The fine details

I find it difficult to write when I'm back home. When I'm out exploring the world, my mind has more stimulation, which enables my brain to conjure up all kinds of crafty sayings. Once I get back from these mind-blowing adventures, sometimes my brain feels as cold and numb as Antarctica. 
Oh well, I'll do my best to describe my Antarctic experience. 
Lucky for you I did some blogging while on the boat. Because there's no way possible you're going to remember every thought and detail unless you jot them down.
Tip: if you want to keep the memories from your vacation preserved, journal from time to time on your trip. When you go back to read it years down the road, it will jog your memory and warp you right back to that spot. 
It happens to me every time I eat Indian food :)

Sooo.... where were we? Oh yea, the Ocean Diamond had just set sail, pointing it's bow toward the White Continent of Antarctica. 
We were all instructed, via overhead speaker, to gather in the large meeting room in 30 minutes. This room would be utilized multiple times a day for various presentations. 
We were greeted by our expedition leader, Woody. He comes from the Land down Under.  

Woody

We were also introduced to the staff that would be taking care of us for the next 2 weeks. The staff on the boat were each specially trained in different areas. We had a historian, an orinthologist (bird expert), glaciologist, medical doctor, photographer, kayak guides, geologist, and other specialists with long titles. I was impressed. They were really equipped to ensure we were educated and safe while in Antarctica. All of the staff members were so friendly. I was amazed by how they could remember my name, although we were never given name tags. Everyone really made it a point to make you feel special. 

Next on the agenda was instructions on the life jackets. This made me feel a little uneasy. I looked around at all the passenger's bright happy faces, looking forward to the trip ahead. Then a morbid thought encapsulated my mind and I pictured a scene from the Titanic, everyone was screaming and scrambling to a life boat as the icy waters engulfed the fancy ship with it's red carpeting. Not such a nice thought. But I'm a realist, and there WAS a possibility of this happening. There was no turning back now, we were a good 2 hours out to sea. What was I going to do, ask them to turn around and drop me off??!!

It was even fitted with a whistle and light

The staff said we would probably last about 5 minutes in the frigid icy waters. I pictured a Titanic-like death, "I'll never let go".
Ok, enough with the morbid thoughts. 
Next, we were all fitted with big yellow jackets that were 2 sizes too big for everyone. These were ours to keep, even though I wouldn't be caught dead in public with this huge banana-looking jacket on. 

The banana jackets in all their glory

After the important meeting with a run down of what the next 2 weeks would bring, we were all corralled into the dining room for a scrumptious dinner. There was no assigned seating, so I sat with new people all the time.  As I began to converse with the different passengers, I realized they were true adventurers, just like me. They were from all over the world, and each one had their own amazing story. 
After dinner, the staff recommended we hunker down in our rooms for the night and take our motion sickness pills, if needed. We were about to hit the Drake passage, the highly feared body of open water with frightful wind speeds that created monstrous waves. 
I don't get sea sick, so BRING ON THE DRAKE PASSAGE!!!