Posted

Jan 7th 2008

Mood

Artistic

Music

Franz Ferdinand -- The Fallen

Kay, so...like...I've been gone the past 3 weeks. 'Cuz I went to frickin Antarctica.

Here's what happened ~

I was supposed to leave at 2 AM on the last Friday of exams (technically Saturday). It was 8:00, and I was just about to do laundry and start packing when I hear a knock on the door. It's one of the floor RA's. Apparently, I have to gtfo of my room, because I didn't fill out some stupid paperwork that NOBODY told me about.

Soh, I had 20 minutes to pack 3 week's worth of clothing, entertainment, and other stuff. This turned into 1 week's worth of clothes, and I simply wore each outfit 3 times (hygiene wasn't a big concern). I then got to wait in the lobby of my dorm for 5 hours before hopping on a 2-hour bus ride at 2 in the morning.

I arrived at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport at about 5 AM. I met up with my group, we were given our assignments, and then we flew to Chicago.

And then we flew to Miami.

And then we flew to Santiago, Chile.

And then we flew to Puente Aires, Chile.

And then we finally flew to Ushuaia, Argentina. This place looked...well, it looked like Belize. No other way to describe it. The whole city was about a decade behind as far as technology goes. And yet somehow they had Blackberries. Don't ask me how, I don't speak a lick of Spanish.

Fashion in Ushuaia was a complete riot. I half-expected the 'gangs' there to start singing 'Greased Lightning.' And I honestly don't think I saw a single car owned by the locals that was less than 20 years old. Oh, and pesos...what can I say about pesos? It's monopoly money. Colorful, papery, and exchanged at a rate of 3 1/4 for every 1 USD. A gellato as tall as my head cost $1.25. The poncho I bought? $60 USD. King Crab dinner? $24 USD. I wish they had PS3 games down there...I would have loved to have bought a couple new ones lol

Oh, and on a side note...if any of you go to Ushuaia, be prepared to order food an hour before you're actually hungry, and ask for the check a half an hour before you actually want it. They run on their own clock there.

While there, I did a lot of bizarre and insane things. I hiked a total of 9 miles to a glacier on the side of a mountain. I took a sailboat to watch Sea Lions. I watched Magellanic Penguins nest on a green, grassy island. They're black and white birds, folks.

So...yea. I saw a lot of incredible shit. And, after a week in Ushuaia we piled onto a ship to Antarctica. I can't pronounce it's name because it's in Russian. But I do know it's a research vessel c:

The first two days there and back? Definitely the worst. We had to cross the Drake Passage, which is the single most turbulent body of water in the world, to reach the Antarctic Peninsula. Once there, happy times ensued. Antarctica is the single most beautiful place I've ever seen.

Penguins...wow, there are a lot of penguins down there. I mean thousands in any single location. I never actually got to see Emperor Penguins when I was there (they're on the wrong side of the continent), but I did see Gentoo, Adele, and Chinstrap Penguins (Chinstraps are my favorite c:)

Lessee...I also saw...Weddell Seals, Crabeater Seals, Leopard Seals (ohgod I love Leopard Seals ), Orcas (aka Killer Whales), Skuas, Antarctic Terns, Petrels, Albatrosses, aaaand...Humpback Whales.

And a crap load of other animals I can't remember. Don't judge me, I have pictures D:

But, I had a hell of a lot of time to find myself as I was down there, and really get in touch with who I am as a person. This is also why I've put my relationship with Donut on hold...I'm not sure if it's right for either of us anymore. We'll see as time goes on, I suppose.

Back in Ushuaia, we received two free days. On the first, I didn't do much other than buy stuff and sleep. On the second, though, I got to go kayaking on a pristine little lake, and then hike up the side of another mountain. It was fun c:

So...after another 30 hours of flying, I made it back here, with a load of pictures, a poncho, and a jade necklace as the only proof that I've ever been there. I got a couple presents for some people, but most of them are too far away for me to give to them right now.

So, here's the deal. I'm gonna crop, adjust, and upload 2 magnificent pictures of my trip to Ushuaia and Antarctica every day, until I run out of good pictures. I want to see if any of these can get front paged. c: Help if you can, I really think some of these are worthy of SA's attention.

Ttyl, I have classes I need to go to. Ilu all :3

~ Sen