weight of the world

Today marks the end of my adventure that started on October 4. I have completed my journey at my parents house in Alliston, Ontario and have another 9 days to recoup, reorganize, and sift through my 3000-some photos before driving back to the Chicago area with mom.

The last six months will certainly not be ones I intend to readily forget. The experiences I hold as my own and were able to share with Laura, as well as, the rest of the community in Antarctica captivated my emotions and imagination, challenged me, and provided plenty of new thoughts to mull over. The trip was all inclusive, with moments of happiness and frustration, sadness and sympathy, energetic excitement, and mindless mornings. I experienced a new job, an extraordinary place, a touch of romance, the drama of a small community, and eternal daylight. I was present for the sorrows and joys of other people over things going on near and far. Sometimes I could listen, other times, I had to pull away and offer space in our cramped town. I saw the southern hemisphere, experienced the loss of smell, I knocked off another two continents, I lived under eternal daylight, and felt my nose hairs freeze. I made myself at home in New Zealand and Australia, and learned to be the "one who talks funny," "just an American," a "Yank," the tourist who perpetually carries her camera, and so on...

From here, I'll travel west and begin a summer fresh. I'll have a new blog (keep your eyes open for some new links at this web address), I'll have a new job (hopefully), I'll have a new place to live, and new people to meet. But, now, in addition to my friends and family, I have a new consortium of oddly placed, strangely connected, and beautiful friends all over the nation and world who I hope to bump into on street corners and in airports along life's track.

With that in mind, I shall relinquish the weight of the world to those in Antarctica (at least for the summer) and find myself again soon on the Pacific Coast, standing on my own two feet, looking for a new job and new community there.

Thanks for the memories, the encouragement, the time, and all the communication.

hot in hawaii

Flying over the International Dateline is a bit kooky. So, I had another Sunday. Ben and I decided to rent a car together. After heading through customs and immigration, we headed to the rental car office and hoped to get a vehicle slightly larger than the economy I had reserved. We got a Toyota Highlander SUV. Now some of you might be wondering what I was doing driving an SUV, but I assure you, this was the best option they could give us for all our gear for only $5 more per day! I was surprised she offered the upgrade to us, but now we can ride around with our rainbow plates, all our luggage and a pineapple in the back seat!

We accomplished quite a bit for just coming off a plane. The first stop we made was Pearl Harbor where we went on a submarine tour and then took a remarkable tour of the USS Arizona Memorial. It's a bit eerie to think of all those men still laying beneath us at the site of the boat! It is good that the awful events are remembered so people understand sacrifice and what it is to give up one's life for others. The short film, boat ride, and actual memorial visit were very well put together and informative for a free National Park tour.

After we had a bit to eat, we, each toting our cell phones that now actually work, began traveling around the island of Oahu. Our first stop was Halona Blowhole where we watched the sapphire blue waves crash the shore. The water is so powerful it pushes itself through a few spots in the rock.

We also stopped for a hike up Makapuu Point where we had a spectacular view of the sea cliffs, beaches, islands, light house, and water below. The scenery is beautiful. It's no wonders so many people come here for their holidays.

Next we stopped at a store for a few things to eat and a huge pineapple to share. I dropped Ben off at his campsite and parked our vehicle at the Waikiki Beach Hostel. I have three sweet roommates who are not noisy partiers which is a relief.

The morning stared early to pick up Ben. We got all his gear at the campsite and left quite quickly to find a beach on the North Shore. Ben took in a few views before choosing a place on the Banzai Pipeline to rent a surfboard. I ordered a bit of breakfast and enjoyed the sun while he was fitted for his gear. I think we both enjoyed that stop at the beach!

Ben had to get back to the airport to fly to Maui, so we headed down the west side of the island, making our last stop together at Pearl Harbor, again, to eat our humongous pineapple. We polished that juicy fruit off far too quickly; my tongue felt funny the rest of the day. I enjoyed eating the whole thing in Hawaii with sticky drips of juice on my arms to my elbows and my legs, too!

It was nice to have the company of a friend for a day of my travels. From the airport, and alone, I decided to brave downtown Honolulu on their state holiday, Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Day. Traffic was not too bad and I went to the central market where some shops are set up. I purchased a couple souvenirs and my Waikiki Starbucks mug. It felt good to browse around and sped the early afternoon out and about. I drove then to the famous Diamond Head Crater where you drive into the crater and hike up the inside, up a trail, stairs, ladder, and through old military posts and lookouts. The hike was pretty nice and the view of Waikiki, Honolulu, and the Island was amazing. I'm glad I did it. I felt incredibly fit bounding up the stairs after being active for so long on the road (mostly from carrying my luggage all over the place)!

In the evening I walked down Kalakaua Avenue along the beach to the little shops. Returning towards the Backpackers I stayed at, I picked up something to eat, sat under the torches, watched people and hula dancers with live Hawaiian music, and other street performers strum and drum away on their instruments.

*favorite photos: the two surfboard pictures.

creating confusion and future finaglings

I've come up with some analogies to life lately based on my experiences here.

One is that my head can be a lot like a bad game of pool. A couple of days ago, I racked the balls and took about 15 shots at them. Not one ball found its' way to the pockets (well, except the cue ball). I kind of feel like that is how I'm thinking about my travel plans and life right now. I have lots of thoughts banging around in my head up there, but none have put themselves away yet.

Then, life is also like the transition between land and sea that I drive through to get out to our Willie Field and Pegasus airports. There are some huge lakes in the ice (bigger than the picture I am posting). They are actually puddles, but the bottom is not visible. This is disconcerting; considering we drive over the Ross Sea. So, when driving through these puddles, we can either stop, or plow through. A drivers initial reaction is to stop before arriving at the puddle, but we can't make our journey if we stop for apparent danger. The next thought is to drive real slow in case something happens, but that may leave the vehicle stranded at the bottom of the puddle. So, the third option is to proceed with caution through the obstacle and keep up the momentum to push out of it. I guess that is how I ended up in Antarctica. I saw an opportunity that was scary and proceeded with caution and have been plowing through it hoping to exit this place with momentum to keep living life with the energy and faith I found in this cold place.

So, with that being said, I intend to give you an idea of what my general, unplanned idea is for the next few months:

February 24: My redeployment date. This is the date I am scheduled to leave Antarctica. If weather is bad, or there are mechanical issues, our plane will be delayed. The season could also be extended as late as March 3 and since I am scheduled on the last flight out, I will stay if they decide we need to stretch summer in McMurdo an extra week.

Because we could end up leaving Antarctica as late as March, I cannot make plans to leave New Zealand until then. I do intend to spend two to three weeks in New Zealand. I will be flying out with friends who I hope to travel with on the South Island for awhile before heading to Auckland to explore New Zealand's North Island with my Kiwi friends, Kirrin and Jeremy, who live there.

After my time in New Zealand, I will be headed to Sydney, Australia. I intend to spend a couple days in the city and then getting out for a couple weeks in the southeastern side of the continent. This should put me into the first week of April.

From Sydney, I will board another plane to Honolulu to spend 2-3 days in Hawaii. I cannot say I am particularly excited about making a trip there, but if I'm headed over the islands anyway, I may as well tick that difficult state off the list of 50. Sydney and Honolulu come at a grand total with visa fees and taxes to $270NZ (which should be around $190USD). I can't beat that!

After a short stint in Hawaii, I will complete my travels and return to O'Hare. Back in the Chicago area, I hope to catch up with friends, sort through my belongings, take care of taxes, and attend a wedding in honor of Lexi and Matt.

With the intention of returning to The Ice next year, I will be relocating to Washington State this summer and hopefully finding a job there as well. This entire grand plan will be completed by May, although, dates and times remain to be determined.

So, if you know of anyone who has some extra space to transport a few boxes from Illinois to Washington, let me know. Or, if you know of anyone who needs a summer employee on the west coast, drop me a line!