Soon...

As the end of my semester moves slow like molasses, I remind myself that in about two months this will be me:


Davey Dance Blog -45- LOUVRE - Katerine "100% V.I.P." from Pheasant Plucker on Vimeo.

Great News

Some amazing people affiliated with the Anthro department have decided to award me a grant to ease my travel expenses in Egypt! I am delighted and grateful.

My trips to various monastic sites are about more than just fun (although believe me when I tell you monks are fun). They are all part of a research project. Each site I am visiting utilizes space in a different way -- I'm planning to visit a pagan temple that housed monks for a few centuries, a monastic federation comprised of administratively related communities, and a couple of monasteries that were built around alleged holy sites. Maybe I will notice something cool! (And worth these wonderful people's money.)

Travel Clinic

Yesterday I paid a visit to Yale's travel clinic, where I coughed up a bunch of money to have someone stab me. (But only once!) Of all the possible accidents that could befall me on an archaeological dig, I figured I was most likely to get poked by something sharp and nasty, so I got a tetanus shot. I'm also going to be immunized against typhoid, but the oral inoculation lasts for five years and the injection only lasts for two, so I just have to fill my prescription and drink something horrible for a few days. Fortunately, all the nurses who worked with me were masters of their profession, and were very nice to boot. I picked up scrips for an antibacterial ointment to help prevent skin infections if I get cuts or scrapes, as well as a few courses of hardcore medication for traveler's diarrhea -- known to some as "pharaoh's revenge," "Tut's curse," or "mummy's tummy." In the sage words of one of my fellow students who went on this dig last year: "You WILL get sick."

It's Gonna Happen!

All right, this trip is happening for real -- a couple of days ago I bought plane tickets to take me to Cairo, then Paris, then back to the States again. I have rather ambitious plans this time around.

In Egypt, I'll be participating in an excavation of a monastery in Wadi al-Natrun, formerly known as Scetis (one of the monastic capitals of the ancient world). After the dig, I'll be traveling to Luxor, Sohag, and the Eastern Desert to examine other Egyptian monastic sites. This should be awesome.

After that, I'll be going to Paris to expand on the French for Reading class I'm taking this semester. My time in Berlin worked wonders for my German, so I hope my French will also improve while I'm taking an immersion course. I'll be staying with a host family that has the coolest name ever -- La Famille DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD! I keep imagining them as classy people who dispense brilliant and well-timed witticisms, such as "Gratitude is merely the secret hope of further favors." Thanks for agreeing to house me, guys!

I'm leaving the country on May 16. I'll keep you all posted!