Penguins, Penguins, and more Penguins

For a 5 day week, this week felt very long. Part of the reason for that is I had to take my first sick day since arriving in McMurdo. Sick days here are a little pointless, between roommates and noisy neighbors and the bathroom construction going on across the hall from my room I really didn't get any rest and mostly just worried about the state of the buildings I clean. I got sick on the worst day possible too, I missed biscuit day and cookie day and there were around 40 penguins out at hut point, it sucked to have to stay in bed. So I went to work the rest of the week because it really made the most sense, but anyway you look at it being sick isn't fun and makes for a lengthy week. By Saturday I was feeling much better, though not completely, and lucky for me the little adelies were still out at Hut Point, so me and Katie got some sandwiches and went out on our lunch break to see them. Unfortunately it was a really windy day and it just gets windier the further out on the point you get, so we froze a bit, but it was totally worth it. There were about 20 or so penguins (all adelies) running around on the melting sea ice. They are adorable, they are like little preschool class, they scurry about in a line with their little wings flailing about like they are always excited and in a hurry. The way people talk about penguins off the continent you would think you run into them constantly here, like you walk out your door in the morning and trip over a couple of Emperors, but penguins sightings are actually pretty rare. It's not entirely uncommon for someone to leave Antarctica never having seen one in person...in fact, I hadn't seen one til now and I have been here for over 4 months. We are lucky this year because there have been more penguins than most years. After me and Katie got out to the point and looked out at the penguins (they were a ways out) they started running towards the chalet, so we ran all the way around the front of the station to try to get a better view. We got down there just in time to see a huge group running along the old runway road (they were actually following the flags which was really cute) and 4 of them running the other direction and occasionally sliding on their bellies. When we were down near the chalet we were watching with another group of people and discussed how huggable penguins look, and that though you can't hug them (darn that Antarctic Treaty) but they can hug you (penguins have no treaty) but they rarely come close enough to come up to you...and you can't go up to them (again, the treaty). I wonder how you get the awesome job of tagging baby penguins? I heard the scientists like tagging them on cold days because the warm baby penguins will just come and sit in your lap...that would be so cool! Both my photography skills and my camera were not really equipped to get good pictures of the penguins but luckily we have a communal drive on our network here and where other people put pictures with really nice cameras and their excellent photography skills so I will come home with some fun photos. Oh and in addition to the wildlife there was a great view of the Icebreaker (the Oden), it was really close. They were going back and forth keeping the channel open, they just docked today but it was fun to see a boat out there were the runway used to be. The open water is getting closer and closer and there has been rumors of Orcas out there, so maybe we will get lucky and see some this year. As if all of that weren't exciting enough for one weekend, Saturday was also the night of the MAAG, the McMurdo Alternative Art Gallery. It's kind of a fun little art show where the community shows off the creative stuff they have done down here. The projects are of a pretty wide variety, some were just straight up paintings, some were interactive, some were audiovisual. My favorite project was made of ice hanging from the ceiling, and as it would melt the drops hit a pool of water below it. It was incredibley simple yet really beautiful. It was cool to see what people had come up with. Not to be outdone by Saturday, today (Sunday here in Antarctica) was the Kiwi vs. U.S. rugby game. It's a wee bit of a joke because never, in the history of the game, have we won. The Kiwis kick our ass and will probably continue to do so until the end of time. But the game takes place every year; no one can say we Mactown people are sore losers. The rugby field is on the way out to Willy (where the planes come in), and the weather was awesome for game watching. Adam drove me and Katie (he's been driving shuttles on the weekends) out to the Scott Base store so we could shop real quick before walking out to the Field. The field is about a mile out, you can take a shuttle but it was a nice walk and we got out there right before the game started and Adam got off shuttle driving just in time to meet us so we all sat on our Big Reds and staked out our spots on the sidelines. The best part of the game is the beginning; our team sings the national anthem, the Kiwis sing theirs (both teams sing quite badly) and then the Kiwi team does the Haka (technically, the Ka Mate Haka). It's kind of weird that after all this time our team hasn't found an equivalent, they just kind of walk forward as the Kiwis chant at them...but it's all entertaining. Yay Rugby on Ice! We watched the game for about half an hour til it got boring (it's not like we were in suspense over the outcome) and we took a shuttle back so we could head out to Hut Point for more Penguins!!!!! This time there was about 100 and they were really close! One was within 5 feet of us and there was a big group that we sat about 15 feet from. The cuteness is indescribable, Adam said that penguins must have invented cute and I can't disagree...they were kitten-level-cute. I wished I could run around with them (argh, the treaty) but just watching a bunch of adorable penguins run around still made for a fantastic weekend.