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Sunday 3 August 2014

Another End, One More Beginning


I finished off my first dig in Romania with very high spirits and feeling much more knowledgable about archaeology in the field. I have my directors and other experienced comrades to thank for that. The group we had was truly amazing to dig with. Most of the volunteers had digging experience and were very resourceful and very patient teachers, especially with someone like me, who hadn't a clue what I was doing. But now I feel my more confident with methodical digging. The site I was at definitely grew on me and now that I'm not there I do miss it. The site was a perfect choice for a beginner archaeologist. There was plenty of features and objects the would keep moral high especially during the hot afternoons. Finding things regularly is a pretty good indenture to keep working hard. Even if it was just tiny pottery pieces or animal bones, all of which is very exciting. 
I am so thankful for the amazing group of volunteers I had a chance to meet. Everyone was enthusiastic and friendly. At the end of it we were extremely close and definitely a little crazy after spending 4 solid weeks in the sun in rural Romania. Unfortunately I had to say good bye to another group of amazing individuals. Luckily the majority of them are from the US and this has given me a good incentive to do a road trip through the US. On the evening of the 24th we drank and said goodbye. I left Murighol with 5 friends from the dig and we headed back to Bucharest on July 25th, in an extremely hot train. Even though it was hot it was nice to see a little more of beautiful Romania country side, scattered with sunflower fields, windmills and a mix of old and soviet structures. We stayed at a cheap hostel where I got a single hour of sleep before heading to the airport at 3 in the morning. 
I flew whizz air to cyprus and landed at 9:30 in the morning. I stepped out dog the plane and on to the tarmac with immediate regret and kicking myself in the ass for not going back to Canada instead. It was only 9:30 and the sun was hot about 30 degrees with humidity at 75% making it feel likes it's in the 40s. I grabbed my checked luggage and headed for the bus stop from Larnaca to Limissol. I had my first surprise, I tried ti get on the bus on the right side only to find no door, however there was one on the left. Immediately I realized they drive on the left hand side. This made the bus drive both exciting and terrifying, constantly thinking we heading into straight on traffic. The bus I was relieved to find was air conditioned for the hour long haul. In Limossol I waited for another hour for the bus to Paphos, now I am seriously aware of how hot it was getting. How the hell am I going to dig in this weather without suffering heat stroke? Will there be a water source on the dig site? I just told myself it probably won't be as bad as I thinking. 
When I finally get to Paphos I walked about a kilometre to my hotel, I arrive completely drenched in sweat. I spent the rest of day in siesta waiting for the sun to set. In the evening I found the closest ice cream and gyro and went back to the hotel. Normally I love exploring new places on my own but my 4 days in Paphos were very dull. I found it too hot to do anything except sit by the pool or ride the air conditioned bus around all day. However I did manage to get out to Petra Tou Romiou, or Aphrodite's rock. When I got off the bus I was kind of surprised to see that no one else had got off with me, but I didn't think much of it. I walked down to the beach took a few photos, swam out to the rock and swam around it a few times looking at the rockiness of it. I swam back in and watched one of the most beautiful sunset I've seen on this trip. I wander back up to the bus and kiosk area. I wait for about 20 minutes and go in and ask the lady working when the next bus was, 
"12;00." She says
"You joking?" I ask
"No 12."she responds
I am 20 miles from Paphos and I have a massive blister on my foot.
"What's the hitch hiking symbol here?" I ask
She give me a very quizzical look and responds, "No! I drive you!" 
So Kiki drove me back to Paphos in her lovely air conditioned car, she didn't speak a lot of English but she told me everything I needed to know about southern cyprus. She is also of the generation that extremely disdain Turkish people because of the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus. She told me all about that too. She had never been to northern cyprus and most southern car rental companies will not insure you if you cross to the North. She also said that Turkey sends many radical nationalists to northern Cyprus. Now I have a picture of many abandoned rental cars in Northern cyprus with extremely national Turks. Another cool fact she told me was that cyprus is one of the few places in the world where you will find both American and Russian ships in the same port. A small island but with some interesting stuff going on.
I moved from Paphos to Kissonerga on the 30th. The walk from the bus stop to the village was almost unbearable with my bag and extreme. I was the first to arrive from my group. I was given a quick tour of the building. This month I'm staying in the villages elementary school. I have a nice mattress and a spot outside to sleep. I could sleep inside but I would die from the heat at night. I took a nap to speed up time. It was very restless and I was seriously considering booking a flight home immediately and not dealing with this heat. But on the other hand when will I ever get another chance to make beer again in this setting. As shitty as it I'll stick it out, I'm not quitting yet. And knowing me I was just feeling this way because I hadn't talked to anyone in a few days and was just feeling lonesome and homesick. 
When I woke up I met the only other person to arrive. An American guy who works for a craft beer company. We talked with the directors about the dig, about my last dig and about beer... I felt much more knowledgable about beer after talking with the directors and the brewer. Later in the evening everyone else arrived. There are only twelve of us on this dig, most of whom are studying in either from Scotland or are studying in Scotland. Many of them at first year students and this is their first dig... Which makes me experienced? Lols. It is really funny going from a dominantly american group to a dominantly Scottish group. Both are amazing, in completely different ways. I love it. But one similarity remains, everyone loves to tease me about my crazy Canadian ways.... But I'm definitely milking my Canadian-ness for the sake of many laughs. 
We all have hit it off really well. This dig is much different from the last one, we are divided into three groups and we rotate through a three day schedule. 2 days of "digging" 1 day of dirty duties. On days where we dig we are building a kiln to replicate an ancient structure that would have been used in the Bronze Age to make beer. On dirty duty days one of the groups doesn't go down to the site. They are responsible for cleaning the school, making the days meals as well as brewing beer. So far we have only begun to germinate the barley. This day is really relaxing because you get to stay out of the sun and have a refreshing break. 
During work days we wake up at 5:45 and work only until about 12:30 because becomes to hot to work. Which means we have the entire afternoon to hang out at the local bar for wifi, or head down to the beach. Seriously not a bad schedule at all. I think I have finally begun to climatize to this horribly hot and humid place... It'll be weird going back to temperate Nova Scotia in 2 and a half weeks. 
Although I am loving my time here, I am missing home. I often catch myself thinking about which food I'll eat when I first arrive; wheel and tall&small's TPs are very high on the list. What should I do in my few days before classes resume; James river falls, surfing and catching up being my three that need to be accomplished. This might be my last blog, maybe I'll continue when I'm back if I think something is worth writing about in an informal fashion. Anyhow I hope everyone back home found this a good way to keep up with me, without bothering me:) Please send me a message as soon as I'm home so I can make time for you, I'm hoping I won't be too jet legged and I can get back into an NS summer as quickly as possible. 
For everyone I met in the last 7 months thank you, I've met many inspirational people and kindred souls who made this the best 7 months of my life. I learned so much and won't forget any of it. Please make your way to a Nova Scotia some day so I can be as hospitable to you, as was shown to me. 


    In Rasnov, a beautiful hilltop fortress outside of Brasov 
    A few of the digging crew of Halmyris
    These stunning ladies in front of Bran Castle.
Romanian birthday Feast 
Troweling in action 
SHOVEL BUMS 
How I look after 6 hours on site 
Pottery and bone cleaning and labelling 
Our last evening on site, definitely shack wacky 
The beautiful daube 
The crew
The happiest moment of the Summer, digging this bad boy out of the ground 
Paphos Harbour 
Aphrodite's Rock 
sunset!
I look homeless and happy...completely accurate 
An evening out with the new dig Crew. Drinks were cheap eh!
Beer making has begun!
Cleaning barley
Germinating the barley using different methods, because this is an experiment eh.
Crushing barley the good old fashion way


























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