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It is beautiful music, packed with both adventure (to match the view of open ocean out my cabin window) and suspense. I like to try to guess which part of the Shackleton story the music is portraying without checking the name of the movement first.

What activity was the most fun this week?:

I have loved exploring the inside of the S.A. Agulhas II. It is a massive ship, full of fascinating spaces. I have a lot of fun wandering between the various expedition teams and seeing what they are doing. I can watch the helicopter team securing their gear in the hangar, and then go down a deck and see the sub-sea team making final tweaks to the Saab Sabertooth AUV/ROVs. I can go up into the business center and science labs, where everyone is monitoring live ice data in the Weddell Sea or calibrating their equipment. I can walk up to the highest decks, past the bridge, where Captain Knowledge Bengu is looking out to sea. And on my way back down, I might pass the documentary team filming a meeting between expedition leaders. There is so much activity, and never a dull moment.

What did I read this week?:

I finished “The American on the Endurance”, which is a memoir by William Bakewell. He was indeed the only American on Shackleton’s expedition, and he lived a fascinating life before and after his time in the Weddell Sea, too. I am not the only Endurance22 Expedition team member from the U.S., but I’m one of just a few, so I really relate with William Bakewell. Now I have moved on to “An Antarctic Mystery” by Jules Verne. It is a strange and wonderful novel, first published in 1899. I like how it portrays the Antarctic as a place of mystery. It is exactly how I feel.

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