1/2/15
Cuverville Island, Antarctica
I think when I look back on this trip, I will realize that the only
realize I made this landing was so that I could write that dateline. It was pure fulfillment value. I did not need to see any more penguins. I would have gotten far more enjoyment value
out of staying on the ship and smoking my Cohiba. It is just past 9 AM here, and it is quite
warm. I just put my parka back on, but I
had been walking around a little, taking pictures, in just my t-shirt. It was quite bearable without the layers, but
not particularly comfortable. Anyway,
I’m probably going to be here in this spot for the next hour and a half, since
we are doing an 11 AM photoshoot, and I can’t miss that. I really wish I could smoke my cigar here,
but I am too visible, and, even if I could hide it, I forgot my cigar saver, so
transporting the ash and butt back to the ship is not an option.
I guess it was last night I was wondering why
Antarctica didn’t have any World Heritage Sites, or was not one in its
entirety. The answer I came up with was
quite simple. As non-sovereign land,
there is no one to nominate any of the sites.
If it were nominated, there is doubt that any site nominated would
easily be inscribed. It is funny. I am in possibly the most beautiful place in
the world, and I just realized that, as soon as I finish this entry, I will be
bored. It’s not that I don’t like being
here, it’s just that sitting in solitude in some beautiful outdoor location feels
incomplete without a cigar. Anyway,
after I closed last night, I went up to the club, I think, or maybe everyone
was already in the lounge. I don’t
recall. No, I went to the lounge, and
Dom was playing on the piano while Frances was busy on his computer. I published my entry, and I guess I went back
to my room to drop off my laptop. I’m
not sure if the group came down at that point, or if I found them in the
lounge.
Either way, it was not long
before we were playing Charades again, me, Beth, and Luke against Danny, Davey,
and Luke’s sister. I think we finished
up around 1 AM. No, I’m skipping
ahead. Sam came out, and she joined in
the game as a designated guesser. The
highlight of the game was one of my clues.
It was Ernest Shackleton. The
other team quickly guessed Shackleton, but no one knew his first name. The ran all over the ship trying to find
something with his name, but no luck.
Luke’s sister (I’m just going to call her “Leia” for the rest of this
entry) then acted out the first name.
She indicated that she was acting out the second syllable, and she
pretended to be a mother hen. The team
guessed nest, and she indicated that they were correct, but they didn’t quite
figure out how to put it all together, and started to guess crazy and wild
things that made no sense in context.
Eventually Sam called out “Baby bird!”
Just like with Em and “The incident with the soup and the rice,” I will
never let Sam forget the time when she guessed “Baby Bird Shackleton” at
Charades.
We then went outside to take
pictures around one in the morning. I
don’t recall if Beth was still with us at that point. No, I don’t think she was, actually. We soon said our goodnights, and it was just
me and Davey. I asked him if he wanted
to join me for a cigar, an offer he gladly accepted. When I went to my room to get the cigars, I
saw Beth in the lobby. I chose a Fume D’Amour for myself, the Number
3 rated cigar of the year, and I gave Davey the Santana.
It was such amazing scenery to watch as we
smoked our cigars, not missing the fact that we were on a boat, in Antarctica,
smoking cigars, at two in the morning.
Wow, I’m really tired. Maybe I’ll
take a nap while I’m waiting for the photo shoot. Anyway, we continued our conversation from
the previous night/morning. After our
cigars, we went inside, and Frances soon joined us. He engaged us in a gruesome conversation
about what we thought were the worst ways to die. Davey bowed out shortly thereafter, but
Frances said he still had some juice left in him. I went to check what time sunrise was (2:37
AM), and I met him back up in the club. He asked if I was staying up for every
sunrise, and I said that I was the type of person who would stay up until 3 AM
with anyone for any reason.
We went
outside at sunrise, an irrelevant concept with the cloud coverage and
mountains, and I told him the infamous story that ended with “The pot you used
to heat up the soup.” I couldn’t tell it
without cracking up every few seconds, and he would start cracking up every
time I did. He said that the story took
me ten minutes to tell, even though it only should have taken 20 seconds. I told him that made the story work so well
was that it had three distinct parts to it.
He joked that, as a screenwriter, he could appreciate a story in three
acts. We talked for the next hour about
screenwriting, which lasted about an hour.
As 4 AM approached, I said that I was going to have to bow out, hoping
to get four hours of sleep.
I woke up
for breakfast, not that I had much of an appetite. I have found myself to have a very fickle
appetite since I got back from Alaska, over five months ago. Some days, if I don’t eat as soon as I get
hungry, I lose my appetite and have to force myself to eat. Other days, I am hungry all day, and, no matter
how much I eat, I am hungry again every hour or so. This trip has seen both days. I raced to get ready for breakfast before my
appetite was gone, but I don’t think I succeeded, not that I wasn’t able to
eat. I just wasn’t particularly hungry. I was basically eating because I knew I’d be
hungry again later. Beth was sitting
with Danny and his dad, so I went to sit down at the table, but Danny said he
was saving the seat for his sister. Danny's dad said that I should sit there and that they would pull up an extra chair
for Sammy, but the waiters said that that was not allowed.
No worries, I went to sit down next to
L---, and I prepared myself for her grandmother’s usual grilling. She was actually relatively tame this
morning, and Steve and Claudia soon joined us, them both happy to see me as
always. Oh, while I’m writing about
Steve and L---, I kept meaning to write this to wrap up the water bottle
story. After the Last Sip, once I headed
back to the landing site, I showed Steve and L--- my broken Nalgene. As adventurous travelers, they understand the
significance of what happened in a way that few other people would. Steve asked me if I always brought it with
me. Of course I did. He asked me how long I had had it. 15 years, I lied, combining the life span of
Mark 1 and Mark 2. He truly felt my
pain. L--- then said how easy it is to
become attached to something like that and how it starts to gather sentimental
value. Yes! They got it.
They understood. That was why he
also understood how excited I was to get the new one at Palmer Station. He again said that he had never heard of a
Nalgene cracking. I realized that I was
standing in front of the people who would know best about my theory of the cold
contributing to the crack. No, they said
that they drop their Nalgenes all the time, outside, in the freezing weather. Hmm, well, no matter. There was no way to “uncrack” it.
Okay, back to breakfast. After I ate my main course, I went to get a
plate of pastries. I ate the apple
beignets and left the rest of the pastries on my plate, waiting to ask for a
napkin. L---’s grandmother then asked
me sharply if I was going to take the rest of the pastries to go. I assured her that I would. Filching as much as food as you can was quite
alright in her book, but wasting food was not.
I really wanted a cigar, so I planned to have one before I got on the
Zodiac, but my group, which was second to last, got called to assemble. Even if I went with the last group, I would
not have time to finish the cigar. I was
in such a rush that I had forgotten something very important: the cord for my
camera. Since my camera was almost out
of photos, I knew that I would have to delete a bunch of photos, a process that
was much easier when I could just back up on the laptop. Oh well.
We made our landing, and I walked off on my own to find a secluded cove
to spend the time. I found the perfect
spot, took some pictures, deleted all of the pictures from Argentina to make
some more room, and then I sat down and proceeded to write this entry. As I was writing, I heard Meredith shout my
name. She was standing there with Adam,
and they were indicating that a bird was over my head. I didn’t care. A little later, Beth’s mom walked by, asking
why I wasn’t doing the hike. I said that
I just wanted to do my writing. She
understood and said that she was looking for a secluded spot, a nice rock to
sit on, but that she didn’t want to distract from my view.
As she walked down the beach, Diego came
rushing up to her, indicating that she shouldn’t go any further due to the
treacherous terrain ahead. Unable to
find her rock, she just stood around. I
indicated a perfect rock to her about a few meters away from me. Wait, why did I just write so much about her
such for a rock seat? Well, it’s kind of
what I did, too, but I moved some rocks away so that I could comfortably use
the ice shelf as a seatback. I will now
close so that I can maybe take a nap before the photo shoot.
At sea, M/V Corinthian, Croker
Passage
It’s lonely at sea, and, until today, I guess I didn’t realize
that. It’s especially lonely when you find yourself
constantly trying to get people to like the person you have been acting at,
rather than your true self. No, ever since
I woke up yesterday morning, I have been my true self, and I have been seeing
who likes me for me, and who was merely tolerating me.
There are other people who, seeing my true self, find a fun and crazy person
to hang out, someone with whom they can share enjoyable experiences, but it’s
different with L---. When I see Davy,
my thoughts go to what wild adventures we will pursue until the wee hours of
the night, all the fun we will have, and the debates and conversations that
will pursue. With L---, it’s
different. I feel safe when I see
her. I feel relaxed. I feel that I can let my guard down. I feel that I don’t have to try and impress
her or get her to like me. It’s a
feeling that, excluding my family, I feel with only one other person, well actually, two people, and
they are the two people in the world whom I would most want to be on this
ship with me. It should be obvious to my reader
the two people whom I mean, but I will say it anyway. My best friend and my girlfriend. I feel safe when I’m around them, and, over
the past day or so, I have realized that I feel exactly that way around L--- and Davy.
When
we were on the beach together, I told her that I didn’t think her grandmother liked
me, and she said not to worry, that she acts that way with everyone. I had a sneaking suspicion that the
grandmother only acts that way towards me because she likes me. Ever since Beth confused Africa and
Australia, I have been teasing her about it at every chance. I have my flaws, but one thing I am not,
in any way, is malicious to someone who does not initiate against me. Even then, I’ll usually just walk away or laugh it
off. So, when I’m teasing Beth about her
geography, it is out of affection, not malice.
I think it is the same with L---’s grandmother when she teases me, and the events of
tonight’s dinner confirmed that.
Alright,
I’m in Antarctica, why the hell have I just spent a page writing about someone
I will never see again after a few more days?
After I closed, I guess I did take my nap, since Beth’s mom would later
confirm that she saw me sleeping. I took
a fucking nap on a beach in Antarctica!
I had brownies and coffee at a research station in Antarctica! I have stayed up to sunrise for four nights
in a row! I have smoked a Cohiba on the
continent of Antarctica! It has not
gotten so much as dim in five days! There
can be no doubt that this will be one of the best trips of my life. I think that it will make the top three, due to
the unique combination of the scenery and social experiences.
When I set out to see the world, I didn’t
intend to discover myself. However, I
wound up losing myself. Over the past
few days, I have once more found myself, but first I had to lose myself. After my nap on Cuverville Island, Sam was
trying to choreograph this dance routine she wanted us to do, and she asked for
my help. I, of course, was no help. I joked that she could do the March from the
Nutcracker. She considered it but came
up with her own combinations of moves, instead.
Once the hikers came down, we spent a few minutes choreographing
it. I was still quite warm at that
point, so I was just in my t-shirt.
Afterwards, it was time to get back in the Zodiac, so I put my life
jacket on over my t-shirt and put my parka in my arms. No, they wouldn’t let me do that and said
that I couldn’t get on the Zodiac unless I was wearing my parka. For good measure, they made me zip it up,
too, like I was 12 years old. When I got
on the Zodiac, I basically whined to Beth that they made me wear my parka, for which
she had no sympathy, saying it was a reasonable requirement on their part. I lit up my Cohiba when I got back, having
everything I needed packed in my parka, and then I headed down for lunch.
After lunch, I went to take my nap. There is some theory that if you take a
15-minute nap every four hours, you do not need to sleep more than that. Well, I had been doing something like that
the past few days. I had taken a 10 AM
nap, and this was my 2 PM nap. I would
take another one at 6 PM. The problem is
getting the 10 PM and 2 AM and 6 AM naps.
However, the theory further states that you can count each nap as 90
minutes of sleep, so, if I take two or three naps, I can function on four hours
a night of sleep. It’s been working very
well.
After my nap, I lit up an Ashton VSG
and smoked it while the group went out on their Zodiac tour. I only had interest in the landings, not in
the tours. Afterwards, we all wound up
congregating in the club, and we exchanged Instagram usernames. I went to the bridge to check our position
and then went down for my 6 PM nap. I
woke up and got ready in time for the briefing.
While I no longer dress up for dinner, I feel an obligation to at least
put on my suit pants, not willing to wear pajamas or sweats to dinner. L--- was sitting next to her grandmother,
and there was an empty seat on the other side.
She greeted me warmly, and I sat down next to her.
On Cuverville Island, she had asked me if I
knew a Beth Anne Tyberg. Of course I
did. I’ve known her for two
decades. This afternoon, I sent the BAT
an email asking her if she remembered L---.
She did. Before the briefing
began, I showed L--- the BAT’s response, which she found quite amusing. We all headed down to dinner, and L---’s
grandmother counted off her, L---, little William and his parents, Karen, and
Claudia, saying that they would need a table for seven. They found a table for eight, and went to sit
down when L---’s grandmother said, “I’m not sure you were invited.” I couldn’t tell if she was serious or if it
was her typical biting humor. William’s
mother counted off the seven names and eight seats and invited me to sit down next
to her, and L---’s grandmother said to William’s mother something like, “I’m
his favorite person on the ship.” No,
she wasn’t. I’ve taken quite the liking
to her, but L--- and Davy share those honors.
Claudia sat down next to me and moved her chair far closer than
necessary. The three of us would wind up spending a good
portion of the meal discussing our significant others, how we met them,
etc. Well,
as is typical for living with a hundred strangers for a week, people start to
speculate on the different family stories.
Little William and his parents have provided my group with plenty of
speculation. William’s mother asked me what my
story was and then decided she’d rather guess.
She was very spot on, and I said that she was good at it. She said that she used to run a dating service
called, “It’s Just Lunch.” Had I heard
of it? Of course I did. It has ads in all the airline in-flight
magazines.
Alright, it is getting cold and windy, and my cigar is almost done, so I
will wrap up. I had gotten the fried
cheese, but the portion was very meager.
Oh, when we were looking at the menu, I remarked to L--- that it was
odd that they had fried calamari for dessert.
She responded in the exact tone and manner my girlfriend would have,
“No, it’s fried Camembert, silly. It’s
cheese.” I joked to Claudia that I would
need to be getting an ice cream, too, so I asked for it. While I was waiting, Claudia asked if I
wanted to finish her ice cream, too, an offer I gladly accepted. We then heard the familiar chime, and an
announcement that was not audible over the din of the galley, but we heard it
end something like, “You might want to go to the outside decks.”
We did just that, taking our wine with
us. After snapping a few pictures, we
all headed back inside. I got my parka
and laptop and headed to the smoking area to light up my Padron. I set my laptop to retransfer the photos and
left it on the bench with the camera plugged in. I then grabbed my wine and cigar and went in
search of my friends. I knew that we had
come to a point in the trip where no one would give me crap for smoking outside
away from the designated smoking area. I
was right. However, I could not find my
friends. I knew where they were, and I
also knew that it was one place where I could not smoke. Confirming my suspicions, I found them on the
bridge, so I went back down to the smoking area, where I proceeded to write
this entry.
As I was writing, while the
sun setting behind the mountains Denise came up to me, asking if I knew where
everyone was. I said that I last saw
them on the bridge. Well, on that note, I’ll close so that I can
find my friends. I’m not sure if I will
have another entry for tonight or if I will just publish up to here.
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