This first week has been an eye-opening experience in a number of ways, some expected, some completely unexpected. The intensive labor and the hot Turkish sun were things that I came into this opportunity completely prepared for. The tight living quarters and instantaneous friendships took me by surprise.\u00a0 I can unequivocally state that the Turkish people are some of the most respectful and kind-hearted humans I have ever encountered. Even across cultural and linguistic boundaries, I have met individuals whose lessons will stick with me for a long time.\u00a0 Having the opportunity to learn from such knowledgeable people as Bedri and Ismael has been a real pleasure.\u00a0 Not only have I learned how to interpret archeological clues such as locations of broken pottery, glass, and roof tiles, but I have learned to do so in a way that is conducive to a creative discourse. Using clues that are literally pulled out of the ground is an invigorating, even addicting, process that I am excited to continue.<\/p>\n
One of my favorite things about traveling to Turkey has been the numerous students and staff who have offered me clues as to the origin of my last name, Turco.\u00a0 As of today I have received two full hypotheses ranging from being a descendent of the Trojans to a having ancestors possessing qualities of the Ottomans. I must admit, seeing all the men of Turkey, in comparison to myself, has made me inclined to believe them\u2026 I have also learned the value of international gestures and ways to communicate.\u00a0 Myself and my 14 other roommates have been able to keep laughing through a mixture of slapstick physical comedy and the incredible translation abilities of some of our residents. The food of Turkey is beyond incredible. I have yet to take a bite of food where my exact reaction isn\u2019t an emphatic, \u201c oh wow that\u2019s awesome!\u201d The fresh produce and picturesque views combine to make Gazipasa, Turkey a living paradise. The fact that it has only been a week is still something that I am coming to grips with. I eagerly look forward to those that are to come.<\/p>\n
John Turco<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This first week has been an eye-opening experience in a number of ways, some expected, some completely unexpected. The intensive labor and the hot Turkish sun were things that I came into this opportunity completely prepared for. The tight living quarters and instantaneous friendships took me by surprise.\u00a0 I can unequivocally state that the Turkish […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2868,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Iz8A-wd","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2868"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1998,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997\/revisions\/1998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}