EXPEDITION UPDATE
Monday, January 1, 2007
Buenos Aires

Posted 7:52 pm EST by SOI HQ

Flight delay in Buenos Aires...

Our team has been notified by Aeorlineas Argentinas of a delay. They are now departing Buenos Aires at 1:15 am instead of 10:35 pm and arriving in Miami at 8 am instead of 6 am.

We are in the process of changing the Delta flights for our New York students and will notify NY parents with the new arrival time. They will likely be arriving around 5 pm at Laguardia now instead of 2 pm - but we will keep you posted!

All other students will have no trouble making their scheduled connections in Miami to their final destinations.

(If only the airlines operated to schedule like icebreakers! Things are so much simpler in Antarctica!)

Stay tuned....

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In the meantime, here is a great journal sent to us by student Nihal Jhajj. 

"New Years normally means nothing to me. It is the end of a long rotation around the sun, and the days to follow are no different than the ones to precede. This year New Years fell on the first appropriate date it ever has for me. The end of this expedition marks a transition back to airport limbo, and ultimately back to old routines. What has changed for me has nothing to do with a different sense of nature, or new care for the environment; the force of nature has already struck me silly on previous trips into potent wilderness. I was shipped into a continent sparsely populated by humans. I had entered with the belief that there was no Antarctic culture for me to absorb. This was one of few disappointing preconceived notions I had before the trip began. It wasn´t until I was reintroduced to South America that I realized the flaw to my thinking. I observed new routines and different thinking on the Cold Continent. There were no human tribes, but I walked among the penguins."

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(Busy downtown Buenos Aires at night)

EXPEDITION UPDATE
Monday, January 1, 2007

Travel Day - Buenos Aires to Miami
Posted 8:52 am EST by SOI HQ

Good morning and Happy New Year! Everyone here at Students on Ice hopes you had a wonderful evening, ringing in the New Year wherever you may be!

Most of our students will have arrived home by now - and we would like to offer them a special 'shout-out!' - You are now officially Polar Ambassadors - congratulations to you all! Oh, and you survived the Drake!

Our second little group of travellers arrived in Buenos Aires last at 7 pm. The temperature in Buenos Aires during the day is 34C or 101F - so you can imagine the shock to their systems after ten day in Antarctica!

After checking into their rooms, the group had a big New Years Eve dinner at the hotel restaurant. Later, they travelled down to Buenos Aires' revitalized waterfront area (Puerto Madero) to watch a fireworks display and participate in some dancing - and ring in the New Year - Argentine style!


(Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires)

Today, of course, after spending some time in the city, they will be heading to the airport, late this afternoon, for their over-night flight, north to Miami.

We spoke with Diz this morning as the group was having a 'late breakfast,' and she reported that all are extremely well and happy - hot and a tad tired though!

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This arrived this morning...

Posted by Astly Robinson, Student

This poem is for all my family and friends that support me in this trip and everything I want to do in my life. I send a special thanks to my Mom, Sponsor, Becky, and everyone that supported me on this trip. I am truly grateful to you all.

Antarctica Passions

Cold. Muscular winds. Pain in my chest make it hard to take a breath.

Shivers down to my sheltered bones. Wind-chaffed brown cheeks.

Moisture-deprived hands. Wet feet. Wide, teary eyes for the humpback whales.

A blank mind. Lost language. Vast emptyness of top and bottom skies. Fake towns with no streets. Fragile. Breathing. On its way to death. Rottening carcases. Forgotten offsprings. Delicate balance interrupted by my presence.

A sincere fantasy. Complementary to me, the black speck. Inviting. Little secrets of death hidden.

Demands respect. Whispers its fear to me.

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Stay tuned for more!