I am on my lunch break right now, it is 6:49 am in Michigan. I should finish my 2nd weeks worth of identifications today, which means i am ahead of schedule...but, if any of the 4 remaining crates are loaded with fish, it could easily slow down my progress. Lets hope I stay on track.
I woke up in the middle of the night and I was super super warm. There isn't air conditioning at the Villa, at least not in the rooms, and my room is on the top floor. Needless to say, it gets a little stuffy in here. At the end of the month though the Villa closes and we will move into the large appartments they have here. The large apartments are thankfully air conditioned. The weather has not been that bad at all, compared to the first few 99 degree days while I was here. Now I find myself wondering if I need a jacket if the high is going to be 82...it's pretty bizarre. Lately it has been around 94, which really hasn't been that bad, though i've been assured it will get worse. Unfortunately, 94 is still dangerous in terms of dehydration and since it doesn't seem as bad to me, i haven't been downing the 5-7 bottles i was originally, so i need to get back to that. My skin gets super oily here and it's probably the worst it has ever been in terms of my acne..but i think it's more of just how my skin feels rather than how it looks. It doesn't really look like it's bad, as you can probably deduce from the pictures. but it just feels gritty and dirty and oily all the time. It really is an obnoxious feeling..no matter how much you clean and scrub it just feels like the dirt is embedded in your every pore. The nice thing though is that I don't really wear any make up to clog it all even more.
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Today Richard asked me if I had received graduate school information that my honors advisor said she would send me. It turns out that everything that she had sent me, I had already researched and pulled up on my own a long time ago. After explaining to Richard that I had already read them before she gave them to me, I added..."I don't think anyone here realizes how neurotic I am about this stuff..." to which he said,"Oh I'm starting to get an idea." It was pretty funny. Any time we start to talk about graduate school and professional archaeology he always says that he doesn't want to pressure me to do it and that everything is up to me entirely....again I don't think he realizes who he's talking to. ha!
Also today I was going to the bathroom outside of the lab and i saw a big ole gecko staring at me. I was going to go back and take a picture, but i didn't want to scare him.
I think from now on I am going to write my blog entries during my lunch break since I really should be doing more work in the evening. We'll see how it goes though.Today for lunch they served this onion soup that I reallly reallly like. It isn't like french onion soup though. The broth isn't brown, it's yellow, and it doesn't taste like it's loaded with salt, although it probably is. There was also a vegetable stew with peas, carrots, and potatoes in a tomato-base sauce. It is actually pretty bland tasting on it's own, but with hot sauce, it is good. There was fried chicked but I didn't eat it. there have been cases of bird flu here and they egyptian government said everyone had to kill all of their chickens as a result. That did not happen though, you can tell by the age of all the chickens you see in the villages. While I'm sure the chicken here is imported, and I know that there haven't been any cases of getting bird flew through the consumption of chicken, I still avoid large quantities of it.
Every day at ten they serve second breakfast at the site. They serve falafel or foul sandwhiches. I ate the falafel the first few days but then I was told that if I knew where it came form I wouldn't eat it anymore....(apparently it is made near the camel and horse stables)...if it's a matter of absolutely needing those calories, a possibility perhaps when it gets even hotter out, then I will eat it...until then, steering clear of those as well. They also serve coffee and tea around the clock on the site, which I enjoy, of course. Haha however, by coffee they mean Nescafe....it gets the job done I suppose, but it isn't as good as the real deal. The first day here my professor warned me about drinking from the cups they provide though...he said the water they use is filthy and it's a good way to get really sick because they don't clean them very well. So he got me a cup and disinfected it, along with one for himself, and now we hide them every day so that they don't take them and impose their own cleaning methods.
Alright well that's it for now. The work day so far is going very well, it is really helping to improve my confidence about the material. It is a weird mix of teaching myself stuff I never learned and learning even more things from Richard. Excitttttting!
Have a good day everyone, remember I will be back in the states a month from today!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
5/14/07
Did anyone see that? 5/14: one month until I board a plane and leave Egypt. Again I have mixed thoughts about time, how fast and how slow it is passing. Seeing that I only have a month left makes me aware of the fact that I have already been gone for 2 weeks...but then I see that I still have an entire month left here. I think a 6 week duration anywhere is actually a really awkward time span. It is long enough that it is a big deal and you have to make semi permanent adjustments to where you are, but it is too short for me to actually get settled and consider it a home of sorts. If I were staying here for 3 or 4 months it would be different...but because it is only 6 weeks, it is as though as soon as I start getting settled ( I am assuming I will feel this way around week 3), I am already preparing for a return home. Either way, I suppose the one month countdown puts me in a good mood for different reasons. On the one hand, I am grateful for the fact that I still have an entire month here, taking in the culture, the history, the learning experience, the multitude of insight I will gain...and then I am equally as happy that I only have a month left until I get to come home and see everyone...funny...i just started to miss my cat...and she hasn't been there for me to see in over 4 years.
Speaking of kitties...one of the cats just had kittens in the backyard...I haven't gone to look at them yet...me and kittens are a dangerous combination. As I have talked about before there are a lot of stray animals- cats, dogs, jackals, that alll walk around. My roommate told me that a lot of the times the bigger dogs get to the baby animals and eat them. She said last year a dog had puppies and that the bigger pyramid dogs (it is an actual breed of dog) would come and the puppies would get snatched one by one and eventually the brother and sister puppies started eating each other until there was one puppy left...and then he was gone the next day. Given this, I have decided it is in my best interest to not pay any mind to any animals that may be here...my heart just couldn't take it. My roommate actually rescued and brought home a kitten last year. That is not an option for me, so the kittens must fend for themselves. Today already a dog was attacked by the mommy cat and stuck in the fence of the Villa yard trying to escape. He was crying very loud after being attacked and stuck. Animals in general are treated really poorly here and it is just one of those things you need to turn your eyes from. You'll see people strike them and ride them in this heat...they look hungry, and tired. But, I don't speak donkey, horse, or camel, or kitty, or dog...maybe they are not unhappy at all.
My aunt has requested that I write an entry about the food here. I know that I have made a few comments here and there, but I'm still going to wait until I get a more respresentative mix of meals before commenting on the food in depthly. That being said though, if anyone does have specific requests for entries, feel free to ask me. As I have noted at some point, I'm not really allowed to talk about my work because it is considered publishing, though I really wish I could. I think if I limit things to generalizations and methods I am ok. Like today: today I washed and sorted material. I got really excited towards the end because I was able to glue this one bone together that had been broken into 12 fragments. This is exciting for a few reasons. One, I am almost out of glue: this is because I have been gluing so much together, which shows how my eye is improving and that my attention to detail catches these things. Also, being able to glue the pieces together, obviously, makes my data that much more accurate. First of all, a few pieces of bone, may just look like a few pieces of bone that I may not be able to identify with much accuracy on their own. Per Richard's methods, I don't identify anything unless I am 95% sure of what it is. If i see bone shaft fragments, they could really be anything. But if I put them together then I can tell for sure what it is, and even more than that, i can tell if it is the right or the left, whether or not the epiphyses are fused etc. Additionally, if I have a lot of bone fragments, the data is skewed as far trying to figure out how many animals are actually represented in the sample, however if I know that all of these fragments are from one bone, then I know that that is one animal in the sample. Not to mention, gluing stuff together is just darn right fun and it breaks the continuity of just looking and sorting. If it's mammal limb bone, then in general I am fine...but teeth, small bones, and fish bones, require that I look at the comparative collections and various charts and graphs to figure them out. Also I'm still really bad at knowing the left from the right for a lot of things, for whatever reason. I know that I will get better though!
I totally meant to devote this entry to briefly talking about call to prayer and now it is already quite lengthy...oh well, here goes.
I have mentioned call to prayer a few times in my entries (mainly my striking ability to sleep through it at 4:30 a.m.). While most of you may be somewhat familiar as to what call to prayer is, for those that don't, allow me to explain (at least that which I know). In Egypt there is an elaborate intercomish system through which call to prayer is sang. To my knowledge, the "song" or prayer, occurs at every mosque and when it does, those of the Islamic religion are to pause and pray. It happens at dawn, at mid-day, and few times after. It is supposed to happen around 5 times, but I am pretty sure it happens more than that. It is very very loud, and the quality of the speakers is terrible. I mean it will definitely get anyone's attention- it is quite distinguishable and loud, but it is not exactly pleasing for the ear: a culturally naive thing to say I'm sure, for it lacks meaning and significance to me entirely, but I mean no disrespect. I am merely trying to give you a feel for what it sounds like. In the villa you usually can just hear the one voice for this area, but from the lab you can hear all of them going off at once, none of them in synch with one another. From there it sounds like an ambush of zombies is approaching. Difficult to describe, and you definitely get used to it, but still just another difference from home.
Well that's it for today folks. Bye Bye~!
Speaking of kitties...one of the cats just had kittens in the backyard...I haven't gone to look at them yet...me and kittens are a dangerous combination. As I have talked about before there are a lot of stray animals- cats, dogs, jackals, that alll walk around. My roommate told me that a lot of the times the bigger dogs get to the baby animals and eat them. She said last year a dog had puppies and that the bigger pyramid dogs (it is an actual breed of dog) would come and the puppies would get snatched one by one and eventually the brother and sister puppies started eating each other until there was one puppy left...and then he was gone the next day. Given this, I have decided it is in my best interest to not pay any mind to any animals that may be here...my heart just couldn't take it. My roommate actually rescued and brought home a kitten last year. That is not an option for me, so the kittens must fend for themselves. Today already a dog was attacked by the mommy cat and stuck in the fence of the Villa yard trying to escape. He was crying very loud after being attacked and stuck. Animals in general are treated really poorly here and it is just one of those things you need to turn your eyes from. You'll see people strike them and ride them in this heat...they look hungry, and tired. But, I don't speak donkey, horse, or camel, or kitty, or dog...maybe they are not unhappy at all.
My aunt has requested that I write an entry about the food here. I know that I have made a few comments here and there, but I'm still going to wait until I get a more respresentative mix of meals before commenting on the food in depthly. That being said though, if anyone does have specific requests for entries, feel free to ask me. As I have noted at some point, I'm not really allowed to talk about my work because it is considered publishing, though I really wish I could. I think if I limit things to generalizations and methods I am ok. Like today: today I washed and sorted material. I got really excited towards the end because I was able to glue this one bone together that had been broken into 12 fragments. This is exciting for a few reasons. One, I am almost out of glue: this is because I have been gluing so much together, which shows how my eye is improving and that my attention to detail catches these things. Also, being able to glue the pieces together, obviously, makes my data that much more accurate. First of all, a few pieces of bone, may just look like a few pieces of bone that I may not be able to identify with much accuracy on their own. Per Richard's methods, I don't identify anything unless I am 95% sure of what it is. If i see bone shaft fragments, they could really be anything. But if I put them together then I can tell for sure what it is, and even more than that, i can tell if it is the right or the left, whether or not the epiphyses are fused etc. Additionally, if I have a lot of bone fragments, the data is skewed as far trying to figure out how many animals are actually represented in the sample, however if I know that all of these fragments are from one bone, then I know that that is one animal in the sample. Not to mention, gluing stuff together is just darn right fun and it breaks the continuity of just looking and sorting. If it's mammal limb bone, then in general I am fine...but teeth, small bones, and fish bones, require that I look at the comparative collections and various charts and graphs to figure them out. Also I'm still really bad at knowing the left from the right for a lot of things, for whatever reason. I know that I will get better though!
I totally meant to devote this entry to briefly talking about call to prayer and now it is already quite lengthy...oh well, here goes.
I have mentioned call to prayer a few times in my entries (mainly my striking ability to sleep through it at 4:30 a.m.). While most of you may be somewhat familiar as to what call to prayer is, for those that don't, allow me to explain (at least that which I know). In Egypt there is an elaborate intercomish system through which call to prayer is sang. To my knowledge, the "song" or prayer, occurs at every mosque and when it does, those of the Islamic religion are to pause and pray. It happens at dawn, at mid-day, and few times after. It is supposed to happen around 5 times, but I am pretty sure it happens more than that. It is very very loud, and the quality of the speakers is terrible. I mean it will definitely get anyone's attention- it is quite distinguishable and loud, but it is not exactly pleasing for the ear: a culturally naive thing to say I'm sure, for it lacks meaning and significance to me entirely, but I mean no disrespect. I am merely trying to give you a feel for what it sounds like. In the villa you usually can just hear the one voice for this area, but from the lab you can hear all of them going off at once, none of them in synch with one another. From there it sounds like an ambush of zombies is approaching. Difficult to describe, and you definitely get used to it, but still just another difference from home.
Well that's it for today folks. Bye Bye~!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
5/13/07
Happy Mother's Day to the wonderful women in my life: The Aunties and my Mommy.
I just got back from peeing. That is not the important aspect of my story- regardless I was in the bathroom, and i saw this pretty big spider on the ground. Now like I said...I've pretty much been trying to let go of these petty little hang ups, ie bugs since bugs are everywhere here, so I ignored precious little charlotte as she wandered about beneathe my feet...but then I flushed the toilet...and that fucker jumped...I kid you not, like 10 inches off the ground and I ran really fast out of the bathroom...some things you just cannot get used to, no matter how hard you try.
And actually, I was thinking about this the other day, bugs and spiders that is. As I was, again peeing, out in the desert, I watched these big ole wants scurry about. The ants here are kind of funny looking, their back ends aren't straight they stick up in the air, so they kind of look like spiders themselves. And then I just started wondering why we dislike spiders so much, ants are weird looking too, they bite, some of them are poisonous...sure they don't get that big, but if i saw a tarantual sized ant, I would probably think it was cute...who knows, I will work on not being so bugmental.
I definitely spoke too soon when I talked about how quickly I was getting through the material. This morning after getting a lesson in phase differentiation from the lithics guy, Tim, I sat down to start sorting more bone.
I struggle with fish a lot because of how many different bones there are. In the fish skull alone there are 130 bones. They are also variable between different species. Given that, I cannot learn fish the way I did mammals. With mammals, I learned what each bone was, and then learned species..with fish I need to learn bones and species at the same time....and they have a bunch of different parts that mammals don't have...it's all very confusing...I was very distraught.
Another thought that occured to me today, for those that have known me a while, remember how much I longed to be a marine biologist back in the day, and then i changed my mind once I found out that most marine biologists don't work with whales, they spend all of their time in the lab dissecting fish- well look at me now, spending all day in a lab sorting fish bones.
Okay, well that about does it for now...I really need to start doing more of the reading research aspect for my thesis. Everytime I try to now, I always fall asleep. I'm reading Barry Kemp's Ancient Egypt, Anatomy of Civilization.
I'm sorry I don't have any pictures today either, so instead here are some of just me being stupid, hiding in my closet and blowing you guys kisses!
I just got back from peeing. That is not the important aspect of my story- regardless I was in the bathroom, and i saw this pretty big spider on the ground. Now like I said...I've pretty much been trying to let go of these petty little hang ups, ie bugs since bugs are everywhere here, so I ignored precious little charlotte as she wandered about beneathe my feet...but then I flushed the toilet...and that fucker jumped...I kid you not, like 10 inches off the ground and I ran really fast out of the bathroom...some things you just cannot get used to, no matter how hard you try.
And actually, I was thinking about this the other day, bugs and spiders that is. As I was, again peeing, out in the desert, I watched these big ole wants scurry about. The ants here are kind of funny looking, their back ends aren't straight they stick up in the air, so they kind of look like spiders themselves. And then I just started wondering why we dislike spiders so much, ants are weird looking too, they bite, some of them are poisonous...sure they don't get that big, but if i saw a tarantual sized ant, I would probably think it was cute...who knows, I will work on not being so bugmental.
I definitely spoke too soon when I talked about how quickly I was getting through the material. This morning after getting a lesson in phase differentiation from the lithics guy, Tim, I sat down to start sorting more bone.
I struggle with fish a lot because of how many different bones there are. In the fish skull alone there are 130 bones. They are also variable between different species. Given that, I cannot learn fish the way I did mammals. With mammals, I learned what each bone was, and then learned species..with fish I need to learn bones and species at the same time....and they have a bunch of different parts that mammals don't have...it's all very confusing...I was very distraught.
Another thought that occured to me today, for those that have known me a while, remember how much I longed to be a marine biologist back in the day, and then i changed my mind once I found out that most marine biologists don't work with whales, they spend all of their time in the lab dissecting fish- well look at me now, spending all day in a lab sorting fish bones.
Okay, well that about does it for now...I really need to start doing more of the reading research aspect for my thesis. Everytime I try to now, I always fall asleep. I'm reading Barry Kemp's Ancient Egypt, Anatomy of Civilization.
I'm sorry I don't have any pictures today either, so instead here are some of just me being stupid, hiding in my closet and blowing you guys kisses!
Saturday, May 12, 2007
5/12/07
As expected, things are winding down and I don't really have as much to write anymore. I didn't even take a single picture today. Today it was really sweet though...downstairs in the dining room there is a coffee/tea table for everyone. It has the essentials but as I mentioned yesterday, I had bought my own coffee mate at the market on Tuesday. I have two little containers, one I keep here and one I have at the lab for my coffee there. After seeing me abstain from the milk they leave on the table and pockting my own coffee mate, the egyptians went out and bought a large one and put it on the table.
Meals here can be really hit or miss...a lot of times the miss part comes from me not wanting to eat the fried stuff. There is usually always soup, marinated vegetables, rice, and some other form of hot stewed vegetable. whatever it is I just usually put on a lot of pepper and hot sauce and eat it. The lentil soup made here is amazing...but tonight they had carrot soup...carrot soup, not so much....for the most part there is usually always something I can eat...some of it I could rant and rave about, others i could really skip and just subsititute with a lot of granola bars back in my room. I seem to be a bigger fan of the food than most of the people still around though...a lot of the grad students have been subsisting on peanut butter and jelly for weeks. They don't have regular jelly here though...it's fig jam or ganna jam...and those just kind of make me feel weird...
Some exciting news though, I received this e-mail from National Geographic:
Dear Kelly,
I am happy to be able to inform you that your Young Explorers Grant application was approved at our May meeting earlier this week. You will be receiving full funding in this award. I am sure that you can use both these funds and any other funds you've received for the project. Yours was the highest ranked YE grant we considered in this batch, receiving 15 perfect scores from the members of the CRE. Congratulations!
NGS staff will be contacting you soon with details of your award (if they haven't already) but I wanted to make sure I congratulated you personally on your achievment.
I look forward to hearing about the results of your work.
This means I have more than enough funds for this trip. Unfortunately I cannot keep all of the funds National Geographic offered me since I received another national grant, I only get to keep about half of it. But that my proposal was so well received is great!
Well I need to either read some more on Egypt or beging generating my database for my work....(I will probably sleep though soon, I'm still recovering from the Fayum).
For those complaining about the length of my posts (sorry guys didn't realize egypt was so OLD NEWS) the entries will probably be a lot shorter since now I have database stuff to punch in when I get off of work.
Next Friday I wont be going on any wild excursions either..it was actually a fluke that I did all the traveling that I did this week, it was supposed to be more spread out but that's just how it happened. Next Friday I am going to the Cairo Museum though. But it's only Saturday....sigh my next day off is still so far away!
Goodnight (good afternoon) to you all
Meals here can be really hit or miss...a lot of times the miss part comes from me not wanting to eat the fried stuff. There is usually always soup, marinated vegetables, rice, and some other form of hot stewed vegetable. whatever it is I just usually put on a lot of pepper and hot sauce and eat it. The lentil soup made here is amazing...but tonight they had carrot soup...carrot soup, not so much....for the most part there is usually always something I can eat...some of it I could rant and rave about, others i could really skip and just subsititute with a lot of granola bars back in my room. I seem to be a bigger fan of the food than most of the people still around though...a lot of the grad students have been subsisting on peanut butter and jelly for weeks. They don't have regular jelly here though...it's fig jam or ganna jam...and those just kind of make me feel weird...
Some exciting news though, I received this e-mail from National Geographic:
Dear Kelly,
I am happy to be able to inform you that your Young Explorers Grant application was approved at our May meeting earlier this week. You will be receiving full funding in this award. I am sure that you can use both these funds and any other funds you've received for the project. Yours was the highest ranked YE grant we considered in this batch, receiving 15 perfect scores from the members of the CRE. Congratulations!
NGS staff will be contacting you soon with details of your award (if they haven't already) but I wanted to make sure I congratulated you personally on your achievment.
I look forward to hearing about the results of your work.
This means I have more than enough funds for this trip. Unfortunately I cannot keep all of the funds National Geographic offered me since I received another national grant, I only get to keep about half of it. But that my proposal was so well received is great!
Well I need to either read some more on Egypt or beging generating my database for my work....(I will probably sleep though soon, I'm still recovering from the Fayum).
For those complaining about the length of my posts (sorry guys didn't realize egypt was so OLD NEWS) the entries will probably be a lot shorter since now I have database stuff to punch in when I get off of work.
Next Friday I wont be going on any wild excursions either..it was actually a fluke that I did all the traveling that I did this week, it was supposed to be more spread out but that's just how it happened. Next Friday I am going to the Cairo Museum though. But it's only Saturday....sigh my next day off is still so far away!
Goodnight (good afternoon) to you all
Friday, May 11, 2007
5/11/07
Today was my trip to the Fayum. I may begin this entry tonight and finish tomorrow since I am currently very very tired from all of the traveling. Today was actually quite cool, I don't think the temperature exceeded 80 degrees. There was also some rain here and there today. It was actually quite perfect for such a long day devoted to travel. The mini bus we ride in does not have air conditioning so the 5 hours spent in the car would have been quite daunting if it were a 100 degree day. However, it was very windy. The wind was so strong it stripped your skin of water. I had to do some serious moisturizing tonight.
Before entering the Fayum area we had to stop at certain check points. We were hoping to make it through without any of the guards realilzing that the fan was packing Americans. Unfortunately we did not succeed. They could have made us turn around but instead they sent police security to follow us around everywhere we went. It is rather intimidating, because unlike the police back in the states, these guys carry machine guns. To my knowledge they don't actually have bullets, and in all reality, a lot of officialish people around Egypt are carrying machine guns for the "security" of others. (sorry marcia, don't freak out! It's safe i promise!)
The Fayum is basically a region in Egypt between the Nile and the desert. It really is a bizarre landscape...you go from endless sandy desert, to lush tropical palm trees, with watered fields sourced by Nile channels. I saw everything today from archaeological siles, to Fayum village life.
Our first stop was at Karanis or Kom Aushim. It had amazing preservation! I was absolutely blown away. It dates to the late Roman Period. Here I got to see residential areas, temples, baths, pottery, so so much. It is one of my favorites so far that I have seen.
Here is an aerial view of the North Temple at Karanis, that's my roommate in standing in it.
Here is a window of the structure that looks out onto the Fayum landscape, you can see green!
These next two are more from inside the temple, that's my professor standing in there (he didn't know I was taking the picture, he hates having his picture taken- which I think is actually an archaeologist thing because i really do too)
Here are some residential structure remains:
Again amazing preservation from a grecco roman site. Look at this bath, some of the fresco is still naturally preserved:
THIS WAS MY BIGGEST BREAKTHROUGH THOUGH:
Being the zooarchaeologist that I am, at this site I managed to find this:
It is a lizard skeleton. When I showed Richard this ensued:
Kelly: "Hey Look! A frog skeleton! Actually no- it's a lizard."
Richard: "Ah yes! A lizard...a modern one though."
Kelly: "Actually, it's GECKO-Roman"
Richard: "HEY GUYS KELLY MADE HER FIRST ARCHAEOLOGY JOKE!"
It was well received...I have crossed the threshold into professional archaeology woo!
Next we went to Hawara. Hawara had a Middle Kingdom Pyramid, tombs, and cemetary.
After Hawara we went for a long ride through the Fayum villages. This is actually some of the more eye opening events of the experience. I was dying to capture more photos of village life in the Fayum, but it is really hard to do this without appearing as though these people are supposed to be on display for me to see. My roommate, who has done a lot of field work in Syria and throughout the Middle East said that she was very uncomfortable with the way we took to get to the next site. The villages were crowded with people and the roads were narrow, if they decided to surround our vehicle or protest us being there in any way, we would have been left with few options in terms of assuring our safety. The police security followed behind us still, but her point was that, in places like Iraq, the security makes it a point to take travelers away from these villages, not through them. Here are some of the pictures, the first two are just along the way before entering the village
Next we went to Lahun. Again another Middle Kingdom Pyramid (at this point I have seen all of the middle kingdom pyramids) as well as a small pyramid (it is not well preserved) for a queen, and some mastabas:
Finally we went to Maydum, where one of the pyramid ruins is thought to have collapsed. The Pharoh for this pyramid is still under debate, but it sprang up sometime between the constructions of the bent pyramid and the Red Pyramid that were constructed at Dahshur. This is actually really awesome to see...it is one of the best preserved pyramids, except you can only see the standing core...the outside finished is no longer there...reasons why? Well, we just can't be sure...it may not have even collapsed, that could just be a good way to sell books. I went inside this pyramid, the journey a lot like tunneling through the red pyramid. After we went down and then up into the tomb shaft, the oxygen levels were much different and I found it very difficult to breathe. I tried to just stay calm throughout most of it...I could not tell if I was having some sort of panic attack, or getting really claustraphobic...finally someone else mentioned the difference in oxygen levels and I at least felt relieved that it wasn't just something in my mind...it was literally more difficult to breathe in there...either way I wanted to get out pretty quickly, we didn't stay in too long.
After the trip we ate at this restaurant which was AMAZING...the best hummus I have had, ever, with homemade pita. MMMMmmmmm
Some people have been asking me about mailing addresses: don't bother sending stuff. I appreciate the thought, especially because I really miss my orange trident gum, but it would be weeks before packages actually ever got to me because they open and inspect them, and then turn around and charge me a fee for having to inspect them. The other day Richard and I went to the market- by far one of the more comforting places I've been here- and I got some Coffee Mate Creamer and granola bars, and alternative chewing gum, and I was quite giddy for those 3 things. I have been commended on how low maitenence I am- ha if you guys can believe that! Even that whole peeing in the desert thing: get this...so it just so happens that I only needed to pee in the desert my first day here. There is a "bathroom" next to the lab, but when I was there it was full and so a big vaccum truck had to come clean it out. One of the project leaders, Maryann, said she never really used it and just always picked a spot outside and that it was fine since the toilet hole room was a new addition to the project. I never actually knew when or if it got cleaned out so I just get going to my mastaba spot. The other night i was talking to my roommate and i asked her about what to do during menstruation (The last thing I need is to see one of those pyramid dogs running around with my tampon in its mouth- how mortifying would that be). She explained that she either dropped it down the hole or just wrapped it and threw it in the waste basket. I told her that I hadn't even gone in there yet and that I had just been going outside. Surprised, she said that I was very brave and back before the makeshift bathroom they used to go in teams. I finally did try that bathroom and its gross...none of that!
Okay it's time for bed now: per usual i love/miss/hope everyone is doing well plus ignore my typos~!
Before entering the Fayum area we had to stop at certain check points. We were hoping to make it through without any of the guards realilzing that the fan was packing Americans. Unfortunately we did not succeed. They could have made us turn around but instead they sent police security to follow us around everywhere we went. It is rather intimidating, because unlike the police back in the states, these guys carry machine guns. To my knowledge they don't actually have bullets, and in all reality, a lot of officialish people around Egypt are carrying machine guns for the "security" of others. (sorry marcia, don't freak out! It's safe i promise!)
The Fayum is basically a region in Egypt between the Nile and the desert. It really is a bizarre landscape...you go from endless sandy desert, to lush tropical palm trees, with watered fields sourced by Nile channels. I saw everything today from archaeological siles, to Fayum village life.
Our first stop was at Karanis or Kom Aushim. It had amazing preservation! I was absolutely blown away. It dates to the late Roman Period. Here I got to see residential areas, temples, baths, pottery, so so much. It is one of my favorites so far that I have seen.
Here is an aerial view of the North Temple at Karanis, that's my roommate in standing in it.
Here is a window of the structure that looks out onto the Fayum landscape, you can see green!
These next two are more from inside the temple, that's my professor standing in there (he didn't know I was taking the picture, he hates having his picture taken- which I think is actually an archaeologist thing because i really do too)
Here are some residential structure remains:
Again amazing preservation from a grecco roman site. Look at this bath, some of the fresco is still naturally preserved:
THIS WAS MY BIGGEST BREAKTHROUGH THOUGH:
Being the zooarchaeologist that I am, at this site I managed to find this:
It is a lizard skeleton. When I showed Richard this ensued:
Kelly: "Hey Look! A frog skeleton! Actually no- it's a lizard."
Richard: "Ah yes! A lizard...a modern one though."
Kelly: "Actually, it's GECKO-Roman"
Richard: "HEY GUYS KELLY MADE HER FIRST ARCHAEOLOGY JOKE!"
It was well received...I have crossed the threshold into professional archaeology woo!
Next we went to Hawara. Hawara had a Middle Kingdom Pyramid, tombs, and cemetary.
After Hawara we went for a long ride through the Fayum villages. This is actually some of the more eye opening events of the experience. I was dying to capture more photos of village life in the Fayum, but it is really hard to do this without appearing as though these people are supposed to be on display for me to see. My roommate, who has done a lot of field work in Syria and throughout the Middle East said that she was very uncomfortable with the way we took to get to the next site. The villages were crowded with people and the roads were narrow, if they decided to surround our vehicle or protest us being there in any way, we would have been left with few options in terms of assuring our safety. The police security followed behind us still, but her point was that, in places like Iraq, the security makes it a point to take travelers away from these villages, not through them. Here are some of the pictures, the first two are just along the way before entering the village
Next we went to Lahun. Again another Middle Kingdom Pyramid (at this point I have seen all of the middle kingdom pyramids) as well as a small pyramid (it is not well preserved) for a queen, and some mastabas:
Finally we went to Maydum, where one of the pyramid ruins is thought to have collapsed. The Pharoh for this pyramid is still under debate, but it sprang up sometime between the constructions of the bent pyramid and the Red Pyramid that were constructed at Dahshur. This is actually really awesome to see...it is one of the best preserved pyramids, except you can only see the standing core...the outside finished is no longer there...reasons why? Well, we just can't be sure...it may not have even collapsed, that could just be a good way to sell books. I went inside this pyramid, the journey a lot like tunneling through the red pyramid. After we went down and then up into the tomb shaft, the oxygen levels were much different and I found it very difficult to breathe. I tried to just stay calm throughout most of it...I could not tell if I was having some sort of panic attack, or getting really claustraphobic...finally someone else mentioned the difference in oxygen levels and I at least felt relieved that it wasn't just something in my mind...it was literally more difficult to breathe in there...either way I wanted to get out pretty quickly, we didn't stay in too long.
After the trip we ate at this restaurant which was AMAZING...the best hummus I have had, ever, with homemade pita. MMMMmmmmm
Some people have been asking me about mailing addresses: don't bother sending stuff. I appreciate the thought, especially because I really miss my orange trident gum, but it would be weeks before packages actually ever got to me because they open and inspect them, and then turn around and charge me a fee for having to inspect them. The other day Richard and I went to the market- by far one of the more comforting places I've been here- and I got some Coffee Mate Creamer and granola bars, and alternative chewing gum, and I was quite giddy for those 3 things. I have been commended on how low maitenence I am- ha if you guys can believe that! Even that whole peeing in the desert thing: get this...so it just so happens that I only needed to pee in the desert my first day here. There is a "bathroom" next to the lab, but when I was there it was full and so a big vaccum truck had to come clean it out. One of the project leaders, Maryann, said she never really used it and just always picked a spot outside and that it was fine since the toilet hole room was a new addition to the project. I never actually knew when or if it got cleaned out so I just get going to my mastaba spot. The other night i was talking to my roommate and i asked her about what to do during menstruation (The last thing I need is to see one of those pyramid dogs running around with my tampon in its mouth- how mortifying would that be). She explained that she either dropped it down the hole or just wrapped it and threw it in the waste basket. I told her that I hadn't even gone in there yet and that I had just been going outside. Surprised, she said that I was very brave and back before the makeshift bathroom they used to go in teams. I finally did try that bathroom and its gross...none of that!
Okay it's time for bed now: per usual i love/miss/hope everyone is doing well plus ignore my typos~!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
I almost forgot!
I did want to mention quickly the issue with how I currently SOUND when I talk. I, of all people, I fear, am losing my midwestern accent! I've already heard boths cheers and boo's regarding what would happen if I pick up a British accent, but it's not a British one i'm picking up...somehow I am talking most like my roommate who is from Arkansas...it is a really really bizarre way to speak, especially picking up from her because she actually has a mix of Arkansas, Chicago, British, and the accent she has from her fluency in arabic...I am very uncomfortable when I start speaking because I begin to think "holy effing crap this is not what I sound like at all." I have been reassured this will be temporary...but i'm afraid me saying things like "Oh BUGGER!" when i do something wrong might be here to stay...just because I think it's silly :)
5/10/07
Good Day Everybody! Thursday is beginning for you and ending for me. Last night was the first night I was up really late here in Cairo. It was "bloody" hot and I couldn't sleep a wink. I think I eventually passed out after midnight, but waking up still wasn't too bad. Still a hefty 6 hours of sleep.
Last night I had a good talk with my roommate about how she got into archaeology and went about pursuing graduate school. She's in her 7th year at the university of Chicago. She has been extremely kind and helpful while I've been here. It really helps to make things a lot easier.
Everyone keeps asking me how I am adjusting to such a different world. I'm sure the experience is different for everyone, but for me, since I know that I am going to be here a while, I went with the dive in and get soaked approach. I don't really take the time to think about how to adjust to something, or whether or not I approve or disapprove, whether I can or can't...when you're here, you just do it...when you walk into a bathroom, and the bathroom is a hole on the ground, you don't hold it, especially when you've drank 4 bottles of water to combat the heat and potential dehydration. When your only way into town is through the thrill ride they call a taxi cab, you don't think about how nervous you get in cars, you just get in there and go. When you're burning more calories than you could ever possibly keep up with and you just saw about 3 different bugs land on your dinner, you pay no mind, you finish the meal. When the air is so dirty and polluted that when you blow your nose the tissue is black, you don't think about whether that's the last straw and that maybe it's time for home, you take another deep breath, and you throw the tissue away- and that is if you were smart enough to pick up your own tissues. Lesson number one in egypt: where ever you go, carry toilet paper, because you will not find it anywhere else. When you come in after a long day and think, oh I got a little color on my face, only to realize it was nothing but oil and dirt, a fine veil of bus exhaust..you just make sure you use some extra soap.
I could go on, but you get the point. Somehow I have really managed to just cut myself off from anything that I may have judged as gross, or unbearable. It's not even a matter of "managing" without, or making the best of a situation, it's just being or doing: in other words, sure things are different, but here, they make sense. Egypt is poor, it is covered in trash, the air is dirty, the bugs are constantly crawling on your skin and crossing the street makes Indiana Jones seem like a square dancer. I don't love it here. But I don't hate it. I have only been here a week, and while the culture shock has been tremendous, I can already tell that I will miss it here when I leave. Visiting the sites is wonderful, but the experience is a true gift. Even if it does involve the insanity that is transportation. I really wish i could record what a car ride is like. My professor described it as being in a video game. Crossing the street is extreme Frogger, and driving is any racing game you can imagine. Like I was saying before, my first time in the car, driving home from the airport, I let out one gasp at a near collision before my professor told me to relax and accept that this was what traffic was like. After that I was almost able to enjoy it. The thing is, they are really aggressive drivers and it's almost fun to watch them zig zag in and out...you would never have guessed how close you can actually drive next to cars and peoples without hitting them until you experienced it here. But they are really good drivers. it's not like they are all trying to be idiots, this is just how things are here, and they are very good at maneuvering. My roommate further added that their cars are like their livestock. It is probably more expensive than their house. They take excellent care of their cars and are totally dependent on them to get to their places of work. In other words, if they smashed up their cars they would be losing nearly everything. So they are actually very careful, just in a MUCH different way...
My cousins both recommended I bring with me Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. The book has really been tremendously valuable in coping with some of the issues I face here:
In case you missed it, here's a close up:
This morning when I went downstairs I found out I had been given a new nickname: The Spider on account of me hopping on furniture and climbing the walls last night to try and kill all of the mosquito's in my room: weapon of choice: Ayn Rand!
I've been falling asleep during the same paragraph of this book for the last week now...but to be fair that is universally true of reading material as of late.
When I went to Sakkara and Dahshur a few days ago, I was actually tagging along with a group of people that Richard was showing around. They are from the states, some from Michigan, and work with/or or know Richard's wife. They were really Nice and really enthusiastic about archaeology. They came into the lab today to see what some of the stuff was like and it was really cool to have peopple so interested in the things that we do.
I don't really know how I feel about the fact that a week has gone by. On the one hand it seems like it has been so much longer...it really blows my mind that I have only been here a week. But then I think about how quickly one week will turn into two, and two into six and that by the time I get home there's still an entire half of summer. My perceptions of time are just all wacky right now. i think it might be because of all the sleep i've been getting. I probably haven't slept this much since I was a child, which is a very good thing. Though you would not believe this mattress...if I can even call it that...I'm pretty sure it's filled with straw and mud...maybe some bricks too seeing as though I cannot make it move at all. The mattress is at an angle, its like theres a big ole body on the left hand side stuffed in there and the other half is flat. It is quite an awkward sleeping platform: but I still fall asleep quite easily...so there you have it, if you want a better night's rest, don't bother with spending lavishly on linens, comforters, and top quality mattresses, just get yourself some good ole jet lag and work 10 hours in the desert, you'll sleep like you did when you were a baby!
Here are some pictures of me that Richard took while we walked around the site and one is after going through the Red Pyramid.
Sorry this was a long winded entry. Tomorrow/Saturday's will be filled with pictures from the Fayum.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Last night I had a good talk with my roommate about how she got into archaeology and went about pursuing graduate school. She's in her 7th year at the university of Chicago. She has been extremely kind and helpful while I've been here. It really helps to make things a lot easier.
Everyone keeps asking me how I am adjusting to such a different world. I'm sure the experience is different for everyone, but for me, since I know that I am going to be here a while, I went with the dive in and get soaked approach. I don't really take the time to think about how to adjust to something, or whether or not I approve or disapprove, whether I can or can't...when you're here, you just do it...when you walk into a bathroom, and the bathroom is a hole on the ground, you don't hold it, especially when you've drank 4 bottles of water to combat the heat and potential dehydration. When your only way into town is through the thrill ride they call a taxi cab, you don't think about how nervous you get in cars, you just get in there and go. When you're burning more calories than you could ever possibly keep up with and you just saw about 3 different bugs land on your dinner, you pay no mind, you finish the meal. When the air is so dirty and polluted that when you blow your nose the tissue is black, you don't think about whether that's the last straw and that maybe it's time for home, you take another deep breath, and you throw the tissue away- and that is if you were smart enough to pick up your own tissues. Lesson number one in egypt: where ever you go, carry toilet paper, because you will not find it anywhere else. When you come in after a long day and think, oh I got a little color on my face, only to realize it was nothing but oil and dirt, a fine veil of bus exhaust..you just make sure you use some extra soap.
I could go on, but you get the point. Somehow I have really managed to just cut myself off from anything that I may have judged as gross, or unbearable. It's not even a matter of "managing" without, or making the best of a situation, it's just being or doing: in other words, sure things are different, but here, they make sense. Egypt is poor, it is covered in trash, the air is dirty, the bugs are constantly crawling on your skin and crossing the street makes Indiana Jones seem like a square dancer. I don't love it here. But I don't hate it. I have only been here a week, and while the culture shock has been tremendous, I can already tell that I will miss it here when I leave. Visiting the sites is wonderful, but the experience is a true gift. Even if it does involve the insanity that is transportation. I really wish i could record what a car ride is like. My professor described it as being in a video game. Crossing the street is extreme Frogger, and driving is any racing game you can imagine. Like I was saying before, my first time in the car, driving home from the airport, I let out one gasp at a near collision before my professor told me to relax and accept that this was what traffic was like. After that I was almost able to enjoy it. The thing is, they are really aggressive drivers and it's almost fun to watch them zig zag in and out...you would never have guessed how close you can actually drive next to cars and peoples without hitting them until you experienced it here. But they are really good drivers. it's not like they are all trying to be idiots, this is just how things are here, and they are very good at maneuvering. My roommate further added that their cars are like their livestock. It is probably more expensive than their house. They take excellent care of their cars and are totally dependent on them to get to their places of work. In other words, if they smashed up their cars they would be losing nearly everything. So they are actually very careful, just in a MUCH different way...
My cousins both recommended I bring with me Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. The book has really been tremendously valuable in coping with some of the issues I face here:
In case you missed it, here's a close up:
This morning when I went downstairs I found out I had been given a new nickname: The Spider on account of me hopping on furniture and climbing the walls last night to try and kill all of the mosquito's in my room: weapon of choice: Ayn Rand!
I've been falling asleep during the same paragraph of this book for the last week now...but to be fair that is universally true of reading material as of late.
When I went to Sakkara and Dahshur a few days ago, I was actually tagging along with a group of people that Richard was showing around. They are from the states, some from Michigan, and work with/or or know Richard's wife. They were really Nice and really enthusiastic about archaeology. They came into the lab today to see what some of the stuff was like and it was really cool to have peopple so interested in the things that we do.
I don't really know how I feel about the fact that a week has gone by. On the one hand it seems like it has been so much longer...it really blows my mind that I have only been here a week. But then I think about how quickly one week will turn into two, and two into six and that by the time I get home there's still an entire half of summer. My perceptions of time are just all wacky right now. i think it might be because of all the sleep i've been getting. I probably haven't slept this much since I was a child, which is a very good thing. Though you would not believe this mattress...if I can even call it that...I'm pretty sure it's filled with straw and mud...maybe some bricks too seeing as though I cannot make it move at all. The mattress is at an angle, its like theres a big ole body on the left hand side stuffed in there and the other half is flat. It is quite an awkward sleeping platform: but I still fall asleep quite easily...so there you have it, if you want a better night's rest, don't bother with spending lavishly on linens, comforters, and top quality mattresses, just get yourself some good ole jet lag and work 10 hours in the desert, you'll sleep like you did when you were a baby!
Here are some pictures of me that Richard took while we walked around the site and one is after going through the Red Pyramid.
Sorry this was a long winded entry. Tomorrow/Saturday's will be filled with pictures from the Fayum.
Hope everyone is doing well!
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