Day 33

Our first day back in Dar es Salaam got off to a rough start. Last night in the middle of the night, I was awakened by Jenn raking through her sheets and saying “I think there are spiders in my bed.” Because a side effect of our anti-malarial pills seems to be super vivid dreams, I think I said something to the effect of “stupid Malarone” and went back to sleep. Around 6 am, I woke up to use the washroom and noticed that I had two dark purple spots on my face. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that they were INSECT BITES. At that point I woke up Jenn and asked if I had dreamt the spider incident. Of course, I had not. Furthermore, Jenn’s hands and legs were also covered with itchy purple spots. I spent the next hour wide awake in my bed, trying not to think about what might be living in my pillow. By 7 am, I was feeling quite distressed and went downstairs to ask Katie if they were spider bites and if so, how much longer I had to live. Katie thought they were flea bites, but surprisingly enough that didn’t make me feel a whole lot better. I promise you that since coming here, I’m no longer bothered by much. Broken appliances, bizarre food, absent light bulbs, and freezing cold showers – bring them on! However, mystery insect bites on my FACE crosses a whole new line. Suffice it to say, we asked to change rooms. Considering the air conditioner had also short circuited and died in the middle of the night, I think we had a very compelling case. Not that it was necessary, mind you, since the reception staff were immediately very apologetic when Pam asked for a new room. Want to bet they knew? Oh Africa, what hilarious trial will you hurl at us next?

Today was not a great day to be disfigured as we met with the Provost and Vice President (Academic) of our university along with his entourage. As I mentioned, my supervisor suggested that the University of Alberta and the University of Dar es Salaam enter into an official partnership for the benefit of students and researchers in both places. What we didn’t expect was that Pam basically brokered the entire deal as the liaison between the two institutions (she has collaborated with the University of Dar es Salaam for over 2 decades). It was really nice to see her in her element. Furthermore, because Pam and her 5 students (3 Canadians and 2 Tanzanians) were among the 20 people who attended the signing, our project received some very healthy publicity. I guess this little side trip to Dar es Salaam was worth leaving the field, in spite of the bumps along the way. Even bumps that are resistant to cover-up and itch like hell.

Anyway, here is a picture of all of Pam's students (i.e. IRAP 2010) with the Director of the Archaeology Department at the University of Dar es Salaam.