Here’s a map of the island I live on, Ross Island (click the image to enlarge).
McMurdo is at the end of the long spit of land at the bottom of the island. Erebus is the mountain on the left, and Mount Terror is on the right. Terror is a dormant volcano. If you look at the map carefully, you can see where the permanent ice is - it’s grayer than the water on the map.
Here’s a simple map of Antarctica (click the image to enlarge). McMurdo is located near the Ross Ice Shelf.
Since some of you don’t necessarily know what I do down here on the Ice, I thought I’d write a bit today on what it is like to live and work at McMurdo, and write about what I do a little bit. (Now that I’ve been down for a week, which seems like a month, I feel like I’m qualified to say!)
My current job here is as a Beverage/Recreation Accounting Clerk, and I work in the Recreation department. I work for a company called NANA Services. It is a subcontractor of a Raytheon. Most of the day-to-day operations of the station are run by these two companies, as well as companies that fly the planes and helicopters.
My job is to keep track of the finances of the handful of places on the Ice where you can spend your money - the bars and the Station Store. McMurdo has three bars - Southern Exposure, Gallagher’s, and the Coffee House. I count all the money and keep track of all the beverage inventory. When people ask me what my job is, I tell them I am the Vice Girl - I handle the alcohol, the tobacco, the money, the movies and the chocolate! It’s very busy, with lots to do, because really and truly, there’s not much people can spend their money on!
This sort of gets to what it is like to live at McMurdo. It’s not very big (1,100 people max!), you’re limited in where you can go to a handful of trails, and you have a roommate. So it’s very different than the life most people are coming from. For this reason, it’s a good thing that we’re working 6 9-hour days (or for some, 5 12-hour days!) - it keeps you good and busy! However, the function of my department is to give people things to do on the days and times they have off. So there is a music room, with instruments you can check out (guitars, a bass, keyboards, etc.), you can rent skis, you can do things in the craft room, or you can chill out in the library. We coordinate the different activities that go on here, like concerts and classes and trips.
It’s really different being down here - not just because it’s cold with no plants (and no bugs!) It’s a different way of life, which takes some adjusting. There are lots of people around all the time, and it’s not easy to have private time. But the good thing is that most of the people who make it down here are nicer and more interesting than average, so it really makes it fun.
