Peacock in Paradise!

Just got up from a five hour nap. Once again, I overdid it on my day off yesterday, and was a complete zombie all day today! I don't think I really woke up until about midnight today.
60 people, aboard three C-17's, departed McMurdo for the south pole today and another 40 will leave tomorrow (shout outs to Charley, Nick, Rose and Nicole. You will be missed!) Many were waiting up to two weeks to leave. The delay, for the most part, had to do with temperature. Planes can't land in temperatures below -50 degrees fahrenheit. Apparently global warming hasn't reached the South Pole.

But yesterday was great! I did my first cross-country skiing! I skied the Cape Armitage route from Mcmurdo station to Scott base, the New Zealand base. Scott Base is smaller and cleaner, much like New Zealand.
There are a couple routes aproved for skiing, and I'm looking forward to trying all of them out. I'm also looking forward to learning to skate ski. The roads here are more suited to skate skiing, becasue they are flat and icy, and because vehicles appear to have little regard for the classic style tracks that they crush below their treds.
Ski rental hasn't been a problem. There is a decent collection of reasonably well maintained used skis and boots (although the boots I used yesterday gave me a fat blister). I've thought about mailing my skis down, but the terrain is choppy and sharp at times, and I have no need to bang my ski's up.
I think often of the birkebeiner, while I'm down here, I'm not sure why. It was the most physically brutal thing I've done in my life. Yet strangely I'm drawn to it. Why do humans do things like run marathons or ski the birkebeiner? Why endure such pain for no tangible reward? Maybe we are all masochists at heart!
There is also small hill along the Castle Rock ski trail that is suitable for downhill skiing. Hopefully I'll be able to do s a little snowboarding this summer!
The Halloween party was out of this world! Everyone was really looking forward to it, and I was more than ready to let loose a little. I managed to scrounge up a green reptile skin skirt, a bright blue, trippy 70's style shirt, a set of wings with boa's stapled on, and some gold sparkles for my mohawk. All in all, the look i was going for was a peacock, but most people though I was a mermaid, due to the tighness of the skirt. All in all, though, a most oddly excellent night: hundreds of partyers in the most outragous costumes, packed into a tiny gym decorated like a high school dance. Walking home after the dance, through the frigid, icy streets of antarctica, blinded by the bright 3am sunlight, dressed like a peacock, and surrounded by and passing outrageously happy partyers, was one of the most surreal moments in my life.
When I first stepped foot on the continent, I got the feeling that this place was unique, unlike anywhere else. Despite the strenuous workload and travel restrictions, that feeling still remains strong.