This experience in Türkiye has given me a lot of new insights into myself and my experiences with others. On an academic standpoint I am incredibly proud of my work in my dig unit recently. My work has largely focused on a foundation trench next to an interior wall. The purpose of this trench is to uncover the extent of the wall (how large it is) and what it’s builders used as materials to fill in the trench. They would have dug the trench to create a foundation for the building and fill that with their trash such as broken pots, animal bones and other refuse that is extremely valuable to our research. I have gotten numerous complements on my work on this trench from peers, other archaeologists in the project and my boss Tim. It is so nice to not only be recognized for work I am proud of, but to be allowed to continue this work that I am good at throughout the week. My goal now is to continue enjoying my trench excavations and trying to pay forward the recognition of my work my doing the same for my peers since they deserve to be lavished in praise just as liberally as I have. In addition to this academic development, my situation with food has markedly and shockingly improved since I arrived. When I first came here, I was concerned about the food situation. I have historically been quite picky with my food and I was afraid I would struggle to find things to eat; in spite of these fears, I am dumbfounded by how much I’ve grown in this regard. I, for the first time in my life, ate a salad (a vinegary salad with cucumber, tomatoes and cabbage), consumed the entire thing and said I liked it! I would consider this unfathomable no more than six months ago and yet I feel like I’m thriving here.
For a while being here I wasn’t sold on archaeology as something for me to consider in the future. The climate here was hot, humid and unforgiving and the work at first was grueling and a little demoralizing. I was working on houses of people I had never heard of and would likely never learn the name of and it was bizarre for me. I am a historian, I love learning as much as I can about the subject from biographies to genealogies to government structures, economies and geography: I live and breathe history. But I was shocked that this didn’t immediately click, I’ve never had that experience with a historical subject before and it was concerning. I thought that maybe I didn’t like archaeology and that this trip was a mistake, that I was stuck in a foreign country digging in the dirt for a purpose I didn’t care about. But as I learned more about the history of this place, how ancient Antiochia ad Cragum was a living breathing city we were attempting to, at least partially, revive, I also felt my interest and motivation revive. I am as of now uncertain of what within archaeology might be my passion, I have no clue what I would want to specialize in or even if this is a good path for me long term, but all I know is that this trip will always stick with me. Archaeology is a massively important aspect of history and as such will always have my respect and admiration and now that I have found some kind of calling excavating my trench, I am curious to see where that call may take me. I may become an archaeologist and engage in this work professionally all over the world, or I may have to accept that it may not be a career for me. All I know now is that I want to be nowhere else but here right now.