If I could sum this first week into a couple of words, it would be tiring yet rewarding. Even though this first week at the dig site has mainly been removing rocks and troublesome roots -looking at you Jerry, Dave, and Steve- and my unit has not really found anything yet, just being able to see how much we have already excavated is really powerful. I am really excited to see what we will hopefully be able to find in the next week! A tip that I have picked up from this first week is to just bring lots of water everyday, including the day you do Selinus. If you thought you brought enough, bring even more. This is especially critical as what you bring is what you have and you will be sweating it out every day. The second tip would be to bring a snack to chai time and make sure to salt your food. Chai time is one thing that has surprised me as when I first heard about it I was sure that I would not want to drink hot tea after being out in the sun and heat for the first half. Instead, chai time has become a very welcome reprieve and I always have at least one glass of tea before I have to head back to work. It also probably helps that the tea contains just enough caffeine to keep me going, especially after having to wake up around 4:40 AM five days a week.
Another event to prepare for is pottery washing. I usually change into shorts and flip-flops as it is outside in the heat and sun. Pottery washing happens twice a week after a full day of digging and it lasts for at least two hours but potentially more depending on how much pottery you have left to wash. I am glad that at least for now it has been moved to 3 PM from 4:30 PM as it means I only have to take one shower instead of two. Plus it provides a little extra time before dinner at 7. Speaking of the showers, I was definitely a little unprepared for the amount of times I needed to shower. There is so much dirt on me from working on the site and there is always so much sweat from just walking around town or going to the beach. I wish that I brought some extra non-work clothes to change into as my work clothes always get so dirty. There are plenty of places to buy clothes and for relatively cheap prices too. When I went to the Gunnercik Plateau Festival, I did buy a couple more pieces of clothes, so I am excited to try them on. It was so much fun there and I would highly recommend it to any future visitors to Gazipasa. There was shopping, food, and even some animals, including camels, horses, and a cow which happened to be my favorite animal. You could even ride the camels, which was super cool! I also think that going to Pirate’s Cove at least once is a must as it was so beautiful and refreshing after a long day of work. The climb back up is definitely rough and steep and if you are a slow climber, make sure to leave plenty of time to work your way back up.