Lots to write about...well kind of...I suppose there is a lot I could discuss though I'm not sure how interesting it all is.

I started working in the lab yesterday with the lithics specialist. She went over some basic typologies with me and showed me what kind of things to look for when recording and drawing stone tools. After that I would do Stage one of analysis, which is basically sorting the lithics by retrieval method, wet seive, dry, seive, or heavy fraction, then labeling, counting, and weighing them. It's a job that does not really require that you know anything but lithics, but it has me looking at material all day and any time I have questions I just pop over to Marina and ask. At one point I came across something really cool and brought it over to her. She asked me what I thought it was and I explained how I thought it was a butcher knife. She started to tell me that it was a regular knife and how to tell the difference between the two, only to interrupt her own thought and say that it was a butcher knife! So i was correct, and very excited. While I did stage one, Marina would do stage 2, which is entire database worth of fine details which you do need to be a little more experienced with lithics in order to complete. After an hour though she said that I was sorting through my material too fast and that she needed to give me something else to do. Naturally, it feels really good to complete my jobs at a pace that is above what is expected of me. This whole time I thought that Marina was doing this huge favor for me letting me sit in and learn under her (don't get me wrong, this is still very much the case). However as it turns out. the part of the job that I am doing saves her a lot of time and she told me that I'm the one doing her the favor and that my help is going to mean finishing everything this season. Again, that all feels really good. So what did Marina do to slow me down? She had me start drawing. Archaeological drawing is one of my favorite things to do. I don't consider myself particularly artistic, but everything is so standardized that the things I produce don't look like a mess! Marina told me that all of my drawings were really good, but occasionally I would get, "Kelly, what the hell is that." because I went into too much detail. With lithics it's very important to keep it simple and draw only the parts that can really give you information for how the tool was manufactured and used.

Despite having a successful day at the lab, for whatever reason by the time night came I was very tired, sensitive, irritable, and emotional. Certain aspects of my job and living arrangement have been really stressful, none of which is entirely appropriate to vent about on a public forum, but last night it all just really broke me down to the point where I was fighting back tears, walking away from people and saying that I just needed to leave for a while. I thought I had wound down by the time I returned home only to find that everytime I tried to talk it was the same tear choking voice from earlier. I wasn't even still upset, I just couldn't seem to talk about anything without feeling like I had to cry. My flatmate bought me these things called Happy Hippos that I have been really amused by but had yet to try.



They are hazelnut filled weirdness...but they made me feel tons better. We stayed up talking/ranting/complaining/laughing and finally went to bed.

Today I am going to Abu Sir, a site of 5th and 6th dynasty Sun temples. I can't remember if I went there last year. I believe I did, but it's worth seeing again I'm sure. Then I am going back to the lab in the afternoon. I will post pictures if I take any.Haha I realize that I say things like "oh and I was an emotional mess yesterday" as if its nothing and then change the subject...really I am fine and have no specific explanation for the water works. It's just the lifestyle + me already being a boo hoo sensitive sissy pants. It will be nice to come home and have some privacy again.

Here are some pictures other people have taken towards the end of the season.

This first one is taken at the villa right after lunch. Very often you would find Amelia, Kasia, and I sitting three dazed excavators in a row.



Here are pictures taken as we went through a final tour and discussion of our season at KKT. This involved everyone and was mainly for the people who work in the lab or back in the villa since they do not get to make it down to site very often. As a result you can see how bored some of us look listening to the same thing we have already been discussing day in and day out for the past 6 weeks. If you have problems spotting me, simply look for the girl that looks thugged out in a bandana.





This next photo is from the area of the valley temple where I got to work with Mike and Amelia. It was pretty amazing. This is where we spent a few days taking down a degraded mudbrick wall.



These are pictures of us sitting underneathe a table on site during second breakfast...as time went on more and more people came and we couldn't all fit in the tent so some of us starting sitting outside. You can't see me because I am actually laying down sleeping.





Thats it for today

I come home in less than 3 weeks! Count down 20 days. I tried thinking about what kind of food I am really craving or missing these days. For the most part I really just miss having a variety of fresh vegetables. The only fresh vegetable we are served here is cucumber. Everything else is boiled to death to kill anything that could make people sick. Things like lettuce are fertilized using human fecal matter…not sure how common this in other places and that no one really talks about it, but since it is known here, people seem to avoid eating it. Though not a vegetable, we are also served fresh tomatoes, which I don’t even like, but I eat only when I am out here…however the other night I stared in disgust at my plate and said, “I am so sick of freakin tomatoes.” It generated a good laugh around the dinner table as I continue to radiate my negative, I-hate-everything attitude…at least everyone seems to find it charming and not obnoxious. Standard response is, “Kelly doesn’t like it..what a surprise.” Yesterday I found myself really craving avocados but I don’t know how in season they will be upon my return to the states. Part of me misses real, good coffee as I have been only drinking instant nescafe the entire time here. However, I have been drinking so much nescafe that really coffee does not appeal to me any form. I’ll have to think about it all a little bit more as I am sure my Aunt Marcia will start asking me what kind of dinner I will want when coming home…or perhaps I am being presumptuous and she has no intentions on feeding me at all and instead wants to lock me away in a dungeon with nothing but more cucumbers, tomatoes, and nescafe.

One thing that I realized I do miss a lot right now is rain. I miss cool, breezy, rainy mornings. The big bubble drops that hit the rooftops and windows with a soothing rhythm. I miss the smell of soaked grass and damp tree bark, and making the choice to sit inside a watch movies all day with cat naps in between. I don’t miss the snow though…the snow can clear out and stay away for my arrival.

I have been working overtime to get through as much excavation paper and computer work as possible so that I can get right into the lab and begin work on lithics. One of the girls that is supposed to be sharing the work load with me, left for 4 days to go to the Red Sea. There really has been an issue with me baring a much larger workload than others, but I know that it doesn’t matter because I get to start doing new interesting things, and they will have to work well into May at the office. I, however, will be exempt from anymore office work once I finish the database, which hopefully wont take me longer than Saturday and Sunday. If it does, then I am going to just start doing data entry in the evenings and going to the lab during the day anyway. That’s what I’m willing to do in order to maximize the amount of time I can spend learning a new trade in this field.

Because of the work I have done and the networking I’ve been able to do I have some exciting prospects in terms of work for the next year as well. I am going to be given the contact information to work at a site called Catalhoyuk in Turkey. A lot of people working here work there every year and said that I should go and that they would recommend me. Catalhoyuk is a very very important archaeological site, the earliest known of the neolithic or stone age. It has a very large international team as well, I think as many as 100 working there at a time. I have worked on fauna from there before and the preservation is excellent. Superb preservation of artifacts is another thing the site is most well known for. It would be an amazing opportunity. In addition to that, Marina, the girl who will be teaching me lithics who also works at Catal, works on the lithics in Greece and I might ask her if she has contact information for there as well. This year Marina is finishing up at the end of May, then going to Greece until July, and then going to Turkey. If accepted I could potentially follow that same iternerary next year, probably even right along with her. Nothing is set yet though and there would be a lot of factors to consider. That much traveling might actually bring me to decide to postpone grad school for another year, or to at least defer any where I may get accepted to. I am most definitely eager to get back into school, but I also have no desire to commit to anything that will hold me back from seeing the world….being able to travel was a major reason as to why I chose this career in the first place…while academia and teaching are things I also want to pursue, I may not be able to travel nearly as much once I am locked down into a program with the constant pressure of having to finish my dissertation (not to mention all other exams and writing for grad school). To even admit that I would think about taking more time off is shock to myself…it’s as though I am standing beside myself listening to a stranger say it…not only am I listening to a stranger say it, but I am tilting my head at them with perpetual confusion, as though they are speaking another language entirely. ‘What do you mean? What is this another year off you speak of?’ It’s difficult to separate myself from this idea that there is this timeline to follow in pursuing a career, a product of the current educational system. I constantly have to remind myself that there is no rush, that there is no real finish line any more, that my course is not linear. This dialogue offers me both comfort and anxiety…comfort because I do have freedom and opportunities, endless ones….anxiety because it is a complete absense of the structure I have come to know and rely on for so long.



How appropriate…that break represents me getting up to boil water. Just as I completed a thought on how life does not need to follow one single linear path, that it is unpredictable, I walk into the other room and have a near death experience. We have a gas stove in the kitchen, one that I have used plenty of times to boil water for my tea and coffee. Today however, I went to use a different burner than the one I normally use. I turned on the gas, lit the match and all you hear is “BOOM.” Before my very eyes a ball of fire appears and catches my shirt. It went out quickly though leaving only a bad smell and burn marks and soot on my clothing. This may have permanently traumatized me from using gas stoves. I swear I am never going to make it out of this country alive…

I want to first take this time to congratulate my baby brother Kirkling who landed a summer internship working at a Royal Oak radio station. I am most excited for him. Additionally, here is a link to one of his stand up performances at an open mic night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsvo8oc0Xok

I haven't been able to watch it yet because the internet takes too long for it to load, but I've seen him live and I know he is great. I am very proud of him.

Speaking of internet, it only seems to work first thing in the morning so that is part of the reason I have been online less and posting less. Oh Egypt.

Not to mention I am just overloaded with work to do...it really is getting ridiculous and I should be refusing since it is not my responsibility if other people drop the ball on the work they have been assigned...but at the end of the day the work needs to get done...someone has to do it. Hopefully people will realize how much I already have to do and stop asking me to do more...but I doubt it.

It has been over 103 degrees for the past 4 days in a row

Gross :(

oh well half day today and pool day tomorrow

Richard told me last season that once bowel movements become the topic of conversation over breakfast, it’s time for the season to end and people to ship out….I have to disagree with this. I would have to say that once you find yourself reasoning homicide as a viable solution to your work frustrations, that is when it is time for the season to end and people to ship out.

My patience with this project and the lack of organization, not to mention lack of common sense from the administrative hierarchy, has diminished exponentially. Today I was seconds away from rescheduling my departure for the earliest flight possible. I have been more than humble for the excellent learning experience provided for me, but I draw the line at being taken advantage of...and that is exactly what has been happening. I will omit the details just because, it winds me up too much to think about it more than I already have…but today was probably the most stressful day I have had out here and 105 degrees didn’t make it any better.

Okay that is going to be the extent of my whining...I'm starting to realize why archaeologists are equated with alcoholics...just kidding i am coping in healthy ways...

Tease picture! To add some color I threw this snap shot from the west bank....of course I will still upload pictures from luxor...I swear. Actually within a few weeks i will be moving back into my old apartment since Farrah and her baby are heading back. Then I will have internet again and will spend too much time online and therefore will post all pictures you have been holding out for..I swear!

We are officially done on site...all areas that I showed you in the last photo are now under sand. We have begun the torturous and boring paperwork part of post excavation. My first responsibility was to go through all of the feature forms from our area an make sure they are complete and that none are missing...in doing so I was given a new nickname. Paperwork Nazi. I chase people down letting them know that they forgot their dimensions, or their photo numbers, or that they didn't include elevations or rough sketches on the back...and this isn't just for new people, this is for all the veterans too. I was working at a table with my area advisors and I told one, Mike, that he had forgotten to include surrounding features in his matrix. He asked me to read the description on the form so that I could refresh his memory on which feature I was referring to. I said, "this mudbrick collapse, having depth .02 meters is dadada." And before he could say anything I interjected with, ".02 meters? A value that low is supposed to be in millimeters yeah?" And he just looked up at me in both disbelief and fear....we all started laughing at how strict to the manual I had been correcting the forms. Both he and Amelia assured me it was a good thing it proved that I was paying attention and that it meant Mike wanted to make sure I worked in his area again next year. That definitely made me feel proud of the work I've put into this. I went through each form...i don't even want to know how many there were, a binder's worth..and put little post its on every one that was missing information. Very anal retentive indeed!

Amelia, my area advisor who is writing the Data Structure Report, leaves on Wednesday so we have to try and get as much possible by then, so I will probably be working some serious overtime. There are other people who are also just left to sort through areas by themselves so I might try and help them as much as possible too. But it shouldn't be too long before I'm back in the lab this season learning the exciting world of flint working and sourcing.

One final note for today is that I got a different cell phone which works with my American sim so my regular number works in case of emergencies if my family wants to call or text. It's expensive for me to use of course, but I'm sure it is at least comforting to know that I can be reached now.

Hope everyone had a good and safe weekend!

The archaeological community was introduced to non stop dancing Kelly last night. MY legs are acheyingly sore this morning. Owwww. Since it is the end of the excavation season we held a huge party at our apartment last night. It was really great to see everyone together in a more relaxed environment. Upon washing and letting my hair down, a colleague came up to me and said, “Oh my god you look so different…you look like a girl!” Ha, I was not quite sure how to respond to that. But it really just goes to show what happens when you turn up not wearing the same dirty clothes and with a clean face and sandless hair. At first the party was a little quite and everyone just harbored exhaustion behind their eyes…but all it took was the right music selection and everyone was pepped and laughter and good times were shared. And by right music selection, I mean ABBA. Of course my demands for some good eighties jams were well received too…however when I put on the Final Countdown the Swedes bowed their head in shame wondering why Americans only enjoy the worst music to come out of Sweden. We also listened to some Guns and Roses and when a group of people started singing a verse of Paradise City prematurely I shouted that they were all amateurs. The repsonse was, “When were you even born?” When I said 1985 there was a groan at both my baby status and my imappropriate affection for a musical decade I was barely apart of. Some people brought guests to the party who weren’t apart of the team, and I was quite flattered when introductions were going around. Jessica was explaining who everyone was and what their jobs were and she got to me and said, “This is Kelly, she keeps everyone happy.” Haha though I don’t know if that was because my performance as an excavator wasn’t worthy of being mentioned…nah I think it was just to change up descrription from “digger, digger, lab rat, digger, digger, lab rat.”

For the night I had managed to get my hands on a fifth of really really good scotish whiskey that will inevitably ruin my ability to drink other whiskey for the rest of my life…not because it made me sick or anything, but because it was so amazingly delicious I don’t know that I can go back to another brand of lesser quality. But I will also probably never be able to really afford nice whiskey either so I will nurse this stuff as though it is an immortal elixir.

Other silly aspects of the night included seeing how many different languages we could translate the word “Spider Pink”. If you are familiar with the Simpsons you would know what Spider Pink is. You need not go far to find at least 6 or 7 different ways to say it, Italian being the most complicated. I am really hoping that I can retain some of the British slang and common words. The change is just nice. I’ve stopped using the word friend and replaced it with mate, stopped using the word apartment and replaced it with flat, and of course have accepted great phrases like, “I can’t be bothered” and “That is rubbish.” I have also nearly eliminated the word “pants” and replaced it with trousers. To the Brits, pants means underwear…but not just any underwear…it more so means the biggest, grimmest set of granny panties you can imagine. So when I say pants this is immediately what they think of and nearly start laughing to tears. After having done a load of laundry and showing up on site, I was told what a difference it makes to put on some clean clothes. My response was, “Oh yeah this is the first time I’ve changed my pants in a week.” Working the other way, though I’m an American minority, the English call their erasers rubbers, so I find myself giggling at some of the phrases that spin from that especially since erasers are a very important thing to have on site. “Oh my rubber is gettng pretty dirty, does any one have a rubber I can borrow.” Things like this. The use and reuse and borrowing of dirty rubbers. The Brits also don’t quite understand “That’s what she said” humor, so I’ve managed to phase that out despite the fact that it was so ingrained into my speech from college guys. Though from time to time when someone does look at some of the architecture and says, “Oh my god look how massive that thing is,” I do wait for just a second, anticipating someone to chime in with a “that’s what she said,” however I restrain myself from actually saying it out loud.

Before the party yesterday, team Menkenre Vestibule spent the morning going over all plans and paper work trying to find the holes in our work that needed to be completed. With said holes, we also spent the morning frantically running about the site, tape measures and level meters in hand getting the final values needed. Before such scrambling for last minute information though, we had a lovely breakfast at the Mena House resort. An all you can eat buffet of the freshest fruit and most splendid array of breads and pastries. I wish there were no consequences to eating a gluttoness amount of pastries. But for an end of season reward for hard work, I will ignore the truth. Life’s short- shovel in the flakey sweetness.


Here are some photos of the squares that I spent this season working on. Here are my beautiful fieldstone walls, of which I had to measure all of the stones and plan the details of.







Here are pictures from the Valley Temple where I was able to excavate the in situ pottery (see the holes where said digging took place).





The hope is that we will finish up everything needed for the site by next Wednesday. After that I get to crawl in the dark dampness that is the on site lab, lose my tan and work on lithics for the remainder of my time here. And by learn lithics I also partially mean learning how to dance the way they do in Greece from Merina and Mary Ann, both seasoned veterans having worked in Cyprus. Merina is trying to get me on the permit for Catalhoyuk in Turkey for next summer….it’s only the largest and most well known neolithic site, no big deal (it would be an amazing deal…the projects budget is even larger than this one and they are total work Nazis…their lab is open 24 hours a day and every one just works works works, really sounds like my kind of place indeed!)

Okay that will conclude my updates for now…