Thanksgiving in Antarctica

  Thanksgiving is observed on Saturdays here, which means we get a two day weekend. This is important because there are only three two day weekends throughout the summer season. There was a lot happening around the base this weekend, including but not limited to and 80's hair metal cover band, as well as a number of other musical acts, a 5K race known as the turkey trot, Antarctica's answer to the Burning Man festival, you guessed it, Freezing Man, as well as much associated alcoholic behavior. I showed up to the race at 9:45 Saturday morning wondering why I was doing this after a night of hair metal and Tacate beer, to find that I was one of only a few people not wearing a costume. It is a strange feeling to be running up the hill to Scott base getting passed by someone dressed as a penguin.
  Thanksgiving dinner was served at 3, 5, and 7 PM and was amazing. The staff in the galley went all out with the food, and even gave us tablecloths which had sheets for writing what you were thankful for. Some of the prior diners wrote things such as: A freezer full of venison, sunsets, not being stranded and forced to eat sled dogs, and booze. The galley staff received a standing ovation at the end of dinner.   Friday before Thanksgiving I was able to phone my family during my morning break, and since Antarctica is 17 hours ahead of Madison, I caught them right at dinner. It does amaze me sometimes that I am able to make calls from this place. Even though it is a scientific research station, It is still using the same telephone system installed in the early 80's. Every room here has a landline phone that actually rings. If you are someone who needs to be reached often, you have a pager. My first roommate here was an IT guy for the ASC, he told me that they used to be able to find parts for the phone system on ebay, but now that is no longer possible and they have to look in places like Mexico City. Yes, the National Science Foundation has to go to third world countries to keep it's infrastructure running. Some of the VHF radios they use here are over 30 years old. This is indeed a land of extremes.
   I will post some pictures soon, but since the internet has limited bandwidth, and runs at dial up speed, it takes about 3 to 5 minutes to upload a photo, and I need to get to band practice.