Speaking to future participants, there’s a lot of advice I have to offer. I was reflecting about this with Annabel even before the internship was over, and we talked about how different our experiences have been than what we expected. To begin with, expect to work hard: archaeological work is physically (and mentally) taxing, but if you put in all your effort, the results will be deeply rewarding both on and off site. Take all the opportunities you can to explore your interests, such as shadowing other experts on site, especially if being an archaeologist is a potential career path for you. But back to actual work on site, one of the most important rules to abide by is to listen to yourself and others. Almost all, if not all of us, didn’t do this at one time or another and overexerted ourselves, leading to bad consequences. So: If you don’t feel well, sit out! If people are telling you to take a break, do it! Don’t compare the work that you’re doing to others’, do what YOU can do! DRINK WATER!! But just as you take care of yourself, take care of others: check in with your site-mates and the rest of the team occasionally to make sure they’re doing alright.
Aside from work, there’s so much to do around Gazipaşa. Bidi Bidi and Gazipaşa beaches are great for spending a day on the weekend or for going on a night swim, and there’s an evening jewelry market near Gazipaşa beach too. Roby’s is a great place to hang out with friends, do homework, and get cheesecake, and if you’re not too tired after work, you could even go to the gym……the Body Store Gym is only a short ten minute walk away…. For food, I’d recommend KoKo Mix (of course) and several other restaurants on the way to Gazipaşa beach whose names I unfortunately do not know. Also (ignore this Tim) if you’re really craving a good burger or pizza, Monkey Burger is pretty good.
Circling back to archaeological work, I think that I would definitely work on another archaeological excavation sometime in the future. I really enjoyed the physical and mental aspects of this internship, the only hindrance being how painful it was on my knees and back. I would love the opportunity to do archaeology in another part of the world, to gain a broader understanding of different types of archaeology and different methods, and to work with other professors and experts who have their own perspectives and insights. However, my professional goals haven’t really changed because of this trip. I’m still uncertain if I want to be an archaeologist or not, just because I have so much time ahead of me in my college career, though I believe I would really enjoy it. I look forward to exploring different sub-fields of archaeology and related work, to hopefully find a definitive answer to the career question.
P.S. Hi BLA