Thursday, August 31, 2006

Questions from Alfredo and Em & John

From Alfredo in Milwaukee suburbs:

Q: Town?
A: Well, McMurdo IS a town. There is a firehouse, waste water treatment plant, power plant, 2 bars, a coffeehouse/wine bar, an aerobics gym, a weight gym, a gymnasium, a bowling alley (2 lanes), a recreation department, a radio station, clubs (although nobody labels them as clubs), bingo night, a climbing wall, a ceramics room, a newspaper (although not up and running yet)... there are many things that make this place a town.


From Emily & John in Madison, WI:

Q: "Is there a mayor?"
A: No, there is not a mayor. But there are a bunch of important big-wigs sauntering around the place. One guy is the NSF (National Science Foundation) Station Manager, and another guy is the Raytheon Station Manager. I'm not sure who the other important people are.

Q: "What happens if someone commits a crime?"
A: I beat them up. Kidding! There isn't much crime here at all. It's probably the lowest crime rate anywhere in the world. Especially during Win-Fly because it's such a small community. If you get in a fist fight down here and throw a punch (even if it's to protect yourself), you get fired and will be on the next plane out of here. If you pull the power breaker to the whole base (I know where it is), you get fired and fined and probably kicked out of Antarctica forever (not sure about that).

Q: "Where did your luggage end up??!!?!" (edited for content)
A: Tahiti, hopefully enjoying a nice vacation. I'm still not sure. It's been missing 17 days now, and I've pretty much given up all hope that they'll find it.

Posted by Katie from the Ice @ 6:16 PM