The Northeast temple particularly caught my mind in the readings. The mystery of not knowing exactly what God the temple belonged to caught my intention as well as the architecture of the temple, and Roman temples as a whole. I had to google, but enjoyed learning all the different parts of the temple such as the clipeus. I wonder why the floral decorations and if perhaps the decoration on the architrave of the temple relate to the god at all— or just followed standard conventions at the time. I am also interested to know more about the jewelry and what people used the temple for over time as its purpose changed and adapted to the changing culture of the location. I think the main reason the temple interests me a lot is the mystery God element, as I find the mystery of past buildings to be one of the main reasons I may want to pursue archeology. I am also very excited that we are doing domestic archeology, as the general history and structure of houses and residential buildings has always been a favorite of mine. For my first internship this summer I researched the history of residential buildings in southern Colorado and I am interested to learn about housing from a completely different part of the world and in a completely different way.
I am really excited to see all my friends on the trip again: I have missed them a lot over the summer. I know this is not particularly related to Gazipaza and the dig but many people going on this trip are some of my closest friends I made in my freshmen year. I am also excited to meet the Turkish students and learn from them. I really enjoy getting to know people and learning from them, and making new connections.