Ceremonial and questions from Aunt J

My camera finally unfroze, and on another weekend walk, got this picture of me (not that you can tell, but it really is me) at the ceremonial pole. That's the station in the background. So there you go.

In other news, I got an e-mail from my Aunt J in Ithaca, NY, that included the following: "I want to know such things as where your poop goes, how do you get exercise, are you teaching yoga, what are the other people like, what are you eating.  You know . . . All the nitty gritty."

Well, J, let me tell you:
1) Poop: there is regular-looking indoor plumbing here on this very comfy station. Unfortunately, answering where the poop goes is tied up with where we get our water from. But it's not as bad as it seems. As I understand it (though I probably should have asked the station engineer to write up a more accurate blurb), here's how it works: To get water at Pole is pretty easy since we're surrounded by snow that, when melted, gives us such incredibly pure water that they actually have to add minerals to it before we can drink it. To create the melting, they use a machine that I don't really understand but that is called a Rodwell; it heats the snow in a downward tunnel, and the resulting water is pumped out until the "well" gets too deep for the Rodwell to continue to operate. Then they start a new Rodwell system somewhere else and start filling the empty well left by the previous Rodwell with all the human waste created at the station. Which soon freezes solid and remains here forever. Gross. They're currently on the third Rodwell, and filling the well left by the second one. The first well of poop is pretty close to the "Beer Can" part of the station  (a cylindrical stairwell area with nearly 100 stairs connecting both levels of the station down to the vehicle maintenance and storage areas alongside/beneath the station) and creates an unholy stink in the Beer Can.
2) Exercise: Lots of people who work here work outside much of the day doing manual labor and get more exercise than they ever wanted--and we're all able to walk around outside the station whenever we want for some fresh air and exercise. There are also cross-country skis available, plus a little rock wall for climbers in a satellite building. But for those who want indoor activity at the station, there is actually a gym ("designed for all sports so perfect for none of them," I've heard said) and a weight room (plus treadmills, a rowing machine, etc.) that are available for everyone to use, 24/7 it's pretty great. And almost every night, there is an activity available to everyone, from volleyball to soccer to yoga. Which leads me to....
3) Yoga: I am teaching. Twice per week. So far it's been really fun, with 10-20 people attending the classes I'm teaching on Sunday morning and Wednesday nights. There's also a guy here who has been working South Pole summers for years and has long been teaching a Thursday night class, so I can also TAKE a yoga class once per week. Sweet!
4) The other people here are pretty darn fantastic. I cannot say enough about the galley staff that I'm working with; I'm having so much fun with these very interesting, funny, caring people. It's also fun to have people on base with such diverse skills/experience: cooks and scientists and heavy equipment operators and IT experts, all hanging out together three times/day for meals in the galley. Probably most of the people here are pretty atypical in their lifestyles and priorities compared with people who have more "stable" lives in the States or elsewhere, but of course this is right up my alley, and I love that you can sit down with any one of these people and probably be entertained with fantastic stories about life experiences, travels, etc.
5) If I tried to pretend that I am being deprived of anything, food wise, while I'm here, I would be mostly lying. Our galley staff of five chefs plus a baker take such good care of us. There are three hot buffet-style meals per day (yesterday, for example, there was Indian fare--chick pea stew, saffron rice, chapati, and so on) with left-overs available at all times in a communal fridge, fantastic eggs from New Zealand, "freshies" (fresh produce) coming in once per week or so by plane, and 24/7 juice, coffee, tea, cereal, toast, cookies, and more available to everyone. The freshies aren't always available, but there is also a greenhouse on the first floor of the station, so in another few weeks we should be starting to get some greens from there.

More soon, and feel free to post any other questions you want answered, o blog readers!