Q (a galley employee), Barbara, and Juliane (from left to right) working behind the scene in the galley, scrubbing pots and pans.
Today was another of these waiting-game days just like yesterday. 5:00am wake up time, flight delayed for 3 hours, so we all went back to sleep till 8am. Then our flight was switched over to a back-up flight, like yesterday, so hopes were low to get out today. If the primary flight is canceled, then our flight would be activated instead. But yesterday the flight got canceled again. At least today we were not canceled right away. After a short breakfast we visited Mac-Ops this morning, so we can put some faces to the voices we talk to over the radio. Very impressive operation. And after a longer lunch, Barb and I decided to volunteer today in the Galley, washing dishes, pots and pans instead of waiting around and being bored. We already have toured the utility departments (power plant, water waste plant and the fresh water plant), and all these folks down here do so much for us, supporting us (the science groups) in any way possible, so we felt like we wanted to give back a little, to get to know what it takes to run the place, to see behind the scene and show our appreciation by helping out. And the galley always needs help. We scrubbed and washed a huge pile of pots and pans and when we were down to just 3 pans I shouted out cheers thinking we made a huge dent, until I was showed around the corner where all the dirty dishes are stashed and just wait to be washed. Holy moly…there were HUGE piles still waiting. We had hardly made a difference. They told us that a lot of those dishes are still from the Sunday brunch, it takes them about 3-4 days to wash away all those dishes, on top of the ever-day dishes. None-the-less it was a lot of fun to help out and we were ensured that our help did make a difference. There are so many interesting people working behind the scenes here and it is such a pleasure to get to know them a little bit at a time.
And now it looks like our flight is activated!!!! YES! Pick-up time is 6pm and the flight is scheduled for 7pm, Fingers crossed we will get out today! It looks very promising. WOOHOOOO
Juliane, McMurdo Station, Dec. 11th; 3:30pm.