or something for the next tour, which I would be willing to go on. We made lunch in our room and then were productive; I worked on journals. Amanda, Carrie, and I attempted to go shopping, but it was siesta, so I went back and worked on journals some more. Later we went back shopping and apparently here you window shop, and see what you like that way. It was different, you go in the store and tell them what you are interested in, at least that is how I think it works.

At 6pm we had to meet with Craig and our project groups. We also had a meeting regarding plans for tomorrow, for the hike up the mountain. Tried to be productive and ended up going out for a quick dinner with April to XBurger and found Jaclyn, Amanda, and Bill there. After that I was journaling and journaling.

December 27, 2003, Saturday

After learning about glaciers we separated into our groups and stopped for brown bag lunches. My group was the easy group, simply because I didn't have a particular preference to what I did, we counted tree rings. The data collected is to be used for three girls projects, two of their senior thesis, we finished early so took a cab home and showered. For the rest of the evening I did journaling and went to the restaurant across the street for dinner and was then back to journal work.

December 28, 2003, Sunday

My room ordered hotel food, from the restaurant, Marcopolo for dinner. I had a breaded chicken thing and some Spanish potatoes, not bad at all. This reminded me that you don't always need to search out far and wide in order to find something enjoyable. The restaurant that is in our hotel is very good and I could have probably eaten there the entire time in Argentina. That is one of those when you go out looking for anything don't forget to start at what is at your feet.

I worked on my journals a lot and a bit on my presentations, but it is hard to do with the limited number of computers that are available. My group also met to see what we had to be sure was included in our presentations and also talked to Craig about them just to be sure we were on the right track.

December 29, 2003, Monday

Amanda and I took a quick trip to the grocery store, however the lines were huge, so it ended up not being as quick as I would have liked. This I assume to be something from the culture, but I learned if I ever need to go again I am going to go during the day, just because everyone else seems to go at night. I also talked to Craig regarding my presentation and some specifics. I then worked on my personal journal for most of the night, I figure since other people are doing presentations tomorrow they should have the first chance at computers.

December 30, 2003, Tuesday

We were to meet back in the basement for presentations at 5pm. We went through 11 out of the 20 presentations and were finished at like 9/9:30ish. After that I spent the rest of the night working on my own presentation. I was up extremely late trying to get it complete. That is something I realized today is that it is extremely more difficult to focus and complete work here. I am on a vacation and don't want to have to sit at a computer or do work all the time. It is also difficult because at home I can go and sit in a cubby at the library and stay there for hours and hours on end to get stuff done. I also always know that I can go to the library, anytime of the night, but I don't have that same luxury here.

December 31, 2003, Wednesday

January 1, 2004, Thursday

January 2, 2004, Friday

We drove to the airport, putting an end to our adventure in Ushuaia.9 We left Ushuaia and flew to Buenos Aires, arriving around 6:30 in the evening. A bus again picked us up and drove us about half an hour to our hotel that actually looked pretty fancy. There was not really any opportunity for shopping, which is probably good for my credit card. We went out to dinner at the steak place that our tour guide recommended. It was really good and not very expensive. There were 10 of us that wandered around Buenos Aires together, which if nothing else was amusing. We ended up stopping at a sidewalk café/bar and having a drink or two because it was early in the evening. We asked for directions to get to a disco and ended up at some small bar by asking directions again. There we talked to the bartenders who wrote down an address for a two-level disco to get to by cab. That was our next plan of attack and we actually got there, all 10 of us! It was a fun evening and ended around 4 in the morning. Back at the hotel Bethany and Jen were my new roommates, but neither one was at home. I was up for a bit talking with Callista and then went to bed.

January 3, 2004, Saturday

I realized that as we boarded that plane that it was about the time (probably even a bit later) that we should have been landing in Florida. Boy was it a long day, and we could have spent the entire time in the city itself instead of the airport had we known. I sat next to Amanda on the flight, which was nicer then sitting by someone who didn't speak English like I did on the way here. I slept for the majority of the flight, but this time made sure I was up for meals.

We arrived at the Florida airport around 4am. We went and got all of our luggage and when I found mine, I also found that it was all wet, something inside my bag had opened. Of course it would have been in the bag that contained all my clean clothes, hopefully it won't be too much of a mess. I was able to find another MSU student of age to carry 2 wine bottles through customs since I had more than the permitted number. It didn't seem to be a big deal though. Once we got all of our bags and group together we went to find where the hotel bus was to pick us up. We had to go in two groups and we still didn't all fit. We were about a half hour from the airport so it took some time for them to come back and get all of us.

January 4, 2004, Sunday

We had a long day out at the Everglades and then we all pretty much decided to go out to dinner together. We took time for showering and then went out to eat. We walked down the streets looking for Chinese food. We ended up at a buffet that was relatively inexpensive. Stacey's birthday is tomorrow so since she will be traveling we helped her celebrate today.

The rest of the night was spent packing and hanging out as our last night together. We watched some football and played cards, but all turned in pretty early.

January 5, 2004, Monday

I called my sister and talked to her a bit about my trip to let her know that I was back and we made dinner plans with my parents so that I could tell them about my trip and show them the pictures that I had developed while in Argentina. Finally my parents picked me up. I was very excited to tell them all about my trip and very excited to be home!

January 8, 2004, Thursday

Travelmates visit Antarctica
Cathy K., who is a former student of Saint Mary and daughter of our seventh grade teacher, talked of her recent trip to Antarctica. She took two of the student's travel mates and our class journal "Gingerbread Fred." The students were excited to learn about Cathy's travel and the animals of Antarctica.

January 17, 2004, Saturday

I am aware that my life isn't the same anymore; so many things just are so miniscule and unimportant in the big scheme of things that I don't stress about them. I am aware how much more there is to do and see. I know that I have fallen in love with the idea of travel. I also know that I would like to go back to Antarctica, someday. If the opportunity came around there wouldn't need to be that much thought. I found something on my trip that is indescribable it is not a mountain, a seal, a penguin, or a person, but it is something in me, something that makes me happy and also makes me wonder. I can't describe my experience to you or anyone it is something for me that I will always know about. Go to Antarctica if you can, go on a study abroad program while in school, it won't hurt you, but know that it will change you.

When I think of the trip now, it was not just to another continent, but an exploration. I imagine this porthole as being the last part of Antarctica that I saw, but not the last time. I don't think of it as my trip ending and the last time that I will be there, but instead when will I be back here and what has this porthole to the world opened up for me. Only time will tell.