Emi's Journal

It's Christmas time. I love Christmas time! I love decorating, I love baking, I love making candy, I love giving gifts. I love doing Tree of Joy in Creswell.

But as much as I love being home for Christmas, being with my family, doing all this stuff I love…. A piece of me aches for the southern hemisphere. I find myself almost unable to look at pictures without tears coming to my eyes. Every day I'm reminising on "one year ago today…"

And I wonder if my fellow Antarctic travelers are having the same problem. Or am I alone in this? I was the one person that wanted so bad to never leave the ship… The one that didn't ever want to leave. The one that didn't want to go home. So maybe I'm the one that aches to be back? Every day. I long for a world of ice, penguins, and pristine beauty as far as the eye could see.

Don't get me wrong. I'm excited to be home! The family Christmas is… Well, I guess now it's today. I love being with my family! I love giving gifts! And getting them isn't half bad either. I was so glad to be able to do Tree of Joy distribution this year, as I missed it last year. And I love Christmas!!!

It's just that part of me can't help it. And sometimes it's a disturbingly large part of me. I miss my friends. I miss my travel buddies. They had my back. And I was the trouble-maker, so that's saying something! Not that I chose to be the trouble-maker. Things just turned out that way. But despite the trouble I got myself in to, I long to be back. I long to be on the ship. I long to be on deck. I long for the snow, the noise, the waves. I long for the people I barely knew that cared about me, and helped me even when I was so tired I was freaking out. I long for the hours of sitting in complete awe of what was in front of me. Hours I spent just staring at the ocean. Or the penguins. Or the ice. I'd give anything to be back.

And it hurts to think that maybe Christmas wont ever be the same. Every year a part of me will want to be there. And I wouldn't trade that for anything. I wouldn't. But still. I feel like as much as I love Christmas, I can't throw myself into it like I used to. And maybe that's a good thing, because I was such a Christmas geek before that maybe it needed toning down. Because compared to your average human I am probably still a total Christmas geek, even with a part of my heart stuck, frozen to the other end of the world.

But I miss my ship. I miss my travel family. I miss my penguins. I miss adventure. I miss that endless wonder. That endless awe. That feeling that any moment I might wake up and be back home… That it was all a dream… It was too good to be true, but it was! But now that feeling is reality. Every time I go back… And I do… I wake up back home. And I long to go back to sleep, back to the Sveteva, back to my dreams. Back to the people, the places, the sights, the sounds.

I miss it every day, but especially this time of year. It's hard. People I know are there. Even people I encouraged to go. And I hate that I am jealous, but I am. Because Antarctica is my dream. It's my adventure. And it's a time in my life that has shaped who I am. Antarctica is a part of me now, and I am a part of Antarctica. And that will never change. And I don't want that to change. Through the tears, the longing, the aching to be back…. It's a part of me now. And I will be back someday. I don't know when, I don't know how, but I will be back.

The room was dim. People were milling around. The music was loud. I was sleepy, spacing out. And I waited for the room to shift. I waited.

Had the room shifted, bad things probably would have happened. Because I was sitting in the conference center at Riverhouse. I was not on the Sveteva, curled up on a squishy blue chair in the bar. As much as I wanted to be, I wasn't.

I was tired, and the setting was so familiar. I half expected to close my eyes and wake up on the ship. I've missed the ship a lot in the past month and a half. A lot. But this was different. I felt like I was there. I wanted so bad to be there. And tears almost came to my eyes when I realized I wasn't.

It all went away almost as soon as I stepped out the door, and headed back to my room. But for one glorious minute, I was there. Followed by the depression of realizing I wasn't. But for one glorious minute…… I was there.

The 29th. We were on our way back. The flight from Ushuaia was not terribly exciting. Not that any of the flights were. That's beside the point. I was in the middle, in between Josh and some person that was not with the group. I cuddled with my penguin, dubbed Popper (even though it's a Magellanic, not a chinstrap…. Popper is just way too good of a penguin name), and tried to sleep. Josh's shoulder was very comfortable, but I still couldn't sleep.
Then we landed in Buenos Aires. It was hot. We got off the plane (out the back door… That was different), and I walked to the bus that would take us to the terminal. Once outside I almost instantly started coughing because the air was so hot and heavy. Despite being in a T-shirt it was way too hot for me. We went to the baggage claim, and some of our people decided we needed to wait and make sure our bags didn't come out, since they were supposed to be sent through to Miami. Probably a good idea, but I was desperate for air conditioning and ice cream, and decided I would trust the system…. But we were sticking together, so I stretched out on the concrete floor because it was cool. Yes, I am pathetic.
Our bags did not come, so we headed out. First we decided to pay our airport taxes to get that out of the way. Then we found out that they were included in our ticket price, so that saved us a step. Then we walked to terminal A. Besides being where the international flights were, the majority of our group desperately wanted McDonalds. I really didn't, but I was desperate for an ice cream. So we walked to terminal A. I was again miserable, since we had to walk outside.
I got a McFlurrry, because I really wanted ice cream. An oreo McFlurry. It tasted OK, though I wasn't too excited about the chocolate sauce they added. It wasn't too much, so I survived. Then I wandered around as the rest of the group ate. I wandered just about every direction that I could wander…. And I found out that our gate was in terminal B, not terminal A, so we would have to go outside again. Awesome. Also found out that my stomach does not appreciate the idea of McDonalds, even in Argentina, and even just ice cream. Some amazing premonition that morning had me put a pack of pepto in my carryon, so that helped.
So everyone else ate and I walked around in circles…. A lot. Once everyone was done we headed back to terminal B. Again outside. Again Emi was not happy. I seriously started coughing every time we stepped outside. I apparently can't survive in hot humid places, because I cannot breathe.
So we went to terminal B and went through security. Every single one of us got patted down, which was weird and awkward. And somewhat ironic (I did NOT get patted down or body scanned during any of the 4 times I went through security in the US). Then we had to do some exit immigration stuff… And then we were up in the gates. I again was one of the first people through. I found out our gate, as well as Michael and Cinda's gate. They were in terminal A, but the terminals were connected by a skywalk, so a few of us went to go stalk them. Though most of our group opted to go crash at our gate instead.
I went to stalk Michael and Cinda. We hung out with them for a bit, until their plane got ready to board. Then we said some goodbyes (again…), and headed back to our gate. There was some intensive snacking, discussions, and Bananagrams. And some work on homework too. But mostly talking and snacking and Bananagrams.
We had a red-eye flight back to Miami. So we were all pretty tired when we boarded. I was again in the middle, this time in the middle of the middle, between Desiree and some random person. Desiree switched with Josh so that he could have the aisle.
Amazingly, I slept. I was tired enough that even I managed to sleep on the plane. This seldom happens, but I did it. I woke for dinner. And then slept again. I slept almost eight of the nine hours of our flight. I woke up an hour before landing, having had a nightmare about my apartment collapsing into a sinkhole. This was likely connected to a crack about sinkholes that I had made earlier in the day. But I had this nightmare, and it was really annoying because it really freaked me out for whatever reason, and there was nowhere for me to go. Usually after a nightmare I get up and walk it off, but I really couldn't do that…. Everyone around me was asleep.
But then we had breakfast, and that helped. They had little packets of dulce de leche, and everyone in my section gave me theres…. Even the random lady next to me. I realized that I couldn't get through security in Florida with dulce, so I ate four packets of it. Straight. With a spoon. It was delicious.
Then we did our customs forms. It was somewhat of a challenge, as the only forms they had were in spanish…. But we managed.

And it was the 30th. And we landed. And we were back in the US. And it was time to part ways.
We got our bags, and went through customs. It was surprisingly fast, but then it was about 7:00 in the morning in Florida…. Then we gathered as most of our group at international arrivals. And did our final goodbyes. I surprised myself by not crying. But it was hard. Much hugging occurred. Some pictures. And then we split up.
Josh and I were both flying US Airways, so we went there together. Got our tickets, and then split up. There it was: I was on my own again.
I went through security with only minor problems. They had to scan my bag again with my camera and binos separate, but then they were happy and let me go. I knew my gate was in J terminal, but I had about 7 hours to kill, so I decided to go to the Delta terminal to find people from the group again. I wandered over that way and found Jamie, Kristina, and Kristin. We set up by a charging station, and there were many phone calls made…. And I got everyone with iPods online, since I had payed for the unlimited wifi for the month (it was the same price as an hour, so why not?). I joked about how we had gone full-circle… The 4 of us were together on the 14th, and there it was the 30th and it was the 4 of us again. Though we were later joined by Brandon. Then Jamie, Brandon, and Kristin left, and it was just Kristina and I. We both had flights after noon, so we wandered a bit. Went to my gate to see if I could get on an earlier flight… That was a no, so we grabbed some lunch. I had some spinach and cheese Italian thing that was delicious, and a bowl of dulce de leche ice cream. Both were quite tasty. Then we lurked at Kristina's gate for a while, because her plane was leaving first. Some little kid ran up and petted Popper, who was sticking out of my backpack, which was very cute. And then Kristina's plane was boarding, and I headed down to my gate. And again I was on my own.
The flight to North Carolina wasn't very far, and I again slept most of the time. Apparently I learned how to sleep on airplanes. Which is nice. When we landed in NC it had been over 24 hours since we left Ushuaia. I was so tired…. I called my mom to let her know things were looking like they were on time, then called Teresa and talked to her for a while.
Then we boarded the next plane. I was not feeling as tired, and was instead quite bored. I watched as we chased the sun west…. The sun beat us, and before too long it was dark. It was also cloudy, so even lights were hard to see (though when we passed over big enough cities you could see them). We had wifi on board, and some guy nearby was sharing a promotional code that would allow you to access for free. So I hopped on, if only for the novelty of it. Got on facebook, and ended up talking to Kristin on facebook for a bit. By then probably everyone but me had gotten to where they were going…. And I was still working my way across the country.
Then I fell asleep. I woke up as we started our descent into San Fran. For the first time I woke up confused. I was confused by the person next to me. Having spent most of our flights sitting next to Josh, my first thought was "Hey, you're not Josh…." And for the first time I really felt alone.
I had about an hour to make my connection in San Fran. It was late, and not too many people were around. Much to my dismay, I had to switch terminals. Apparently there's a super secret shuttle that allows you to do this without going through security again, but as all the signs said to go through security to switch terminals, I did. I also called my mom to tell her it looked like things were going to be on time. Shocking!
I got out and tried to figure out where I was. I knew I had to get to the other terminal, and was trying to figure out how to get there. I was also trying to figure out what gate to go to, since I thought knowing the number would help. Well, I was in the other terminal, so there was no information on my flight….. So I tried to follow the signs to the other terminal, but when you do that the signs just end, and you aren't at the other terminal yet. I walked around in circles for about 30 minutes, about ready to break down because I was so tired, so lost, and so alone. And there was nobody around to ask. I still wanted to know what gate I was at, because I thought that would help, so I went to one of the self-check-in machines, hoping to get some flight information. The info I got was that my flight was delayed a half hour (big shocker there….), and that was it…..
So I finally figured out that I could take the Airtrain to the other terminal. And got confirmation from some fellow airtrain passengers that I was going in the right direction.
Finally I made it to the right terninal. And then I had to get through security again. They were down to one security line, but had two people checking boarding docs. Of course I got in the line that didn't go straight through to the security, so I was in the line that had to merge with the other line. Horrible game plan SFO had running there…. But we eventually made it through. Me still tired and frustrated and getting very very complainy. It had been abut 35 hours since I left Ushuaia, and I was so over this airport thing. Everyone else was back home, and I just wanted to be someplace not in transition…. Honestly I wanted to be back in Argentina or Antarctica with the group, but I was willing to take Eugene….
Made it through security, and found out what gate I was at….. And found out my flight was delayed an additional half hour. Called my mom to let her know. Then found a spot to plug in my iPod and get wifi. Got on facebook, complained about being stuck in San Fran… And then played some games on the iPod.
Finally we were able to board the plane, and were on our way to Eugene. It was a short flight, and I chatted with the person next to me. Then we landed, and I was one of the first off the plane. Thirty-seven hours since I left Ushuaia, and finally I was where I needed to be.
Went down to baggage claim, and joined my mom. Was quite pleased to see that my bag had successfully made the long journey with me, and then we were on our way home.

And that was that. It was over. And now I am all caught up on writing about it. That night I showed my mom some of my pictures, ate some alfajores, and finally went to bed. Cuddled with Ret and went to bed.

It was a long long amazing journey, and it was worth every second. Every penny. Every scary hard moment. Every awe-inspiring sight. Every word I had to write to get credit…. It was worth it. I still relive it. Whenever I fall asleep, I'm still there. I dream it. Walking across campus by myself, I'm there. A piece of me is forever in Antarctica. A piece of me is forever on the Sveteva, laughing with the group, throwing snowballs at Michael and Jamie, hanging out with penguins, falling asleep watching orcas…. I'm there.

I know I'll be back someday. I don't know when, I don't know how, but I'll be back. Maybe not until I get my final three continents, but I'll be back. Back in the driest, coldest, highest, windiest, most beautiful place in the world. My favorite place in the world. Where I belong. If home is where the heart is…. Antarctica…. Is home.

Still on the 28th…. Off the ship and onto the bus.
We drove to Tierra del Fuego National Park, and did some hiking around. Saw some middens from the native Yemena people (or Yamaha, if you're Joy ). Hiked through the woods. It felt like Oregon. Closed my eyes, and it sounded like Oregon. It was strange…. The trees were different, the smells were different, but otherwise it was Oregon… It felt like Oregon.
I was taking pictures, enjoying the hike. Consequently I was lagging behind a bit. Plus, despite my best efforts, my iron was still low. So I lagged behind.
We drove around some more, and did another hike. I kept lagging behind. Enjoyed some cool ferns. And bird sounds. And a peat marsh that was pretty cool. Beautiful woods, mountains, the Beagle Channel…. We ended up at the end of the Panamerican Highway. We took pictures by the sign, and then piled back into the bus. We drove to the main visitor center, and had lunch. Delicious empanadas for me. And a piece of wonderful cake. It was labeled coconut cake, but was 25% cake and 75% dulce de leche. Amazing.
Wandered around the visitor center for a bit. Went to the gift shop, looked at an exhibit about the Yemena people, harassed some non-native rabbits… You could walk right up to them and they just didn't care. And then it was back into the bus, and to the hotel.
We got settled back in at the hotel. I claimed the downstairs couch, as I had apparently grown fond of sleeping on couches… There was a dash for the computer, or wifi… Only to find that the wifi wasn't working, so an even more mad dash for the computer. I had enjoyed being off the grid, but was eager to check my e-mail for word about a job I interviewed for before I left. I was quite pleased to find out that I was employed!!! And then I hung out as the others checked e-mail and grades and all that good stuff.
Then we had a group debrief. We all met in Jamie and Michael's room and talked about all the amazing things about the course, and what could be improved. And then we established the game plan for the night, and finished up.
Most of us headed in to town shortly after. I had left my shopping for after we got off the ship, so I wanted to grab a few things. Cinda and I went stuffed animal shopping. After stopping at a sporting goods store to do some shoe browsing…. I was tempted to get an awesome pair of red and orange Salomons to replace my falling apart Salomons, but I resisted. Instead I got a big (life-sized) penguin for me (a Magellanic), and some little things for some other people.
We met up at the Albatross Hotel, and walked up to a restaurant for dinner. It was a barbecue place, with amazing looking meat stretched over a fire in the window…. I was sold, but others were reluctant… We went anyway. It was not cheap, but it was our last night in Argentina, and it was a buffet so we could get our money's worth. Many people went straight for the fries… Myself included until I decided that the ketchup sucked and I couldn't eat the fries without good ketchup. Everyone else found this odd. I instead enjoyed empanadas, the craziest salad bar ever (in which I constructed a "salad" of everything but vegetables), and MEAT! Oh man, the meat was good. I ate tons, and was quite full. But found room to eat flan with dulce de leche. Yum. And then I zoned out, as my end of the table was deep in some political debate. I don't really know what was going on… I was zoned out.
After dinner we payed, and a bunch of us piled into cabs to head back to the hotel. They got the wifi fixed, so I got on my iPod and got caught up on my e-mails… And updated my facebook to let everyone know I was alive.
Some of us hung out in the lobby area for a bit… Then we went and watched the end of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days… And then we invaded the guys' room and told stories with them for a bit. We owed Josh some stories, since he had told us a bunch the night before…. I had my penguin, and was curled up on the floor again, and they made jokes about me falling asleep on the floor. But I didn't. I did go back to my room, curl up on the couch, and I was out.

The 29th. I got up earlyish in the morning. It wasn't all that early, but most people were still asleep. I went back into the lobby area to get online (my iPod has screwy wifi that only works close-range). Lurked in there for a while, and spent some time outside again. Also got all my stuff together and brought it out to the lobby area, since we were again storing it there so that once everyone was out of the rooms they could clean up.
Cinda and Michael were the first to leave. They had an earlier flight than the rest of us, so they headed to the airport first. A bunch of us were up to see them off… Some hugs were exchanged. And Michael pointed out that we would more than likely meet again in Buenos Aires…. But hugs were exchanged anyway.
After that, a bunch of us walked down to the store. Some wanted to buy snacks, I wanted to buy alfajores to bring home, and we also wanted to get lunch. I ended up with some ham and cheese tart thing that was pretty good. We laughed as a couple people went in together to get fixings for hot dogs. We finished up our shopping, and headed back to the hotel. At that point everyone was out of the rooms. A few people that had headed into town early were showing up again… And we had a "picnic" on the front steps. Laughter at Erin and Jeymie over their hot dog cravings, and the passing around of cheese and crackers…. And our final good times in Ushuaia.
Then the bus came, and we loaded everything up and piled in for the short drive to the airport. There we unloaded and got in line to check in. There was some confusion as they didn't check me in through to Miami, and my carryon was over the domestic flight weight limit… But with the help of Tami, our awesome guide, we got things figured out. And then everyone was checked in, and we headed for security. Made it through no problems (except when Jamie got called back to security, but that apparently wasn't anything), and waited for our turn to board the plane. A bit of confusion again as we tried to figure out where we were going, and some chatting with other people on their way home…..
And then we were on the plane. And on our way home.

The 26th. Woke up back on the Drake! I got up early and went up to the bridge to watch birds! I was determined to find a wandering albatross, as I had missed the ones on the way down. It was the last of the albatrosses that I could expect to see on the trip, and I was determined to get it. The birding scene was quiet, and the ride was rough. We didn't see too much in the morning.
Down for breakfast, then back up to the bridge! More bird watching, though there weren't too many birds around. I missed the first lecture, too busy up in the bridge sighting birds, but went down to watch Steve's presentation on the life of a seabird. It was mostly stuff I already knew from classes and from talking with him throughout the trip, but it was good stuff.
Then it was lunch time! Had lunch, then back up to the bridge! Spent much of the day on the bridge, which was great. I was one of the few people feeling pretty good, and I was enjoying catching up on what I missed on the way down. Lots and lots of open water, lots and lots of waves, and some birds! I even got several wandering albatrosses! I was up there when we passed through the Antarctic Convergence, which was interesting. Lots and lots of fog. Here I started my "ghost ship" jokes. Always just beyond the mist, always.
I was going in and out of the bridge quite a bit. The bridge was hot, and outside was cold…. I finally caved in and grabbed my jacket so I could spend more time out on deck.
Out on deck I happened across Jamie, and we spent a while outside. I was enjoying the waves, and the fresh air was nice. The temperature was hovering right above freezing, and to me it was feeling borderline warm… With my jacket on anyway.
Then we went in and I spent more time spotting birds. And watching waves. I really did spend almost the entire day up there. It was great! I also spent some time hanging out in the bistro, where many people were hanging out and chatting. And there were cookies. Delicious cookies. Alfajores. Good stuff. And I caved in and bought a shirt. An orange one.
And I worked on packing stuff up…. I didn't want to. But I did.
Then Michael gave a presentation, so of course I had to go to that. And then we watched Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean, so I stuck around for that. And then it was happy hour, so I kept hanging out. Was this the day that there was cake? One day there was cheesecake. And I ate a piece and a half of it, and it was delicious. I think maybe this was the day that there was cake, because I think this might have been the day there was steak wrapped in bacon for dinner, and I had to leave because for some reason the smell of bacon (as much as I love bacon) was acting as a trigger for me not feeling great.
So then it was dinner. And if I remember correctly, I left dinner early… And after dinner we gathered as a class, and did some discussing and stuff as best people could…. Many were feeling the effects of the Drake, and were not able to take part… Or didn't last long.
And we hung out in the cabin. I ate candy…. And did goofy things like figure out that I could put both my feet into one of Josh's shoes. We were having fun just hanging out.
And then it was bed time. Again on the couch, at that point just because I liked it. I knew I was not getting seasick, I was just comfy on the couch.

The 27th. Our last full day on the Sveteva!!! It was another bumpy day on the Drake. Many many people were feeling it, but I was still fine. Still running around having a good time.
The decks were closed for safety reasons. That meant being cooped up inside… And spending lots of time on the bridge again! They told us that we were trying to outrun a storm, but that as the day went on things could get a bit dicey…
So it was breakfast time, then time to head to the bridge. I was up there for a while, enjoying watching the seas, and watching as we hit some really good waves that sent spray all the way up to the bridge. It was lots of fun. I was enjoying riding it.
Then it was the dreaded account settlement time… I went down to our cabin to get my bill, only to find that there were no bills… So I went up to get them. I got all three for our cabin, since Erin and Kristina were both feeling the effects of the Drake Passage. I told the staff if they didn't want to bill us that was OK, but we did want to get our passports back…. They gave me the bills.
Then I hung out waiting for our turn. They started at deck 5 and worked their way down, so we had some time. When they got to deck 4 I decided to head up and lurk in reception so that I could be one of the first deck 3 people to g through. I read on my iPod for a bit, and chatted with others that were lurking.
I also returned the gear that I had borrowed… Much to my disappointment. I had grown rather attached to the awesome red jackets.
During account settlement, they set up an "excursion" out to deck 4. They were letting people out on deck under staff supervision. I wanted to go, but had to settle my account first.
I paid, did what I needed to do, and was given back my passport. Things were feeling like they were ending…… It was sad.
And then I got to go out on deck! I still missed my red jacket…. But I was very much enjoying being out on deck! We were on the stern, and I was having fun riding the waves. I claimed the starboard stern corner as my own, and hung out there most of the time we were out. There were times when we would drop into a trough and the water would be above me…. We estimated the waves to be about 15 feet, or about 3 Emis.
I stayed out on deck as long as they would let me. I did run in and out a couple times, but spent most of the time outside. It was great to be outside enjoying the fresh air, and I was having lots of fun riding the waves. And I finally saw a blue petrel! There had been tons of sightings throughout the trip, but they are small, blue, and skim over the waves, so I had failed to spot them. But down on deck 4 I finally saw one!
Then lunch time rolled around, and they shepherded us back inside. The dining rooms weren't open yet, so we goofed off in reception. Danny, a weird Australian guy, and I were having fun trying to balance without holding onto stuff… And then trying to stand on one foot, again without holding on to stuff. Jumping was allowed. Being easily amused, I was having fun.
And then it was lunch time. I remember this one. It was beef… Uh, beef something. In a bowl. I can't remember what it was now, because I didn't know the other word…. It was explained to me as "beef and sauce and stuff," which is exactly what it was. And it was tasty. I sat in the back of the room with Andy and some other folks I had met on the expedition. We were having fun giving Andy a hard time about his love of the word "pristine." Highly fitting for this trip, but it was still funny that he used it ALL THE TIME to describe EVERYTHING.
And then it was back to the bridge! Back to watching more sea spray! And birds.
And again I was there when the first sighting of land was made. The captain pointed, and I couldn't see anything…. Very reminiscent of our first land sighting. But then I watched as Cape Horn came into view, a silhouette off in the distance. Andy announced it over the PA system (and even said "I'm not going to say its pristine, because it isn't…"). We watched as Cape Horn came into view. It was still really foggy/misty. I kept making ghost ship comments (still just beyond the mist, of course), and was told that we were sailing over tons of wrecks. This seemed to make my comments work even better.
We watched as we rounded Cape Horn, and headed up towards Ushuaia. Then I decided to go downstairs to snack. I made a comment about skittles, and Josh, who was standing next to me, thought skittles sounded amazing. I told him that I had some (thanks Mom!!!), and we excitedly headed down to deck 3 to get my skittles. There we had a skittles party. He ate all the red ones for me. And I even let him have the last skittle.
Then it was time for the voyage recap and trip slideshow. Andy went over our entire trip… All our stops, what we did…. He had a map, and showed us everywhere we went. And then there was a slideshow. Our awesome photographer and artist worked to put together a great slideshow for the trip, using mostly pictures that us passengers put onto the computers in the "Best of" folder. It's a great slideshow that does a great job of capturing the trip. And they made DVDs for all of us with the slideshow, best of pictures, and a bunch of other stuff on them.
Then it was happy hour…. The last happy hour. We were on our way to calmer waters, and things were looking good. We even apparently missed the storm they were telling us about!
We migrated up to the dining room for our last dinner on board. Complete with a salad bar of leftovers, some weird stuff on the table, and borscht! I thought the borscht was delicious. I colonized a new table next to our group, thinking that more of our group would join me, but apparently they were in the other room…. So I ended up being joined by some staff, which was fun. We had fun goofing around, and they got me extra dessert! It was calafate ice cream dipped in chocolate, so I broke off the chocolate and gave it to Josh. This arrangement seemed to work well. And neither of us got sick, so that must have been the pizza's fault before.
After dinner I went up to the bridge again, and watched as they dropped anchor. We had entered the Beagle Channel, and were awaiting a local pilot to come bring us all the way in… The pilot would come on board later, after midnight sometime. We were allowed on deck again. And some members of our group were quite enjoying the first sunset post-Antarctica. It was pretty, but I was not a fan…. I resented the darkness, and wanted to go back to the daylight. I wanted to go back to Antarctica.
But we were getting off in the morning… So I went down to finish packing and get my bags out into the hall. They would come by during breakfast in the morning to get everything and move it off the ship. We marked our bags with purple ribbons, indicating that they were to go to the AUIP bus. And put stuff out in the hallway.
Then I went to the bar. It was the final night, and we were going to have fun! There was music, and people were dancing. I joined in a bit, as I have nothing against dancing and looking silly, but there weren't very many good jump-up-and-down songs, and I'm all about the jumping up and down. So I did a lot of watching and laughing. And a little bit of dancing.
And then I got tired. And I went into our cabin. Josh was there, telling stories. So I climbed into bed to listen. Then I could hear a Taylor Swift song coming from the bar, so I did have to return to the bar to rock out to Taylor Swift…. And then I went back to the cabin. I was tired, and sat on the floor. I was comfortable on the floor, so I laid my blanket out on the floor, and curled up on it. As Josh told his stories, I fell asleep. I was stretched out on the floor, apparently quite comfortable. My feet were on the doorjamb, because it was cool metal, and our room was again boiling. Apparently people walked by and laughed, and maybe thought I was passed out…. But I wasn't. Not passed out drunk, anyway. Passed out tired, maybe.
I briefly remember waking up when Josh left, and the rest were trying to figure out what to do about me…. I was quite comfortable where I was. It was cooler on the floor then my top bunk… So I went back to sleep.

The 28th. Disembarkation Day. We were back in Ushuaia… And I was ready to go back to Antarctica.
Woke up for the last breakfast…. Sad. I really didn't want to leave. Everyone else seemed excited, ready to get off the boat. I was not.
After breakfast we all piled into reception. And waited for our group to be called. We said lots of goodbyes, and I stamped my passport with a Marina Sveteva stamp. And then we got off, set foot on land…. And just like that, it was over. Just like that, we were back. And I wanted back on that ship. So bad.
But instead we loaded our stuff into the bus, and piled in, ready for our last day in Ushuaia…

The 25th. Christmas morning!!! Woke up to the boat moving… A lot. A storm had found us, and was not treating us well… Apparently conditions were not that far from what the Clelia faced, the ship that lost power on the Drake and had to return to Ushuaia about a week before our trip.
I was feeling a little off, and was concerned that I could be seasick (as of course I was not taking any medication). I decided to be on the safe side, and grabbed my stuff and headed to the hallway. There was a couch right outside our room, and this seemed a better place to be than my top bunk… Just in case.
Managed to sleep some more. Actually slept really well on the couch. I skipped breakfast, but was feeling pretty good by mid-morning. Guess it was just eating the night before when my stomach really didn't want food… And maybe the storm didn't help. But I ended up not getting sick, and slept off whatever was bugging me.
I spent a while up on the bridge. It was a very relaxing Christmas morning. We were in near-whiteout conditions, and were anchored in Whalers Bay on Deception Island. Apparently getting into Deception Island was somewhat of an adventure (the entry is quite narrow), but I missed it. We were being blown around quite a bit, with our ship sitting at an angle the entire day. Landing was going to be questionable… And absolutely out of the question for the morning. As it was, we were dragging our anchor a fair bit, and conditions were not good. So we spent time in the bridge, looking at what there was to see. Whalers Bay is home to an abandoned whaling station, so we were taking a look at that.
I can't recall if I ate lunch on Christmas or not… I think I ate some soup. I don't know. But I remember I went and took a nap.
I woke up to people gearing up. Apparently I had missed the excursion briefing…. And apparently I had managed to miss Andy's announcement about the excursion briefing (which is pretty amazing, as Andy's announcements had gotten increasingly annoying as the trip went on). I was lucky to wake up at all, as they thought I had decided to sit this landing out. I had a couple minutes to gear up and get on deck to go, so I jumped out of bed and threw my gear on. Most stuff was thrown into my backpack, so that I could gear up on deck. There was no way I was missing the last landing of the trip!!!
We landed on Deception Island, and spread out. I was trying to figure out which way to go… I could explore the abandoned whaling station, or walk down the beach… After a mini-briefing from a staff member (since I missed the actual one, and was trying to figure out what was gong on), I took off to the whaling station. The wind was still howling, and it made for another great adventure. Chinstrap penguins were around, which made me happy. And steam was rising off the sea.
So Deception Island is a caldera. Think Crater Lake: collapsed volcano with a lake in it. That's basically what Deception Island is. It's an active volcano, and a chunk of the rim is collapsed so that you can sail into it (this is the narrow entry that I referred to earlier). So there's all sorts of geothermal energy there. Springs by the shore were warm to the touch, and steam rose from the sea. Pretty neat to see.
Anyway, I took off to explore the whaling station. Here I kind of did my own thing. I went to look at the oil vats, and then I looked at some of the abandoned buildings. Quick stop by the shore to take some pictures of kelp gulls… Then I walked to the old airplane hanger. I was the first person there, with some other members from my class shortly behind.
We spent some time exploring there, then started walking back. And then possibly my number one Antarctica moment. As we were walking, a chinstrap came out of the sea and waddled on shore. Very cute. It was between me and the rest of the group, which had gotten ahead of me. Knowing that wildlife got right-of-way, I stopped to let it do its thing. In the mean time I knelt down to watch it. It started walking towards Josh, and we thought it was going to walk right up to him. Then it turned around and started running to me. It kept coming… And coming… And soon it was only a couple feet away. I was pretty excited. One of my favorite Antarctic species just feet away from me. And then it waddled closer… And closer… And it was only inches away. And then it leaned towards me and pecked at my knee. I'm not sure if it actually touched me or if it was like half a centimeter or less away, as I had all my gear on so I really couldn't tell…. But regardless, this penguin and I were less than a centimeter apart. I couldn't believe it. I could have reached out and hugged it. It took a great deal of self-control not to. Best Christmas present ever.
So after a bit the penguin moved away, and I got up. Everyone else was still there, watching this all unfold. I could not believe what had just happened. We continued down the beach. And the penguin even trailed us for a bit. Clearly we had bonded. And I wanted to take it home. But Michael said no penguins. So I didn't. I did name it, though. Erin wanted me to name it Bert, but I didn't want to name it Bert… So I named it Popper.
Anyway, we headed back down the beach. A bunch of people decided that it was time to head back to the ship, but I was going to make the most of my final landing, so I kept walking. A group of people were gathered at the other end of the beach, so I went to join them. I also wanted to find someone to share my penguin story with, because I was pretty excited.
So I got to the other end of the beach, and found that the people down there were gathered around a young seal. A young Weddell. Another favorite of mine. It was hanging out, and was downright adorable. It did cute things like yawning… As if being a young Weddell wasn't cute enough.
We admired the adorableness for a while, then headed back towards the Zodiacs. Michael joked about being able to fit that seal into his bag, because I had asked if I could have a seal (since he said no penguins), and he said if I could fit it in my bag then I could. He also said I could have a whale if I could figure out how to get it home ("How much would it cost to check a 35 ton bag?")…
Anyway, it was back onto the Zodiacs for our final ride back to the ship…. This was hard. Best landing of the trip (for me), and it was all over….
We were about to hit the Drake and head back home. And I was not ready. Everyone else had things to look forward to at home… Break, seeing people, etcetera. I missed my animals, and sure I would like to go see my family, but really I was going home to school (unlike the semester folks, Erin and I started school almost immediately). And I loved the ship, and I wasn't seasick, and I was in love with Antarctica, and I didn't want to leave. Ever.
But anyway, we got back onto the ship and then it was happy hour. Christmas happy hour meant egg nog, in both boozey and non-boozey form. Having only had egg nog once in my life, I partook of the non-boozey form. And it was pretty good. And then there was some hanging out in the cabin… Showing off pictures of Popper. Our cabin became the sort of hang-out spot, probably partially due to its proximity to the bar. Also when Erin was sick we hung out in there with her. But also its proximity to the bar…. I think.
And then it was dinner time. They had turkey! I actually wasn't terribly hungry again, but I did eat some turkey. Gotta have the turkey!
After dinner the bird group met in the bistro to start working out the logistics of writing our paper. Can't believe those guys got me to talk homework on Christmas… Crazies. But we did, and worked out data collection for the return home as well.
Then I went down to the cabin and found that our room had really become the hangout spot… Christmas music, Christmas lights, and a crowd of people. We hung out for a while, and then things broke up as people headed to bed. And there was a bananagrams tournament in the bar, which I got in on. It wasn't actually a tournament so much as a bunch of games of bananagrams, but it was fun. And I wont a lot. We got a bunch of other people to play, and even turned it into a bilingual game when a couple Argentine guys joined in. We had lots of fun.
And then I got tired, and it was time to go to bed. The motion in the bar was getting a bit intense, too, and even I could only last so long while also focusing on a word game. So I geared up for bed. But I decided to sleep on the couch again. Not so much because I was concerned about getting sick, but because I slept pretty well out there, and it wasn't as hot as our cabin. So I grabbed my stuff off my bed, and curled up on the couch.

Continuing on with the 24th….
After whatever unexciting thing I did after lunch, we had another excursion! We went cruising around in Wilhelmina Bay. We cruised out, and then an empty Zodiac pulled up next to us and invited some of us to hop in! I went, only because switching Zodiacs while out in the bay seemed exciting to me. It really wasn't, but we all know how easily entertained I am……
So, now in the Zodiac piloted by Ray, we cruised around in search of whales. We found them. First there was one humpback, and we cruised towards it. Then there was two, three, four…. They were everywhere! And we were right in the middle of it. They were giving us great views of tail flukes as they dived all around us. Many many pictures of whale tails were taken…. And it got better. Soon they were under us, and right beside us. One jumped just feet in front of our Zodiac, mouth open, so close that the person in the front said she could have jumped into its mouth. So close that Michael's camera couldn't focus fast enough on it. So close that all I got was a picture of the top of its head. I can now say that I made eye-contact with a humpback whale. We cruised among the whales for hours. They were bubble-netting, which was incredible to watch. You could see the ring of bubbles appear at the surface, and know that a whale was soon to follow. They would go right under our boat, and surface right next to us. Some people got a great view of one spyhopping. Another Zodiac screamed as a whale came up right beside them as they were all facing the other direction. It was magical, and also a little overwhelming. Eventually Ray said that he was going to set a good example for everyone else, and head back to the ship. It was time to go, but nobody wanted to. We continued to enjoy whales all the way back to the ship, and even around the ship. I was again overwhelmed by everything, and sat on the floor of the Zodiac, just watching. Michael even commented on how "remarkably calm" I was, and it was because I was again mentally exhausted from all the excitement.
Back on the ship, we got ready for dinner. We were instructed to wear something nice if we had it, as we would be doing our Christmas dinner early. They decided that Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve was better than Christmas dinner on the Drake Passage. So we got ready for dinner, then headed upstairs. I was again not feeling great… But wasn't going to miss Christmas dinner in Antarctica! We headed upstairs, and I found myself a little claustrophobic and shaky as everyone milled around in the little reception area outside the dining rooms. I sat and watched as the crowd lingered, enjoying champagne dyed red or green for Christmas. It was a very festive atmosphere.
Things greatly improved for me when we headed into the bistro (the smaller of the two dining rooms) and our group pretty much took it over. It wasn't so crowded, so that made me feel better. What followed was an 11-course meal. I was not feeling too much like eating, but did enjoy the smoked salmon, beef empanada, and cheese platter… As well as stealing tastes of some of the other stuff from Josh, who was sitting across from me. We laughed as our menu called for "assorted salads," and they brought out a platter of shredded carrots and tomato… Leftovers from the salads of previous meals. The staff came around topping off people's champagne, and offered pseudo-champagne (water or sprite, also dyed red or green) to those like me that were choosing not to drink. I decided that I could have some Sprite, since it was Christmas(ish), and it actually helped settle me down a bit. Mostly my stomach, which was again not appreciating all the excitement of the day.
After dinner we headed down to the bar. Desert was being served there, and though I wasn't eating desert (brownies), I went to hang out until I got overwhelmed again and had to go to bed. But first I grabbed my Christmas lights from my bunk. Got lots of compliments as I sat in the dark bar with Christmas lights wrapped around my neck. But I didn't last too long before I decided it was time for bed. It had been another long, exciting day, and I needed to get some sleep so that I wouldn't become severely overtired again. Just one more day, and then it was back to the Drake…. And I was determined to make the most of that last day!

So, the 24th. I woke up in the snow. Awesome.
I woke a couple times, and finally got up a little after five. We were breaking camp at about 6:00 to head back to the ship.
Nobody else was up yet, and the solitude was amazing. I geared up and walked back to where the seal was the night before. It was still there, though the penguins had gone off presumably to feed. I was watching the seal when I realized that there was a second one nearby. So I walked over towards that one. It was asleep, facing me. Very very cute. I took some video, and accidentally woke it up. It gave me an adorable Weddell seal stare. It went back to sleep for a bit, and I hung out and watched it. Then it woke up again, and stretched a bit. It was getting later, so I walked back to camp. I told the others that I had bonded with a seal over morning stretches.
We broke camp, and filled in our snow graves (and even Josh's cave!). Then we piled into the Zodiacs and headed back to the ship.
We got back a bit before breakfast, so I kicked back in the cabin for a bit. Then it was up to breakfast. Got to tell the others about my seals and my morning walk. And how fantastic our night of camping was.
Then we had another excursion briefing, and a landing! As we moved north we headed into some windy weather, and we were in for a true Antarctic adventure. We were also going to see chinstrap penguins!!!
We cruised on the Zodiacs through bumpy seas, and landed at Orne Harbor. It was crazy windy. We walked up to our staging area, where staff was gathering together our lifejackets. Then we began hiking up the ridge. I was pretty sure I could make it to the top, but figured I would take my time getting there. And at least go as far as I could. The wind was blowing us around pretty good, and it was quite the experience.
Again I was near the front. And again I had to duck off the trail. I had anticipated this, and so did not think anything of it. Again, knew what was happening, knew why, and knew how to handle it. Again, people worried about me anyway. Jamie and Brandon stuck with me this time. They decided we would go to the penguin colony just above where I stopped, and then I would go no further. I still thought I could do it, but I rolled with it. After I was good to go, we went up to the penguin colony. Chinstraps, my favorite. I plopped down and watched them for a bit. A bunch of our group had stopped there for a breather. I sat there for a while, and the others started heading up the hill. I was feeling good again, and really really wanted to go… I knew I could do it, and was a little tired of being overprotected. Like I said before, I have never in my life had anyone try to be so overprotective of me.
The wind was howling, and finally I was told that I had better go up or down, because if I stayed put I would freeze. Jamie and Brandon had gone up and left me, so I decided that no one was there to stop me from going up…. So I decided I'd go up. Little did I know they had told Andy (our expedition leader) not to let me go. I was frustrated with this whole deal, and told him they were being overprotective. I understood their concern, but I didn't want me to get stuck up there either… I wasn't going to do anything that I couldn't get myself out of. If I kept having trouble I would come back, but I wanted to at least have the chance to try.
Finally he relented and let me go. I started a slow and steady trek up the ridge. It entailed a lot of ducking down when the wind was blowing, so as not to fall over…. And falling over when I didn't duck soon enough. Also watching penguins get blown sideways. I also wondered what would happen when I got to the top… I knew I was blatantly defying orders, and didn't know what the response would be. But I am used to having to prove myself, and I was ready to do just that.
I kept on heading up the ridge. Without others behind me I was able to manage my pace well, and was doing pretty good. A little ways up I was joined by a staff member (I think Andy sent him after me…). He told me to let him get ahead of me to break the wind, and went at a nice slow pace so that I could keep up. Together we reached the top.
At the top I joined our group. The wind was howling, but the feeling of satisfaction was great. And I didn't get in trouble. Again I dropped into the snow, this time just to enjoy the view. I was not feeling deprived of oxygen, just a little tired from climbing through the snow. It felt good.
Slowly the others stared heading down. I was one of the last to go, having been one of the last to reach the top. Some of us stayed to cheer on a chinstrap penguin as it too summited the ridge. I felt that I could relate to the penguin as it reached the top.
Then we headed down. I did a fair bit of sliding down, as it seemed an efficient way to go. We were falling down from the wind anyway, might as well stay low. I even took my backpack cover off and tied it to my wrist, using that to slide on. That worked pretty well until the wind ripped it off my wrist and carried it away. I felt bad about it, but there was no way I was catching it. It was up and over the ridge almost before I realized what happened.
About a quarter of the way down I gave in to walking the rest of the way. It was not as steep, and everyone else had caught up to me. There was still a fair bit of falling in the snow and being blown over. At one point I was blown over and spun around, sliding down the trail on my back.
We made it down to the Zodiacs, and piled in. I was on the front of ours. They tried to get me to switch with someone, telling me I was likely to get wet on the front. The ride was going to be a rough one. I told them I was from Oregon, so when was I not wet? So I got to stay in the front. This is what I wanted… I love being on the front of the Zodiac. It provides the best view, but on this particular ride it was also the most fun. We cut through the waves, bouncing along. I clung to the rope on the side, wrapping it around my hand to hold tight. I was also leaning inwards, because if I fell I wanted to fall in, not out. The ride was certainly rough. I caught air on numerous occasions. But I was having lots of fun. And yes, I did get wet too. By the end of it my arms were sore from being wrenched around as I held on to the rope, but I had so much fun… I wanted to do it again.
Then it was lunch time. This may have been the day that everyone was excited about burgers… I don't remember. Whenever that was, the burgers were weird…. They were like bagel-burgers…. And I ended up just eating the meat, because the meat was really good.
Anyway, we had lunch and then some downtime before our next excursion. I think I may have taken a nap, because I was tired from camping… But I don't remember. Which means I probably did, because otherwise maybe I would have remembered doing something. Clearly, regardless of what I did, it wasn't that exciting… Because I don't remember.

So, continuing on with the 23rd!
I took a nap, and woke up for our second excursion debrief. The landing was at Danco Island, home of more Gentoo penguins. And also a hike. After some consideration I decided to sit this one out. I considered a Zodiac cruise, but decided to go ahead and stick around on the boat to get some rest so that I could go CAMPING!
I went back to bed for a while. What I neglected to realize is that I would again be alone, and that was bugging me a little bit, so I grabbed my iPod and put on some Christmas music. I was reading for a while, then decided that I wanted to go on deck. Oh yeah, and we hit an iceberg! I almost forgot about that. I was laying on my bunk when I heard a big THUNK and some scraping. So I looked out my window and there was this huge iceberg that I'm fairly certain we hit. The Sveteva is tough, though, and she can handle it.
Taking my iPod with me, listening to Jim Brickman, I headed up to the top deck. There I had a little Christmas music party with myself. I listened to The Gift over and over again, as that was a song that I felt really applied to the moment… I was thankful for the gift that Antarctica was giving to me. I watched as some Zodiacs cruised around us. It was very relaxing, and I was enjoying myself.
I also spent some time in the cabin getting some stuff cleaned up. With my 50% sickness rate mixed in with my running around, my stuff was getting fairly scattered. So I got that picked up a bit.
When people started coming back in, I went down to deck 4 to see them. As far as I can tell nothing terribly exciting happened on the excursion, or at least they let me think that.
Dinnertime rolled around, and I went to eat a little. Still not terribly hungry after that huge lunch, but I had some soup and stuff. Then, the moment I'd been waiting for… Two nights of disappointment in a row, but finally I was going…. CAMPING!!!!
Michael, Josh, Erin, and I were the only campers left from our class. Erin almost didn't come, but I talked her into it with the incentive of throwing snowballs at the guys. We geared up, then piled into the Zodiacs for a night on Ronge Island! This is where they had camped the night before, but we were one spit over.
About 20 people total spent that night on the island. We landed and got a quick briefing, then went to set up camp. Our little group claimed the far inland corner, closest to the other side of the spit where there were some penguins and a seal. We dug "snow graves" to keep the wind off us, and Josh got all elaborate on us and started this huge cave. Complete with entryway with Josh-sized stairs. Erin and I started our graves, and the guys helped us finish them. This is the moment where I questioned if I should be concerned that Michael was digging my grave….
While this was going on I decided to throw some snowballs. Clearly I didn't think this through, as both the guys had snow shovels….. I soon had a couple shovels-full of snow thrown at me, complete with snow down the back, so I decided to hold off on the snowballs…
Setting up camp entailed the snow grave, a sleeping pad, lifejacket for extra padding, bivy bag, another sleeping pad, -12º rated sleeping bag, and a sleeping bag liner. Much amusement came from hopping around trying to get the liner in the sleeping bag and the sleeping bag in the bivy. Once that was done, I tossed my backpack into my grave at my feet, tucked my whale into my bivy, and followed Michael to go visit the seal!
Not too far from camp there was a Weddell seal (my favorite!) hauled out on the ice. There were also a few penguins, but we were interested in the seal. It had a couple wounds, and was just chilling out on the snow. We were able to get fairly close, and take many many pictures. I was enjoying just laying in the snow, watching it. It was easy to lose track of time, especially with the endless daylight, so before too long it was getting late. We decided it was time to walk back to camp and get ready for bed.
First, though, we had to admire Josh's snow cave! While we were all watching the seal, he was still working. The crazy guy dug this HUGE cave that could probably have slept most if not all of our little group… Josh, Erin, and I piled into it for a photo opp. It was difficult to move around with all of us, but not difficult to fit us all. Erin did get kneed in the face when Josh tried to turn around, though. I still think that once we got situated we could have fit another person down there. It was quite impressive.
Then we got ready for bed. A bit more entertainment as Josh got his bivy set up…. And a bit of concern as he jumped down his stairs in it. He is not me, however, and accomplished this unscathed. Then I crawled into my bivy, and zipped myself in. Not all the way, as I was enjoying the view of the Antarctic sky…. As bright as it was.
The bivy was surprisingly cozy. I curled up with my whale, and fell asleep. I woke up a couple times during the night. My legs got a bit chilly a couple times, but I was able to warm them up with my hands, which were warm because I was wearing my good gloves. Overall I was surprisingly warm, and had a pretty good night. And Michael didn't bury or otherwise murder me in my sleep, even though he wouldn't promise me that he wouldn't…. I asked. Although I must admit it would have been really funny to wake up with everything but my head buried. That had crossed my mind.
So we had a pretty fantastic night on the island, and I slept pretty well. It was a nice change from our really hot cabin, and it was lots of fun.

The 22nd. Woke up and did some birding! Finally stable enough to do a shift of data collection! We saw…. Penguins. We were at anchor. It really wasn't that exciting.
And then breakfast.  After breakfast we did an excursion debrief, and then another landing! This time we landed on Pleneau Island, a title bit north of Petermann Island. On our way in there was talk of a leopard seal, so we stayed on the Zodiac a little longer and cruised around looking for the seal. We found it, but not with its chunk of penguin meat that it had earlier. Still very cool, and another species for me to mark off.
Upon landing we jumped off the boat, and then had to wait as a large group of penguins decided to stand in our path. Wildlife has right-of-way, so we had to hang tight until they moved. Once they moved and we got the all clear, we headed uphill on a little snow hike. I led the way, but that quickly ended as I discovered my iron had crashed. Feeling a little lightheaded, I ducked off the trail to catch my breath and avoid a blackout. As I was lead, this did not go unnoticed…. And I quickly gained the attention of a number of people. Staff members, Jamie, and fellow classmates came to my aid, even though I really didn't need aid… I knew exactly what was happening, and exactly what I was going to do about it. They didn't seem to care. So I got my pulse taken ("thin and thready" apparently), and they made me sit tight until the doctor came to check on me. That was OK, because Keith (staff member) and I talked about snakes, and threw snowballs at people as they came down. By the time the doctor came down I was fine again, and continued on my way at a slower pace.
At the top I plopped down into the snow again, a little tired. Enjoyed the view, got some pictures, hanged out. Josh was appointed to make sure I made it back down to the landing site (poor Josh did a fair bit of keeping an eye on Emi during our trip). I decided it would be more energy-efficient to slide down our path like the penguins do it, which actually worked surprisingly well. Not so much when it got flat, but most of the trail was sloped, so it worked well. Apparently it was quite easy to skate along behind me as well, as I smoothed out the trail.
Back onto the Zodiacs, then back to the ship. We had lunch. It was a sort of attempt at pizza that didn't really work out. I wasn't feeling all that much like eating anyway, so I only ate a couple bites. Josh ate the rest of mine, because he had accidentally dumped a pitcher of water on his. And I wasn't interested in eating mine anyway.
After lunch our class gathered in the library for a group meeting/debrief/whatever. I was feeling pretty tired, and was nearly-asleep curled up in my blanket. We were cruising along, and would pass the occasional seal, which would result in my jumping up and looking out the window, but then I'd be back down. I was really tired and lethargic, presumably because my iron was so low. After our meeting I elected to take a nap in the library, as it was close to the bridge and I could hear wildlife announcements. That way if anything cool got announced I could head onto deck really fast.
This proved to be a good decision. They called out orca, and I headed to the top deck. There we saw an orca…. And another orca… And another orca…. Etcetera. Before long there were orcas everywhere. We were surrounded by a pod of approximately 30 orcas, including a very cute baby. Even I got some pictures, and I am never successful at getting whale pictures.
The orcas accompanied us for quite a while. I stayed on top deck, able to get the panoramic view of orcas all around our ship. We saw the occasional minke or humpback as well, but the orcas were the stars. They were all around us, surfacing right off the bow or off in the distance. Near, far, they were everywhere. We were literally running around the top deck taking pictures and video and everything.
I was loving watching them, but I was also still really tired. At one point I fell asleep on the top deck, binoculars in hand, leaning against a pole. Jamie got photo documentation of this, which is fantastic. The wildlife watching wore slowed down, and we enjoyed some great scenery. I was on bow for a while, then almost fell asleep on a bench on deck 7, before finally deciding that it was time to go down to the cabin for a proper nap. We were about to drop anchor anyway, so I wouldn't be missing much.
I woke up at dinner time. Wasn't feeling great, but decided that food would help. And I absolutely was not allowed to be sick, because camping was that night! This was absolutely the wrong assessment. I headed up and was sitting at the table when I decided this was not going to go well. I was shaky and nauseous and needed to go back to bed. I started out, was once again spotted by a staff member (Yo this time), and was escorted down to my cabin. And they called the doctor again of course. I got to know her really well….
This time I got the full workup. She determined that I was just severely overtired. Antarctica was too mentally overwhelming for me, and trying to take it all in had wiped me out. But no camping for me that night. I was devastated. This time I really cried, because of course I was also overtired and that made everything more dramatic. She stuck with me and talked me down a little bit. And Yo brought me some soup. 
I decided that if I couldn't go camping, I at least wanted to go on the after-dinner Zodiac cruise that was being offered for those that weren't camping…. But that was shot down too, this time by our expedition leader. While I understood, I didn't like it. And was upset about that too.
By then dinner was over, and apparently my early departure from dinner had not gone unnoticed by my classmates. Though many of them were gearing up to go camping, they did stop by to check on me. I felt very loved. Then Michael and Jamie showed up, and pretty much kicked everyone out because apparently they had already gotten the memo that I was suffering from extreme exhaustion, and they didn't want everyone winding me up…
At this point people started getting pretty protective of me. Which was weird for me, because that's never really happened to me before. They had taken care of me on day 2 when I was sick, but now they were downright overprotective. Poor guys decided they were going to keep me out of trouble, which is quite a feat to take on.
Anyway, they sent me to bed (I even got tucked in… Haha), and Michael permitted a couple people to get me a small piece of cheesecake, because I had decided that it was vitally important for me to have a piece of cheesecake. Then they went on the Zodiac cruise, and I was left behind.
Here entered my frantic attempts at sleeping. I was past tired, and well into whatever phase it is when you're so tired you can't sleep, but really you're half-asleep and kind of delirious. I was there. Poor Erin, who was not camping, had to put up with me freaking out a couple times because I was quite concerned with the fact that I couldn't sleep. Finally, around midnight, I went up to the bridge for about 10 minutes. The scenery calmed me down, and I was able to go back down to the cabin and fall asleep. I also left the door open, because by then the Zodiac cruisers were back, and the sounds of the bar let me know that I was not alone (which is also stressful for me).
So, on a sidenote, it turns out Josh had been really sick all day, ever since lunch. We determined that my piece of pizza that I shared with him was defective, and that may have contributed to my not doing well also. He ate a lot more of it than I did, though, and got the full brunt of whatever it was. It also sounded like nobody really ate the pizza, because it was a pretty pathetic attempt at pizza… The one meal on the ship that was really not good.

Anyway, the 23rd!!! I woke up briefly when the campers returned to ask Kristina how it was, and then I was back to sleep. Slept through breakfast, and also stayed down during the excursion briefing. Kristina gave me a briefing of the briefing.
I got up, determined not to miss this landing. Michael came down to see who was going, though I suspect he really came down to find out if I was going. I was ready to put up a fight if necessary, but it was not necessary. But he did tell me I was sticking with him. He was pretty determined to not let me get too excited. Again, good luck with that.
We landed in Neko Harbor for our first steps on continental Antarctica. A big step for all those people that were on their 7th continent! I say the islands count, but still.
As always, there were penguins around. Michael and I hiked up a bit, and then I had to stop again because my iron was still low. We stopped near penguins, and watched them for a bit… And watched for whales in the harbor. We also saw some small glacier calving events, and an avalanche. Further uphill people were sliding down a steep slope. We watched for a while, and Michael decided he would permit me to go sliding. But as of yet they weren't doing a very good job of sliding, so we waited for conditions to improve.
Brandon joined us for a bit, and then we headed up to the top of the sliding hill. I got extensive lessons on walking in the snow from both Michael and Brandon. Being a valley dweller, I'm not too good at this snow stuff. I decided I was going to sit at the top for a bit, because my iron was still crashed, and I was still having to stop and breathe every now and then. Plus the view was nice, and I was in no hurry to return back to the ship.
As we sat there there was another avalanche across the harbor, and a big glacier started breaking off. We wanted so bad to see this huge glacier break off, so we watched… And watched… And watched… The bottom eroded quite a bit, but it never did break while we were there.
Finally most people were down the hill, so we decided we better head down too. Brandon slid down, then I followed. The nice thing about being the last people down is that the track was pretty well carved out for us. I went a bit too fast and ended up carving my own track halfway down anyway… Which brought me to a stop, so I crawled back to the original track and slid down the rest of the way. The track ended pretty high, and I decided I didn't want to walk all the way down, so  started this routine of chucking my backpack, then rolling downhill to it, then chucking it again, then rolling downhill to it, then chucking it again, then rolling again. This worked surprisingly well. And then we got down to where the path was a little better, and I walked the rest of the way. Back onto the Zodiac, then back to the ship.
Having not eaten really since breakfast the day before, I was quite hungry. And we were having a barbecue!!! We had lunch up on deck 7, which was lots of fun. I was one of the first people up there, as I was quite excited about lunch. This allowed me to spot a minke whale! I was up on the top deck talking to Jamie when I spotted it. I called down to deck 7 to inform them that there was a whale, but not too many people were on deck 7 yet… So not too many people got to see my whale. Turns out that was our one minke for the day, so I was pretty excited that it was "mine."
We enjoyed a delicious barbecue lunch. I dished up everything, and halfway through eating I realized my stomach was not ready for that much food. So I sampled everything that was left, ate what was too good not to, and then had to toss the rest. Then I curled up in my chair and stared at the scenery, which again relaxed me to the point that I was ready to sleep. I think they had another class meeting after lunch, but I was permitted to go take a nap instead. I was pretty much instructed to go take a nap instead. So I did.