Day three

I'm gonna try to give y'all a good idea of what we did today, but to be completely honest, I am beyond tired and ready so for bed! Also, the internet is gonna be changing, so I have no clue when I'll be able to post again after this, hopefully soon though! Anyway, this morning was extrememly exciting waking up knowing all the Greenlandic and Danish students would be arriving today! After somehow dragging myself out of bed after ony four hours of sleep we all went out to breakfast at the airport on base. After breakfast we went out back of the airport and saw a super cool sign that shows what direction many major cities are in and how long it would take to get there. Surprsingly, Tucson was not one of those cities. Shocker right?

After marveling at the sign we walked the mile back to our dorms. When we then spent about an hour going over and taking inventory of the supplies we will be using for the next two weeks. By the time we were done with that it was time to go pick up the first of the Greenlandic students, and then get lunch. After lunch was probably the highlight of my day. Dana and I spent at least ten minutes in the gift shop trying to pick the right shirt sizes for our boyfriends. And after unfolding and refolding smalls and mediums repeatedly, asking people in the store, and looking like dorks we finally decided. We both got smalls. We then came back to the dorms and greeted the Greenandic and Danish students as they arrived. We had some facinating conversations with them about the differences in their lives anf ours. Did you know they don't like peanut butter here? And they're shocked we put peanut butter together with jelly on a sandwich! Crazy right? Who doesn't like peanut butter? I wish I'd brought some with me! After talking for a few hours, Dana and I decided to go for a walk down by the bridge and Fjord. We slid down the rocks under the bridge and got way up close to the rushing water. It was freezing so close to the edge, but it was beautiful!

The Fjord rushing under the bridge

After our short walk, we went back to the dorms so we could all go oout to dinner together at the thai resturant. Which tastes very... interesting. Although I did try Muskox! Which was actually quite good, there isn't really anything to relate the tatse too, but i guess it does taste kinda like beef or stake... combined... kinda. And after dinner Dana treated me to ice cream ;) and as an ice cream lover, I was in heaven. The ice cream here is SO good. It's super rich and creamy. So I'm happy!

Oh, and upon returning to our room we realized that we still have puddles of bug spray on our floor... We discovered that an extremely effective way to kill the mosquitos is just to let them get close to you, and then drench them in bug spray. They fall right out of the air and remain in a little puddle of bug spray on the floor. haha and we also sprayed on on the the wall... it's still there...

Our new wall decor

Well anyways, today was pretty good, and hopefully with the actual start of the field school tomorrow will be even better! I look forward to everything I'll learn in the next two weeks and hopefully I won't be without internet for to long so I can keep y'all updated!

Much love,

Sydney

Day Two :)

Today was another absolutely amazing day in Kangerlussuaq! Bright and early this morning we went to breakfast in the "cafeteria" which is really just a little resturant on base. It was delicious! They have the bets break here and they even have chocolate-nutella-ish spread you can put on it! After breakfast we were able to chill out in the dorms and unpack until lunch. For lunch we had some sort of thinly sliced meat, smoked salmon, salad, and pasta: mmmm. After lunch we decided to go on a hike around the area. We drove about 5 minutes up the mountain and then hiked down to the edge of the lake. It ended up being a two hour hike but it was SO worth it! once you get up to the top of the mountain all you can see is the sparkle of the sun on the lake and hills all around. And if you look at the horizon, you can see the edge of the polar ice caps! And it was one of those moments where you realize how small you are. Standing on top of the world, literally. Surrounded by the most beautiful landscape you can imagine. Definitely a moment I'll never forget. Also, when we were hiking back up the mountain towards the truck we ran into a reindeer who followed us most of the way back, which was adorable! And then on the drive back down the mountain we saw a baby reindeer from the car! After our hike we were all starving so we decided to go out for dinner. We went out to a pizzaria wher we met Archer who was super cool! He was from Europe and he's traveled all over the world, just because. And he somehow ended up in kanger, but I'm not complaining cause he made absolutely amazing pizza! He even said if we went back tomorrow he would teach us how to make pizza ourselves! Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow? :D awesome. Once we came back to the dorms we got a short lecture from one of the coolest guys I think I've ever met. His name was Jeff Kerby, and he's a PhD student at Penn State. he's studying phenology, which is the study of timing of plants and animals. Like when plants bloom, when they die, when they're greenest, and when animals give birth, when the move around and things like that. It's facinating. His thesis is called "Spacial and Temporal Dimensions of Trophic Mismatch in Western Greenland." cool, huh? He showed us some awesome videos of his research and him in the field!

Our reindeer friend :)

Dana and I mid-hike :)

Well, its's already ten thirty here, and the Greenlandic and Danish students will be getting here early tomorrow morning, so I'm gonna try and catch up on some sleep! But I'll try and make sure I try to keep constant updates! Hope all is well in the states!

Much love,

Sydney

Greenland: Day One

Today has been super long, but absolutely awesome! This morning at five New York time (so one Arizona time) the Air National Guard picked up or group, as well as a few others going to greenland for research, from our hotel. They took us to the Air National Guard base where we waited for about two hours, which was actually ectremely entertaining because we had THE most hilarious loadmaster (Justin). The Air base in Albany is actually unique in the fact that it's the only base in the United States that flies C-130's with skis so that they can land on the ice. Or as Justin would say: "They can land on ice or water, water only once." haha. On the way fronm the lobby of the base to the C-130 the roof of our bus scraped against the garage door and broke the emergeny exit hatch on the top of the bus. Our loadmasters responded by calling it a "feel-good" exit and saying that it was about as useful as "life vests on airplanes" which was really comforting to hear right as we boarded our plane. -__- We then began our six and a half hour flight from Albany to Greenland. And let me tell you, C-130's are high-class, 5-star, luxary airplanes. They're extremely quiet and comfy and don't vibrate or shake at all. Not. Although, for the last 45 minutes I got to sit up in the cockpit and watch the landing into Greenland. Which was AMAZING. While your landing you can see the fjord which is every shade of blue and green imaginable, absolutly gorgeous. And off in the distance you can see the start of the ice caps. Once we landed we were shuttled to our dorm rooms where we had a little time to get settled. And we all went out to Thai food. Greenlandic thai food and American thai food are two very different things... but it was quite good! I've already learned a few Danish words too! See if you could guess what they are, I bet you can't! Ajorpoq, Morgenmad, Frokost, and Aftensmad. What do you think? Would you guess that Ajorpoq means out of order? Morgenmad means breakfast, Frokost means lunch, and Aftensmad means dinner? Yeah neither would I. I'll be logging more words so y'all can learn as much Danish and Greenlandic as I do! :) Anyways, I'm having a great time! (minus the mosquitos. which I'm not exageratting when I say are EVERYWHERE. every.where.)

This was our C-130, right after landing in Greenland. :)

And I got to wear the glight suit and helmet. I think I look pretty good, if I do say so myslef ;)

Anways, even though it's stll light outside, I should get some sleeo soon! More pics and updates to come!

Much love,
Sydney

Day 1... and 1.5

Hey y'all! I made it safe and sound to Albany, New York and in about two hours I'll be on a C-130 on my way to Greenland! But before I go I thought I'd give you a quick run-down on yesterday and last night! Well, after leaving Tucson yesterday morning at 6:30 I met up with Alex, Marisa, and Maeve in the Chicago airport and we all flew on the same flight to Albany, where Mrs. Hynes was waiting with Agnes and Dana. I was also given a lap top to borrow, so I am hopefully that I will able to keep y'all fairly updated on what we're doing! :)  From the airport we all took a taxi to the hotel room- which might I say, was amazing. I don't think I've ever slept in such a comfy hotel bed before! So what little sleep I actually got was amazing! And now we're all up, bright and early, about to be picked up and taken to the air national guard for our final flight to Greenland! I'll talk to y'all soon! And I'll post pictures as soon as possible!
For everyone back home, I love you all ;)
I'll talk to you as soon as possible!
Much love,
Sydney

The Journey Begins

Well, I just officially finished packing and I'll be on my way to Albany bright and early tomorrow morning! (: I don't think I can tell y'all how excited I am! I'll definitely try to keep my blog updated as much as possibly, I know I'll be able to post at least twice, and outside of that I'll try my hardest! But this link will have more information about what we'll be doing as well as links to the blogs of the other U.S. participants and our bios (which I highly recommend you check out, cause they're awesome!) : http://www.polartrec.com/expeditions/greenland-education-tour-2012
Well, hopefully I'll be in touch! But if not I'll see you all in two and a half weeks!

Don't miss me too much (;
Much love,
Sydney

A Little About Me

So excited

With only eleven days left until I leave for Greenland, the countdown has begun! (: I should probably start packing at this point, huh? Waiting until the last minute is definitely one of my faults! haha But I'm so excited to leave, the 26th could not come soon enough, buh-bye Arizona!!


-Sydney 

The Gist Of It All

Hey y'all! I've decided that before I leave for Greenland (in just 15 days!) I would start my blog now! It will be an easy way for me to keep y'all up to date on what I'm doing while I'm gone, since I probably won't have much contact. And after Greenland it will be a fun way to keep everyone up to date on life down here in Arizona! Please bear with me while I figure out the Blogging world, but I look forward to sharing my stories with you! 


Stay Beautiful
Much Love,
Sydney