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Journal Entries
2005-06
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| August 2005 | 23 | |
| October 2005 | 31 | |
| December 2005 | 15 29 30 31 | |
| January 2006 | 1 3 4 5 7 9 10-11 12-14 15 16-17 18-19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 | |
| February 2006 | 1 2 5 6-8 10 | |
| Click here to access journal entries by Giancarlo Lopez-Martinez or Luke Sandro. | ||
December 31, 2005 - Punta Arenas, Chile (52° S Latitude)
Every country I have been in seems to have a unique cemetery. In the United States, many cemeteries have grave that have either a small granite monument or a simple wooden cross that contain the individual’s name, date of birth and death and some nice words about the person like, "May he rest in peace". In France I found large gray marble monuments with statues high above the ground gracing each grave. There were large enclosed alters at each family plot. In the cemetery at Punta Arenas, I found each grave with brightly colored stones and even more colorful flowers within each grave. I think that cemeteries can tell us a lot about the culture and customs of its people.
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We received our EWG (extreme weather gear). Each item of clothing has to be tried on for fit so that we would be comfortable for the whole time we are at Palmer Station.
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The time has arrived; we finally boarded the Laurence M. Gould, the mighty gold and brick red colored ship that will take us to Palmer Station.
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When we arrived at the gate, security was very tight. Each person had to use a special security pass card to get onto the dock and another ID to board the ship. Coming aboard the ship was such a long awaited treat! I was not disappointed at all — it is huge! The cranes to lift our baggage and the ships cargo aboard from the dock looked large enough to move a small house! This photo shows our baggage being loaded onto the Gould.
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We moved into our cabins and unpacked our bags. I share a room with my roommate Joann. Joann will be staying on the ship doing research after we are dropped off at Palmer. She will be conducting a study of phytoplankton and stay on the boat 'til April! She is just as excited to begin as I am! Again, I got lucky and have a good room. I have the top bunk, which has a little shelf where I put my alarm clock and a picture of my family. Even though my cabin is small, it is arranged so efficiently that all our belongings have a place. Everything is locked in place too so that when the boat really rolls on the open sea, nothing will slide around. Right now there is an empty water bottle on the table rolling back and forth with the waves.
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We celebrated the New Year at midnight with a toast using our Fig Newton cookies and watched the fireworks going off on the beach. Happy New Year to you too — 2006 is going to be an outstanding year!
- Marianne Kaput