Life as a Square...

Made it to my site without trouble. The 14 hour bus ride was not very enjoyable (a baby cried most of the way, we were stopped in the middle of the night by the Jandarma = military police, had a little girl throw up behind me for several hours, etc.). When I arrived at the bus station, I called my site director, Murat, and he came to pick me up.

Currently, I am living in the dig "compound" as it is called. Wow! So comfortable compared to the last time I was in Turkey! We have several buildings inside a security fence including the dorms, conservation rooms, work rooms, etc. Quite posh! The highlight of all of this though is the fact that we have western toilets! I almost jumped up and down with delight when I saw these glorious features. I was sharing a room with two other girls, but there was a bed shortage so I volunteered to sleep up on the roof (something I'd been asking my director if I could do for a while because my room was so hot I was only sleeping a few hours a night).

There are a fair number of people here. Majority are grad students and specialists, but there are a few undergrads too. It is really enjoyable to be with an older bunch on an excavation as opposed to being with inexperienced groups as I have done in the past. Everyone here is pretty nice, so that's not an issue. A lot of the girls here talk non-stop, so I have been preferring to hang out with one of the Turkish archaeologists and an Italian one who are both about my age. As a result of this, not only is my Turkish improving, but my Italian as well!

I can't believe how much Turkish I know already. Completely mind-blowing how quickly the brain adjusts when it is needed. My workers have taught me a lot too, which is also helpful. Speaking of working in the field...

I was made the supervisor of a trench! Normally they are square in shape, but the area I'm working in is a bit strange, so we had to readjust it to be 6x10 instead of 8x8. There are a lot of responsibilities and a lot of material to keep track of, but I feel like I'm doing alright with it. I even have my own assistant, actually, I will have two soon, plus five local Turkish workers. My workers are great! Most are pretty young, so they are pretty talkative and like to joke with me when I can understand or find someone to translate my answers back to them, haha! Even with the language barrier and my uncertainty in what I'm doing, life in my square is going pretty well!

We celebrated the 4th of July last night since we have to work Sunday morning. MmmMmm good! We BBQ'ed on the grill, had chips, watermelon, different types of meat, and plenty of vodka with juice, haha! The night was really relaxing and it has been great having Saturday off to do nothing. I slept on the roof for the first time last night too --- so much better! We have been having strong winds lately too, so it stayed really cool.

Alright, enough of my blathering for now. Here is a link to my photos. There aren't too many yet, but I'll try to get some of the compound and some more of the site as work continues.