Since I write this with only a final few days left in Turkey, it seems like the appropriate time to reflect on all the things one should after a life-changing experience. While there’s much to be pensive about, perhaps that which is most important to me is reflecting upon my personal growth. Let’s start by discussing what is, in my opinion, the most prominent part of being an archaeologist–hard physical work. Archaeology work entails a bizarre mix of constant intense physical labor and mental taxation. This combination means that one needs to work hard all day. I’ve never been averse to hard work, but this internship has taught me that I actually enjoy labor. While the historical aspect of the labor helps, there’s beauty in the simple landscaping work itself. Clearing rocks and unearthing roots has a brutal majesty to it that I would not have imagined. I also learned that team labor isn’t as easy as individual labor. Sometimes I was a pain in the neck to my team and my supervisor because I thought I knew how to organize everything, and looking back on it I wish I hadn’t been as headstrong. That being said, sometimes taking a definitive stance was really helpful in progressing our dig site, there are pros and cons for everything here. As a learner, I found out some interesting things about myself. For starters, I’m not great as a hands on learner. What I mean is that I struggle getting the feel of the land or interacting with the ancient history by unearthing the history itself. While it doesn’t seem to make much sense, I have a much easier time connecting with the past through written records and literature than material culture. Some days I would try and try to mentally construct the ancient structures we were unearthing and I could just never quite get it right. I wasn’t able to get the same excited and giddy feeling of connecting with something eternal that I get when I read written history. Archaeology is an amazing profession, but it was hard for me to connect with the people whose history I was unearthing. I wish that my learning style was different, but I’m so thankful that this internship helped me figure that out. Now, most importantly, it’s time to reflect on what I learned about my personal self. I said it in my first blog post and I’m saying it in my last blog post, the key to my happiness and pleasure here has been my previously unknown ability to quickly adapt to situations. Seemingly daily here is the need to adapt, wether it’s the language barrier or cultural disconnect we always seem to be one or two steps behind the plan of the Turkish staff. It’s not really a bad thing so long as you learn to ride the wave, in fact it’s rather freeing. The me of about two or three years ago would have tried to control every situation and get anxious when plans went astray. The me of the present has learned that there really isn’t much that I can do to control what’s happening, that a lot of times life just happens to you and it’s not so much about deciding what will happen but rather deciding how to respond. Previously, this passivity would have seemed weak to me, but now I realize there’s a tremendous silent strength to it that takes more courage and kindness than trying to force life to fit your plan. There’s an old clichéd saying I’ve found myself muttering several times a day here and every time I say it, I realize more and more how much solid life philosophy can fit into a few cliché words. “It is what it is” has become the mantra of my internship, and from here on out it will be a mantra for my life.
