Published: 16 October, 2009, 19:41
Edited: 16 October, 2009, 20:23
Yesterday I was on duty for the first time in the galley.
The duties include loading the dishwasher with dirty dishes, cleaning out the refrigerator, wiping the tables, washing all the floors in the canteen, kitchen, smoking room, the hallway, and in the changing room. I don’t recognize a mop, but I have to get used to it – washing with my own hands is really difficult. I do that three times a day. In the evening you fall asleep without your hind legs. However, I am convinced that the more you invest your soul in this space, the more it gives back to you, and the faster it becomes your home.
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.