With a week already gone in Turkey, there are a number of things on my mind. My foremost concern before the trip was the heat: I handle heat horribly, and can’t stand any sort of humidity. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how well my body has acclimated to the region, though. Yes, I’m sweating a ton and it certainly isn’t pleasant, but I’ve been able to make it through full work days without passing out, which I think counts for something. It also helps that the other people who I’ve been working with, both St. Olaf and non-St. Olaf, have been wonderfully unique and interesting. I’ve met more people in the last week than I ever have since coming to college, including a number of Turkish people. The people I’ve met have always been quick with a smile when I talk with them, and it has generally been a delightful experience getting to know their culture. And then there is the work of excavation. At some point in my many hours on the dig site, I began to wonder: what does it mean for a man to truly and utterly despise something that can and will not offer any sort of sapient retort? Moby Dick could rage and thrash against Ahab’s harpoons, and in that response, Ahab could find meaning in his maniacal quest for revenge. But a white whale in the shape of a root of Holm Oak stubbornly refuses to acknowledge my pickaxes and crowbars. My world becomes one of tangled rocks, stinging wood chips, and ever-shifting dirt, and though I dig deeper and carve more of the foul shrub away, it feels as though progress slips through my fingers as quickly as the soil that forms the plant’s home. But the true horror comes when I finally carve through the final root, twisting my adversary with an organic crack as it comes free of the earth. I hold the plant in my hands, and see nothing. The Holm Oak is unchanged, the same in my hands as it is rooted in the ground. I hold not the corpse of my hated nemesis, just an ordinary piece of wood. Burning it will provide no solace, it’s just an ordinary branch. A man cannot win against an object, for the object never had the ability to enter into a contest in the first place. Against the Holm Oak, the only possibility is for me to lose.
The food in Turkey is another highlight for me so far. The liberal use of bread, meat, and vegetables make Turkish food very filling, but I’ve never felt bloated or weighed down by any of the food. I never drank tea before coming to Turkey, but after experiencing the bliss of Chai break, I don’t think I can go back. Overall, I’m enjoying my experience on the dig, and I’m looking forward to more work and more exploration of the country.