This second week in Turkey on this site has really made me feel like I can do this work and not just barely scrape by day after day after day. I’ve really been trying to push my limits physically and to soak up all of the information that my peers and superiors are providing me. Every one of us including me are bringing something unique and entirely their own to this research and it has been really enjoyable getting to experience that, grow my limited knowledge of archeology and history and also potentially even be challenged on concepts I thought I knew and understood. I have even found myself enjoying things that I had not necessarily expected or find myself interested in fields I knew nothing about before coming here. One of the things I want to learn more about is the world of ceramics as I want to have a better idea of what it is exactly that I am washing. During the lecture on ceramics that was done on Thursday, I was able to recognize some of the images or at least parts even though the lecture was primarily spoken in Turkish by Dr. Asena Kızılarslanoğlu. That was only possible through learning from Dilek during the pottery washing. Being able to surround myself with others who know so much more than me thanks to this internship has enabled me to push my knowledge and learn a little more about what interests me as a person and what I might like to do in the future.
I have also definitely been surprising myself physically as well. I did not come into this internship having spent a ton of time at the gym or consistently lifting weights. I was definitely a little nervous about the physical aspects of this internship including waking up super early in the morning. Instead I have utterly surprised myself with how much I am able to lift and carry. While my methods might leave something to be desired as much of the weight ends up braced against legs, I have consistently been able to lift super heavy rocks, take full wheelbarrows to the cliff that we dump down, and lift buckets full of rocks and dirt to take down to that same wheelbarrow. For anyone potentially nervous about the physical requirements of the internship, I am here to say that you will surprise yourself with how much you are able to accomplish. Even waking up five days before the crack of dawn is something I never thought I would be able to do. The trick I have found is to try and fall asleep by 10:00 PM and to catch a nap on the thirty minute bus ride to and from the site.
There has been so much unexpected joy as well from this internship. Before this dig, I never thought that I would be so excited over a wall. And yet here I am wildly enthused over a simple wall. If I find nothing else, which I am sure will happen, then I would walk away from this archeological site ecstatic and feeling as though I found something that contributes to the information of the site. Even being able to piece together the different rooms and units of this structure has been really exciting. This joy extends even to sites where neither I nor other St. Olaf students are working. I love rejoining with the other volunteers and students at çay time and at lunch, especially as I get to hear about all the other sites and what they are discovering. Working with my team, which has been labeled Olive and the Pits, on our unit, a.k.a. The Hill has also been an absolute joy and I am so glad for them all as they really help to make the time go by and the work exciting. I am sure that if I was doing this entirely on my own, this would be a much less rewarding and joyful experience. The people definitely turn this experience into an unforgettable one, including encouraging me to lick the potential pottery piece I found only to later find out it was a bone.