During my first week of work, I was surprised by what tasks were the hardest. Carrying rocks can be difficult, but I found that moving wheelbarrows and emptying them is harder and more tiring. I was also surprised by the top layer of soil, I had imagined it looking very light brown, but instead it looks like a darker brown that I have generally seen in the United States. I was also surprised by how awake I would feel when I get up early. Getting up in time to leave at 5:30 am has been much easier than I thought it would be.
One of the big things that stood out to me as different is that the buildings in Gazipaşa look different than what I’m used to. Some of the buildings have shapes that were new to me, such as having the top floor be wider than the rest of the building, and a lot of them are taller than I would have expected. Additionally, the temperatures here in Gazipaşa are generally similar to what I am used to at home during the summer, but it has still been an adjustment to working in the heat here. Another similarity I noticed is that a lot of snack food items at convenience stores are the same as American convenience stores, which was not something I would have guessed.
Even though I have been in Gazipaşa for a week, I have learned a lot about archaeology. I now have a better idea of how to distinguish between pottery, roof tiles, and rocks and how some types of pottery are easier to distinguish from rocks than others. Before this week I did not know that any of those things could be easily mistaken for each other if you do not know what to look for. I also have a better idea how to distinguish a buried wall from rockfall. I also learned about how long plants can survive. Even when we spend days removing plants, those plants grow back and frustrate people in the future. I have also picked up a few words of Turkish, and gotten a lot more comfortable communicating with people when we do not speak the same language.
I would say that my thoughts about Turkey and Turkish culture have evolved in the sense that now I have a deeper understanding of them. I have a much better idea of what Turkish food is actually like, before I got here I had a general idea of what “Turkish Food” is, but now I am much more familiar with what types of meals are typical here.
When it comes to more general information about my first week living and working in Gazipaşa, adjusting to the heat and the work does not follow a clean path, for me the second day felt more difficult than the first day did, even though I would have guessed the opposite would be true. I hope that in the next few weeks I will continue to learn about archaeology and Turkey.