The Daily Grit

Have I mentioned the cats yet?  I'm too lazy to check, but this place is crawling and shrieking with them.  They're thin and skittish, creepy and kinda gross.  I feel like petting one would automatically make you have to get vaccinated for tetanus, rabies, and bugs.  The nights are full of the sounds of crickets and the entertainment from the concerts held a little further down the mountain.  We're about a ten/fifteen minute walk from a pretty great mall and grocery store and yesterday I ran to the beach and back in 30 minutes or so...I can't be sure of the time, since I don't carry a cell phone or a watch here.  It's extremely hot during the day with unobstructed sun, but the nights are usually pretty breezy and cooler.  Tonight, some of us went to do laundry with our professor, Will, and the area was filled with little cafes, bars, and a few odd shops.  It was very cozy, and I went to a very cool cafe/bar and got dinner and skyped my parents while eating dinner and drinking lemonade with mint leaves.  I played guitar for a minute or two in a coffee shop before we got home and I was very tired.  At our dig site, we are working closely but the space was divided up into a few sections.  My section has remains of a wall and some cool pottery pieces, and others have had some interesting discoveries as well.  There is an ant infestation right where I was digging today, however, and it made me think of the time that an ant was crawling under my sister's skin when I was little and I kinda was freaking out.  I think I figured out how to deal with them, though: bug spray on the shoes and dig first, wait for them to settle, then remove the dirt... If there's no time I use a hoe with a long handle to pick the dirt up... no more scorpions have dared to make their presence known to us of late, but we are still ready to deal with them...

Some Photos!

Dror and I on the boat.

Abbie and I on the dig site.

Rami teaching me to steer the boat!

Dancing at the party on the beach!

Being stalked at the amphitheater in Caesarea!

Realizing I was being stalked!

Dancing again!

On the boat with Shawn with ruins on the shore behind us!

My life in ruins!

Yes, working with ruins can be tiring with all the pick-axing and such, but there are so many things that pay off.  The work is fun when you're working with people who are just as into it as you, and the trips and activities we do after are amazing.  Yesterday after digging, we took the fastest showers of our lives, ate lunch, and went to Caesarea.  We saw Herod's port and hippodrome.  We went to the amphitheater in Caesaria, there was a rehearsal for a rock concert going on.  When they saw our group walking in, Israeli News Channel 10 came over with some famous reporter (who looked like Ozzy Osbourne ten years ago with aviators, a purple tie-dye shirt, and crazy long fried hair) and they asked us what we were doing there.  I said we were on a dig and the camera man came over and put the video recorder in my face.  Everyone else stepped back and I looked to our professor Will to answer the questions.  Then, I asked if we could walk around and they said yes.  I started up the stairs and looked back to find that the camera guy was on me and he filmed me walking over the whole places, chased me up the stairs, and weaved in and out of the entrances and exits like I did when I was trying to get away.  My friends Shawn and Shana were with me and we were dying laughing, because at one point I stopped and was suddenly aware that the camera guy had snuck up behind me and was filming a close up of me.  I fled back to our group and called it a day, but it was one of the funniest moments of my life.  Afterwards, we went the house of Rami, the boat driver and fellow (marine) archaeologist and had dinner there along with some of his other friends.  His place is on the beach of Caesaria in a kibbutz, and we stayed there for 4 or 5 hours, eating, drinking, and making friends.  Dror was there and I beat him in in ping pong twice in a row!  Today, we went to the Bahá'í Gardens in Haifa as well as the shrine.  It was hot and we wore long skirts and sleeves, but it was gorgeous.  We got ice cream, milkshakes, and coffees at a cafe close by and then went to the beach and had a very relaxing time.  Now, we're waiting for dinner (which starts in 2 minutes) so I have to run, but I am hoping to find some footage of my life as a celebrity at some point!  Shalom!!

OMG

I just had one of the best days of my life.  We went to work at the dig site in the morning, per usual, and the day was pretty much going as well as it always does.  A specialist came and taught us how to use a total station (used for measuring depths and leveling) and this guy named Dror who has been a supervisor and helper at the site put up another netting/tent/tarp thing for shade for Abbie and I.  After lunch, I overheard Dror telling our professor Will that he could take three of us students on his sailboat after the work was done for the day while he ran an errand.  I quickly inquired more and was told to pick two more students to come with me.  I chose my friend Abbie and thought about the fact that 1. There was a possibility that the trip would be unsafe for a bunch of women and 2. That I would feel bad choosing any one girl over another, so I asked my friend Shawn if he would come with us.  We enjoyed the views from the water of several towns, modern and ancient, looked at the blue and white jellyfish swimming alongside us.  Our captains Rami and Dror were awesome, telling us about the sites as we passed by and their way of life on the sea and as underwater archaeologists.  Dror asked me if I wanted to drive the boat and I didn't think twice about it.  It was so fun, and Rami talked about his travels in the US.  Then, Abbie and Shawn got their turns, too... off to dinner, more to come!

Another Sunny Day

Hello!

Yesterday on the dig site we found a part of a potential wall that was extremely exciting, along with 2 scorpions!!  The first one I put in a bucket with help and let go outside of our perimeter, but the second one our professor killed, and I was more than okay with it.  We have been instructed to not sit down, but always crouch while digging so as to avoid getting stung if one does sneak up on us.  Our professor said that the sting would hurt, but would most likely not require any serious or immediate medical attention, but I'm still keeping my eyes on the alert.  After another dusty day, I asked our professor if we could go to the beach and he acquiesced.  We squeezed into the rented van/bus and went after our second lunch, (around 4), and had an amazing time.  I got stung by jellyfish a few more times after only being in the water for a minute, but a group of us had chairs in the water and let the waves cover our feet and it was beautiful.  Not before three of us girls went and got a cocktail from some very social bartenders at the beach to celebrate the fourth of July, though.  We heard music playing and Abbie, Shana, and I went over to find that there was dancing going on.  Of course I put my dress on and Abbie and I danced with an old man, some professional female dancers, and close to 8 children on stage for a while.  Pictures to come, but it was a beautiful day.  After we got back from the beach and the grocery store at the mall, we had dinner and watched a few episodes of The Office on the side of our hostile through a projector and sipped and snacked on whatever we desired.  Some of us who were not quite tired stayed up and talked a bit before passing out.  We had a similar day today as far as the morning goes, and have now eaten lunch.  No plans until dinner, so I think I'm going to take some time and catch up on some reading and relaxation.  

First Day of Digging!

Shalom!

Last night we went to the mall and I bought a sun hat and towels for the beach.  The stores kind of all looked like Forvever 21 material, and I'm hoping to get some cool cultural stuff when we go to Jerusalem one of these weekends.  We're getting used to our hostel and the mall that is about a ten/fifteen minute walk away.  Today, we woke up at 5:30am, had breakfast at 6 (which included pancakes!), and got on the bus at 6:30 to get to the site.  We prepared the site by getting things organized first, measuring out the 15'x15' square test pits, filling bags with dirt and laying them around our test pits, tying strings, wheelbarrowing, etc.  They added a tent of breathable tarp type thing over the squares that we made so that we weren't getting completely direct sunlight out there.  I still wore my hat and applied sunscreen five times, which resulted in layers of caked sand and sunscreen.  My white tee turned brown.  My square was able to uncover part of a wall and lots of pottery shards, and I found two small bones which were probably just a recent rat's or something but it was still fun.  It was extremely hot, but we stayed hydrated and it was fun.  We had a picnic type lunch that was delicious with bread, hummus, some red sauce (slightly spicy marinara type?), avocado, cheese, etc.  It was pretty darn good.  The watermelon was a special treat afterwards.  I was in a horrid state with all the dirt and sweat, but the shower I finally had after was TERRIFIC.  We were all happy to relish in the AC that we have, even if the one in our room leaks a puddle.  Dinner is starting in 10 minutes, but stay tuned!

Today in the Homeland

It's sabbath today, so our digging won't start until tomorrow.  I am safely and happily in Haifa, and we took our day off to go to a maritime museum and go to the beach.  The beach was wonderful!  It had lots of little places to get drinks and beach volleyballers, paddle ballers, and lots of jellyfish.  I somehow managed not to get sunburned, but I did get some color as well as some jellyfish stings.  A group of us walked along the beach to get ice cream and fruit shakes, and I found an outdoor gym on the beach.  It looked like a colorful kids playground, only guys were working out on it.  There were bars for pull-ups so I went over and did three in a row and then sheepishly scurried over to my friends who were holding my wallet and drink.  Okay, I was a little proud, but the people here are in such good shape overall. Even the elderly men are pretty jacked and I saw a guy in his 80s doing pushups on the beach (they were not very low ones, but at age 80 something who cares).  The food here is interesting.  For breakfast this morning, I thought I put Greek yogurt on my plate, but apparently it was some cheesy sour cream sort of concoction.  They have a mix of cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes in olive oil and vinegar or something with every meal.  They do dairy or veggie in most meals, but so far we've had some chicken cutlet type things, baba ghannoug, these dark meat sort of weird flavored sausage things, potatoes, corn, pasta, bread, red juice (made with suger and red dye #40)? etc.  I was thinking we could do better by way of Israeli food, but I guess when you're feeding 16 or so people from another country you just try to give them a variety and some staples.  Our professor said it's some of the best dig food he's ever had.  If anyone ever hears me say I want to work on a dig again, please recommend I get a place with a kitchen or get a high budget for eating out.  We are about to have dinner and I'm hoping for something delicious, else I may be half the woman I was last week when I meet Kat in Vienna. Perhaps, it's just cause I'm used to eating a lot of whatever I want to cook or is there throughout the day.  We're going to the grocery store later so maybe I'll get some snacks.