So, I have about 10 days to go before I need to leave for Africa. Knowing that once I land, I won't have any opportunities to shop for essentials, I have been trying to stock up on anything and everything that I think that I'll need for the next two months of camping in the middle of nowhere. How in the world do you pack enough bug spray/shampoo/sunblock to be in Africa for two months?
Every time that I turn around, I remember something else that I'll need. Then there are the expensive shots and prescriptions that are required. 170$ on the typhoid and Hep A/B shots. 230$ for the yellow fever and polio shots. In a couple of days, another dose of Hep A/B (another 150$). The prescription for my malaria pills will be about 300$. There goes the money that I had planned to purchase a new camera with!
The new tent that I purchased arrived the other day. So I set it up in my yard. Two nights later, it downpoured here. You guessed it - MAJOR leaking! So, now I have to scramble to buy a new tent, with most of my money GONE on other supplies. I can't be thrifty and find one online because I no longer have time for shipping. So, I'll probably be making a trip to LL Bean or Cabella's in the next few days to cough up more money for a tent.
I purchased a cell phone that will work in England and Nairobi so that I can stay in contact with my daughter for at least the first week that I'm gone. After that, Dr. Harris said that I can call home on a daily basis using the satellite phone at the camp.
I sit here wondering about what I still need to purchase. It still seems endless. I need some lightweight pants. I need some hiking shoes... or should I just use my sneakers? I need a backpack - something to carry my course materials, field notebooks, camera, water bottles, iPod.
Oh, did I mention that a toothache has decided to crop up this close to departure date? I need to find a dentist and shell out $$ for that, hoping that it doesn't require a root canal.
Geesh, next time I plan a trip to Africa, it will be after I hit big on the blackjack tables at Foxwoods or the state lottery!
The good news is that my Swahili language set arrived in the mail, and I'm eager to get started!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
So... What is a Paleo-Nerd?
I guess I should take a minute to explain the definition of what a paleo-nerd is. According to dictionary.com, we get the following:
PALEO:
1. Ancient; prehistoric; old
2. Early; primitive
NERD:
1. A stupid, irritating, ineffectual, or unattractive person.
2. An intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit
So, the paleo part is pretty self-explanatory. BUT... I totally don't get definition #1 for NERD so I'll just ignore it and try to rebuild my self-esteem after reading it.
#2 pretty much gets to the meat of the issue.
The resulting definition of a paleo-nerd is obvious:
In my case: I like VERY old people who have been fossilized over time, and those even OLDER creatures that were almost people. Or were they almost apes? Either way: You say po-TAY-to, I say po-tAh-to.
And I'm thinking: it is probably a good thing that I'm interested in those OLD fossils, because most young people, I want to slap.
;)
PALEO:
1. Ancient; prehistoric; old
2. Early; primitive
NERD:
1. A stupid, irritating, ineffectual, or unattractive person.
2. An intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit
So, the paleo part is pretty self-explanatory. BUT... I totally don't get definition #1 for NERD so I'll just ignore it and try to rebuild my self-esteem after reading it.
#2 pretty much gets to the meat of the issue.
The resulting definition of a paleo-nerd is obvious:
"A really boring person, who has no life, who OCD's over ancient or primitive things."
In my case: I like VERY old people who have been fossilized over time, and those even OLDER creatures that were almost people. Or were they almost apes? Either way: You say po-TAY-to, I say po-tAh-to.
And I'm thinking: it is probably a good thing that I'm interested in those OLD fossils, because most young people, I want to slap.
;)
Paleo Nerd Emerges
...From the depths of my mind.
I have finally taken a moment to begin a blog. This seems to be the 'in' thing. At least the 'in' thing for the coolest of the cool in the geography-anthropology department at USM. So, here I am, forcing my way into the membership of the elite via blogspot.
I am starting this blog here, as a way for me to develop some basic structure for a website that I am going to build by the same name, paleonerd.com. That website will have my journal, photographs, and field notes from my upcoming trip to Koobi-Fora. I'll put that website together once I arrive home, probably on August 6th.
Sooooooo, in the meantime, I have this blog. Once I arrive in Africa, I probably won't get more than one or two chances to update this blog. Why? Because I have probably chosen the most remote field school that has ever been known to student-kind.
Speaking of Koobi-Fora, the planning for the trip is making me mildly insane. Maybe even more than mildly. There are the endless shots; prescriptions that will cost me hundreds of dollars to avoid malaria (because God knows that if there is one skeeta in all of Kenya, it is going to feast on ME); living in a tent with no electricity or running water; AND THERE ARE SNAKES.
Not just any snakes, but almost all that live in that area of the Rift Valley are poisonous, and some even SPIT THEIR VENOM AT YOU. I shyt you not!
So, right now, I'm trying to find a tent that I can purchase that has impervious steel walls and snake repellent built in, but it also has to be as comfortable as the Taj Mahal so that I can continue to dwell at the urban-girl comfort levels to which I'm accustomed. Actually, I purchased a nice tent last night. The problem is - that I can only assemble things following instructions that are written in Japanese, so setting this baby up might take me a while. I'm sure there will be some other charitable paleo nerds around there to help me out.
I bought a 4 person tent, partly to accommodate my girth, and partly to accommodate all of the comforts of home that I am going to try to bring with me. Whatever happened to the days when it was the norm for travellers to Africa to pack their belongings in multiple steamer trunks???? I wonder if the airline will mind?
My home from the middle of June til the middle of August:
And speaking of girth... I was going to begin a diet before I left for Kenya. But then I thought 'F' that! Someone from Rutgers who knows someone from Rutgers, that went on this trip at some point in time, told that someone from Rutgers that I know, that we will be starving by the end of the trip. So, I've been increasingly aware that if I even THINK that I'll want to eat an Oreo (substitute 'oreo' with any other junk food) in the next couple of months, I better eat it NOW!!!
Well, I'll close this blog for now. I need to continue my shopping now in preparation for my trip. I am looking for a portable toilet that I can put in my 4 person tent; a solar power charger powerful enough to give life to my laptop and a small air conditioner, and some kind of shower stall. And it all has to fit in a suitcase. Wish me luck.
I have finally taken a moment to begin a blog. This seems to be the 'in' thing. At least the 'in' thing for the coolest of the cool in the geography-anthropology department at USM. So, here I am, forcing my way into the membership of the elite via blogspot.
I am starting this blog here, as a way for me to develop some basic structure for a website that I am going to build by the same name, paleonerd.com. That website will have my journal, photographs, and field notes from my upcoming trip to Koobi-Fora. I'll put that website together once I arrive home, probably on August 6th.
Sooooooo, in the meantime, I have this blog. Once I arrive in Africa, I probably won't get more than one or two chances to update this blog. Why? Because I have probably chosen the most remote field school that has ever been known to student-kind.
Speaking of Koobi-Fora, the planning for the trip is making me mildly insane. Maybe even more than mildly. There are the endless shots; prescriptions that will cost me hundreds of dollars to avoid malaria (because God knows that if there is one skeeta in all of Kenya, it is going to feast on ME); living in a tent with no electricity or running water; AND THERE ARE SNAKES.
Not just any snakes, but almost all that live in that area of the Rift Valley are poisonous, and some even SPIT THEIR VENOM AT YOU. I shyt you not!
So, right now, I'm trying to find a tent that I can purchase that has impervious steel walls and snake repellent built in, but it also has to be as comfortable as the Taj Mahal so that I can continue to dwell at the urban-girl comfort levels to which I'm accustomed. Actually, I purchased a nice tent last night. The problem is - that I can only assemble things following instructions that are written in Japanese, so setting this baby up might take me a while. I'm sure there will be some other charitable paleo nerds around there to help me out.
I bought a 4 person tent, partly to accommodate my girth, and partly to accommodate all of the comforts of home that I am going to try to bring with me. Whatever happened to the days when it was the norm for travellers to Africa to pack their belongings in multiple steamer trunks???? I wonder if the airline will mind?
My home from the middle of June til the middle of August:
And speaking of girth... I was going to begin a diet before I left for Kenya. But then I thought 'F' that! Someone from Rutgers who knows someone from Rutgers, that went on this trip at some point in time, told that someone from Rutgers that I know, that we will be starving by the end of the trip. So, I've been increasingly aware that if I even THINK that I'll want to eat an Oreo (substitute 'oreo' with any other junk food) in the next couple of months, I better eat it NOW!!!Well, I'll close this blog for now. I need to continue my shopping now in preparation for my trip. I am looking for a portable toilet that I can put in my 4 person tent; a solar power charger powerful enough to give life to my laptop and a small air conditioner, and some kind of shower stall. And it all has to fit in a suitcase. Wish me luck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)