Chegamos na Estação McMurdo! (We arrived at McMurdo Station!)

No dia 5 de dezembro, chegamos na Estação McMurdo!  

On December 5th, we arrived at McMurdo Station!

Marisol está no gelo! Marisol is on the ice!

Eu também! Me too!

Elisa quer uma carona para a cidade! Elisa wants a ride into town!

Como eu disse no blog anterior, fomos atrasadas. Foi ainda pior. No dia 4 de dezembro (meu aniversario!), a gente voou como um bumerangue – voou para o sul por 4 horas e meio, vi as montanhas de Antártida, depois voltamos em Christchurch porque a pista de gelo não estava aberta. Havia muita neve. Um avião C-17 pode pousar no gelo, mas não em montes de neve profunda. 

As I said in my last blog, we were delayed. It was even worse. On December 4th (my birthday), we flew like a boomerang - we flew south for 4 and a half hours, I saw the mountains of Antarctica, and then we returned to Christchurch because the ice runway wasn't open. It had too much snow. A C-17 plane can land on ice but not on deeply drifted snow.

Nossa terceira vez no avião - o voo bem-sucedido! Our third time on the plane - our successful flight!
 

A gente voou para 9 horas e terminou onde comeu. Um C-17 voando de Christchurch à Estação McMurdo e volta custa US$ 900,000. Meu irmão me disse que foi o presente de aniversário mais caro que alguém me deu! kkk 

We flew for 9 hours and ended up where we started. A C-17 flight from Christchurch to McMurdo and back costs $900,000. My brother says that it's the most expensive birthday present anyone will ever give me! ha ha ha

A gente está aprendendo a acender os Whisperlites, o fogão que meu pai projetou há 40 anos. We are learning to light Whisperlites, the stove my dad designed 40 years ago.
 

Mas estamos aqui agora. E estamos trabalhando muito duro. Temos que assistir a muitas aulas de segurança. As aulas incluam: segurança em campo na Antártida, segurança no laboratório químico, dirigir um caminhão com segurança, segurança perto e em helicópteros, segurança contra assédio, como se manter aquecido... E também como usar um radio, um kit médico, um fogão de acampamento, uma barraca... A gente está aprendendo muito! (embora eu já tenha feito isso várias vezes antes)

But we are here now. And we are working hard. We have to take many safety classes. They include: Antarctic Field Safety, Chemical Lab Safety, how to drive a truck safely, safety around and in helicopters, anti-harassment training, how to stay warm... And also how to use a radio, medical kit, camping stove, tent... We are learning a lot! (although I've done this several times before)

 

Montando nossas tendas. Putting up our tents.

A gente precisa organizar todas as nossas coisas para voar a Lago Fryxell. Há coisas para acampar, para coletar amostras cientificas, para estudar amostras, para medir a química da água... Todas as coisas precisam ser embaladas, pesadas e marcadas com o peso, para onde vão, qual equipe é dona delas e se pode, ou não congelar. Eventualmente, a gente precisa levar tudo para o terminal de helicópteros, mas somente depois que eu tiver solicitado os voos. A gente quer voar na quinta-feira, 12 de dezembro. 

We have to organize all of our things to fly to Lake Fryxell. There are things for camping, collecting scientific samples, studying those samples, measuring the chemistry of water... Everything has to be packed, weighed, and marked with the weight, where it is going, which team it belongs to, and whether or not it can freeze. Eventually, we have to take everything to the helo terminal, but only after I request the flights. We want to leave on Thursday, December 12th.

Que uma vista! What a view!

 

Que o clima seja bom para nós!

May the weather treat us well!

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