4:55 AM— My alarm goes off before the sun has risen. I get up five minutes earlier than the other girls in the room so I can get a spot in the bathroom. Once we’re all up the six of us shuffle around each other with half-opened eyes, sniffing our dig clothes and cringing as we put on suspiciously brown shirts.
5:30 AM— I try and nonchalantly make my way to the front of the bus line to ensure I get a seat. We don’t have quite enough seats on the bus to the dig site so there are always a lucky few who get to stand for the half hour ride. I promptly fall asleep for the entire ride.
6:00AM— It’s breakfast time and I sit down at a long table outside, overlooking our beautiful acropolis and a view of misty Guney mountains. And then the bees arrive. They have figured out that every morning a large feast is set just for them, and boy have they told their friends. Their morning courting ritual begins as they gently buzz around Anders’ lips. Perhaps today will be the day when he finally eats a bee. Alas, no such luck.
7:00 AM— On the acropolis we start the day by taking levels, seeing how far we brought our trench down the previous day. Then it’s back to work, picking and shoveling and picking and shoveling.
9:23 AM— Howe comes to check on us and calls us the Filthy Five. We discuss theories about our trench and make jokes which are unsuited for this blog.
10:00 AM— Break! I eat an entire tube of cookies.
10:45 AM— Kirby and Ben talk in their Family Guy voices and everyone is slightly creeped out.
11:30 AM— Time for bucket duty, which means I get to throw buckets of dirt off the side of a mountain, a weirdly satisfying task.
1:00 PM—The sound of a whistle brings a kind of euphoria that comes from finishing a day of hard, physical work. I head down the hill, trying my hardest not to trip on the rocky path. The end of the day means lunch, which my stomach always sharply reminds me of.
1:15 PM— I eat the most delicious Turkish food that Aisha, our cook, makes on a hot plate in the depot. Lunch is one of the happiest moments of the day. After hours of hot sun and physical labor, sitting down and drinking a cold glass of water feels absolutely luxurious.
2:00 PM— By two we’re on the bus, back to the dig house, with Ozgur and Murat taking pictures of their friends who have fallen asleep on the ride back. We pull up to the dig house and someone inevitably says “Home sweet home!”
And there you have it, a day in the trench.