Picture subzero: Antarctic notes

No one before us had engaged in this sort of capital construction in the Antarctic. Other stations – the Americans, for example, or the Chileans – have chapels as well, but they are of the usual Antarctic frame-and-panel kind. Our temple is the most beautiful structure in this continent, and the planet’s southernmost Orthodox Church.

The expedition has a priest, Father Sergius Yurin, who, in turn, has an aide – Vasily Kotubei. (This station is unique in this sense, for none other can boast a wintering cleric!)

It is Father Sergius’ second winter, while it is the first such experience for Vasily. A recent medical checkup revealed that they were the strongest men on the team: the hand dynamometer showed 70 dynes apiece (No surprise there, as both are former paratroopers and saw action in local conflicts...).

Aside from their direct duties, the priests perform all other jobs like anyone else, be it construction work, maintenance or galley chores. Moreover, on Fridays they clean the banya [a steam house-like sauna – Ed.] as is the local, charitable tradition.

The temple is representative of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra. Pentecost is the patronal feast. The church is perched on a hill fifty meters high. If visibility conditions are good, sailors can see it from nearly 30 kilometers afar.

Worship is usually on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings, and, of course, on feast-days.

After worship, the priest, also in keeping with a kind old tradition, treats his flock to tea and wine in his house atop the hill.

Yet worship or no worship, the church doors are always open – to us, to neighbors, to tourists…

The wind speed reached 30-35 meters per second today!!

When I was doing my shift in the morning, out of the corner of my eye I noticed that someone was flying. Someone was literally flying near the church!

It was our Vitalik thrown from side to side. He is too light, the same as me. The three of us were going down the hill after the service: Sergey was the first one ready to give his back to support me if anything happens, while the Doc was the third one following me.

They had to catch me three times - I was flying to the right and to the left!

I love our galley.

And I have renewed love for sweets. Every expedition is like that, grabbing cookies, candy and sweet condensed milk. By the time I return, I will have lost my sweet tooth.

They say, a woman’s hands, a woman’s eye. I have paid close attention – my job doesn’t differ in any way from that of the explorers. Almost everyone, with rare exception, desires to make the station like home, clean, cozy, and familiar.

Now and then I think about what I will take back with me to the mainland. Smells, feelings, and words are all finding a place in my memory. Sometimes they are just the simplest things. One thing I am sure to remember – the three kitchen basins.

Things are done like this at all the stations in Antarctica, I know. After a meal, you put the forks and spoons in one basin with soapy water or with soda or with dry mustard. The trash, bones, napkins are thrown in another. And the leftovers are washed off the dish into a third with the help of a special device with a sponge attached on the end. Then the person on duty washes all the dishes thoroughly. This is almost a ritual for me.

Today we started a complete exploration of all the contents of the medical center. We found 75-year-old medicine! We found 82-year-old medicine! We separated all the potent expired medicine and packed it into boxes, drew up a certificate and a few witnesses signed it. We hid the container in a safe until the next crew change. Only in the presence of two doctors and two bosses can these substances be written off and destroyed. All the rest of the medicine was laid out into alphabetical order. Box after box, vial after vial – check the expiration date, and enter it into the database. The doctor now has nowhere to sleep – the entire area of the hospital including the dentist office and the operating room – has been piled high with medicine.