Tupelo at one time was an important regional center for the manufacturing of furniture. Rose confessed to having worked in a furniture manufacturing plant during one spring break, making it clear it was not a pleasant experience. “Just seeing a Cracker Barrel rocking chair brings back bad memories of that spring and summer when I worked at one of Tupelo’s finest furniture manufacturing plants.” She did not elaborate on why she felt that way.
“The only way for a young lady to get out of Tupelo,” Rose explained, “is to die, marry some traveling salesman, or, alternatively, get yourself pregnant. Pregnancies out of wedlock, rich or poor, got you a one-way ticket out of Tupelo---Guaranteed. Bible Belt communities, which Tupelo is part of, do not cotton to immorality.” Not to mention that Rose had no desire to get pregnant by anyone, even if it was Elvis himself.
It was during her first year of high school before Rose finally got the attention she deserved. The Department of Education located in Jackson, Mississippi, the State capital, finally recognized Rose’s academic achievements, placing her in a fast-track program, with Rose graduating when she was only sixteen. With many scholarships offered; she settled on the University of Iowa where she and Allison met.
Rose was determined to spice up Allison’s social life, which up to this point was non-existent. Rose said flat out: “Just for once, please take your academic nose out of those old smudgy books and have some fun.” Reluctantly, Allison agreed with the two of them ending up at a local pub that attracted mostly academicians from the local colleges. It was just after two drinks that two handsome young men joined them. One was Rose’s boyfriend, Sam Hodges, with Rose asking Sam to introduce his friend.
Before being given a chance to say a single word Allison blurted out: “God, you are beautiful!”
Laughing, the stranger said: “You must be from another planet.”
If he only knew. she thought.
“Ladies from this planet, the obvious ones, like you, who themselves are beautiful, do not normally use words like beautiful to describe a man. Handsome, perhaps, but never beautiful.” Not expecting a response, he continued, “My name is Bradley Jefferies, by the way.” Bradley continues, “Just the idea of being in your presence makes me feel intimidated.”
“Why is that?” she asked.
“Because you are a well-known celebrity in the academic world. Which got me to thinking: when will Superman show up to take you two beautiful young women to dinner?”
Laughing, Allison put his mind at ease: “The only Superman I see around here is you. So, I guess that means you are taking us to dinner! If I may ask, what is your position here at the university?”
“To study jet propulsion in hopes of becoming a rocket scientist,” volunteered Bradley. “A rocket scientist for real! Are you kidding me? You are here at the University of Iowa, to become a rocket scientist?” exclaimed a shocked Allison.
“Rocket science is the study of rocket propulsion—-Aerospace Engineering is a more correct terminology, explained Bradley” “Sounds better than ‘Rocket Scientist,’ don’t you think?”
“In a couple of weeks, I hope to get my bachelor’s degree in rocket-propelled engineering. After I receive my degree, I am off to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for six weeks of boot camp training as part of my commitment to serve the Marine Corps for four years. The Corps, in turn, agreed to sponsor my study in aerospace engineering at the university. I hope, after receiving my master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the university, to work for NASA in designing rocket-propelled spacecraft used in outer space.”
“Just my luck,” responded Allison. “I just met the man I hope someday to marry and the first thing he does is run away.”
“Whoa! Not too fast alien girl. It is generally understood that men on our planet do the proposing. I am not sure how it works on your planet. But usually boy meets girl, they go on a few dates and if the chemistry is right, he asks the girl to marry him. Not the other way around. Besides. How do you know I even like you enough to even want to marry you?”
“I always assumed when two people meet and they like each other, realizing that that person is the person they want to spend the rest of their life with, they get married,” Allison explained.
“Okay,” added Brad, "I cannot say that my feelings for you are any different than the feelings you have for me. Although, we have only known each other for all of six hours. Let us slow down and wait until I get back from my boot camp training and see where it goes from there.”
Rose, overhearing the conversation between the two, spoke up. “Brad, if you have a brain in your head, and it looks like you do. You do not want to miss this opportunity to marry the most sought-after, most attractive, smart-ass; I mean the smartest girl on the planet.”
“Which planet are we talking about?” he smiled. “Hers or mine?”
For the first time in her life, Allison realized she was in love! She found it difficult to pay strict attention to her teaching duties. Something new in her brief academic career, once calling a student by the wrong name. “Maybe love is blind as the pundits claim,” thought Allison.
Allison had been looking forward for the entire week to be with Brad in North Carolina for the weekend where he was in combat training. But then the other shoe dropped: Brad was shipping out immediately for a six-month tour in Afghanistan. Rose, hearing of Brad’s deployment to Afghanistan, took Allison out to get her plastered. Let her cry her eyes out for an hour or so. Finally, to come around, realizing that life is not always fair.
Something Rose should know. Two semesters prior to this incident, a young, handsome graduate she had been engaged to marry, lost his life. in a senseless battle somewhere in Iraq. Misery is an equal-opportunity employer.
*****
As head of her department, Professor Dawkins was not expected to take part in the teaching curriculum. Her duties included taking care of administrative activities which entailed setting up class curriculum, preparing teacher assignments, and welcoming new students. Attending fund-raising campaigns. However, having taken a strong interest in archeology, with no other teacher available to teach the class, she agreed to teach a small class of archeology graduate students for two semesters. Professor Dawkins's teaching style always included a brief history of the subject she was about to teach. For her, teaching archeology was no different.
Allison began her archeology class by providing her students with an outline describing background information about the history of archeology---information previously prepared by the archeology department as a study guideline for her students to follow. “The first thing that most academic scholars learn from the study of archeology is that archeology comes from the early exploits of Egyptologists. It began when a small group of Egyptologists began their first scientific studies of ancient Egypt which included the study of its antiquities, history, language, religion, architecture, and art forms. Much of the work took place around the Nile Delta, Western Desert, and Upper Nile Valley. Museums around the world are full of their discoveries.”
“A bad commentary, I might add, one the world is aware of and should not be forgotten or repeated. In about the year 1836, a thief named Giuseppe Ferlini, an Italian combat medic turned explorer and treasure hunter vandalized at least forty pyramids in Meroe, Sudan. Not satisfied with customary search efforts, resorted to using explosives, causing permanent damage, and managing to recover gold and silver jewelry in mint condition.”
“The modern-day bandit, Ferlini without a hint of remorse, continued to live his life in high style. Several nations dispatched archeologist teams to the historical sites to restore as much damage to the artifacts as possible. It is believed that most of the stolen treasure remains in European museums.”
“Then came the discoveries of German archeologist and excavator, Henry Schliemann, and his wife Sophia Engastromenos. In 1868, the couple, while searching for prehistoric Greek buried artifacts, discovered the burial site of the ancient city of Troy. And much later, the royal tombs of Mycenae. Henry Schliemann, a brilliant and rich explorer in his own rites relied on Homer’s Iliad to help discover the various historical locations before beginning his digs. He used Pausanias’s Greek Guidebook to locate tombs of the Mycenaean civilization. His findings astonished the world with half of his findings ending up at the Ottoman Museum in Istanbul, Turkey. For his hard efforts in making his discoveries, Schliemann was branded an importer thief, a fraud, an idiot, a troublemaker, and a wastrel. Modern archeologist question whether the unearthing of antiquities justifies the permanent disturbance of ancient sites, destroying their original historical settings.”
“In this century alone, there have been more than twenty-eight historical sites deliberately destroyed. Accompanied by rampant theft of valuable historical artifacts. Could archeologists have saved sites like the Abu Simbel temple located at Egypt’s Aswan Dam? As well as other important artifacts, safe from future destruction---probably not.”
“Thanks to archeologists around the world, we now know more about the ancient history of almost every nation around the globe, including Burma, North, and South America, Russia, Africa, and practically every major place of historical interest on the map. If you learn nothing else from this class, know this: it is vitally important that we respect every site that we explore. To make certain that nothing of historical value is ever damaged or destroyed because of our ineptness and careless handling.”
18
Planning a Trip to Africa
Deep into one of her archeology lectures on buried treasures, Allison was interrupted by a staff member of the department’s front office, handing her an urgent memo. The memo contained news of a sister university announcing that it had decided to pull its archeologist team out of a dig in the Republic of Zambia. Reportedly, three members of the team had come down with a nonlife-threatening disease. The area was briefly quarantined by the World Health Organization (WHO) allowing for a comprehensive investigation aimed at locating the origin of the virus: to determine if the work area was safe to work in.
After an exhaustive investigation, the area was cleared. A team of pathologists from WHO determined the dig workers were exposed to a rare virus, one probably attached to an old artifact, once released into the air, quickly dissipated. The college administrator in charge of the dig began looking around for another college to finish the dig.
Allison posed the question to her class: “How many of you would be interested in traveling to the Republic of Zambia as replacement archeologists on an archaeological dig abandoned by another college due to an unexpected virus attack of unknown origin? As replacements, we should anticipate arriving in Zambia as a replacement archeologist late fall-winter of this year to continue the dig.”
She received six positive responses. Enough to request permission and support from the college administrator to make the commitment. Of course, there would be a certain amount of pushback with the college administrator, questioning whether enough money was available through grants and other private contributors to sponsor the dig. Nothing new there. It happens on every field trip sponsored by the college.
Then came the logistical nightmares involved in making such a bold step. First, acquire all the documentation and requisite passports/visas required from both Zambia and the United States. A standard procedure is required for all visits to countries outside the borders of the Continental United States.
“If Zambia’s tardiness in responding to official requests is any indicator, then our stay in Zambia may end up being a bureaucratic quagmire. From visits to the Zambian Consulate, the answer from the Consulate authorities was always the same. We are busy with other more important official requests. Come back tomorrow.”
This response comes from a dopey-looking clerk. A nobody who looked like he had slept in the same clothes for a week, or maybe a month---who's counting? The following day, she found the same document clerk sound asleep at his desk. Even without raising his head, he barked out, “Come back tomorrow.” After two weeks of runaround and total disregard for the urgency, the travel documents were finally issued.
