Antarctica, Week 2

WEEK 2

Sorry It has been a while since you last heard from me. I have been so busy working and working. Life here at the south pole is an adventure every day. After arriving here at such an intense climate, it takes the body a long while to adjust. The elevation actually changes daily ( well the pressure does) so some days it feels as if we are at around 11,000 ft and the next day only 10,500. So that is an adjustment in itself. It actually takes around 2 weeks to acclimate and around 6 weeks to feel... well normal!

There are so many different things going on down here all the time, my job is to help Chantel as a General Assistant is to help and support everything from construction, plumbing, electrical work, putting up wind turbines to shoveling items out of the "storage" for science projects. So everyday is something new! It's a great place to work considering we make money and they feed and house us, we make tons of new friends and have the experience of a lifetime!!

Chantel was just surprised last week with a winter contract, so, I might be staying here for a while longer. Chantel gets to stay for a whole year!!! I am so excited! She will be stationed at McMurdo station for the winter season and will be working on all sorts of new projects over the next months!

My adventures I recently found out have just begun. I would LOVE to answer any of your questions.

Teddy and Chantel driving the shuttle around station, I was on shuttle duty for a week taking people from site to site, all the different places, what fun!

Teddy with one of our local South Pole fire fighters!

To the end of the world

Well, the impossible is indeed possible. Never say never. Both of these sayings apply to where I am now. I thought it was absolutely impossible to go here. I never thought I would make it. But here I am in

My adventure to get to the bottom of the earth was an amazing one! The journey to reach the South Pole is one of much adventure, many hours on spent on a plane, sitting in airports, and meeting new friends! A group of around 35-40 people had orientation together in Denver, Colorado at the end of October. We were there for 3 days. We had all sorts of different trainings including learning about the environment down here and how fragile it is, to safety trainings, and learning how to work safe in such a harsh environment. We were then flown to Los Angeles for a 5 hour layover, and had a 15 hour flight to Australia. After a 2 hour layover there, we got on our next flight and took off to Christchurch New Zealand!!

It was a time to hangout with all of our new friends, eat, play and explore New Zealand. We were there for an extra day allowing us to get to go to the ocean, and to take a bus around to explore the city. In New Zealand, we were then issued all of our ECW gear (Extremely Cold Weather). What fun the first experience in such intensely large, bulky, heavy, warm clothes was. With everything on, from boots to head, it’s around 28 pounds!!! Talk about a weight change!

This is what everyone looks like before they head outside.

After we were all geared up, we took a flight on a C-17 military aircraft to McMurdo Station which is a small island in Antarctica. We were there for only 12 hours when we hopped another flight to our final destination… The South Pole!!! We left Denver on Halloween day and didn’t arrive at the South Pole until November 7^th, so it was definitely a trip to remember!

Stepping off that plane was so overwhelming, exhausting and almost euphoric. I will never forget the white beauty! Going from sea level to around 11,000 feet (it depends daily on the atmospheric pressure how the elevation actually feels to the body), and to a temperature of -50 F, our bodies were shocked and overwhelmed! The day was a blur and I’ve never been so tired or felt so “heavy.” We were allowed the day off, so we slept, ate and relaxed, trying to take it all in.

This is the South Pole Station where I will be staying. The pole in the middle of the picture is the geographic South Pole (2006).

And that… is the beginning of my Antarctic journey. I will update you more next week and send more pictures! So excited I get the opportunity to share my experience down here with you!! Take care and you’ll hear from me soon… if you have any questions just shoot me an email and I’ll try to get back to you as soon as possible. Remember… we work 6 days a week, 10 hours a day, so if it takes a day or two for me to reply, don’t worry! I’m probably just exhausted.

The next adventure begins...

The next exciting chapter begins today. I can't wait to share with you where I've been!

Cape Town, South Africa

The wait is over. I can finally tell you where I've been on my latest adventure. I received a chance to visit the continent of Africa again, only I was able to go to the southern most country, South Africa! This country was a whole new experience for me. There is so much history within the borders of this country. I'm so glad I get to share my experiences with all of you.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born July 18, 1918 in Transkei, South Africa. He is a former President of South Africa, the first to be elected in a fully representative democratic election, who held office from 1994–99. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of the African National Congress's armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe. The South African courts convicted him on charges of sabotage, as well as other crimes committed while he led the movement against apartheid. In accordance with his conviction, Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island. He is currently a celebrated elder statesman who continues to voice his opinion on topical issues.

Following his release from prison on February 11, 1990, Mandela supported reconciliation and negotiation, and helped lead the transition towards multi-racial democracy in South Africa. Since the end of apartheid, many have frequently praised Mandela, including former opponents. Mandela has received more than one hundred awards over four decades, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

Robben Island

For nearly 400 years, Robben Island, about 12 kilometres from Cape Town, was a place of exile and imprisonment where rulers sent those they regarded as outcasts and troublemakers.

During the apartheid years Robben Island was used to isolate opponents of apartheid and to crush their morale. Freedom fighters, like Nelson Mandela, spent more than a quarter of a century in prison for their beliefs.

Overcoming opposition from the prison authorities, prisoners on the Island after the 1960s were able to organise sporting events, political debates and educational programmes, and to assert their right to be treated as human beings, with dignity and equality. They were able to help the country establish the foundations of a modern democracy.

Robben Island was used at various times between the 17th and 20th centuries as a prison, a hospital for socially unacceptable groups and a military base. Its buildings, particularly those of the late 20th century such as the maximum security prison for political prisoners, witness the triumph of democracy and freedom over oppression and racism.

The author Lawrence Green described Robben Island as "The Island of Exiles". For centuries it was a remote inaccessible place. It was said that the Portuguese has put prisoners here in as early as 1525, but to date, no evidence has pointed to this occurrence.

There has never been a case recorded of anyone swimming to freedom, yet it is possible as Robben Island is a starting point for many long distance swimmers today. Of the few escape attempts made, Harry (or Herry) a leading trader, managed to escape to Saldanha in a leaky sailboat.

Just Nuisance

"Just Nuisance", as the dog was to become known by, was by all accounts born on Thursday, April 1, 1937. At an early age, the pup was sold to a Benjamin Chaneywho moved to Simon's Town to run the United Services Institute (USI). The USI was frequented mainly by the Royal Navy sailors - The Royal Navy at that time being in charge of the Simon's Town Naval Base. This Great Dane soon grew to be a massive dog and it was here in Simon's Town that he was to become a legend.

He was a very friendly dog and as such was treated to all sorts of titbits, pies and beer by the sailors who loved him and to whom the dog in turn took a great liking, especially as they would often take him for walks and as such, he considered that all sailors were his friends. He recognized his mates by their bell-bottom pants and square blue collars - they all looked pretty much the same to him, so every sailor was his friend! Service men in a different type of uniform were normally given the ‘by-pass’.

He started following them around and that led to the naval base and dockyards and eventually onto the ships moored alongside, with HMS Neptune being one of his favorite vessels. His favorite spot was to lie on the deck on the brow at the top of the gangplank. No-one could easily get past him and he was loathe to move. The sailors would say - "You're just a nuisance, why do you have to lie here of all places?!" - and that's how he got his name.

Just Nuisance would regularly follow the naval liberty men when they went for a "run-ashore" in Cape Town some 22 miles and 27 stations north on the electric railway, but he always new which station he wanted. He soon became well known on the trains and would jump on and off at different stations. Apparently, the sailors would try to hide him from the Ticket collector, but as he was such a big dog this was not always possible and he would be put off at the next station, but being a very clever dog, he would walk back to the previous station or just wait at the station in question and board the next train to continue his journey. A few times, when approached by an angry conductor, he showed how serious he was about rail travel by standing on his hind legs, putting his huge paws on the conductor's shoulders and growling in the poor man's face. Amused civilians would sometimes offer to pay his fare but exasperated railway officials sent a stream of demands to Mr. Chaney his owner to confine the dog, pay his fares, or get rid of him. The railways finally warned that they would have to put him down if he persisted in boarding trains. This resulted in a massive outcry from his sailor friends and other people in the Peninsula who had come to know him well. One amused regular passenger even offered to buy him a season ticket but the Royal Navy had already put this in hand...

On Friday, 25th August 1939, Just Nuisance was enlisted into the Royal Navy. He was given the Christian name of "Just", the Trade of "Bone Crusher" and his Religious Denomination as given as "Scrounger." Like all new sailors, he underwent a medical examination which he duly passed and was declared fit for active duty. The proper enlistment forms were filled in and he signed them with a paw mark. Just Nuisance was now a bona-fide member of the Navy and, as such, he expected all the benefits that that brought - he started sleeping on sailors' beds - his long frame fully stretched out with his head comfortably placed on the pillow. One of the seaman was allocated to ensure that Just Nuisance was regularly washed and he often appeared at parades wearing his seaman's hat. After a short while he was promoted from ‘Ordinary Seaman’ to ‘Able Seaman’, which entitled him to naval rations! Just Nuisance was equally at home on any ship that called in at the port, and was loved by everybody who met him.

Cape Town

Table Mountain

Kalk Bay

Seals

False Bay

I loved to play Trivial Pursuit with my new friends.

YUM! Dinnertime!

Sea Point

Boulders Colony of Penguins

Simons Town

Where in the world???

I'm currently out of the country at the moment lounging around on the beaches in some foreign land. I will write as soon as I have more pictures to share.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Trip 2

I was able to travel back to Ethiopia with Travis Dunn to pick up his new adopted son Asher. Ethiopia has such a different culture than the United States. I was very excited for the opportunity to go back and explore more of this wonderful country.

In Ethiopia, what you can take pictures of is very limited. You are not allowed to take pictures inside of churches. You also cannot take pictures of ANY government buildings. While driving by the US embassy, someone in the front of our vehicle took a picture that used a flash. A guard saw the flash and reported it. The street was quickly blocked off so we could not go through. Three guards armed with AK-47s came and got us out of the car and questioned us. After 40 very tense minutes, we were allowed to go. It was definitely an experience I will not forget!

This is a scene of the streets of Ethiopia.

These sheep are led around through the streets in between the cars and people.

In Ethiopia, you are not allowed into the churches if you are not of that religion. Pictures are definitely not to be taken inside the churches.

Construction scaffolding is not the same in Ethiopia.

We found out that you are not allowed to take pictures of police officers without their permission. Travis and I asked over 50 police officers, all of them armed with AK-47s, if we could take a picture with them. They all said no. I finally found this nice female officer who said it would be okay for us to take a picture. It's very different here!

The Ethiopian National Museum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is located close to the University of Addis Ababa Graduate School. By far the most famous exhibit of the museum is the 3.5 million year-old skeleton of "'Lucy," the oldest hominid that has ever been found. Lucy was found on November 24, 1974, at Hadar in Ethiopia. After two weeks of careful excavation, 40 percent of a single hominid skeleton had been discovered. ("Hominid" basically means a being in the ape/human family that walks upright.) Lucy's skeleton has been dated to just under 3.5 million years old, making her the oldest hominid ever discovered. When she was alive, Lucy would have been about 3-1/2 feet tall and weighed about 60 to 65 pounds.

And the Current Count is.......

Teddy really has gone all around the world. Here is a count of where he's been so far...

29 U.S. States Wyoming Colorado Utah Hawaii California Nevada Washington Montana North Dakota South Dakota Kansas Missouri Minnesota Kentucky West Virginia Virginia North Carolina South Carolina Washington, D.C. Indiana Illinois Georgia Florida New Jersey Arizona New York Alaska Arkansas Nebraska

22 Countries Singapore Australia Indonesia Japan South Korea Cambodia Vietnam Ireland England Italy Spain Kuwait Ukraine Canada Jamaica Honduras Costa Rica Bahamas Mexico Poland Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

What an adventure I was taken on this time!  I was able to make a trip to Ethiopia in Africa.  This is my first time venturing onto this continent and I must say it is vastly different than anything else I've seen before.  I went to Addis Ababa with the Dunn family.  Olivia, the little girl holding the book, is getting adopted during this trip to Ethiopia.  After a very long process, Olivia will be able to join her new family in the USA.     

City view of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

 A woman spinning her own thread

A typical street scene in Addis Ababa

This is one of the most unique meals I've ever eaten.  This is a table-sized tortilla.  All the rest of the food is placed on top of it and the whole thing is shared by the entire family.  You use pieces of the tortilla like a spoon to scoop up the other food.

The Dunn family will be returning again in August to adopt a little boy named Asher.  I have been invited to go back to Ethiopia when they go to get him.  Keep checking back to look for more pictures and stories about my travels on my second trip to Ethiopia.

Scotts Bluff, Nebraska

Since my classmates back home study Wyoming history and the Westward Movement trails all year long, I was ecstatic for the opportunity to travel to Scotts Bluff, Nebraska to get a firsthand look at the Oregon Trail and Scotts Bluff National Monument.

Standing eight hundred feet above the North Platte River, Scotts Bluff has been a natural landmark for many peoples. It served as the path marker for four trails: the Oregon, California, Mormon, and Pony Express Trails.

Scotts Bluff National Monument preserves 3,000 acres of unusual land formations which rise over the otherwise flat prairieland below.

I love learning about the West!

I had so much fun with Sheila!

Did You Know?

Geologically speaking, the north face of Scotts Bluff National Monument shows the most geological history in the state of Nebraska.

I made friends with a mountain man!

What a great trip! Now it's time to drive home.