On Solid Ground

I arrived back in Punta Arenas last Friday. I have to say, its nice to be back on land again. I didn't seem to have the "dock rock" like I had at Palmer Station. I figure its because the last day and a half was in calm water, though I have woken up from sleep feeling like I'm rocking, that is bizarre.

Work is work, and is still consuming a good amount of my time here, which is good, since there really doesn't seem like a whole lot to do otherwise. Last night I went to the house of the Chief Engineer for the Gould. He had just moved into it a few months ago, and has finally got it fully furnished. It was interesting to experience the social culture down here, though the Engineer is American, his wife is Chilean. Things are very much more laid back. It was also interesting to be at a party where multiple languages are being spoken. We had English, Spanish, and Philipino. I've picked up a little Spanish. I can certainly understand more than I can speak, but my understanding pretty much consists of picking out a few key words I know, listening for cognates, and trying to intelligently fill in the rest. It's not easy.

Now that I'm in a hotel, and off the boat, my meals are provided by restaurants instead of ship food. I can honestly say I prefer the ship food. The cook, pardon me, chef (I believe he is a legit chef) on board is amazing. I'm finding the food here is pretty bland. I also find the meal schedule kind of annoying too, as most restaurants don't even open until 18:30. The hotel doesn't even start serving food until 20:00. Probably has to do with siesta.

On a side note, Sue, my co-worker I am traveling with had pointed out something interesting to me. While at Palmer Station, we were invited to a dinner, which had a "happy hour." I enjoyed one of the libations offered there, which of course had ice in it. Some of the station staff went out in a boat and collected a piece of crystal clear ice floating in the ocean, this type of ice, is appropriately named "bar ice." The cool thing is, this is thousands of years old. Kinda wierd to think that I consumed something that was potentially (and likely) formed before Christ walked this earth.

I'm still messing around with my pictures, so I apologize for not posting more. I have plenty. I'm kind of holding out, as I want to mess with Lightroom and Aperture when I get home. I've also been thinking of moving to Flickr as well. There are some organization features I like over what picasa provides. I'll try and get something for y'all to look at soon.