Castle

June 28th 2011

Today we started on a new site CAS which is short for castle. Yeah thats right i am digging right next to an actual castle!! The students mainly led the dig. We mapped, organized, and took the elevations. In this pit we only had to dig a 1 meter by 2.5 meter pit 160cm deep. But it still was in direct sunlight, and it was crazy hot again today. All the students spent the day at the site. So that was kind of fun to get to be with everyone the whole day instead of getting split up.  We dug till around 5 then we all went back and changed and went to the beach for about an hour. It was so warm and refreshing. I love the beach. Its so sad to think that i have to leave in just 3 days.... I don't want to leave Salemi.

Bottom

June 27th 2011

Today i had my mapping exam in the morning. It was really hard we work in groups and had to map the stratigraphy of a wall. It most difficult part was group communication. But my group did alright. After that i spent the morning working on LCZ. Dr. Kolb told us that we are only going to go down another 60 cm. He decided this because the pit was getting dangerously deep, and we want to try and finish up another site before we have to leave. Originally we were supposed to dig till we hit bottom. So my group stayed in the field all day and we dug and dug and dug and low and behold about 60 cm deep we hit the bottom. I know its so funny, and also a huge relief. So my group stayed later and finished cleaning out the pit. Yay im so glad we are done with this pit. Now we will be able to have more free time before we leave, and more free time means more beach, which means yay me.

Last Sunday

June 26th 2011

So i woke up early and went to church, when i got back we all packed up and drove to Motya which is an Island that has an old Phoenicians ruin on it. We had to take a ferry to get there. The island had a museum that was really cool cause i got to see the larger pieces of the stuff we have been digging. After that we took the ferry back to the main land and then went to a few little shops. I bought some sea salt that is mined right in the town and some wine. After that we went home and spent a few hours washing pottery, then we got some pizza. It was a pretty nice day very relaxed and laid back. Just what we needed after a long hard week.

Palermo

June 25th 2011

wow what a day.... How to start. Lets see. First off we woke up really early and took the bus to Palermo. Palermo is the capital of Sicily, it has tons of historical buildings and museums. I have to say Palermo is not what i thought it would be. The streets where really dirty and people where a lot rougher. But maybe i just thought that because iv been stuck in a small slow paced village, for almost a month. At the end of the day i was ready to go back to my temperately home i missed my Salemi.   Once in Palermo we met one of the T.A. Cousins and she showed us around the town. We went shopping had lunch, went to a really cool church. We also visited the theater that Godfather III was filmed. But the coolest thing i saw in Palermo was the catacombs. To enter the catacombs you walk down this long hallway to a basement of sorts. The first thing you see when you enter is what looks like fresh bodies lining the walls. I don't mean bodies stacked or piled. No each body is in its own cove of sorts that is cut into the wall, and the body is basically hanging on the wall. It was the coolest and creepiest thing i have ever seen. I the bodies where specially preserved. Even though most are over 200 years old they still have skin and hair. There is one body of a young girl they call her Sleeping beauty. She is about two and she looks like she is just asleep. I have never seen anything like that. It was amazing. Dr. Kolb said that Sicilians have always been strange about death. He also said that people would go to the catacombs and have family meals there. I know right it sound so creepy. But yeah More about Palermo, did i mention that there is tons of shopping. Lots of venders fill the streets, selling necklaces and belts. Our departing bus was at 2 so the day wasn't very long. I wanted to go into this little shop that sold wine that we had walked by. When we went into this wine shop, and the lady started to tell me about the shop. She said that this shop is very special, because everything sold in her store was made by people who do not pay dues to the Mafia. She said that most people are scared of the mafia but they are not. Because that have such a large group of friend that are all against the mafia and they look out for each other. I know how cool is that!!! so i bought some wine from the store, cant wait to try it. I would like to go back to Palermo sometime, check out more of the city. I would like to had a personal thanks here to my sister Rebecca. Thank you sooo much for the Fossil wristlet you gave me for my birthday. I use it everyday!! its perfect. I think i would have gone crazy if i had to worry about having a purse when i was here. I used it in Palermo and i didn't even feel nervous about it getting stolen. I take it with when i get Gelato. It holds my camera perfectly too. So thanks again sis!!!!!When we got home i took a nap, then we went into town and got beers and hung out, waiting for the party to start. The party was supposed to start at 9ish but the pizzas didn’t get there till 10. And then the people had this prank gift thing that took hours. And they wouldn't let us eat till they got done. However it was taking so long that they stopped half way through opening and we had what was now cold pizza. But it was past 11 and i was so hungry it didn't even matter. After pizza some people hung out for a while some when to read or watch a movie. Most where really tired from getting up and touring Palermo. Today was really fun and best part tomorrow is Sunday yay no digging!!

Third Shift

June 24th 2011

Ciao, So today i feel way better. I worked third shift, and the time flew by. However, by dinner i wasn't feel all that great so i  made sure i drank a lot and went to bed early. Umm.. lets see what else happened today.... O yeah tonight its Friday, so a bunch of us all sat on the roof and watched Hangover. It was pretty fun we had bear and i had some Oreos. O and Nick it was a small package and they didn't even last two days. Tomorrow is Palermo, which is exciting except that the bus that we are taking leaves at 6:20am. Yeah so much for sleeping in. I don’t think i have slept in past 8 since i left the states. O well i can sleep when i get home. Also tomorrow the GOE boys are having a party in the evening and we are all invited. I guess its a engagement party or something. I think they are getting pizza and we are chipping in  to pay for it. So i think Saturday will be great. 

Sick

June 23th 2011

Ok so last night, was literally the worst. I woke up with a fever and chills. I had a killer headache. It was awful. When i finally got out of bed, i dosed up on ibuprofen and prepared for a long day. I told Dr. Kolb that i wasn’t feeling well and he said i could stay back if i wanted to, but i was feeling better after i ate and took the medicine. So today was first day of having third shift. I was in the lab first which was pretty good. I didn’t feel great mostly just tired. After lunch we switched and i went to the dig site. I was pretty good most of the morning. However once the sun came out my body went down hill. I felt so sick. At the end of the day i mainly just helped screen and pass buckets. At one point i was practically falling asleep in a pit while waiting for buckets to pass. My group was the one that was supposed to get to go to the beach today. But i told Kolb i needed to sleep. So i stayed home and slept till dinner. I felt much better after my nap. Dr. Kolb said i may have just had heat exhaustion. I was out in the sun a lot yesterday and i know i didn't drink nearly enough. Well i hope tomorrow i feel a better.

Money Money

June 22th 2011

Ok so dig days this week kind of blended together, and we are not really doing much new so.... I thought since people have been asking about how much stuff is in Salemi, i would dedicate a post to it. So here i go. First off they use the Euro in Italy, so right now the exchange rate is about $1.40 to 1 Euro. Gelato my favorite, is normally 1 euro for a small. And a cone is normally about 2 euro. Alcohol at a bar is kind of expensive beer is like 2 euro mixed drinks are like 4 euro. Sandwiches are like 3-5 depending. And soda at a cafe is like 2 Euro which is like crazy expensive.  Cloths can vary from really cheap, like 6 euro for a dress to 230 euro a lot like in the states. Wine is also very similar to clothes it can be as cheap as 2-13 euro just depending. However, wine and food is all very fresh and usually local. Umm..... lets see gas is like ridiculously expensive like 14 euro for a liter, which in case you didn’t know is less then a gallon. I know right now i know why everyone drives small cars, or vespas. O  another thing that’s weirdly expensive gum. At Despar the grocery store gum is like 3 euro. Another thing that is expensive is suntan lotion. The cheapest kinds start at around 11 euro. Olive oil and cheese  are pretty cheap, but we also buy it in bulk so that helps too. I think that’s about everything that i have noticed when in Salemi. Most things are very similar in price. But i would say that normally things are a little higher priced here. However we are in a small town and there isn't many choices so the stores don’t have to be so competitive. Well hope this helps you guys out Ciao. 

Second Vespa

June 21th 2011

So today we worked so hard, we are trying to finish the pit up by next week. So everyone is getting really tired and sore. But today when i was in the lab washing pottery a guy pulls up to the school on a vespa. He walks over to where a few of us are washing and asks if there is a girl here who wanted a picture with a vespa. I am not kidding boys with vespas are literary asking for me hahaha. Yeah it was a pretty great it was an actual “vespa.” I got a picture of the name plate, it was soo cool. So yeah besides that today was a really hard and hot day.  The weather has been in the low 30s which is like roughly the high 90s. So yeah i hope this week gets a little easier, and less hot. By the way did i mention that after today, Dr. Kolb wants to move more dirt. So that means we are adding a third shift. So what that means is that one group would work in the field and one group in the lab then at 11:30 we eat then switch. Then at 4:30 we switch again, and work till 7:00 which is dinner. I know right it sound miserable. But we need to finish the pit soon, and by the look of it the bottom in nowhere in sight. However, Kolb said that the last group that rotates to would rotate to the lab will instead get to go to the beach for a few hours. So i am kind of excited about that. It makes working 14 hours a day not seem so bad when you know you get to go to the beach every other day!

Another Day In The Dirt

June 20th 2011

O Monday why do you come so soon. Today i was in the lab in the morning with Kelly and Leah. It was really not to bad we just washed pottery and chatted as usual. However, i was so tired from the weekend i could barely stay awake most of the day. After lunch all us girl went out to the field and dug at LCZ. It wasn’t to hot today and the work was easy and slow. I learned i have a secret skill. I am very good it turns out at cleaning dirt from bedrock. Who knew. So after digging i relaxed did some reading. Our field journals where so good this week that Dr. Kolb said we don’t need to continue doing them any more. So that freed up some of my time after digging. Dinner was amazing as usual. But i am so tired I’m going to try and get some rest. Caio. 

Beach And Ruins

June 19th 2011

Sunday came to early this week. I was up at 8 to make it to church by 9. Mass was at a different church this week, it was smaller but still very nice. After church we all packed up and drove out to Selinunte. Which is a huge ruin of old Greek temples and acropolis. It was very hot!! But, the ruins were amazing.  After Selinunte we went to the beach that was right next to the ruins. The water at this place wasn't as warm as the first beach. But i laid out in the sun and worked out on my tan. After the beach we went home, and i took a little nap. After that we had made reservations at a very fancy restaurant so we got dressed up and drove to the place. The restaurant was out in the country side, and it had a huge garden and patio attached to it. Deno our cook actually works at this place so oblivious we knew it was gonna be good. But seriously the food was surreal. I have never had a meal that good in my entire life. We had pasta, snails, quail, lamb, wine, eggplant, and the list goes on the food never seemed to end. I had never been so full, i was even still full the next morning. We got back from dinner around 10:30 so i went strait to bed. I love Salemi. I only have two weeks left but i don't ever want to leave this place.

The Party

June 18th 2011

Hello everyone, so lets see so today we spent the morning on our test. It was a lot easier then i was expecting, which was great. After the test we went to the lab and washed pottery. Then around 11 we all headed off to see the Castle, in Salemi. It was very cool we got to explore most of the building, it was cool to walk up all the twisty staircases. After the Castle we all went back to the house and washed some more pottery. Then we started to set up for the party. I helped cut fruit for a fruit salad, which was  delicious by the way. Then everyone took showers and the girls got all beautiful. It was the first time since i left the states that i was able to get all dressed up. So the party was great the G.O.E boys had a huge grill and they cooked all the meat and some potato things.  There was tons of wine and beer, someone brought these little coconut dessert things, they were my favorite. There was music and dancing, and karaoke. Yeah i totally rocked at the karaoke haha... So the party was half time for a break/ Emily “a fellow student” birthday. So we got a cake and candles. And the G.O.E got her flowers, and sang happy Birthday to her.  It was such a fun night. It was so cool to be able to relax, and cut lose after two weeks of tough work.

Preparation

June 17th 2011

Caio, so today i was in the lab then i went and dug, it was really hot looks like its gonna be like this everyday from now on so i better get used to it. But. honestly i didn't know it was possible to sweat this much in one day! When i was in the lab today, i learned how to make a drawing of an artifact. Its actually kind of fun. You have to be very exact and measure like every angle then draw a profile view of the artifact. Then later those drawing can be scanned into a computer on a CAD like program then 3D models can be constructed. Tomorrow is gonna be amazing. In the morning we have our history exam then we are gonna wash some pottery, then we are gonna go to the Salemi museum, then get set up for the party, then get beautiful for the party, then spend the whole night with some great people and amazing food!!!!!! speaking of that test umm... guess i should get started studying for that.. Bye for now.

A Taste Of Home

June 16th 2011

Well today i spent the morning in the lab, then i went to the dig site and learned to map stratigraphy. Mapping is like way complicated. We have to draw all the lines of all the layers of soil, and measure it exactly, then shrink it to scale so it fits on the paper. It took forever to figure out, and it was like during the hottest part of the day, we are talking 90 plus degrees. My brain felt like it was cooking. However, i did learn how to do it and feel comfortable with the concept. People never realized how much work there is in Archeology. Everything has to be so exact. After mapping i dug some more then, me and a few of the girls went shopping. We went and bought cute clothes and shoes so wear to the party Saturday. I got this strapless dress and a adorable pair of black wedges. It so funny in Sicily women wear ridiculously high heals, and they wear clothes that i would call clubbing clothes. Like sparkley tops, skinny jeans, really shot tight dress. But the funniest thing is that they never wear shorts.  So me and the girls needed to get some new clothes to fit in on Saturday. After clothes shopping i went to the grocery store and guess what i found??!!?? OREOS!!!!!! I know right, here i was thinking how sad i was gonna be in Italy with out any Oreos. Well it looks i have no reason to ever return to the states now hahah.. Dinner was good as always, afterward we went out for some galato of course. Tomorrow will be another half lab half field day, so i have to get some rest. Buona Notte

Best Ride Ever

So i have some exciting news. Some of you may already know this from fb, but its like the most amazing story so I'm gonna tell it anyway. As some of you may know my one mission/dream when in Italy is to get a ride on a vespa/scooter. I have been trying really hard to get one everyone at the school has been trying to help me. I even told Dr. Kolb and he said he would try and hook me up. So the days passed and still no vespa ride. Then Wednesday evening right after dinner the cook Deno walked past our table to get on his vespa and head home. At that moment, Dr. Kolb jumps up and runs to Deno and starts talking to him in Italian. Next thing i know Deno says “ok, lets go” And believe it or not i got my ride on a vespa. It was a mazing he took me out to the country and it was soooooo beautiful!!!!! When i got back i was so happy i couldn't stop smiling all night. Plus i had my cannolie waiting for my when i got back. Best night ever!! I thanked Dr. Kolb and then promised to dig twice as hard the rest of the month. The next morning i was still in euphoria from the ride. Honestly best day in Italy ever.

An Apology

So I'm sure i mentioned that we don't have Internet at our house. If we want to get online we have to walk to the Internet cafe and pay to use the computers there. It's kind of expensive so i was only posting  like once a week. However, the GOE people, (the guys that share our building, earthquake volunteers), they are letting us use their computer daily. Soo i should be able to post a lot more often.  O and sorry about all the spelling errors in the last few blogs, but i had to post them really fast, cause someone else needed the computer right away.

To The Bottom

June 15th 2011

Hi family, friends, and who every else is reading this. Today was great i got to work on my site all day. And guess what i found the bottom of my pit! Unfortunately no statue waiting for me on the bottom. However it was to cool to step back and see what i had accomplished. Ill get some pictures up soon. We finished up my pit early enough that we got to quit early and we took a tour of Mokarta Its basically a hill about 10 mins away that has a bunch of old iron age and medievel age hoses, and tower. We also walked over a hill to check out some tombs. They where basically hole cut into the side of the hill. No bodies or anything but still very cool to see. Now im back at the house just got out of the shower. Funny thing i dont think i mentioned that water, since we are on a island is in short supply. So that means to turn the water on get wet, turn the water off, wash with soap, turn the water on and rise off. Im actually getting very good at this now. OOO and i forgot to mention we are having a party Saturday night. We are inviting a few locals, and the Italian boys that have run a volunteer group in case of earthquakes. We are gonna grill out and everything i cant wait!!! well i have to go its time for dinner and Deno is making cannolies for desser which love Wednesdays. Ciao.

Washing And More Washing

June 14th 2011

Hello again, so i saw a few complaints about not having a date.Ill try and remember to put one on from now on. However i have a post for everyday so you can follow that way too. So today i was in the lab full day so from 7-5. it was ok i literarly washede pottery shards the whole time. But i was washing outside with my new bestie Kelly. So it wasnt to bad we just chatted and listened to music. After washing the rest of the crew came back from digging. We all cleaned up and ate dinner. After dinner the usual chores, i had bathrooms with Leah. However we were going to get galato when everyone finished to i helped mop the floors, i rdidnt want to have to wait for my gelato haha. So i guess we were going to have two people in the lab everyday and the rest of the people digging, and we would rotate around. However Dr. Kolb had a meeting with the students and we where able to voice how we prefered half half days, “where two people start in the lab and the rest dig then at lunch those two that were in the lab would swich and two from the dig site would go back to the lab. Dr. Kolb said that would work just the same. So tomorrow that looks like the plan. Dr. Kolb also said that if we dig really hard these next few weeks then the last week we can go to the beach like every other day!!!!! I really like that idea. Well i got to get some rest im in the field all day tomorrow. Buona notte

A Hard Long Day

Ok so today really sucked. I dug from 7 till 5. and i have some serious post beach depression. I was so hot and tired and i had to work in this tiny little crack of a hole. Ugh well at least i know for sure that i don't want a permanent career in Archeology. Which i already knew, but now Im sure. It wasn't even that hard of work just, its just i want to do a good job and they are rushing us cause they want to get a lot done fast. I just hope that they switch back to half dig half lab days soon. But on a plus side, Im gonna be in the best shape of my life. Well I better go down and see what Deno is making for dinner because is smell delicious. So Caio for now. 

A Mass In Italian

Well Sunday I went to church in Salemi. It was very interesting i understood close to nothing. The church was very beautiful. This Sunday someone was have a baptism and we got to see that too so that was cool. The weirdest thing was that mass was very casual people where letting their kids run around people would walk in and out. I was a little worried about what to wear to church, i made sure my dress was conservative and i wore a sweater over it also. But I shouldn't have worried, most of the young women wore high stilettos and really short dresses like the kind of thing we in the states would wear to a dance club. After church we all got in the car and drove to Segesta. Segesta is a acheological site, it has the only standing Greek temple left in the world. It was so cool, it was the oldest thing I have every seen. After touring a bit we dove to the beach. I love the beach. It was beautiful, the waves where so fun to play in, and the water was really warm. The view when i looked to the coast was almost as beautiful as the Sea. Mountains and houses tucked all around it was so beautiful I never wanted to leave. Unfortunately they made me :( So after the beach we drove back to Salemi, and had some pizza. We got done eating pretty early, so i decided to read a bit. That didn't work out at all I fell asleep after one page. I cant wait till we get to go back to the beach again. A domani

A Trip To Erice

Caio my dear bloggers. Saturday we got to sleep in a little. We didn't have to start digging till 8, you would be surprised what an extra hour of sleep can do to you over here. Today everyone went to the dig site and I worked on the same stuff as yesterday. I screened mostly, i took buckets of soil that they dug up and dumped it in to a giant screen and shook all the dirt out, then i picked out pottery, bone, and metal. I did find a piece of terra seggalata, its this red glaze the Roman used. I was so proud of myself for recognizing what it was. We all dug till noon then went to the house and we had some free time till about 3:30 when we leave for Erice?? I did my chores, washed laundry with Leah, then worked on my field journal its due Sunday.  After that i got all cleaned up but on a nice dress and we all left for Erice. Erice is a city on top of a mountain. It had an old castle, which we got to tour. Then we went shopping down these old streets, and had dinner. It was a really cute town a little more touristy then Salemi. They had all these cute little pastry places so a few girls shared a Cannoli. And yes Liz,  they are way better here then the one we had in  NYC. The ride up the Mountain was so beautiful i took a billion pictures but they don't do it justice. After dinner we drove back to Salemi. We got back around 11 and the town was having some kind of festival thing so a bunch of people where out. So a bunch of us girls all went out for drinks in Salemi. It was fun very girlie, after drinks we stopped for galato of course. It was like the best day, we dug, shopped, and had ice cream. I think i could die now with no regrets, except maybe wishing i had more galato haha.

Friday At Last

Hi everyone its friday!!! Yay, last day till the weekend. Today i was in the lab with Kelly and Emily. We labeled pottery why listening to some crazy girlie music. I dont think Bill the lab directer really appreciated our taste in music. So after that i went out to the dig site. We are still all working on LCZ.  I got to dig which was different. I was working in an area that is really hard packed with rocks, and cement.  My team has to take a mini pick axe and take  it out layer by layer. It took forever and i have huge blisters on my hand. This section of the site is new and we are not sure what we will find so we have to go slowly. We did find a continuation of a terracotta pipe from the 1700s ish. We also found some brownish dirt, don't worry ill explain what that means. In Salemi dirt that hasn't been dug through my people, is this light gray color, and is called bedrock and its really hard packed. After you pass through what is called the modern soil or top soil, you might hit this bedrock. Bedrock is soil that hasnt been touched my humans for the most part. So most likely no matter how far you dig you wont find anything man made. We did hit some bedrock but we also found some brown dirt, see how this is important. In the brown dirt we found modern pottery and a ton of medievel roof tiles. The brown dirt has had human activity, We aren't sure how deep the brown soil goes, if it does go deeper it could be an old trash pit. Which for an archaeologist are like one of the best things to find. Why? Because think about this, let say that in the iron age they built a trash pit. They start to fill it with an old potter bowl maybe some food, or broken tools. Then time passes and now the Greek are here and they start throwing out their stuff in the pit. People don't usually mess with what they think is trash so the pits are usually left undisturbed. This is great because then the artifacts are in layers which are great for determining a time line. In this site last year they found an old Roman Cystern which was used at a trash pit. This pit is huge and was full of pottery, and its only about three meters from the spot we found dark soil. So it could mean another pit, and i did find something that could indicate that. When i was digging i found a Tesserra tile. Those are what they call the pieces of mosaic the Greek use. I also found a Bronzes coin. However they where both found mixed with modern pottery and medievel pottery. The Greek period was before the Medievel period so this means that the tile and coin had been   somehow mixed up to the modern level, so they are out of context. Also the coin is only renaissance period. Which hear is relatively early, even though its older then anything in the Sates. Here in Salemi Medievel pottery is literary garbage, and renaissance is kind of cool to look at but nothing special. It the Greek, Roman, Elymi stuff we want to find. So my finds weren't the best but it indicates hope so we should keep digging and see what we find. After digging we had dinner got cleaned up and took our pottery exam. It wasn't that bad got a few silly ones wrong though. After the test a bunch of us went out to a Club aka what they call Bars that have permits to stay open late. It was only nine or so when we went out, and it Salemi people don't really start going out till 11 or later. So it was a little dead out but it was fun having the place to ourselves. All in all a good day i learned a lot about digging, and now i cant wait till saturday, so with out further ado, A Domani “till tomorrow”

Anther Day In Sicily

So today i finally think i have the hang of the rhythm of things. I spent the day at LCZ (plaza/piatsa) We had a back hoe and a driver. The back hoe opened the site a bit more and dug up the concrete and cobble stone road. A few of of the student and me hauled the ruble away. We then broke for lunch and i went back to the lab with Leah and Kelly(another student) and we cleaned and labeled pottery till 5:30. After that a bunch of us all went to the Internet cafe. First time i was able to get online. It took me a awhile to get used to the different keyboard. Also certain things on the screen like copy and paste are in Italian and i could not figure out how to change it. But still it was great to be on FB. Its weird bu ti really miss seeing what everyone is up too. So please feel free to post on my FB wall or send me a message, i love hearing from back home.  So after the cafe i went home and ate some yet again delicious dinner. So funny thing everyday i dig all i do is clean the sites or haul dirt/rubble. I am the only student that hasn't had a chance to actually dig up anything interesting. Everyday as soon as i leave the site, the next group that replaces finds something litterary just inches under where i was told to stop clearing, and move to a new site or the lab. Its ind of funny the TAs and Dr. Kolb keep telling me don't worry you will be able to dig “instead of clearing” tomorrow. I think they feel bad that they keep moving me and sending me to do the manual labor. But to be honest i don't mind i know ill get a chance soon enough. Besides I'm getting some serious muscles haha.   Well i got to go study i have that pottery test tomorrow. Bye for now... Caio.

A Day In The Sun And The Lab

Ciao, my blog followers, today was pretty intense. I worked out on site  LCZ,(the one in the piatza) most of the morning. I dug out all the fill that was put in the hole to protect the area. This job took most of the morning. I also helped clean up another site PNC. This site is in the middle of an abandoned, courtyard/garden. There was a lot of bugs. Including giant spiders, slugs, beetles, and scorpions! Don't worry though i wasn't bitten, almost got jumped on by a few geckos though. So after all that we broke for lunch which was packed sandwiches. After that me and Nikkie fellow student, went back to the house to work the lab. This job entitles taking hundreds of pottery sherds, and marking them with a thin strip of white-out, then writing the site there where found in marker then covering that with clear nail polish. It wasnt to bad very relaxing after the hard labor earlier. At around five we stopped and set up the table and chairs outside and set out bowls of water and tooth brushes. This stuff is for cleaning off the pottery that will be brought back from the sites. The other students returned from the sites around 6 and we all washed and cleaned todays finds. So todays finds where actually very very very good!! They brought back 4 buckets of a miscellaneous pottery pieces, bone, and glass. I got to wash two of the most special finds a almost complete Roman bowl, and a tile with a makers brand on the top. It was so cool to hold these ancient pieces on my hand!! After cleaning we ate dinner outside and to day is Wednesday, which means Deno the cook makes dessert!!!!!! The meal was a Pasta, green beans in a tomato sauce, fresh sausage, and a torte whipcream chocolate dessert. Not to mention every meal is served with wine and fresh bread, and dipping sauce made of the best olive oil iv ever had and Parmesan cheese. After dinner i helped mop the floors again, then went to my room to study and write in my field journal, and not recoding my daily blog! But its getting late and we are going to do another double shift tomorrow again, to goodbye for now. Arrivederci 

First Day In The Dirt

Ciao, today we woke up, ate breakfast, then split up into two groups. One group went to one site and started clearing away weeds. My group went to a second site (the one in the Piatza/Plaza) and we moved fill aka dirt thats on the top of a dig site usually put down by the street builder. So yeah we shoveled old dirt and moved it out of the way so we could expand the site more. We also cleaned out the site from last year. The site is basically a hole in the middle of the street. Weeds had grown up and dirt had fallen in on top and we had to remove all that stuff. O and I wore my sweet new boots, that i got for my birthday from my awesome brother-in-law. So yeah the boots where great, my feet didn't hurt one bit, and they breathed really well.  Half way through our work we took a break and went to a near by cafe for cappuccinos. As a side note here in Sicily men never drink cappuccinos. They only drink espressos. Cappuccinos are considered a girls drink here. After we finished (around noon) we went back to the house for lunch which was left over pasta from dinner or sandwiches. After lunch we had a history lecture from Dr. Kolb. Dr. Kolb is the director of the field school, he is a very cool. He has conducted this project since like 2000. The lecture was good, very confusing lots of mixing of Greek and Roman history, and also the Elymi (the natives of Sicily). The lecture was three hours long, and we have to memorize like a billion dates. However, I think this information is really gonna help later on. After that lecture we switched it up and went and had a two hour pottery lecture. The lecture was basically all the information we need to know for our first exam on Friday. Its gonna be really hard I'm gonna have to study the pieces really well. Basically, what the exam is we have to look at a pottery sherds and tell what part of the pot it came from, rim, base, body, handle, or other. Then we need to say what period, Medieval 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, Roman, Greek, Elymi, Iron age, Bronze age. Then we need to say what kind of pottery it is, fineware, greyware, black glaze, roof tile, incised designs, wheel or no wheel, etc... So yeah i have a lot to master in three days. So lectures are now over and we have a break until dinner. We eat pretty late here 7:30 usually. But tomorrow we start our first official day actually digging!!!! So I'm pretty excited about that, today was hard work moving rocks and dirt etc... However, it isn't that bad, because the scenery is gorgeous, and my team is super fun to work with. Tomorrow we are working double shift which means half the day half the group will dig the other half will work in the lab labeling pottery, then at noon we break for lunch then the groups  switch jobs.  Dinner was amazing as always, we had Rossot, a salad, and chicken Parmesan.  After dinner i just hung out with the girls and chatted. I was pretty tired after my first day of work so i went to bed around 10. I have to be up by 6:30 for a full day of work. Buona Notte

Orientation and Lecture

Hi everyone! So first official day of field school was pretty great I had i nice breakfast of fresh bread and fruit, yogurt, and cereal.  After breakfast we went on a official house tour. Then we went on a tour of the city. It was so cool to walk down these tiny roads that twist and turn. There are also hidden stair cases tucked with in the houses, that lead to even more streets. We walked and checked out the sites we will be working on. One of the sites is in front of a castle. Yes an actual medieval castle. One site is in the middle of a piatsa. A piatsa is basically a dead end road kind, that leads to a kind of plaza.  There is large hole in the middle the plaza. This hole is what  we will expand on this summer. So after the tour we went back to the house and had some sandwiches for lunch.  And i do not mean just PB&J it was fresh bread, fresh cheese, meat from the deli, and presto. Umm... let me see after lunch we split up into two groups. One group, mine went outside and learned how to set up a dig site, and how to record data properly. I also learned how to use my compass to mark degrees. Thanks Dad, by the way everyone here is jealous of my compass even the dig instructor was like “wow yours is really nice, how much was it?” i said “not sure it was a gift from my awesome Dad.” I also learned how to set up a One by One which is basically a one meter by one meter square. We will need to make these when setting up dig sites. I also learned how to record strata levels. It was a lot of information at once, but its all sinking pretty well. I also learned how to keep a field journal. The journal will be graded on weekly and we have to learn how to record really good field notes. The notes are things like where did we dig, what we found, where we found it, the dates, who was there etc... After the dig information session everyone broke for lunch, then the groups switched and we went into the pottery lab.  We learned how to take the info we recorded on the dig site and use it to label the pottery sherds. We use white out a sharpie and cleat nail polish to do this, yeah we are professional like that. We also learned how to tell pottery from rocks. Don't laugh it can be really hard, especially with roof tiles.  How do we tell, you ask well.....  you lick the unidentified object. Yep thats right you lick it. At first i though it was a joke but nope this is how the professionals do it.  And to be honest its actually the easiest way. The trick is if your tongue kind of sticks to it then its pottery. Ok so after that exciting lab introduction, we went off and did out daily chores. I was on bathroom cleaning, with Leah and another girl her name is Emily. Next was dinner, it was prepared by the chef Deno. It was amazing. Best meal ever, and he is gonna cooks for us every night!!! so much for losing weight on this trip. O and did i mention all the wine you can drink, red and white. I wasn't much of  a wine drinker before i came here. However the wine is really not that bad, and its served like water is served in the states, as part of the meal. So after dinner can you guess where i went?? Yep galato shop.  A bunch of us walked to a gallato shop and i got my soon to be daily serving of galato. After sitting out on the veranda enjoying our ice cream and talking we head back to the house. All in all a very awesome day.

A Walk Through Salemi

So after our snack we walked back to our new home. We all had some wine and beer and chatted. Everyone then left and walked back towards the square and went to a pizzeria. The Pizza was very good. It was flat a lot like NY style. It was kind of sweet and the thing that made it taste the most differet then pizza in the USA was that it tasted fresh. I know dumb right but the best i can explain is that it tasted fresh. I also had a fried Olive. I had never had that before, it was so yummy. Who would have thought that Italy has a fried that an America had never tried.  After a delicious and filling meal we all walked back home. However, before making it home I had to stop got my Galato!!!! and then Leah and another guy on our dig, Robert tried some too. I ordered by myself in Italian and payed using Euros. I can't really explain how good it was, but a girl on our field school said it best when she said “It is kind of like Caulver's only a hundred times better.  So lets just say that i will be eating a lot of it before i return to the states. After our walk back with our Ice cream, i was so tiered. I took a shower in the dark “light doesn't work in the shower room” it was so relaxing. I then got into my bed told Leah goodnight and was asleep as soon as i closed my eyes. So here ends my first day in Sicily.

My New Home

A fellow student who has been on the field school before and has obtained a driving license, picked Leah, Myself and another girl up at the airport. Funny story that girl Amy was on all the same flights as me and Leah. Anyhow on to the the exiting part of the story, the driving. Ok so the view when driving was BEAUTIFUL, i was so distracted i didn't pay much attention to the conversation on the 1 hour drive.  There was mountains and houses tucked each with a vineyard beside then. Some houses where abandoned and looked ancient. However, i was a little scared for my life the speed limit is about  80-90 and the roads make 90 degree turns, o and there isn't room for two cars. Not even in there tiny cars. We where driving a Fiat for anyone who is interested in cars. I think these roads would be any guys dream to drive on. I mean practically no speed limit and crazy turns.

We are staying in what used to be an old Hospital, but is not turned in to a hotel/dorm building. Leah and I are staying in one room it has three twin beds and a wardrobe. We have a balcony attached to our room and it had an amazing view! Looks like something right off a post card. We spent a while getting to know everyone, and settling in. I unpacked then helped do some cleaning. Lean and I swept and Mopped all the halls. Tomorrow the cook is coming, his name is Deno. Which everyone is excited about, i guess he is pretty much amazing. So I am really excited to try his meals. So since the cook isn't here yet we went out for a light snack. We walk to the town square and had i got some money from a ATM they call them Bancomats here. Then we walked to a little cafe and had a sandwich. The sandwich was really good it had cheese a tomato and what i think was brochuto. The street is like something out of a movie. Old women are hanging laundry off their balconies. Young boys ride past on mopeds. Old men sit out side the cafe laughing and telling stories. It is like being in a time machine, I havent seen anyone on there cell phones yet, fact i haven't seen a single electronic yet. Ill have to watch for that. 

Palermo For An Hour

So after a few hours of attempting sleeping. A few movies available in both Italian or English. We landed in Roma. We traveled through security and found our gate and waited. It seems like we waited a lot on this trip. We wait to check our bags, wait to get through security, wait to board, wait to take off.... it just never ends. But someone very wise told me once that the best approach to flying is to be relaxed, act like in not in a hurry even when you are. And i'll tell u what thats exactly what i did. So once we boarded a much smaller plane to to the city Palermo. At this point I was really exhausted, i fell asleep on my pull out tray before we even took off and woke up right as we landed. So my flight details are a little hazy. However, the view when we landed was gorgeous. Mountainous, and little houses covering every hill, vineyards, palm trees, fur trees, and cactus. Still not sure hows thats possible.... This city is called Palermo, it is also the capital of Sicily. 

Once in Palermo, we went to baggage claim, where we waited and waited and to our horror our bags never arrived. So another flight from Rome was due in a hour so we waited to see if it might be on that flight. And low and behold Leah's bag came, but not mine. So i went to lost baggage and gave them my information. Three other people where also at the lost baggage center too all with lost bags from Rome. After i finished up at the lost baggage center the man told me another flight had come in and i should run check. And good thing i did cause there was my bag! I was so relived the thought of living of the one set of clothes i had in my carry on was not a pleasant one.  The women waiting with me also found her lost bag as well. Its really true when they tell you Italy runs on a different time schedule. No rush just wait and see. This is something I am really learning to love it.

A Long Journy

So people kept asking me are you nervous and i was like honestly i really wasn't. But that all changed soon as i stepped in to the airport. I was so excited and nervous about going somewhere new for so long!! I have never been away from home that long. Leah's older sisters drove us to O'Hare Saturday afternoon where we boarded a plane that took us to Rome. The flight was so long!!! While waiting to board our plane i was going over my phase book practicing my Italian, and this older Italian couple sitting across from me even helped me out. It was so funny i think they where making fun of my horrible attempt at pronunciation cause they kept saying “its ok most Italians will speak English.”  But i do not care i am determined to master at least the basics when I'm there.

So after me and Leah boarded the plane and settled in for a the long ride, the plane was delayed for about an hour do to rain. However, we where up in the air soon enough and soaring to our destination about as fast as my excitement was rising. I have come to the realization that there is just no possible way to get comfortable in an airplane seat. Period.  At one point I caught a glimpse of First class when waiting to use the bathroom. I was totally jealous I bet they where able to get comfy. So now i have decided i must fly first class at least once in my life. However, on this said trip to the bathroom my pillow was stoled. Yet thats right someone stole my complementary pillow when i went to the bathroom!! I mean who does that? I finally found the culprit one row ahead of us, an older Italian lady had two pillows. I mean come on people, so needless to say I was pillowless for half the flight as well. They did serve this amazing juice its called blood orange juice. It was amazing.  It was my favorite part of that flight :) And bonus i guess they will be serving a lot of it at the field school also yay!

On My Way

Friday the 3rd of June. This is the day when my trip officially stated. Friday evening my mother drove me to my friend Leah's home in Chicago. We did this so that i would be closer to the airport Saturday morning. Leah only lives twenty minutes from O'Hare. Leah is a girl i met from ISU who is also attending this field school. I'm so glad i have her as a companion.. Having a friend along makes the whole trip seem way less scary. I spent the night at Leah's house her family was way cool. They made me feel right at home. So i think i should add here a little about why I'm taking a month to travel to Italy to dig in the dirt. Well for one thing i have always wanted to travel, there are so many places i want to see in the world. So i thought why not start now, this is my senior year at college, if not now when? So in January i started the hard search of a study abroad program. I did find many schools, but most where very expensive, and i wasn't sure i wanted to be gone for 3 months. So i started looking at summer schools, or field schools. A field school is a program usually dedicated to a specific subject and is usually very intensive. Since I am working on my undergraduate in Anthropology and i need a Archeology credit to graduate, it made sense to find a school in that field. I found many schools and i researched and researched, and finally decided on, NIU Archeology in Sicily field school. I then completed the complicated application process, and waited to hear if i was accepted. And as you  already know i was!  I am now on my way to Salemi, a village in Sicily, to spend a month digging and touring the island of Sicily. I cant wait to go to Europe, this will be my first time abroad!!!!