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.