sending all my love on the wire*

I'm back. In Antarctica. And despite my best intentions to update Terra Novela regularly this summer... well, I just didn't**. And now where do I begin? It's been six months since I last wrote and I can't figure out how to bring this blog up to speed without it being tedious. Also, I've been here less than two days so I'm finding it hard to think about, let alone write about, everything I did during my time away. Right now, I'm completely consumed with the mundane aspects of moving in and starting work again. Trust me, it's just as maddening here as anywhere else. Maybe sometime around November, after I've exhausted all other Antarctic related topics ("Blazing Redfish for dinner two nights in a row -- an outrage"), I'll go back and reflect on my travels more in depth.

But for now, less writing and more pictures:

Routeburn track, New Zealand

Koh Ha, Thailand

rigorous tasking, Thailand

Hanoi, Vietnam

central highlands, Vietnam

Lasers! Hong Kong

After all of that, I returned to the States for the first time in nearly two years. I made a brief visit home to see my family, then spent the next two months in San Francisco. And of course, the only picture I took during my entire stay in the city was of my favorite taqueria in the Mission --which actually sums up my time there quite nicely. I spent the summer eating. Eating and spending too much money. I regret nothing.

San Francisco

I came home to Idaho for the last month before deploying***. And just for the record I, along with my fellow part-time Antarcticans, would like to dispel the notion that it is somehow shameful to be 26, unemployed and living at home with your parents. It is not. It is actually the best thing ever. Okay... here's hoping, for my parents' sake, that I don't make a habit of it. But I did truly enjoy the last few weeks at home with my family. Being really really lazy.

And there you have it.

*From the song "Faithfully" by legendary rock band Journey.

**Excuses for not writing include but are not limited to: general aversion to internet cafes worldwide, but particularly those in New Zealand which are uniformly full of pungent backpackers and baffling techno music; discovering that it is not enjoyable to spend time writing about being on vacation while actually on vacation; periodic bouts of dysentery; finding it hard to begin writing after not writing for months on end.

***That's their word, not mine.