I might actually pull this off..

I finished three units over the weekend, leaving me with five more (shallow) units to process. At two days per unit that means I should finish everything up next week Friday, leaving me with five days to organize and pack up all the artifacts for storage, get the house in order, and pack our selves up for a short stay in Guayaquil. Holy Toledo, Batman, this might actually happen!


Steve still has swollen tonsils and I haven't been feeling too hot either, but we got our water supply problem resolved, so at least we're clean sick people. I've started discussing with Baby Girl what's going to happen in the next few weeks. I'm not sure that she really gets it, but we are quite fortunate that she is such an easy going kid. She might ask for the "ninos" at daycare, but I think she'll enjoy the adventure, and in the end, just be so happy to spend some time with her Nana that she won't really miss it. There are a few favorites who I'm sure she'll ask for, like Fanny, who is pretty much the only person here that she'd choose to hold her instead of me. We're going to get a cake to have at daycare on her last day, turn it into a little bit of a party and take pictures. I hope she will remember some of her time here, and all the friends she made.

What a week!

Packing for Ecuador was quite the experience. We didn't really start until Sunday afternoon, and had to be on a shuttle to the airport at 6:30 Monday morning. We literally stayed up all night packing, and finally decided around 5 am that there was just no way to fit all of our things into 4 duffel bags, so we gave in and paid for an extra bag. With all the stuff we had and the exhaustion of getting no sleep we managed to only forget one critical piece of equipment, the telescoping level. Fortunately FedEx delivers to Guayaquil, so I should have it some time next week.

We arrived in Guayaquil on Monday night, and after an extremely long wait to get through customs and immigration at the airport we finally made it to our hotel around 11:30 at night (if you're counting, that's 17 hours of travel). Mario (the owner of the house we're renting) and Luis (my guide in 2006) from Dos Mangas met us at the airport and took a bunch of our bags back to the village. It's going to be so nice not to have to haul around a bunch of luggage when we take a bus out to the site!

On tap for this week was registering our visas and getting Ecuadorian ID cards, getting the permit approval for my project, and hopefully showing the family around Guayaquil a little bit in the process, all before we head out to the site on Friday. Even though we got off to a rocky start, we made it! We picked up our registered visas this morning (Thursday), then went to get the ID card, and came back to get the permit proposal. I'm giddy over the fact that it all worked out! Tomorrow we'll get to sleep in and then catch a bus out to the site in the early afternoon. I can't wait to get there and get everything in place to start mapping and excavations on Monday!

In between all of our errands we spent a lot of time walking the Malecon along the Guayas river. I was actually really impressed with all of the gardens and public architecture. Even Baby Girl enjoyed it! We stopped in one of the bars along the Malecon to watch the Ecuador-Argentina football game (soccer, to you Americans), and got there in time to see Ecuador score its two goals and win the game!

I'm looking forward to getting out to the coast and hopefully in to some cooler weather. Guayaquil has been either blazing hot and humid, or overcast and really humid. I can't wait for the garua and the cool coastal breezes!!!!

I would like to thank the academy...

The Sisterhood, actually. On Friday I spoke at the state-wide convention of the organization that is funding my fieldwork, a philanthropic organization of women. It was absolutely amazing to stand up at that podium and see all of those faces looking back at me. It really brought home the enormity, not only of the fact that I got a grant, but that these women have such faith in me and in my work. I realy felt like a celebrity, so many people were coming up asking to take my picture and telling me how much they enjoyed my speech. I've already been invited back to present on my work at next year's meeting. It was just so touching that they are concerned about me and my family, and not just performance targets. It's definitely one of the up sides of getting a non-traditional grant for fieldwork.

The speech was part of our frantic wrap-up getting things ready for Ecuador. On Thursday night we had friends over for a final goodbye, and then I was out the door by 11 am Friday morning to make it up for my talk. The apartment still had a bunch of boxes left to be packed and put into storage, so Steve stayed behind to take care of that, and then made it up to my parent's in time to take Baby Girl to the zoo on Saturday afternoon. So much fun!

In the next installment: departure for and arrival in Ecuador!!

We have visas!!!!

We drove up to Chicago on Wednesday to get our visas from the Ecuadorian consulate. I was a bundle of nerves, worried that I would have forgotten or overlooked something, or that roadblocks would be thrown in front us us once we got to the consulate. To some extent my fears were justified...they needed 4 passport photos for each of us, not 2, and the fees were $60 higher than what we had been told, but fortunately we had brought extra cash with us, and there was a CVS right around the corner that took care of us in no time.

We got in at 11:30am, went for lunch at 12:45, toured Millennium Park, got more photos taken, and walked out of the consulate office with our visas at 3:15pm. All in all, not too bad. I'm just so relieved that we got it taken care of and that it was pretty painless. Now we just have to worry about registering the visas once we get to Guayaquil...

Making Progress!

So, in the past week we've bought our tickets, got vaccinations, bought excavation equipment and other trip supplies, and begun the culling/packing process. I can't believe that we only have another month left in this country! On the one hand I feel like there's a lot of time left, but I know there's soooo much to be done. The semester's nearly over, and so's my job, so I'll have a little more time on my hands to hang out with Baby Girl and get stuff done.

On the to-do list this week: write the permit proposal, buy travel insurance, and treat myself to a 90-minute massage. I think I deserve it :)

Yay for fewer complications!

So apparently there is a new process for receiving an Ecuadorian visa for Intercultural Exchange that no longer includes proof of HIV-negative status. I was not looking forward to poking the munchkin and it means fewer doctors appointments for us. We'll have the munchkin's passport by the end of the week and can then apply for the Ecuadorian visa as soon as I get the letters from my affiliated university in Ecuador. Happy days!

Diggin' It

I've set up this blog to chronicle the adventures, trials, and tribulations that I encounter in the course of a year of archaeological field work in Ecuador. It'll be a good way of keeping in touch with family when we're out of the country too!

I've just received word that I'll actually have the money to do this, and the feelings of joy and relief are quickly being replaced by an understanding of all the things that need to be done before my family and I can actually depart for Ecuador (at a date still to be determined).

Today the adventure is passport renewal, in person, in Chicago, because we need things to move fast. Joy.