McMurdo 22-23

The season in McMurdo is complete, but I don’t know how to put it eloquently into words.  There was too much stress, strong emotions, too many questions, and times where I just had to put the blinders on and keep going.  There were high highs that made me love the place, and low lows that made me hate the place.  I think I aged at a faster rate for much of the season, already amongst the middle-aged crowd, though thankfully, I held my own on the soccer floor and in the running races with a nice crew of younger friends. 

McMurdo is a strange place.  After a time, people know the drill and they don’t like change.  It can take a long time to break into the community and make meaningful connections, but it does happen.  For a while I felt like a ghost – people barely noticed I existed, and certainly very few seemed at all interested in my presence.  I had many meals alone surrounded by a galley full of lively conversations.  At some point, I just didn’t want to sit down with a table full of strangers.  It was a dose of humility, every day. 

Work was also challenging.  My boss and I did not communicate well and I never really figured out how to improve things.  The combination of work and community made for a rough reentry after 10 years away from the station. 

But as time went on, little by little, I started making connections.  Work got a little better but never that great, while other things began to improve.  The group that played soccer every Friday night was stellar.  Such a good group of people, such fun soccer, always cheering for each other – it was a weekly highlight for all of us.  We played 3v3, with little nets, with walls in play.  If you score a goal, you stay on.  So much fun and some of my best friends from the season were from that group.

And slowly I met people that were of like minds.  I even taught a sign language group for a few months.  Also, so much fun and a source of much needed laughs, smiles, learning and connection.  By the end of the season, I was so grateful to be able to come to a place and meet such wonderful people from all over the country and world. Of special note was the New Zealand construction crew that worked in my building. Such friendly folks, I gradually got to know many of them and by the end, they were some of the people I looked forward to seeing most. There is something about that carefree Kiwi nature. So friendly, and always ready with a laugh.

I wasn’t really part of any social group but that was okay.  I had a blast plugging in here and there when I wanted to.  And as an introvert, I needed some time alone and was quite happy with a solo Saturday night. 

Music was a part of my routine for the first time ever which I was very happy about.  I played my mandolin with a paramedic who played the banjo. I played guitar with a helicopter pilot and even played on stage a few times.  (One was great, one was a partial disaster.) 

And through it all, got to visit some wild places, go on some fantastic hikes, revel in the glory of the Antarctic and even participate as a member of the Search and Rescue team. It was a season of highs and lows, of patience and practice, and of questions with not so many answers.  Humble pie was served up every day. But I still loved a lot of it and true to its form, I’m excited to go back next season. In what capacity is to be determined but I am excited to return in a new job, already well integrated into the community. Thanks for following along, sorry there weren’t more posts along the way. Internet bandwidth is about the same as one household in the US to support 1,000 people so it’s impossible to upload pictures to the post – and without pics, well, you’ll see. Thanks, as always, for reading!