Our Student Questions to Antarctica

Recently a few of our students had questions about life in Antarctica. Here are some of the student questions and answers from our pen pal John Miller, USAP, at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. In the photos we see John inside the McMurdo Station at work -- with electricity-- and outside "on the Ice." (Note: John was also in Afghanistan working with the US government recently and discusses that too. )
--Adrian

Dwana: "I am a Christian pastor in training and I know that you once did religious services at South Pole. I think it is very important for people to know about God. I would like to bless you and your family and the people who work with you, who are your family now until you return home. God Bless and keep you safe."

John:

Dwana, I am blessed to be able to offer a church service here at Mcmurdo as well, and having a number of people attend from our base and Scott base as well. I am looking forward to our Easter service next week, even if it will be dark. I'm praying for a full house for that service and the opportunity to share the true meaning of Easter with everyone, and offering the Lord's supper as well.

Thank you for your blessing and please remember my wife especially. She works so hard to keep our household running, feeding the kids, and working at a full time job as well. Truly I am, as Proverbs 18:22 says "He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord".

Take care and fight the good fight!

John

Eliria:
"Do you have people who live out there besides yourselves, like the Eskimoes? Did you name the penguin in the picture? How do you all stay dry? Do you wash clothes there? Do you go fishing? We had a great International Women's Day educational gathering at school, and I talked about Education of Women in Afgahanistan. I heard about your visit to Afghanistan. Can you tell me more about it? What was it like for women's rights there when you were in Afghanistan? Thank you. I wish you well."

Eliria, well there are only us visitors here on the continent, no indigenous people. The Maori migrated to the islands of New Zealand about 1000 years ago and not much further south. This is a very harsh continent with little wildlife for sustenance, no soil for growing crops, which would be impossible anyway because of the cold temperatures, and sea ice that may, or may not, break up during the summer months. Ross bay is literally teeming with life, but is also covered with many feet of ice, even in the summer months. Whales, seals, and penguin, are found here in abundance during the summer, but one would have to venture out onto the ice, which can become very unstable, to hunt them. Even the native birds, like the Skua, Antarctic Turn, or Snow Petrel, leave for the winter.

I really wish I could go fishing here but the ice is too thick, and it is not allowed under the current Antarctica treaty.

I was in Afghanistan for about six weeks back in 2005, while working as a government contractor on a base just south of Kabul. I met quite a few local Afghans who were really no different from me aside from their being Muslim. They lived under some of the worst conditions in the world and never complained. I was honored that, the day before I left, they asked me to share a meal with them. They have so little compared to us and yet they wanted to share with me.

I only saw women when we traveled to Kabul, or other camps, which was very dangerous at the time. Most women wore western style clothes but did cover their faces with a veil of one kind or another. I was told by one of the locals that only the wives of the Taliban fighters would wear a burka, and they were few and far between.

Thank you for your interest and questions,
John

Jennie:
"I am sorry that you had to leave your family so soon, to return to Antarctica. We were looking forward to you to visit our school one day. But I'm happy to hear from you again via the internet. I wish you well. Be safe"

Hello Jennie, I'm trying to put together a vacation for me and my family, that would include a stopover in New Orleans, some time next December. I look forward to the day when I can visit your school and meet everyone and share more about my time at the South Pole and here at Mcmurdo.

I do miss my family terribly, but work is work, and there was precious little of it in Nevada. I don't think I could do this if my kids were not all teenagers, or in college. But, this does give me the opportunity to experience a part of the world I could not afford to see otherwise, and has brought me new friends from all over the United States.

Thank you so much for your concern,

John