I came to Turkiye with almost no expectations of what it would be like here. I had no idea what It would be like, only that it would not be like home. I have been pleasantly surprised to find that the people here are incredibly kind and non judgemental of the difficulties that have come with adjusting to the heat. In store interactions where there is a complete language barrier, the staff is always incredibly helpful in helping me through the interactions without using spoken words. It has been very interesting to see the drinking of tea as such a cultural touchstone and I am constantly offered or given tea as a courtesy which I find to be very kind. I have also found it interesting to see some similarities to home, such as the abundance of cars here and how the road systems work. With the amount of traffic it is still awesome to see that there is such good infrastructure around making the city still walkable and able to coexist with the vehicles. With the exception of one or two dishes, I have found the cuisine here to be amazing!
I have been expectedly very exhausted by the work we are doing, but especially after a week of getting into a rhythm and figuring out how to listen to my body and best pace myself that I am able to keep going and stay productive for the entire work day. The first two days I struggled with adjusting to the early mornings and the jet lag. I find myself so exhausted from work that I am able to go to sleep whenever I want and am able to sleep well now. Despite the heat and humidity, I really do enjoy the work we are doing. I think I am good at it and I find it incredibly interesting and have loved the conversations and bonding I have been able to have between my fellow Oles and the Turks. I have also found that I really enjoy the journaling aspect as well. I think it’s pretty incredible to have learned so much about all of the different things we have found and depending on these small little differences/locations of things I can make guesses and infer on what everything can mean. As Tim Howe said – It’s like a big puzzle.
Before coming here my thoughts were along the lines of this is such a bizarre and unique opportunity that I should take because why not. But since being here and being exposed to archaeology, I am really loving it. This seems like such a left field direction for me to go on, but I have started imagining what my life would be like if I were to pursue archaeology. I am genuinely very enthralled with the work and the journaling. Work hard and play hard! It has also been a lot of fun to bust my ass working and be able to go to the bar and further socialize with everyone I am seeing at the dig site every day.
