26 November

At dinner last night, of course the Svalbar, we were trying to convince Miguel how hard we've had it up here.  The stove timer, no heat in the bedroom, controlling apartment temperature by opening and closing the bedroom door, walking on ice, 100% darkness, wind-rain-snow-ice all in one day.....  He wasn't buying it.  Must admit that it's been a pretty comfortable place to be.  Everyone here has been very friendly.  There's no crime, so you can walk around without worrying.  At home, at night, you'd always be a little more cautious.  Well, when it's dark all the time, that would just not work. 

Have yet to see any police presence.  I did notice a booth marked Politi, at the airport, but have never seen the window unshuttered. On the Facility Opening Hours list that I have, the police are listed as working Monday to Friday, 08:30-15:30.  There is an emergency number listed for out of office hours.

You can't be born here - there's a hospital, but they're not equipped for difficult pregnancies.  You HAVE to fly to the mainland.

You can't die here - they discovered that people who died and were buried didn't decay.  They now require that you be buried off island.

Population is 2040 and there are 3000 polar bears.  If the polar bears wanted to take over, they pretty much could.

There's one place to get gas, in front of the one car dealership.  One pump for diesel and one for gas.  I've been here for two weeks and am down to a quarter of a tank.  All those darned airport runs!

The drive out to the airport, for the one flight, is always exciting.  Everyone passing each other to get there first.  I finally figured out why.  Here, you can park and leave your car right in front of the terminal.  Since getting down the hill to the parking lot involves dragging your suitcase down a snow covered ramp, it makes sense.  Clearing that ramp does not seem to be a priority.

We had a charter lined up to bring everyone back from Ny-Alesund.  Well, now the forecast for Ny-Alesund on Thursday is heavy snow so it's uncertain that the charter will fly.  Sigh.

We were told, today, that summertime here is a madhouse.  Thousands of tourists from cruise ships, many flights coming in and out 24 hours a day.  The locals try to find something to do elsewhere.  Sounds pretty awful!

Here's a nice link to the C-REX writeup on the NASA website:  C-REX launch

Here's another blog written by the best photographer in the group:   Leaf litter

The world's northernmost alternative newspaper icepeople

Almost walked into this guy, on the way to UNIS for lunch!  Sure wasn't afraid of us.

It can be kind of spooky, when you're walking in the dark and hear the "crunch, crunch, crunch" of something walking.  Always a relief to realize it's only a reindeer.

Turned in my Game of Svalbard game card and picked up my prize - a neck scarf with the logo of the game on it.  Entered the drawing for a trip for two to Svalbard (hopefully, in the summer).  I can now claim the title of "Queen of Svalbard"!