This first week at Gazipaşa has been incredibly interesting and challenging in different ways. Firstly and unavoidably is the heat and humidity, which has been a struggle for me to adapt to. I’m normally someone who prefers cold weather and tries to avoid the sun in the summer months which has not been advantageous in the last few days. I would definitely try to acclimate to the heat before coming if I could do it again. Working throughout the day and digging and removing rocks and roots has left me completely exhausted at the end of the day though I have always felt ready to get up and go the next day, partially fueled by the tea. I knew that coming to a hot place was always going to be a difficult adjustment for me but I was still surprised by how hot and humid it could be. I have learned that I can push through it and while I may be totally drenched in sweat by the end of the day, as long as I am hydrated I can keep going. I was also surprised by how quickly I could learn how to do different techniques and identify objects like bone and ceramic. Pottery washing was brought up as a horrible activity by anyone I asked but truthfully it is kind of nice to just do a repetitive task after spending all day working on site but it may become less interesting as time goes on. I did not know that there would be that much technology on site as well and was unaware that iPads were used to inventory and track site data.
Coming to Türkiye I did not entirely know what to expect but so far I have been loving most of it. The food has been exceptional, whether it be from a quick stop or at dig dinners. On site the breakfast and lunch have also been phenomenal and very refreshing after a day digging. Despite all the readings I still was not completely clear on what the day to day would look like on site. Now that we have been working for about a week, I can definitely understand better when people say archeology is very hard work. Thankfully, it feels very rewarding and in a broad sense it is exciting to get to the site everyday, despite however much I may complain. Trying different foods at the various supermarkets every time I go and bringing some Turkish snacks to the dig site is fun. I always enjoy some Haribo and Turkish cookies are all really good so far.
The first day I found it hard to visualize the site as a real town but as we work more it feels increasingly alive. Learning about the fortification effort after the Persian sack of the city helped me contextualize it and imagine the lives of those rebuilding from the ruins. Also understanding the destruction of the earthquakes in the area explained a lot of the questions I had about the waves of construction one can observe. I think as we continue our excavations and explorations I may be able to even better visualize the timeline and the conditions of the city itself. Overall, the first week has been very interesting albeit full of hard work that thankfully is very rewarding. I am very excited to continue our work and discover and learn more about the area. I want to try to explore more of Gazipaşa itself and go to more restaurants and shops and I also hope that I can acclimate a bit more to the heat and get even more into a routine.