but hope it's true

i never learned to swim
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I first heard about Students on Ice ten years ago when I was in high school. While volunteering at the local bingo hall one night, a friend asked if I would ever consider going to Antarctica. The first thing out of my mouth (other than a huge, curious grin) was, "Yes!" I had never thought of it before, but it pulled at something in me. To make a long story short, we never made it on that trip, but SOI's maiden voyage in 2000 stayed on my mind for the last decade. Two weeks ago, when I arrived at the airport and started to meet everyone as the expedition got underway, I worried that I wouldn't be able to express to anyone how truly meaningful it was for me to have finally made it here. Our word of the day two days ago was "ineffable" - describing how something is inexpressible. How appropriate, I thought. I've been wondering about how I'm going to describe everything to people when I get home. I have been thinking and talking about Antarctica for ten years how, I have to show some photos and tell some stories, don't I? But ...how? This is the Last Continent, the last bit of the earth to be discovered by explorers and for a long time, the continent of Antarctica didn't appear on any world maps. When it finally did, it was a vague scribble at the bottom of the page, labelled "Incognita" - Unknown. I read this quote shortly before I left for the expedition; it struck a chord with me and will undoubtedly stay with me for some time. And for now, it is the only way that I can express how truly meaningful, and ineffable, this experience was for me: "It is not down on any map, true places never are." 4:26 pm Tuesday, January 04, 2011 Heading Towards Hidden Bay It occurred to me last night as I was lying in bed that yesterday would have been my first day back at work after the holiday break. But instead of being at the office, I found myself spending the day at Deception Island, doing a plankton tow, hiking up to Neptune's Window, walking amongst old whaling stations and then doing a "penguin dip" - a jump into the chilly waters of Whaler's Bay and then a luxurious dip in a homemade hot tub with thermal waters. And during the time when I would have been taking transit home, I was hiking up and down a volcano. It takes me a while to process all of the incredible things that we do in one day and I want to be able to translate all of these awe-inspiring experiences into ...something. But you know how they say "A photo is worth a thousand words"? Well, neither my photos nor my words could do this place justice. Because I'm here now and I'm completely and utterly speechless. 4:24 pm Saturday, January 01, 2011 These Boots Are Made for Walking... I'm tempted to put on my comfy "ship shoes" when I get dressed in the mornings before breakfast, but I decidedly put on socks and my good boots because I just never know when I'll want to go outside. Well, that's not true - I want to go outside all the time. Whether it's to get some fresh air to ease my queasy head and stomach or to see if I can spot another albatross, I always appreciate our view: endless rolling waves and just this wide, vast, seemingly unending royal blue ocean. We've crossed the Antarctic Convergence (whoo!) and the 60 degrees south latitude (wahoo!) and the ship is chugging along nicely in the direction of Elephant Island. I'm thrilled at the idea of being in the spot where Shackleton's famous journey began. If all goes well, we should be arriving around 8pm this evening and in addition to being excited about bringing our science lectures to life, I'm also looking forward to being on solid, steady ground again. Like some others on the ship, I'm battling seasickness au naturel - just with shear mind-power and no medications - and have been successful at keeping my moderately lurching stomach at bay so far. Admittedly, I'm feeling a bit wibbly today and can't wait to plant my feet on land and not have to concentrate on keeping my balance. (I should mention, however, that we have been reminded time and time again that we are very lucky to have the calm waters of "Drake Lake" thus far and not those of the infamous "Drake Shake"!) And while I sometimes feel so wiped out at the end of our fully packed days that I just want to go to bed after room checks, I'm glad that I push myself to stay up and chat with the other staff members and get to know my new friends better. Last night found us all celebrating the New Year together in the lounge. We had a fantastic party with the students (complete with songs, dances, Father Time, Baby New Year and all)! I tumbled into bed a little later than I had planned, but I fell asleep with a smile on my face knowing that I'd wake up in the morning and put my socks and boots on, ready to do it all over again. 4:22 pm