Let me start with saying: Jetlag is schist– heavy, in my experience. The first few days in the city were exhausting and I don’t know if I was really awake for all of it or if I was just a zombie stumbling along with the group while we explored the area and swam in the bright sea. The exhaustion still hadn’t worn off by Monday when we started on the dig site, but something about seeing the site and being able to work on it did blow away the jetlag. I was initially a little in awe of the columns that stood in the central area, the amazingly blue sea, and the blue sky that seemingly swallowed it, but I think I found the most wonder in the little things once we really got to work: soil color changes as the sturdy and stubborn plants were removed, little finds such as the lip of a vessel or a roof tile, and the laughter that followed an odd joke. All those sources of wonder are supporting me through the aches in my body that I discover as we work. There is something extremely humbling about watching a man almost three times my age remove a huge root system or move a heavy rock when other, younger folk could not (An important thank you to Rahmi for keeping us humble and I will just hope that I spelled his name correctly). I really thought I was a decently strong and fairly intellectual person before arriving, but I keep finding that I am not very strong yet and still have much to learn.
Archaeological work is very close to what I imagined, however archaeology encompasses more than I expected. Learning about the region’s human and ecological history has really made me think about the interaction between the everyday human and history (not just academics’ and archaeologists’ interactions). There is something special about the interest and/or awe on a tourist’s face when they see the site and us in the midst of our work. They may not be directly connected to the region and it’s history. They may come from far away; however, they are still interested in these windows into the past. It makes me wonder what draws them (and humans throughout history) to such places. Is it the beautiful water, which glitters under the sun? The architecture that still stands and that which has been restored? Or simply the wonder of knowing that people were there. That people of the past left their mark on history and people of the present can still see that mark today. In more ways that what was left behind, but also in the communities and practices that have changed very little in the course of time (though so much has changed as well). All that to say, my first impression leads me to believe that there are at least two constant things for me as I learn, strengthen, and grow: Water and Wonder