That was the first instruction to me and my school friends who had volunteered to assist. We were a gaggle of 17-year-olds in shorts, t-shirts and varying degrees of suitable footwear such as hiking boots or trainers.
Bring on the exotic, American post-graduates — I’d never met anyone from America before at that point in my life so this was a revelation to me. They were to be our guides, our confidantes and for me — oh the hormones! — an exquisite distraction when sieving soil became a little dull. One twenty-something in particular — I’ll call her Kayleigh — was my kryptonite. She certainly took my mind off my long-running teenage girl crush who sadly, had no interest in anyone remotely not male (that is, no interest in me).