Sleeping

The sleeping situation at Summit is way less cush than in Antarctica. In McMurdo, everyone complained about having to have roommates in the summer (which is one of the reasons I preferred to be there in the winter). And at South Pole people get their own rooms, but they are notoriously tiny. Here, I am in a room that is the size of a South Pole room, AND I have a roommate. So basically I don't spend any time in my room except for when I'm sleeping. It's in a trailer that feels kind of like a train car and so is aptly called "The Caboose." Needless to say (?) it doesn't have indoor plumbing. This pic shows The Caboose on the right (the red structure); an even MORE utilitarian berthing structure in white in the middle ("The Flarm"), that has multiple bunks stacked three high all in one common space; and then, on the left, the outhouse that we all use. There are indoor bathrooms with sinks and showers  less than 1/4-mi away in The Big House.

Here's the indoor hallway in The Caboose...

...and my room, with my roommate, B, organizing some of her things. It's pretty not possible for us both to be standing up in the room doing anything at the same time, so if we're both in the room simultaneously, one of us needs to be in bed, and we've been doing a pretty good job of coordinating our comings and goings to accommodate that. And I'm just grateful we do have heat in The Caboose!

The outhouse pictured in the first shot is also the outhouse for the construction team, as our workspace (not pictured) is just to the right of The Caboose. I'll do a post on that later. Also, sometime this week, The Flarm and The Caboose are going to be dragged (by heavy equipment operators) closer to The Big House. They are trying to consolidate berthing structures for safety, as last year a polar bear wandered into the camp, and no one wants to be surprised by that. (More on that in another post, as well.) It will still mean walking out into the sub-zero temps to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, but at least it will mean a shorter walk from where I brush my teeth and wash my face before bed over to my actual bed. The constant daylight and shocking cold can be a real sleep-killer! But since I got mostly adjusted to the altitude and the new routine, my sleep has been pretty okay, and I'm grateful for that.