what


a


day


So what is the perfect way to counter a bad cold? Well...whatever it is...I did the exact OPPOSITE...and by that I mean I worked for 10 hours on a day of a sand storm. Don't ask me by what rational decision we weren't shut down....but we weren't. Instead I swallowed bucketloads of sand as the pyramids disappeared completely from view- now there's a wonder...not how the Great Pyramid was constructed...but how a day of haze and high winds can obscure it completely.

Despite the fact that I had to work through a sand storm, the day was pretty good. I got to do nothing but excavation. Proudly I approached my pottery/ash rich room fill deposit and proclaimed, "Let's Kadum this Bitch." Kadum is arabic for hatchet. And I tore away at it with my Kadum, pick axe, and trowel.

I worked hard and got filthy. Definitely the dirtiest I've ever been after digging away through the storm. My hair was completely beige by lunch.

Today though, i did tarnish my tough and cynical reputation. Now...to stray a bit from modesty...I know I have a certain pool of talents. But there is one talent in particular, that I keep as my hidden gem. I don't do it on command...only when the time is right. And it is a rarity. You may not even know despite the fact that you know me very well. But the truth of the matter is...I can do voices. Obnoxious "did that really just come out of your mouth" voices...alvin and the chipmunk paar voices. This is what we are talking about. In the middle of my dig I stood up and said something, to which my colleague Amanda said, "Oh shut your munkchin little face." And I shouted, "MUNCHKIN LITTLE FACE?" Then I froze, bent my knees, and proceeded to sing "We Represent the Lollipop Guild" in my best munchkin voice along with full scale munchkin dance moves taken straight from the Wizard of Oz. Egyptian and International Crew Abound erupted with laughter, particularly when we took notice to the tourists that had stopped at the fence and seen the entire thing....yes,,,I was the ambassador of professionalism, standing mid excavation singing and dancing like a Munchkin of Oz.

So I went from serious, workaholic cynic...to merry little singer and jigger on site.

I don't really know why...I really was not aware that I had everyone's attention, or that I would attract attention...but I was pretty slap happy since my cough woke me up at 4:30 am and I had been up ever since.

So now everyone knows my secret....I'm silly at heart.

Damn.

But I still Kadum'd the hell out of that bitch...

Oh 100% was spoken a bit prematurely….I’m sure as much to the dismay of my worried friends and family as my own. How I managed to contract a cold when all I’ve done is been quaratined to my bed is beyond me, though it could just be the subset of symtoms for whatever ailed me beginning last Wednesday…which at this point God only knows, probably just a culmination of many things. It really is not the type of job or place where 60 hour work weeks should be mandated. The ickiness that is me is nothing too serious these days though, standard cold symptoms; a cough, runny/stuffy nose, sore throat from the cough etc. The worst part though is that the cough doesn’t allow for a good night’s sleep. So in effect, I need extra sleep so my cold will go away, but my cold keeps me from getting the extra sleep I need. Oh a vicious cycle indeed.

I know the family wants me to call home and check in, but per Richard’s request, I had to let someone else temporarily use the phone Richard had lent to me while he was back in the states. It’s for John, he does the artifiact sealings and a lot of the server work. They are amidst ironing out some technical issues and Richard needed to be able to speak to John while he was here this week. So I can probably call at the end of the week if it’s really a big deal…but hearing my voice right now you would not be put at ease “hellllooo Kelly the frog here.” I sound pretty funny.

But it’s okay I can be spared the obvious points.

Take it easy
Drink plenty of fluids
Eat well
And Kelly I mean it don’t overdo it

Yes Yes Yes.

And no worries on medication if I need that. I have easier access to medicine here than I do in the states…just in terms of what is readily available. That is not to be confused with quality health care though.

Like I said, this isnt really so bad or so serious, I sound worse than I actually feel. I’m mainly just sleep deprived from the cough…and at least that keeps me drinking water throughout the night, since that is what I do each time I wake up.

Okay, that is your sadsickface update from me. Hope everyone else is enjoying their weekend,

I officially finished my last square of the season! Yay!

Guess what I get to do until the site closes....

DIG DIG DIG

Excavattttteeeeee :)

Nothing but digging~! I'm so happy.


Despite such eagerness that I hold in regard to this, and the general excitement I do legitimately carry with my opportunities and experiences here...somehow I have been dubbed, "The Girl Who Hates Everything" by Mark Lehner. Of course this was a comment was made largely in jest and mostly in reference to how picky I am. We were all talking at second breakfast and this conversation ensued.

Me: "Richard even talks to his dog on the phone."
Amanda: "...i talk to my cat on the phone..."
Mark: "Kelly do you like animals?"
Me: "I don't like having to be responsible for them, but yes I like animals"
Mark: "Oh my gosh, Kelly actually likes something....what about people do you like people."
Me: "No."
Mark: "....I'm starting to appreciate this girl more and more every day."


I've also officially finished my third book here. And I highly recommend it. highly highly highly. It is so beautifully written. i cried my eyes out. It is about a family in India and a tragic sequence of events as seen through the eyes of a young twin brother and sister. It draws upon politics and social difference as well. here is a passage, that I think captures the style and some of the ways it just drags at your heart, but doesn't give too much away

Rahel froze. She was desperately sorry for what she had said. She didn’t know where those words had come from. She didn’t know she’d had them in her. But they were out now and wouldn’t go back in. They hung about that red staircase like clerks in a government office. Some stood, some sat and shivered their legs

“Rahel,” Ammu (her mother) said, do you realize what you have just done?”
Frightened eyes and a fountain looked back at Ammu.
“It’s alright, Don’t be scared. Just answer me. Do you?”
“What?” Rahel said in the smallest voice she had.
“Do you know what happens when you hurt people? When you hurt people they begin to love you a little less. That’s what careless words do. They make people love you a little less.”

A cold moth with unusuall dense dorsal tufts landed lightly on Rahel’s heart. Where its icy legs touched her, she got goosebumps. Six goosebumps on her careless heart.

The author, Arundhati Roy is a well known political activist and received the booker prize, a prestigious literary prize. It's also a really quick read. Took me all of about 2 days.

Now I'm flipping between starting either The Blessing Stone, or Little Children. it's Slim Pickins in the Villa Library.

Also...my apartment was fumeeddd for bed bugs :( But I didn't have bed bugs...or at least I haven't been bitten. ah well. Dinner is over, time to go shower and sleep. First day back at work and I am quite exhausted. The site is only open for 11 more days though! Eeek!

Just wanted everyone to know that I am back to feeling absolutely 100% again.

Marcia, your comments are initially sent to my email and then I have to approve them before they show up, so that is why you don't see them post right away.

And to answer your question about fever...I dont know what the fever was because I don't have a thermometer...I only know that my skin has never felt that hot before, and for hours after I had been inside.

I've never had a migrane before but I questioned whether or not I had one. When I mentioned this to my boss, along with my other symptoms that's when she said it sounded like I had sunstroke.


Either way, I did stay in bed for wednesday-friday, and as mentioned, am feeling 100% better now.

If I feel poorly today I will go home immediately, simple as that, so don't worry everyone. I will be ok!

So let’s recap my sleeping patterns since Wednesday, for those of you REALLY aiming to live vicariously through me.

Wednesday:
1:12 p.m: skipped lunch, walked to apartment, went straight to sleep
4:30 p.m: woke up to a lot of noise, took a bath to ease the discomfort of elevated body
temperature
5:00 p.m: fell back asleep
7:00 p.m: woke up…thought about walking to dinner, realized walking anywhere was not
an option. Drank juice, went back to sleep.
9:00 p.m.: woke up…contemplated whether or not life was worth living if the pain in my
head never stopped…that’s being over dramatic, but damn was I in pain.
9:15 p.m.: miserably fell back asleep, body hot and aching, head throbbing

Thursday:
5:30 am: woke up…talked to flatmates about whether or not I should go to work or stay
home….decided to stay home. Fell back asleep
11:00 am: was kicked out of my bed by the cleaning crew…typed yesterdays blog
12:00 p.m: laid back down, slept
1:00 p.m.: walked to the villa to try and eat lunch…got there and wanted nothing
2:00 p.m: came back to apartment and fell back asleep
7:00 p.m: went to villa to try this whole food thing again…I ate a sandwhich and an apple
8:00 p.m.: went to bed


Friday:
6:30: woke up and took a shower

so there…from 1:15 p.m Wednesday to 6:30 a.m. Friday, I have been awake for maybe 3 hours, and have been sleeping for something like 35 hours? And even now, I feel like I could go right back to sleep. It’s Friday so no one works today…usually on Friday’s I like to lay out by the pool but the idea of being in the sun makes me nauseous. That is not good considering my field of work. After talking over some of my symptoms with the director and others, some think I may have actually had sunstroke/heatstroke. I guess it’s possible but I don’t recall it being particularly hot on Wednesday, maybe 85 or something. All I know is that I’m still tired but I don’t feel a complete inability to function, so I guess that’s an improvement. Also my appetite is coming back. This morning I woke up and made eggs and had some fruit.

The rest of the day will be spent in bed reading. Wish on my behalf that I can go back to work tomorrow :(

Some of you may or may not have noticed that I have been a little MIA on my blog. Those that did would have also taken notice to the phantom blog entry that was posted.

There are a few reasons to account for my extended vacation from the blog. First like I said, I just moved into a new apartment which doesn’t have the internet so my access time has been reduced. Sure I can drag my laptop to the villa and post, but sometimes the days just fill up and I just don’t feel up to it. Remember that I work 60 hours a week ☹ Also, a lot of people have joined the crew, mainly those who were previously working in Luxor, so now the Villa is pretty jam packed full of people, and when you’re the one huddled in the corner working on your blog while everyone else is cheersing and laughing, it’s a good way to alienate yourself from a group dynamic that is already about as perplexing as it gets…at least to me.

And the last reason I have been MIA. I had noticed myself getting increasinly tired and just run down over the past week, with just some minor cold symptoms- sore throat, runny nose etc. Well finally yesterday sickness rocked me to the core and I couldn’t even make it through the work day. I was unsure I would even make the walk home from the Villa. I had the most violent headache I have ever had in my entire life. I don’t think I will ever understand how that much pain could have been concentrated in an area of the body without having received some serious physical force or impact.. I felt as though I headbutted a safe…like my skull was clamped and being stretched, and slowly cracking open. I had lost my appetite by the time we came back to the Villa for lunch. I went straight back to my apartment to try and sleep. I crashed immediately for about 2 hours. Then shit really hit the fan. My body was radiating heat, my head still throbbed, and all I wanted to do was sleep longer. But Egypt knows no such accomodations and the noise only intensified everything I was feeling…the horn honking, call to prayer, the construction, the dogs barking, someone pounding on the floor or wall right above me…any form of loud, bothersome, unbelieveably inconvenient noise and activity that could have been taking place, was…there might as well have been a fucking train in my room. But the pain I was in and with how lowsy I was feeling I still managed to keep falling asleep and waking up every couple of hours. I would get up only if I had to use the bathroom or grab more water because standing really did seem like something my body just couldn’t handle. At one point my nose started bleeding.

So yes, I slept from 1 in the afternoon straight until 5:30 the next morning. Stood up hoping hoping hoping I could go to work. You do not understand how much I do not want to be missing work. I have one more square to finish and then I get to start digging again…and I get to excavate some really neat things…staying home and missing out on all of this, is enough to make me want to cry. But that’s probably what drove me to feeling so awful yesterday….when I woke up yesterday I knew I wasn’t feeling well but I went to work anyway, and sure enough, after some hours in the field, under the sun and in the heat, I was done in probably much worse than I would have been had I just stayed inside. Though I was feeling better in the morning, I stayed in just in case. My head did not hurt nearly as much, I could still feel the remnants of where the pain was yesterday…almost like a thunderstorm in my head, lightning bringing out flashes of pain which just yesterday persisted for over 12 hours, and which felt like they were never going to fade. I slept in until 11, which is saying a lot since even on my days off I wake up naturally between 6 and 7. I probably would have even slept later, however Thursday is the cleaning day for the apartment (of course it would be…of course it would be the day that I just want to be entirely left alone). So I woke up to a knocking on my bedroom door and was told that they needed to change the sheets…Really? Not only are you about to be in here and make noise while I’m trying to sleep and restore my health, but you are actually going to make me get out of my bed? I would have argued more had I not known that I really needed my bedding changed…yesterday I had gotten into bed straight from work because that’s how sick I was and so there was sand especially down where my feet were. Also, there was blood on my pillow from my nose. I got up to hydrate while they changed my bedding….you would have thought that they would have done my bed first and let me get right back into it…but no they did mine last…I call it the efforts to make kelly have a mental breakdown logic. Perhaps Egypt really wants me out of here…Finallly I get back into bed, wanting to just fall back asleep despite the fact that I’ve pretty much been sleeping the past 23 hours…and they start vacuuming….okay..I understand, it’s your job to clean this place once a week…but really..fuck, it’s Egypt, can’t you just wait until next week to vaccum? if you skip it out of courtesy to the ill it’s not going to make a damn difference…. there is sand and dirt everywhere, please stop stop stop stop. Yeah this really did kind of push me over the edge and I threw a little baby fit and started crying. Just those, “COME ON” tears…those can’t I get a break tears….those white flag I surrender I want off the ride tears. Those, gee I feel really sorry for myself tears. They didn’t last long because I hate crying. God I hate crying. Yesterday when I went to tell my area superviser that I wasn’t going to back out because of how sick I felt, the tears just started welling up…it just makes me feel so ridiculous…but I couldn’t even talk about not being strong enough to finish my work day without it really affecting me emotionally…sure I was also upset because I did feel really sick, but I was even more upset that I had to admit how sick I was out loud, that I had to admit that I didn’t have the energy to finish something I wanted to finish so badly yesterday.

I went down to the villa for lunch...still had no appetite...still feel worse than I thought I was feeling when I decided to walk over. Everyone says I look like death. Time to go back to bed.

Dear Mr. Blog,

Whew! Let me tell you about the amazing day I had! I rolled out of bed a little late- around 2:45 a.m., and found myself hurrying to get started with the day. After eating a complete meal of organic berries, tree bark, and green tea, I did some early morning reading, and brushed up on Harold Raymonson's 30-volume essay on the migratory patterns of the Freternectis Beetle during the latter period of the middle kingdom.

It was SO fascinating, and such a quick read!

Intellectually fueled and ready for the day, I decided I'd test out the jet pack I built last night while bored, and rocketed myself over to the dig site.

On the way, I stopped to save two kittens stuck in a tree.

Before lunch, I dug up eight mummies and three new pyramids. After lunch, I stumbled upon an amazing discovery!

It turns out that the popular theory of Oompa Loompas building the pyramids is actually true. We found a buried kingdom of them- all alive, and dancing!

They were very glad to see me. So glad, in fact, that they've crowned me their queen.

Anyway, once the celebration was complete, I returned to Luxor and smoked Hukah for seven hours straight. I don't exactly remember how I got home after that...

Hmm...

Upon returning to the complex, I went on my normal workout, running three laps around the country of Egypt, and swam the Nile. All of it. And let me tell you, that river is polluted! Whew!

Good night!

Frenchie Wilcox