July 31st

I am thrilled to be starting up the summer ISAMR arctic trip blog for 2016. We will attempt to post an update every evening describing the day’s adventures. Inconsistent internet access may delay us fairly often; however, we will try to upload a post for each day missed. We will also be uploading photos in “Galleries,” but likely not until the trip is nearing it's end.

With that I can begin the first blog post of the trip. While we still have two days before we wake up at the crack of dawn to board a plane, the anticipation is as strong as ever as the reality sits in that I will be leaving my cozy home in Baltimore for an unpredictable and original trip to the subarctic. This is my second year visiting Churchill, but I have been told no experience in the subarctic is ever the same. Even if the experience was the same, I would be extremely happy to have returned. Most of all, I can't wait to meet the new students from Canada, as well as getting to know the students I've spent Monday nights with in Baltimore for the past year. I have decided it is not possible to feel completely prepared for this trip ever, as I would have imagined I would be used to it by year two. This is all part of Churchill's magic, and I cannot wait to feel underprepared in the most beautiful place on earth for the next two weeks.

Cecilia Charney, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute 2018