Dig Day 3

I skipped the evening lecture to try to nap. It didn’t work. The schedule makes it hard to get things done. We are up at 4:15 am, on the bus by 4:55 am, and working pretty non-stop until 1 pm when we are back in the bus for 30 minutes to then eat lunch and shower. At 4:30 pm we continue with 90 minutes of pottery cleaning, followed by a 60 minute lecture, dinner in the dining hall, a little bit of free time and bed by 9 pm in order to start all over again. Today was the first day of this schedule, hence skipping the evening lecture. The topic was on rodents. A strike in favor of napping in my book. Most everyone else went and raved about the lecturer. They were amazed by how much she loves the topic and shares her enthusiasm.

Julie, the friend who encouraged me to go on the trip, is on pottery cleaning all day every day. It is a lot easier on her physically. I realized as much as the work at Tell Keisan is back-breaking, I prefer being on the site as the sun rises than I would being in the office. That said, she gets to eat a real breakfast and works in air-conditioning, plus she skips the two half-hour bumpy bus rides.

Pottery cleaning is pretty much what you’d expect. They soak our finds in pails of water divided by where each one was found – context is important. We dig in 10 meter by 10 meter squares, with each square being further subdivided by other factors – such as how far down have we gone, were other things happening in that area. I don’t make the decisions, I just move dirt based on orders. For most of the week I was brushing dirt. Funny thing, more dirt appears. I’m supposed to not move further down while smoothing it out and getting rid of all stray dirt. It feels like a lesson in futility. Much of archaeology is waiting for something cool to happen. By the end of Day 3 my muscles in my hands and back were hurting and I took a Tylenol the following morning.

Liz suggested I take an extra lunch back to my room so I have food in my mini-fridge (think dorm room days). Since the kibbutz keeps Kosher, all meals are either meat or dairy. Seems meat meals have about 4-5 different meats, and dairy meals have even more dairy options. Veggies (other than tomatoes and cucumbers) are in short supply. Dairy dinners are not that filling. They often include pasta, which I don’t eat, but not even much of that.

The other 38 volunteers and staff see friendly enough. Lots of names and personal stories to keep straight. For me, I find that overwhelming.

WiFi exists in theory, but the minute someone decides to download Netflix, everyone else cannot access it. I'm spending my of my first day off to recharge and type in updates. Hoping to have more energy next weekend to get further away.

A side note for those of you who remember my friend, Carin. I feel her presence here most days. She would have enjoyed my stories, especially the ones not getting published. As she fought cancer she changed her FaceBook profile picture to Wonder Woman. Her husband, Mark, even included the logo on her tombstone, which was unveiled just before I left on these adventures. Since arriving in Israel I have seen Wonder Woman yogurt, a Wonder Woman ball in the back seat of a car, and a woman wearing a Wonder Woman t-shirt. How can I not feel her presence? I want to bring a stone from the dig back with me to place on her grave.