Final Days

As our days here in Gazipasa come to their end, It becomes important to reflect on how this experience has been impactful and what has changed since I first got here to Turkey. Fortunately, for the most part, my original impressions remained true. I’ve also managed to...

Puzzles

The 2018 excavation season at Antiochia ad Cragum will soon come to a close. This experience exceeded all of my expectations. Though I miss Oshkosh and my family, I am sorry to leave so soon. Time sure flies when you are an archaeologist in Turkey! This past month of...

Evil Eye

Today, I gave in to the tourist trap and bought a leather bracelet with the evil eye on it. It’s staring at me as I write this, and I can’t help thinking that it’s just a little bit badass. I feel pretty dang strong with a cool black cuff around my wrist, and I bought...

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

Our month in Turkey has just flown by and I can’t believe that we only have one and a half dig days left. I feel like that it is not enough time, like there is still so much left to discover and so much left that I want to know. But I guess we have to leave something...

Its a Wild Place at the Pirate Tower

Over the last four weeks there have been some very interesting events that have happened. But through these four weeks I have learned many things about myself.  After completing very hard work I have learned that when I set my mind to it I can get some crazy work done...

Small Rocks in My Boots and Other Life Lessons

Now that our time in Turkey is quickly drawing to a close, I want to reflect on some of the out-of-classroom learning all this dirt and sweat has brought about. Please excuse any spelling and grammatical errors below since this whole “learning” and “self-reflection”...

Another Multifaceted Characteristic

This month in a nutshell: 13 young Americans, dozens of Turks, two semi-reliable busses, one cramped dig house, one washing machine, three pairs of dig shorts, six hours of sleep, one ever-changing acropolis, and me, hanging out somewhere in that dynamic, trying to...

Classic Travel Abroad Confidence

I know it is pretty clichéd to talk about how a trip abroad completely changed your outlook on life or gave you some great personal insight, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t true. This trip has challenged me in many ways and pushed me pretty far out of my...

Reflections

Since I write this with only a final few days left in Turkey, it seems like the appropriate time to reflect on all the things one should after a life-changing experience. While there’s much to be pensive about, perhaps that which is most important to me is reflecting...

A day in the diggy-hole

At five in the morning, every morning, a delightful cacophony of everyone’s phones alarms fills the air of the apartment. Reluctantly, bodies shamble upwards about 20 minutes after the phones are silenced. Quickly picking outfits for the day they rush towards the door...