Summer Vacation, 2001 Monday 1I'm sitting on a plane, next to my dad, who fell asleep and is drooling on my shoulder. My dad, known to some as Dr. Fossil, is a paleontologist. He's going to join a team of researchers who've been digging for fossils in the desert of northern Chad, a country in Africa. They're searching for fossils of early humanlike creatures, or hominids. Six years ago, they found a 3.5-million-year-old hominid jawbone in the sand, and they are hoping to find even older hominid bones. Dad thinks they will, since the team has already found mammal bones more than six million years old. 2I'm on this trip mainly because I begged. Dad insisted that the desert was too harsh of a place for a fifth grader, but I reminded him of how tough I am and how much I love anthropology. Now I'm here! We have about ten hours left of flying time, and I'm pretty excited. Tuesday 3I have never been so happy to be off a plane before. My dad's drool soaked my shirt, and I had to change mid-flight. 4When we got off the plane, I felt the heat hit me like a ton of bricks. In ancient times, this whole area was a lake, Lake Chad. That's hard to believe now—all I can see for miles and miles is sun-bleached sand and rocks. I'm going to go mop the sweat off my forehead, while my dad makes arrangements for a van to take us to the research camp. Wednesday 5Early this morning, we headed out to the dig site with the research team. I sat on my hands and watched everyone work. I was afraid to take a step, for fear I'd crush some valuable artifact. 6My stomach was growling and my nose had started peeling, so I finally decided to tiptoe to the van for a sandwich break and some shade. Just as I turned to leave, I heard one of the researchers call excitedly to the rest of the team. The other scientists circled the site and pounced like lions on their prey. Bones! But not just any bones, a SKULL that looked a lot like a human! The scientists started jumping up and down, cheering and hugging each other. I have never seen such joy.