An Antarctic Thanksgiving
Celebrating the holidays in Antarctica can be tough for some, because they are away from their families at home. So McMurdo Station pulls out all of the stops, to help people celebrate with their McMurdo family! Here at McMurdo, we don’t necessarily celebrate on the same day as the holiday in the U.S., because the staff here usually work 6 days a week – Monday through Saturday. So holidays are celebrated on Saturday, to give everyone a full two-day weekend to celebrate.
McMurdo Thanksgiving was on Saturday, November 30th this year. We were not able to take part in all of the festivities this time, because Friday brought in some dangerously windy weather and we had to move our sampling day to Saturday. But it is an all-day affair… There is the Turkey Trot, a 5K race to Scott Base and back, and the bars are open all day. Dinner is by reservation only, and you can sign up for 3pm, 5pm, 7pm, or midnight (for those staff members who usually work nights). To give ourselves the best chance of being back for dinner, we signed up for the 7pm time slot, and we made it back in time to change out of our field clothes and put on some fancier attire!
The galley was transformed, with tablecloths on the tables and a small bar offering one free glass of wine to each diner. The spread was delicious! There were carving stations for the turkey and ham, real mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, super-soft dinner rolls, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pecan, apple, and pumpkin pie. One of the diners went around the whole galley with his guitar and asked each table what they were thankful for; then he sang a little ditty about their answer. What did we say we were thankful for? The seals, of course! (Hey, we had been in the field and we were put on the spot.)
But really, we were thankful to be here doing science, and we were very thankful to have the chance to celebrate in style. I am definitely thankful for my amazing team, all of whom have been pushing themselves to the limits for this project. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Written by: Heather Liwanag
