As part of my Master's research, I was fortunate to be a part of an archaeological excavation at Petra. They say that memories are the best souvenirs and I found myself taking home an unexpected one. Artifacts aren't the only thing that lives in soil. At some point during the field season I had unknowingly picked up some parasitic intruders. Spending a day in the field house having all fluids forcefully evacuate my body followed by nearly two months of diarrhea which spanned a 13-hour international flight and a significantly prolonged lay-over in the O’Hare airport is definitely a memory I won’t soon forget.
I really was okay with the scarf…