We’ve been working at the site for over a week now and I’ve been incredibly busy. We start our day at 5:30 a.m. when we leave the hotel, which means waking up at 5:00 a.m. This hasn’t been an issue, shocking. The site is a 20 minute drive and we have breakfast there which as well as lunch which we have at 1:00 after working is finished, served family style and made by local villagers and usually delicious. In the morning, the breakfast table is swamped with bees which makes for an interesting dining experience.
Currently, we’re working on two main areas on the city which are the temple itself and street where the shops and gate would have been located. I have been working in both areas. Remember the book/movie Holes? That best describes what I do on a daily basis, it’s hard work but the time goes by fast and seeing results has become rewarding and motivating. All kinds of goodies have been found within this last week: tons of pottery bits, handles, amphora bases, nails, human and animal bones included a jaw complete with teeth, earrings, many coins varying in date, and the other day a small bronze cross.We also did a bit of survey around the site, which was interesting to learn how to run the equipment and tkae the measurements.
It’s hot here, we’re supposed to be getting a heat wave on Thursday and something was said about 120 degrees, I have multiple hilarious tan lines and no burns! Yes, sunscreen is being worn. Staying cool and dry is near impossible so it’s best to accept the sweat.
After work I usually take a nap and then head down to the beach or market, grab a bite to eat and enjoy the evening. The beach always has live music and another girl, Amy, who has been here for 6 weeks has shown me around to the best spots. Including a favorite place on mine right on the beach where we eat and have drinks, a waiter there, Emrah gave us a lesson on the Turkish guitar, saz, and I can now play a few tunes.
There are students from all over this session, currently there is a large group from Yale working with us as well as Colorado and California, even a couple from Australia. Everyone is really great and it’s been a great experience making new friends from across the country and world. I’ve been taking a lot of pictures and I wish there was a way to share them, but there just isn’t. My computer is still on the fritz. A student from UNO, Alex, who just happened to have his computer stolen (if your name is Alex you are doomed to have computer problems), took a look at my computer and tried to fix it but confirmed that the hard drive had indeed crashed. But he says that my documents and such should be able to be saved.
On Sunday we took a day trip to the site of Lamos which is another Roman city up in the mountains, it is a beautiful site. The fortification walls are still intact and there is an underground cistern that we were able to get inside. Inside the cistern there was a spider the size of my hand, biggest spider I’ve ever seen. Other creepy crawlies I’ve encountered are scorpions where are typically smashed by the closest Turkish workman on sight or have their stingers removed. There are snakes on the site as well, I haven’t seen one yet but apparently at the temple there was a five foot snake creeping around. One of the workmen, Ahmet, likes to put the snakes in water bottles and freaking out female students. Ahmet is a character, he smokes all the time while working which means he’ll lift a boulder with a smoke in his mouth, he calls it “energy” when he smokes. We think he might be part fish as well, because we going swimming at a cove near our site after work and he will swim down twenty feet and bring up large rocks, he also jumps off fifty foot cliffs. Amy and I scaled a 25 foot rock face and jumped off, it was a thrill!
My computer crashed but Raquel’s is still fine so I’m able to use her’s until and if I can fix my computer. We finally made it to Gazipasa which is the town where we’ll be staying for the next four weeks, it’s about a 20 minute drive from our dig site. Today Raquel and I took a 6 km round trip adventure to the beach. The water was ridiculously salty but we had a great time floating around in the water. After a nap and a shower Professor Hoff took us on a “walk” which turned out to be more or less a hike. Like mountain goats, we sweated our tails off on a steep 300 m climb up the ancient ruins of Selinus. The view from the top was amazing and I wish I could share the photos but right now I can’t. I don’t think I have ever sweat so much in my life. We cleaned up and all of us went to Konrad’s, who is a very nice guy from the UK, we had a delicious Turkish spiced chicken wok of sorts with peppers and onions and then the table had a round of Effes, Turkish beer, which was a refreshing end to a long, hot day.
Today Raquel and I had a beautiful breakfast, it was a traditional Turkish breakfast with cold cuts of meats and cheese as well as spiced cucumbers, olives, and tomatoes as well as eggs, bread with butter and honey, and apple tea. Our breatfast took outside terrace where we dined next to Bizantyne walls and remnants of a Turkish bath house. There was a little orange cat named Pasha who would do tricks much like a dog before recieving scaps of food as reward.
We then were given a wonderful treatment at Turkish rug store where the owner allowed us to view many of rugs that varried in price from $400, to $12,000, to $45,000, some of the rugs were over 400 years old. Some exploring was done of our neighborhood and we met up with fellow students from UNO who came with us to the Grand Bazaar which is pictured in the above photos. The Grand Bazaar has over 2,000 shops and was really an experience, we bought scarves, decorative plates, and a traditional Turkish tea set. On our way back we ran into some fellow Nebraskans, funny how we seem to find each other in different countries! A girl was wearing a bright red Nebraska shirt so of course we had stop and chat, she and three other students from UNL were finishing up a trip to India and had stopped in Istanbul on the way home.
From dinner, Raquel, myself and our three friends from UNO went to a resturant which had a terrace on the roof where we could see the Blue Mosque, views of the Asian side of Istanbul, and the sea. I had a lamb dish and stuffed green peppers, yum.
Tomorrow we plan on waking up early and having breakfast with our friends from UNO before we grab a shuttle ride to the airport and head off to Gazipasa and start the digging!
Here are some photos of the Blue Mosque, it is literally within walking distance of our hotel, a five minute walk tops. Across the street from the Blue Mosque is Hagia Sophia and also in that area is the hippodrome.
Raquel and I arrived in Istanbul around 1:00 in the afternoon, no problems. After we checked into our hotel, the Royal Sultan Hotel in the Old City, we got cleaned up and headed out for some adventuring and exploring, and most importantly, food. For dinner we had tradition Turkish meat kabobbs (veal) and a take on pizza which was a Indian style naan bread of sorts with veal, peppers, goat cheeses, and amazing spices. For dessert we had baklava, which the Turks claim they came up with not the Greeks, who knows, it was delicious none the less. We also tried a variety of Turkish teas including a chai and apple tea which was out of this world. Tonight was very laid back, we went for a walk and got familiar with the area and saw the Blue Mosque, the Egyptian Obelisk from King Tut III, around 390 AD it was installed in Istanbul, Hagia Sophia, Bosphorus Strait which seperates Istanbul into European and Asia sections which are less than 30 miles apart. The Turks are very friendly and polite, the city feels incredibly safe and pleasant, the atmosphere is clean and Raquel and I have had no problems at all, the trip is off to a wonderful start!
As soon as I have to time and more over, the patience, to upload more photographs I will. Remember I can be contacted through my email, alexjoeckel@gmail.com or skype at alexandra.joeckel for any comments or questions. I would love to read emails from home!
Dis is Russian flight attendant, da? She be wearing red. Also, I threw up all over the Russian terminal so you’re welcome Sarah Palin, just doing my American duty to protect our backyard.
Istanbul was Constantinople Now it’s Istanbul not Constantinople Been a long time gone Old Constantinople’s still has Turkish delight On a moonlight night
Evr’y gal in Constantinople Is a Miss-stanbul, not Constantinople So if you’ve date in Constantinople She’ll be waiting in Istanbul
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam Why they changed it, I can’t say People just liked it better that way
Take me back to Constantinople No, you can’t go back to Constantinople Now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople Why did Constantinople get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Turks’
