29 December 2010

Technically tomorrow is our last day on this Antarctic cruise since we will disembark at eight in the morning but today is our last day of sailing, We arrived in the calmer waters of the Beagle Channel around 2:30 or 3. We sailed for another two hours before they dropped the anchor.  We will wait here for a pilot boat to guide us back to the dock in Ushuaia.

In the meantime things are wrapping up on board. I finally watched The Assassination of Jesse James which I had seen in the ship’s DVD collection when I first boarded. I just needed a straight three hours to watch it all. In the conference room we did a final briefing and recap of our trip. The expedition leaders made us all a DVD with a photo montage as the final recap. Also on the DVD are pdf files of all the lectures, stops, animal sightings, and group pictures.

It wouldn’t play in my Macbook without using VLC. The French family had even more trouble than I did. The DVD got stuck in their mac and they had to reboot because the computer froze.

During the photo montage recap I couldn’t help but think what a terrible thing friendship is because it is pure favoritism. Everyone clapped at certain pictures of certain people - the Krauss’, the Braeli’s, Hugo, even at a picture of myself  building the snow penguin. But after my picture followed two pictures of people no one clapped for, my French roommate and an old Italian lady. It didn’t seem right. There are definitely a few stars on this trip, namely Otto Krauss, Tim, and Jordan but they have also done the craziest things like swimming in the Antarctic waters and Jordan stripping to his underwear to pose for an Israeli magazine.

Sebastian, the team leader, thanked everyone for making the trip fun and enjoyable and marvelled at the unity we had all shared. He said it’s not usually that way. Alan Kraus gave me his business card and said to come visit his dairy farm next time I’m in Wisconsin.

Just before lunch there was a problem with some pipes near the bar and common room. They had to rip out a wall panel and collect leaking water in trashcans. It took them a few hours to fix the problem. They had to weld the pipe back shut too.

The Captain's Dinner was tonight. King crab cocktail, soup, filet mignon, and chocolate cake plus a champagne toast. Following dinner in the common room was the handing out of certificates. This was to certify that we had indeed walked up on the Antarctic continent.  Everyone received an applause as their name was called out. Some got more applause than others. Goes back to the friendship rant. I think Hugo got the most applause. Some people posed to get a photo with Sebastian and the Captain who were handing out the certificates. Anyway having a certificate seems self-congratulatory and stupid to me. It’s not like we are real polar explorers.  We are merely tourists on a cruise.

There was another secret party below deck with the crew. Dancing. Strange booze concoctions. I pissed off the deck and into the Beagle Channel. I overheard a conversation between Otto and the bartender and apparently the last group of tourists were all a bunch of jerks. I can’t imagine why people are jerks especially on an awesome cruise to Antarctica. I hope I’m not a jerk.

Yesterday it pained me to think that one say this ship will be empty. One day there will be a cruise and it will be the last cruise. One day all these people I have met will be dead and no one will have known them or care.

Back in Ushuaia the next day

Hugo and the Korean documentarian. I still have not seen his documentary.