Fabrice
Moreau is our French team member.
In his other life he is a geophysicist
with a French company that prospects
world wide for gas and oil.
In his paleontology life he
specializes in fish – and especially
sharks. Continuing a tradition
begun nearly a decade ago with
our friend and frequent team
member Didier Dutheil, Fabrice
has quickly become the butt
of many a team joke, has had
to bear innumerable slights
against France and his name
has been changed from Fabrice
to “Fabio.” He is taking the
ribbing in good humor but hasn’t
yet begun to reciprocate.
Paul
Sereno is co-leading the Inner
Mongolian expedition with his
Chinese counterpart Professor
Zhao. This is Paul’s first expedition
to China – but the beginning
of a series that he talks about
with typical fervor. “Therizinosaurs!”
is a typical random exclamation
in the midst of breakfast, conversation,
or upon waking from a nap. His
passion, chocolate, was nearly
met by a kind teacher who sent
Paul 10 pounds of crispy chocolate
M&Ms (the ones in the blue
bag) in anticipation of the
expedition. (Needless to say
he finished them by himself
a week before the expedition
and now has to go without.)
Chinese
man at the railway station in
Hohhot.
Dave
Varricchio, Montana paleontologist
and veteran of Morocco’95, Argentina
’96, Niger 1997, is an understated
guy. His daily uniform consists
of blue jeans, white t-shirts,
a tan canvas jacket and a 6-year
old maroon backpack. In the
world of paleontology, Dave
is known for his taphonomy and
research on Troodons
and other small carnivorous
dinosaurs – with a focus on
nesting and egg laying behavior.
As
an expedition member however,
Dave is known for his careful
fieldwork, long pauses between
questions and answers, ability
to simultaneously prospect and
sing, and in particular for
his ability to eat – anything,
anytime and usually more of
it than anyone else. This spectacular
ability has resulted in his
more common name, “Munchie.”
Variations on the name include
“Sir Munchalot,” “Muncho,” and
simply, “Munch.”
Halfway
through the expedition I will
change places with the last
American expedition member,
Jeff Wilson, veteran of Sereno
expeditions Niger ’93 and ’97,
Morocco ’95, and Argentina ’96.
Jeff is sauropod specialist
with a talent for human mimicry
and a wicked sense of humor.
His sensitive side turns towards
poetry and jazz.
Now
the landscape has transformed
from the neon-lighted urban
skyline of Beijing to the brown,
tawny hilled landscape of Inner
Mongolia. Although we have only
been in the country a few days,
we have already eaten more than
65 different dishes. Our introduction
to Chinese cuisine – a 2000-year-old
art form here – began within
two hours of our arrival – and
it seems like we haven’t stopped
eating since.
En
route to base camp, the team
is able to stop by this
Buddhist lamasery.
Breakfast
at the Jinming Hotel in Beijing
was our first real departure
from the familiarity of Chicago.
The buffet-style meal consisted
of wonton soup with tiny dried
shrimp, seaweed and cilantro,
long pieces of fry bread, small
squares of sweet sponge cake,
plates of vinegared beans and
corn, and soft steamed buns
filled with meat and vegetables.
Then, because we were obviously
foreigners, the waitress – in
a mint green shirt with a mandarin
collar – brought out steaming
glasses of milk and fried eggs.
The
surprise was actually the backdrop
to breakfast - a veritable aquarium
of water creatures. Large tanks
holding three kinds of snails,
eels, white fish, flat fish,
spiky fish, enormous lobsters,
huge watery frogs and even soft-shelled
turtles with their rubbery noses
pressed against the glass. No
need to buy a ticket to this
aquarium – standard in every
restaurant, with individuals
cooked on demand.
Being
in China is like being illiterate
– we can’t read anything. We
figured out the symbols for
man and woman after more than
one mishap on the way to the
bathroom. With the exception
of Paul, who is able to understand
some Chinese and is hard at
work learning the language,
the rest of us are pretty helpless.
It has been hard to keep track
of the towns we traveled through
during the night and local maps
are useless.
It
is 7:00am and the train is on
time. We are just arriving in
Hohhot – now the next stage
of the journey will begin.
Gabrielle
Lyon
