ten reasons...

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Now that Regatta is over, I can see how dead Carriacou is without it. During the weekend and on Monday, there were all night parties, food vendors everywhere, all the shops were open nonstop. There were awesome competitions...beer drinking, donkey races, running, sailing. I met some cool people, including locals who were decidedly un-sketchy and also a really awesome girl who does Peace Corps here.

But post-Regatta Hillsborough is pretty peaceful. At least now I can actually sleep though the night without the windows of my hotel room vibrating from the bass!! Our last day on site was Tuesday, and I helped Scott B excavate a burial. The rest of our time here is full up with LAB. We have to process everything that we have excavated so far, and right now I am on my second straight day of nothing but lab and its getting pretty old. Its hard to get excited about little tiny pieces of bone and shell when you know that theres a 90 percent chance that they wont get looked at ever again once they are bagged. Although some diagnostic samples are taken, most of the stuff is just weighed and bagged and left at the museum. We are working our asses off to get this stuff done...working like 9 hours a day...but its all kind of pointless. I guess I'm getting a little worn down.

A group may not even be coming back next year, either. Scott said that the only way is if we get more funding, but he would rather just move to another island. The site is eroding so fast that if we skip a year, the trench we were working in this year will probably be gone. Its sad. I wish I could have gotten pictures of the sand miners. These guys come up the beach like 5 times a day to dig up sand to use for concrete. They dont wash the sand before they use it, so the salty sand corrodes the rebar in the buildings. The buildings last a decade at most, but the coastline of their island is slowly slipping into the sea. Its frustrating to watch. I know that they just need money, which is why they are doing it, but I can see why it would be hard for Dr. Fitzpatrick to want to come back for another year. These people have a hard time caring about what we do here.

The big news here is that I'm coming home soon! In commemoration, here are the top ten things I miss about the USA...

my parents and friends (well thats a given...)
washing clothes in an actual washer and dryer
PSP
a bed that is bigger than a twin
a stove that I dont have to light with matches
TAP WATER!!!
cell phones
malls, target and...sad to say it...walmart. convenience is everything
my fake nails
TRADER JOES and harris teeter...i would kill for an apple right now..and a steak

BUT even though I am glad to go home, I will really miss it here. It was a really eye opening experience. I realized that I took a lot of things for granted. Simple things like being able to drink tap water especially. I really bonded with my group too, everyone was so awesome.

Well I just went on my last walk on the beach, and its time to pack up my computer! See you all back in the USA!

-ALR

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