Training is going well so far, if not a bit tiring by the end of the day! I have met a handful of very interesting people. Four of us shuttle drivers have taken to hanging out together: Marty, Mike, Tia & myself.
One thing I found particularly interesting is that 68% of waste from Antarctica is recyclable. This number cannot even begin to be met by any U.S. city (of course, Seattle has the best recycling rate at around 40%). The waste program is specifically taught to everyone and strictly monitored by "wasties" who hand-pick through all different recyclables! Everything gets shipped back to the States (either California or Washington) on a big barge. As one woman noted on her blog, "you can't throw anything away in Antarctica because there is no 'away' to throw it to."Today, I received a brand new pair of boots and my laptop was scanned and has a brand new sticker so it is authorized to plug in to the network through the United States Antarctic Program. I've filled out my paperwork and received my application for a 9 month visa to New Zealand!
And, grateful to my friends at Sweetener Supply, I received my external hard drive today so I don't lose my files if I lose my computer on the trip. I'm backing everything up as I write!
A sidenote: For those of you who may not know, my sister, Laura, will also be in Antarctica this year. She is in New Zealand right now, waiting for her perpetually delayed Ice Flight down to the continent. I've been mistaken for Laura a couple of times already today! Many people have noted our apparent similar looks, or quickly identify me as Laura's sister. It's strange to be following her, rather than she following me like it was all through school!
1 comment:
Haha! My how the tables have turned, huh? I also plan on denying you access to the tree house, making you clean out the kitchen cabinets while mom and dad are gone and instating the curfew that YOU never had. See you tomorrow! (I hope)
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