New disease, but also fruit

The clock is ticking for those toasty winterovers at McMurdo. They know well that their long sleep is about to end, and there are 100+ of us right now in Christchurch, NZ, ready to descend on sleepy little Mac Town. (Cue the scary music...)

Those of us heading down for the upcoming Antarctic summer season are very excited, flush with Kiwi per diem, and cramming as much sushi and Indian food into our little mouths as we can before we are forced to eat expired cafeteria food for months on end. Look at all my Kiwi cash! Ahh, but it goes so much faster here...

Today, we got hooked up with our cold weather duds at the CDC. Here's a pic I took in the boy's locker room. (Tee hee!) All of those orange bags are filled with coats and boots and other cold weather gear. I neglected to get a photo of myself all duded up, but that's a task for tomorrow.

To my winterover friends, who have grown used to each other's germs, and those germs only, I am sorry, but we come bearing disease. But also fruit. So it's probably a wash.

I've got requests from friends for strawberries and avocados, so my next step is to persue the Kiwi produce sections to see what they have to offer in their late winter. (I'm thinking some anemic looking things, but you never know.)

Otherwise, a few photos of friends I've reconnected with here in Cheech, and will live and work with for the next six months. For those in the know, these were taken at the Dux last night! Also, a pic of the craziest hotel room I've ever stayed in, complete with mood lighting, plasma TVs that play mood pictures, and a big glass-encased shower and toilet. We like Hotel So.