Day 72

We are officially in our last 24 hours in Tanzania. The last four days of this trip are a slow denouement to our departure tomorrow afternoon. As you have read, the transition from frenzied excavation to backfilling, artifact packing, and leaving Iringa all happened within the span of 72 hours. After we reached Dar es Salaam, it took another 72 hours to excitedly find human remains, acquire the necessary permits, and have them shipped. As of yesterday, our artifacts had already been through London and were en route to their next destination outside Toronto. By now they’re probably zooming across the prairies, well in advance of their curators. So after an exciting and fast-paced field season, we are left at the end with absolutely nothing to do. Since Thursday, we’ve been wandering around Dar es Salaam motivated entirely by fancy. We’ve been drinking an absurd amount of coffee, floating in and out of shops, and visiting all the biggest tourist hubs and shopping malls. We buy things when they catch our attention, like the saucer-sized chocolate sprinkle donuts at a bakery this morning. Basically, we are in ultimate vacation mode right now. We all have things we probably should be doing, like preparing to teach classes and labs, writing abstracts, and preparing grant proposals, but I personally would rather just coast over the finish line. This coming academic year holds the promise of back-breaking work, so why not enjoy the last of our freedom? And if having nothing to do in Dar es Salaam is the cost of freedom, so be it.

The only thing that threatens our zen-like state is the prospect of packing. We were so pleasantly sedentary this trip that I’d nearly forgotten the pain of packing. Jenn and I managed to make respectable progress yesterday afternoon, but the looming responsibility of stowing the rest is utterly off putting. Now that I am one field season wiser, I can conclusively say that I packed far too much to come here. Although I’ve culled some of my original possessions, my souvenir haul far exceeds the freed up space. Furthermore, I seem to have picked up even more stuff while whimsically touring the city over the past few days. Without the constant pressure of work, I gave in and had too much fun. I can already tell that my Tetris skills are going to be tested.