life in a non-existent state of being [part III]

Day 4: Wednesday May 22, 2007

For our last day in Cyprus, Ryan and I decided that spending it in Gazimagusa [gahzeemaoosa]/Famagusta would be a swell idea. So, we woke up and ate our complimentary breakfast before taking the dolmus to Girne. From Girne we caught another dolmus to Gazimagusa which put us in town an hour later, approximately 11 am.

Gazimagusa is split into two sections: the new part [boring] and the old part [interesting]. Upon arriving, we skipped the modern city—we didn’t really need to hit up the bank and gambling wasn’t on the agenda for the day—and headed straight to the old part of town.

The Old City houses a number of different historical sites and is surrounded by a set of beautiful walls. People still live in the old city and, while it is filled with a number of little tourist shops, it is nice to see that it is still used by regular residents.

Walking into the Old City through the main entrance, we crossed over a gigantic drawbridge and under a spiky metal gate—you know, traditional castle style. Inside, the streets and buildings were mostly stone, or brick. It was a delicate, quaint, and blissfully quiet little town…a wonderfully relaxing place to spend the day.

Upon entering the city, our first priority was to find a bathroom…boy, did we have to pee! So, Ryan has the good sense to go into one the coiffure shop and ask the owner where there is a bathroom. He was kind enough to let us use it. I went first while Ryan talked to the man and his son. Then I came out and had this delightful little conversation with him:

A: Thank you very much for your hospitality.

C: Don’t mention it! And you don’t have to worry—it’s very clean. It’s small, but I clean it every day. You know, to avoid AIDS and other such diseases.

Yep. There is no way I’m gonna be getting AIDS from that toilet seat. Phew! I was really worried, but he laid my fears to rest…ha!!

We talked with the man a bit longer—he was incredibly kind—and got ourselves a restaurant suggestion in the Old City. He said it was not only impeccably clean but also the only place that made traditional Cypriot food. Sounded good to us…especially knowing his standards of cleanliness! After thanking him profusely and, of course, declining tea, we left and continued on our tour of the town.

The Old City is quite small and easy to walk around. We didn’t walk the walls themselves, but they are supposed to be filled with neat little gates, bridges, and bastions. Within the walls are sights that range through history. We didn’t see everything—much is in ruins and we were kind of ruined out—but some of the highlights included:

1. The Royal Palace of the Lusignans--all that remains is a set of stone archways that lead into a little courtyard filled with cannons and cannonballs [odd?]. During Ottoman rule the palace was converted into a prison.

2. The jail cell of Namik Kemal--a prominent Turkish writer who was exiled to Cyprus [it was dark and gloomy, no pictures].

3. A crazy tree

4. Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque/St. Nicholas Cathedral--originally built during Lusignan rule, this cathedral was converted to a mosque when the Ottoman’s captured the city from the Venetians. A minaret was added by the Ottomans, jarring the beautiful, identifiably cathedral-like, façade. Inside, it is comparatively mosquey, but the long stained-glass windows throughout the hall are reminiscent of the church’s original architecture. Many of the other mosques in Cyprus are similarly converted churches.

5. The King of Famagusta--Ruler of the Tour, he’s the self-proclaimed tourguide supreme in Gazimagusa. I can make no statements on the legitimacy of his claim as I did not take his tour. However, since was the only tour guide in Gazimagusa, I kinda believe him…

After the sights our tummies were rumbling a bit, so we decided to try the restaurant the coiffure had suggested. They had two set menus and I didn’t recognize any of the dishes. So, we randomly picked something comprised of…well, all I could understand was that it was “meat with spinach-like vegetable.”

And well, that's what it was...but, it was pretty darned delicious and nice to have some home-cooked food. The owner took a liking to us, once he found out we were Americans [not such a hard thing to determine], and insisted on talking politics [uugghhh]. He was nice enough, though. Not too critical. So, at his request, we gave him our contact info. I haven't heard from him yet and I don't think Ryan has either.

After declining several offers of tea and coffee we finally got our butts out of the restaurant. I wanted some postcards and we both needed cash, so we went searching around a bit for those things.

At that point, we decided we were over the Old City and it was time to move on. So, we hopped in a cab and headed off to Salamis, ruins of an ancient Roman city.

It was pretty desolate out there and we didn’t know if we’d be able to get a cab back to the main part of town. The last dolmus back to Girne left around 5:30 pm and it was about 2 o’clock when we got to Salamis, so there we were going to have to move pretty quickly through the site.

Salamis was immediately impressive. The entranceway brought us through a set of stone arches into a spectacular gymnasium, surrounded by large marble columns and filled with a number of headless statues. The columns were huge and there were also some nice mosaics remaining on the pathways.

We were, however, a bit skeptical about the locative originality of the sculptures--one of them was placed all too perfectly for photos.

Nonetheless, they were fantastic. Over by the theater there was even one that was headless with its head still somewhat attached! Apparently, when the Christians came threw they beheaded them all. I don't know why this one got to keep it's head and why it has a cross on it, but details.

After meandering through and past the gymnasium the site became significantly less interesting. We walked through sections of ruined walls and followed poorly marked paths to find the Roman baths and a stadium. It was nice, but this was no Ephesus.

After the theater, we got ourselves a bit lost while trying to follow the posted maps. We came upon another group and Ryan thought the guy in front was a private guide, so we followed them for awhile. Then we discovered that they were just as confused as we were.

Our time was running short and the path was long, so we saw what we saw and were pretty content with that. Some of the stuff on the map wasn’t even there—apparently, there are still more areas to be excavated.

Eventually, we came upon a small footpath trodden by numerous other tired visitors who just wanted to get to the beach. While there was still a bit more to see, Ryan and I were hot and the beach looked gorgeous. So, we too took the path.

And yes, the beach was wonderful. We were the only people there, save for one strange speedo donning man who kept doing weird things and staring at us. The water was clear and the perfect temperature. We didn’t have a lot of time, only about half-an-hour, but we managed to soak in the atmosphere a good bit.

Walking along the beach, we slowly headed back to the entrance area of Salamis. There we found a little café and a more formally set-up pier and beach. With the little time we had left, we munched on Magnums [going to the beach isn’t going to the beach unless you eat ice cream!] and enjoyed the view. It’s great when you travel and it’s not high season—peaceful and empty, you can actually enjoy and appreciate what you’re seeing!

Up the hill, back at the entrance, we asked the people at a restaurant where we could find a cab. Graciously, they called one for us and we went out front to wait. In the meantime, we played shadow games and this great one of Ryan came up—see how his arm makes a heart! Aww, how sweeeeeeeeet! Heh.

We got back to center city and caught the dolmus to Girne. From there we headed back to the hotel, just in time to catch the sunset over the sea. After hopping in the shower we went off to have a last dinner. The people at the desk recommended a restaurant at another hotel nearby, which turned out to be wonderful. We sat on a large open deck, right next to the sea, and had a delightful meal. I didn’t really know what to order, so I asked the waiter his suggestion. Oddly, every time we asked “well how is XYZ” he’d respond with the list of ingredients, rather than an opinion. Then again, I’ve received a number of befuddled looks when I ask waiters at restaurants in Turkey for recommendations…I guess they just don’t do that here.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel and slept slept slept. The next morning, we sadly said "toodle-oo" to the great view and the hilarious Hitit Bet: The Future of Betting sign to get ourselves to the airport. From there, we caught a flight to Antalya for a relatively uneventful but enjoyable three day Fulbright conference on the beach. Not such a bad way to reacquaint ourselves with Turkey!

Cyprus is a wonderful and easy place for travel, especially if you’re just taking a short trip. I could have used another two days—I’d like to explore the south a bit more—but I feel generally content with the time we had. The great thing about the island is that it has a rich history but isn’t too large. This set-up allows for a program with a nice balance of both sightseeing and beach sitting. We saw a lot but didn’t feel rushed—it was definitely a great place for an interesting and relaxing little spur-of-the-moment trip!

existing.

Day 3: Tuesday May 21, 2007

Well, Day 3 was the day…the day we attempted to cross the border into the Republic of Cyprus. We really had no idea what to expect, but we were ready for an adventure.

Being me, I ended up waking up at 5 am. While it was not-so-cool to be awake at that hour, I did get some good pictures of the sunrise. Nonetheless, I started out the day on the wrong foot—I was tired and NOT a happy camper.

After finally gaining my morning senses—it took about an hour—I started getting ready. While I was in the shower Ryan woke up and went downstairs to get us some coffee—we were going to be leaving before breakfast was available—which made things better.

Around 7:15 we were on the road. We caught the dolmus into Girne and from Girne we took a dolmus to Lefkosa. In Lefkosa they informed us that the last dolmus back to Girne would be at 7 pm and if we didn’t catch that we’d have to take a cab.

We said “ok!” and made our way to the border crossing. As we neared Ledra Palace [the crossing] I started getting nervous and worried. We had the KKTC stamps in our passports and we never could get a clear and sure answer on whether or not that would be a problem.

We arrived at KKTC customs and they stamped a piece of paper for us with no trouble. We then began our walk across the Green Line.

The Green Line is quite an interesting place. Unfortunately, taking photographs is totally forbidden, so I had to take some mental pictures. The Green Line is basically a wide street that encompasses a number of houses. The houses were abandoned when the line was created by the UN and this is a source of much contention—the people want their houses back! Apparently, you can take tours of the Green Line and on which you see houses that have been split in half—Turkish flags on one side-Greek flags on the other, people’s belongings in the same places as when they left, rotting breakfast on kitchen tables.

Just walking through the area, you can see bullet holes littering the facades of many buildings. The remaining houses are all overgrown with weeds and vines and trees, making the place seem like a jungle. It almost feels like you’re in a guerrilla war zone somewhere in the rainforests of the Congo.

While many of the buildings between the two sides of the Green Line are abandoned and untouched there are a number of active buildings as well, including consulates and a William H. Fulbright center. Why the hell there was a Fulbright center in the middle of the Green Line is beyond me. I mean, it couldn’t be in a more ridiculous place if it wanted to be. When we passed it Ryan and I were pretty shocked.

The Green Line is also chock full of propaganda and signs that are in Turkish when you’re walking towards the Greek side and in Greek when you’re walking towards the Turkish side. Entering from the Greek side there is also an intense billboard with jarring images of all the “recent atrocities committed by North Cyprus.” It’s quite explicit and disturbing, but it’s also dated to sometime in the 90’s.

Anyhow, when we got to the “border” of the Republic of Cyprus, the police guard manning the station didn’t do much of anything! He just took our passports, looked at the pictures, and said "later dudes."

It was totally underwhelming! At the very least I expected some inspection and a stamp! But, then again, we weren’t really crossing a border…at least, that’s the way the southern Cypriots see it. They think the north rightfully belongs to them, they think Northern Cyprus doesn’t exist, so how could we be crossing a border? We weren’t. And that’s why there weren’t border officials on the south side. They were just cops. Pleh.

The process was disappointing, but hey, we made it over! It’s better that a border crossing be easy than complicated, I suppose.

After crossing we popped in a cab and went to the rental car agency.

OH! I ALMOST FORGOT!

On the way to the car place I SAW A NANDO’S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ahhhhhhhhhh!!!

Whew. Ok, continuing. Just had to get that out.

We managed to get an automatic drive car, which was great. For a bit more money we gained a more relaxed ride and the ability to switch drivers. Being the stick shifter of the two of us, I was not particularly keen on having to drive it on the left side of the road. It would be one thing if I was going to be there for many days, but I wasn’t. So, avoiding the added stress of that was something I was more than happy to pay a bit more for.

We only had the car until 5:45 pm. At least, that’s what we thought. We told the guy we were only in town for a day, so he said to us

“Well, if you want to drop it off at the Larnaka Airport for me, since that’s where you’re going tonight, I’d be happy to let you have it for the evening, too.”

Little did he know, we weren’t taking a flight out…we were crossing the border. We didn’t know if we should say that or not, what kind of repercussions it might have, so we kind of had to make up a story. This was the best part, when we started getting really desperate:

Ryan: Well, you know, we’re gonna have to do some stuff back at the hotel, so bringing it here will just be easier.
The Guy: No, no, you can have it until you need to go to the airport.
Ryan: Well…oh wait, Ayla, doesn’t the hotel have a service? Aren’t they going to bring us to the airport?
Me: Oh yeah, definitely! I forgot about that. It will just be easier if we drop it off at the regular time.
The Guy: Hey, I’m just trying to make it easier for you guys. I mean, this car is going to go to the airport right after you drop it off. So…
Ryan and Me: Ah.

And, in truth, it was really cool of him to offer us that. If I had been departing out of the airport I would have done it in a second…especially because a free service is basically the same as having the car. Yeah, our argument didn’t really make sense.

Anyhow, we got out of the situation somehow and continued on our way. Our key point to hit was the town of Pafos and Aphrodite’s Rock, which the guy said was about two hours from Lefkosia. Along the way, in Lemesos, there seemed to be some other good sites that we would check out if we had time.

Ryan drove first and did a good job. The roads were clear, for the most part, so it wasn’t too bad. As we started nearing Lemesos, we decided to try and find some castle we read about in the Lonely Planet guidebook. There was some complicated traffic and construction going on at the turn-off, so we got a little flustered. They love the roundabouts in Cyprus and driving around them is hard enough when you’re on the right side of the road!

While the general highway signs were great, the signs to the historic sites were a bit lacking. Consequently, we kind of fudged our way down to the waters edge. At that point, we had to choose if we should turn right or left. We chose left, but as we drove along it seemed the wrong direction.

Me: Ryan, in which direction are we headed?
Ryan: West.

Well, west is the direction we wanted to be going in so we continued. And continued. Aaaand continued.

Eventually, we gave up. We never found it. We ended up back on the highway at a place before the original turn-off…Yeah, we had been going east.

We weren’t too disappointed, it wasn’t a key site. We were more concerned with Kourion and Kollosi in Lemesos. So, we kept on truckin’.

Eventually, we started seeing signs for the Kollosi Castle. We followed them and found it.

It was more of a fortress than a castle and was actually quite small, but it was pretty nonetheless. There was a long, thin, nervewracking spiral staircase that brought you to the upper floor and the rooftop, from which there was a nice view.

There was a downstairs part, too, with some empty rooms and this one with just a strange cylinder in it.

Outside, it was very dry and dusty—something that surprised both Ryan and myself—and there were a number of cactus growing in the garden. At the same time, there were tropical flowering trees. Meh, who knows what’s really original.

Anyhow, again, the landscaping was well done and there were two incredibly tall trees in the main courtyard. So tall that they nearly reached the level of the top of the fortress! Now these were Trees of Introspection. These deserved the fame and title. However, they had neither fame nor title. However, their enormity can not help but evoke gasps of surprise and awe from an onlooker.

Exploring the fortress didn’t take too long and we soon continued to forge ahead. It was my turn to drive and after a slightly rickety start—the streets were like alleyways here—I got the hang of it.

We started to see signs for the Kourion Museum, which we decided to skip as the guidebook said it was unremarkable, and then signs for Kourion proper. There we went.

Kourion, which was settled first by the Argives and persisted into Roman times, is a beautifully preserved archaeological site situated on a hill with absolutely breathtaking views of the sea.

It has a number of well-preserved mosaics and a reconstructed amphitheater.

I can only imagine how wonderful it must have been to sit in that theater and see out to the ocean. We were there on a perfectly clear day and you could see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles. I think there was more to the site, but we didn’t end up seeing it. I'm content, though…we saw the good stuff.

After sitting in the amphitheater awhile, contemplating life, waxing philosophical, and realizing I was getting hungry, I found Ryan and we continued on our adventure. We took a winding coastal road which brought us through beautiful rock formations and wonderful glimpses of the ocean. It also took us through the British military base that remains in the Republic of Cyprus. Apparently, when you drive through that section you’re under the jurisdiction of British military law, so if they catch you speeding you answer to them.

Eventually, we came upon Aphrodite’s Rock. We parked, hopped out of the car, and took the underpass across the highway. As we exited the dark tunnel we came upon a most beautiful pebbly beach, with a few monsterous rocks and beautiful views of the mountains. It was a surprisingly secluded place despite being next to a highway. The water was warm—I dipped my toes in—and the waves made that persistent rhythmic wave-y noise they make. Delicious!

Filling ourselves up with viewing unfortunately did not concurrently fill our super hungry tummies. So, off we went to find ourselves some lunch. As we left the beach, we noticed a tree that was covered with trash. All sorts of papers and plastic bags were tied to it, as if it was a wishing tree or the Wailing Wall, but I think it was actually just a trash collection strategy...and it sure does work; the beach is spotless!

sidenote: Tiffin tells me that this is indeed some type of wishing tree. People come and tie paper to it for good luck, wishes, getting rid of bad stuff.

When we got back to the car park we thought about where to go for lunch. A few hundred meters back we had seen signs for the “Aphrodite’s Rock Restaurant” [which should have been our first warning] and we decided to go there instead of the dingy little snack bar by the beach. In retrospect, we should have gone dingy.

We got to the restaurant and upon sitting down we immediately noticed the prevalence of words we could understand, but just barely—it was the Irish. The place was absolutely stuffed with tourists from the UK. We spoke in Turkish to make fun of them and tried to focus our attention out the window at the beautiful view, but they were a pretty funny bunch of people.

We got our menus and decided on our orders. I got a fried haloumi sandwich and Ryan got…well, nothing he wanted was actually available [mind you, this menu was huge…like American Diner huge] and ended up with the fish of the day.

Our meal came and, though the service was a bit slow and brash, the food was decent. By the time we finished it was already 2 o’clock and we realized we were gonna have to book it to Pafos. However, paying for the meal cut that idea short.

We got up to the counter and received the bill: 20 Cypriot pounds. Well, we didn’t have Cypriot pounds…we had dollars, euros, and Turkish lira. Apparently, however, the guy only takes Cypriot pounds! I mean, we’re at a tourist hotspot for heaven’s sakes…of all places, this should be the one that takes any currency!

We tried to get him to take our dollars, but we had to do a complicated conversion. It turns out that the Cypriot pound is incredibly strong: 4 Cypriot pounds = 10 dollars. That made our unassuming, lackluster lunch cost a mind blowing FIFTY DOLLARS. Can you tell that I was not happy? I mean, the meal was good but not that good! Anyhow, we didn’t have a choice and we managed to do the conversion. The guy, however, could not understand how we did it. So, we gave up and I paid on a credit card. Lucky me…fifty dollars and surcharges. Super.

Pissed, we left and drove on to Pafos with wild rage in our eyes. Pafos was packed with people and we got a bit lost. Eventually, we made it to the town center. Then, we found it. The destination that was our whole point in coming to Pafos: The Mosaics of Pafos.

It was about 2:45 when we got there and we went to get tickets. However, once again, they only took Cypriot pounds. We didn’t have any and the banks were closed, so we went to the souvenir shop next door and managed to get some money changed.

We started at the introduction building and kind of separated. Then I walked outside and started heading up towards the crowds of people. I had no idea how large this place was and completely lost track of time once I came upon the mosaics.

These things were like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Perfectly preserved, colors included, there are hundreds of breathtaking mosaics all over the grounds of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Actually, the entire town of Pafos is a World Heritage Site. But these mosaics deserve it more than anything I’ve ever seen before.

Just take a moment and look at some of these [sorry the angles are a bit odd]. The human figures are so true to form and the detail of each piece is excruciatingly perfect. It’s an entirely overwhelming thing to see.

Pretty swell, huh?

Unfortunately, my experience was brashly interrupted when I looked at my watch and realized it was 3:30, I had no idea where Ryan was, and we were gonna have to get back to Lefkosia to return the car.

CRUD!

So, I started panicking and looking around for Ryan. Luckily, I found him inside one of the villas and we decided to each take a bit more time to look around and then head out. It was incredibly disappointing to have to leave—this place deserves at least half a day and could probably use an entire day—but I am grateful to have seen what I did. They are amazing. Especially these ones in the villas, now covered for protection. Of course, the photos can not begin to do these mosaics justice and they are a must-see-before-you-die kind of thing. I will be going back. Without a doubt. Agh, just look at them!

While we were rushing, we did have time to each grab one of the incredibly large ice cream cones people were carrying around everywhere. I got a delightful combination of yogurt-melon-fig ice creams and Ryan got peach. They were yumtastic, especially the yogurt flavor, and a nice change from the gummy ice creams of Turkey.

And then we really did have to go. Ryan drove back. Again, there was no traffic so it was easy driving and we made good time. As we reached Lefkosia, we realized we had to fill up the tank, so we tried to get to a gas station. They were all on the other side of the median, however, and it took some crazy maneuvering to get us there. It took additionally crazy maneuvering to get us back.

When we got to the car place, I hopped out to let the guy know we were there—we arrived about five minutes late. But, when I got to the door I realized that…no one was there. The guy had gone ahead and left already! This had been our worst fear for the entirety of the day because, in that situation, we had no idea what to do. All we could think of was driving it to Larnaka Airport, which was totally in the wrong direction and we would surely miss the last dolmus home.

Just as I was about to go tell Ryan, I noticed an emergency/information phone number for the store. I went to tell Ryan, who said “this isn’t an emergency; we have to drive it to the airport.” No way. If there was a number, we were gonna call it! It made absolutely no sense to drive it all the way to the airport if we didn’t have to! Fair enough, it wasn’t an emergency, but it’s not like calling the number would send out the police and fire squads! GAH!

So, we went to the travel agency next door to the car place—our cell phones didn’t work in Cyprus—and the man was nice enough to let us use his phone to call. Of course we reach the rental agency guy who says leave the keys under the mat and the door unlocked and everything will be fine. See? No reason to drive it to Larnaka!

With that problem solved we made our way to the border crossing. Of course, some people want to look at the billboards and take some time to stop by the unexciting Fulbright office at the border…so, we end up moseying along very slowly, ending up at the other side at 6:45 and having to basically run to catch the last dolmus.

But, we made it and even though there wasn’t a scheduled dolmus they had one go. Unfortunately, however, I ended up with a creepy man behind me who kept trying to touch me. He intentionally sat down behind me from the beginning and then started to touch me. Yeah, I wasn’t a fan of that.

When we got back to Girne we decided to catch a dolmus back to the hotel. We got on and it ended up being packed. The back seat was filled with a six person family—2 adults [the father ended up sitting on Ryan’s lap for the ride], 4 kids [all super duper cute, especially the oldest boy who was like a little man].

Eventually the big family got off and it was a bit quieter. And that’s when we heard the news report about the bombing in Ankara. We couldn’t quite make all of it out, but we got the gist of it. It was a bit rattling.

And then I did something stupid. For some reason I thought we were closer to our hotel than we were. So, I had the guy stop and we jumped off. We started walking and we walked about half-an-hour before realizing that we were nowhere near the hotel. So, we caught another dolmus. However, this one took us on an unfamiliar route and we ended up going what seemed like halfway around the world to get back! It all worked out, however.

We got back and got some dinner at the hotel restaurant. Ryan got a second dose of bacon with a club sandwich. It was funny. Then, it was off to bed. I was pooped. We watched the news for awhile and then found Scream I on the television. But, being the lame-o I am, I was too scared and made Ryan turn it off.

Another wonderful day in Cyprus completed. It was particularly enjoyable to have reemerged into the real world—the Cyprus that exists. Actually, existing is nothing special. Not all its cracked up to be, I’d say. It’s pretty much exactly like not existing…just with better mosaics and a Nando’s!

for the sake of completion.

Before I move on to posts about recent trips, I really want to finish up the series I began for my trip to Cyprus. So, the next few posts will be returning all the way back to May. I hate the disconnectedness that comes in doing this, but hey, there are some good pictures. Does that make up for it?

Say 'yes', please.

And, in case you feel the need to remind yourself, here are the previous posts concerning my trip to Cyprus:

1. life in a non-existent state of being [part I]
2. life in a non-existent state of being [part II]

i'm not an archaeologist, not yet a geologist [part V--week 4 and final thoughts]

Week 4, the final excavation week, was comprised of a number of activities. The first priority was finishing the trenches and getting to work on the sketches of them. The trenches were to be backfilled the following week, so there was a significant deadline.

Sepi’s trench (finally) closed early in the week—it was a two week excavation for that one! Robert’s finished soon thereafter and all the workmen were sent up to Tuna’s trench. Having all the workmen in one place was a difficult thing, especially when there wasn’t enough work to keep everyone busy. Usually, having more workmen is actually detrimental because they just talk and take cigarette breaks. That was definitely the case in Tuna's trench. Eventually, however, everything got done and drawing began.

Throughout the early part of the week, I continued to be a swing person going from trench to trench. Then, Wednesday came around.

A film crew from National Geographic was coming to Kerkenes on August 10 and the Palace had to be cleaned up. I didn’t know it, but Scott and Geoff had decided that I would be responsible for getting that done. I was just told that I would be getting up early on Wednesday and going up to the site. So, on Wednesday morning I went up to the palace with Scott, Geoff, and most of the workmen. Noel and Tiffin also came up for an hour or so to fill the holes from Nuri and Pinar’s coring. It was actually a pretty entertaining ride up because we caught Adnan coming out from peeing behind a tree that was mostly out in the open.

We arrived at the site and unloaded the Land Rover. At that point, I was still in the dark about what I was going to be doing. I was pretty confused, but expected Scott and Geoff to say something. The guys were asking me what we were supposed to do. I said “I don’t know” and that’s when I realized that Scott and Geoff were getting in the Land Rover and about to drive away…without having told me what to do!

So, here I am, looking like an idiot as I go chasing after them to ask what I’m supposed to do. I didn’t know if they’d be coming back or what.

I catch up to them and that’s when Scott tells me that the workmen and I will be spending the day…weeding.

Oh, really?
Yep.

And, that’s what I did instead of looking at rocks. I weeded the palace area. We did some other stuff, too, like backfill an old trench and move some particularly dangerous blocks—an amazing sight, I must say…I have never seen strength and teamwork to the level I saw there. But, most of the day was spent weeding and sweeping.

I won’t lie—I was frustrated at first. I wanted to be doing some of my field work because I had been told that in this last week I would be able to. I didn’t expect to be cleaning and weeding and trying to allocate a days worth of work to 10 workmen who had been wary of me since the beginning.

But, while the work was mundane and not really what I had expected to be doing with my time, that day turned out to be quite an outstanding one. It was really the culmination of the prior three weeks and the day when I finally gained Tahir’s respect. I mean, to have Tahir engage me in civil conversation and listen when I ask him to do something that bores the living daylights out of him...it's a real accomplishment!

Honestly, it was incredible. I was in charge of six strong-willed, highly opinionated, egotistical workmen…who accepted me, respected me, listened to me, talked with me, and joked with me. Gone was all the belittling and disappointment. When it was mealtime they actually called me over to sit with them, saying “you are one of us.” I can’t tell you how wonderful I felt. I had struggled throughout the entire excavation to win them over and develop a decent relationship with the workmen. I couldn’t have wished for a better outcome than what I got on that final day.

Plus, I got to spend the last day of excavation with my favorite workmen.

Lokman

Talking Mehmet

Murat

Tahir

White Hat Mehmet

After the palace clean-up day, the rest of the week was spent sitting in the old trenches in the blazing sun desperately trying to get all the sketches done. I was lucky in that I didn’t have to be alone, I got to work with Tuna, but I had a couple of freak-out moments when I just couldn’t handle being stuck in a small space in the most uncomfortable position possible. I was also a little tired of wearing the same pair of jeans as I had been every day for the whole month…they were just a tad stretched out and uncomfortable.

Sorry, Tuna.
(That poor boy witnessed a couple of freak-out incidents where I just jumped out of the trench screaming. It was both funny and not).

And then it was over.

I was supposed to leave on June 30^th, but I ended up getting sick—puking and feeling generally dead—so, I stayed an extra day. Ironically, the day I got sick was the same day that Ismael Bey, a.k.a. Not Cool Representative, left because of family issues. A new rep came and he was quite an interesting fellow...

Young guy, knew a good bit of English, seemed to have a good sense of humor. However, immediately upon walking around the dig house he said, "there's no television and internet here? Television and internet are my life!" Yeah, he wasn't exactly an outdoorsy kind of guy.

Additionally, he claimed to be very health conscious even though he ate a lot of junk food and wasn't exactly slim. But, with all his nutritional knowledge it meant that we were subjected to meals where he continuously touted the benefits of Turkish lavas bread while exaggerating the horrors of eating regular bread...because, apparently, yeast is really really super bad for you! And yet, he drank him self a whole bunch of yeast infested beer. And, for someone so health conscious [he was a vegetarian, too], he sure ate a lot of Betty Crocker Cake Frosting with his breakfast.

sidenote: ok, ok, he didn't know what the canister of frosting was. He didn't realize it was for cakes; he thought it was some kind of sweet spreadable cheese or something. But, he tasted it and it was sweet. That usually means it's full of sugar and not so great for you. But, hey, it didn't have yeast in it!

To top it off, the new representative was very...Turk-o-centric. That means, he was a proponent of the [common] mentality here that everything started in Turkey [my grandmother once informed my mother that the Turks taught the Jews how to kosher chicken]. The top two stories he told me were:

1. The Turks taught George Washington how to build a navy and they are responsible for the development of an American navy.

2. Abraham Lincoln and Elvis Presley descend from Turks.

But, being sick, I mostly just ignored him. He seemed like a decent guy, but I didn't feel the need to engage him in conversation if I was puking.

And so, we've come full circle.
My final thoughts:

Well, I can’t say that the whole experience was anything like what I expected it to be.

Yes, I can say I’m disappointed on many levels. Resources that I expected to have just weren’t there and, in the end, the only geology I had the chance to do was to try and identify some rocks. It was particularly frustrating because my project wasn’t just for me—it was supposed to contribute something to the current and future understanding of Kerkenes and the history of the region.

However, it’s not all bad. In proposing this project my intention was not solely to do geology. I was very much interested in having the experience in archaeology. And, in the end, that is what I ended up getting. In many respects, it wasn’t a traditional archaeological experience, but it did give me some insights into the kinds of ideas and processes used in the field. It was particularly interesting to examine how I approached interpretation compared to the archeologists—it was quite obvious that I was coming from a geologic perspective while they were coming from a more anthropological/archaeological slant.

I just wish there had been more balance between the two fields, that I could have had more opportunities to examine the geology.

But, it is what it is and despite being angry and feeling taken for granted in plenty of instances I did learn a lot. Additionally, I spent a month with a group of incredibly intelligent and interesting people who put me and any ego I have to shame. I only wish I could think and synthesize like Geoff, Scott, Noel, Tuna, Robert, Sepi and Tiffin can.

And then, of course, there was the location—I spent a month in a spectacular [generally forgotten, never visited] part of Turkey. It was the perfect opportunity to learn about Turkish culture/people/thought outside of the Big City. As a female in Turkey it can be hard to have those experiences, so I am grateful to have had the chance.

Finally, there were the Turkish people. More specifically, I’m speaking of the workmen. They taught me a lot and, upon returning to Ankara, I finally felt comfortable with Turkish. Additionally, the people in the village were generally very warm people and were willing to take the time to listen as I struggled to speak Turkish. The young girls who joined me for a few walks were particularly supportive and didn’t treat me like the inept imbecile I was!

Developing my Turkish to a high fluency level was a key goal of my time here and before the dig I was quite upset at how little I had improved. I am eternally grateful to those guys, and to Scott and Geoff, for giving me the chance to be there and be forced to struggle and communicate. If I hadn’t gone to Kerkenes my Turkish would not be halfway to the level it is now. And, it’s only getting better as I continue traveling in Turkey, building upon the speaking skills and vocabulary that I learned at Kerkenes. It really is a swell feeling like you’ve succeeded at reaching a goal.

Experience Grades (outstanding, very good, satisfactory, poor, unsatisfactory):

Research experience: satisfactory
Adherence to original research proposal: unsatisfactory
Fulfillment of expectations: satisfactory
Research and field skills obtained: very good
Language and culture experience: outstanding
People: outstanding
Food: very good
Numbers of tomatoes and cucumbers eaten: outstanding
Time spent outdoors: outstanding
Effect of experience on decisions for the future: very good

Overall: satisfactory!

i'm not an archaeologist, not yet a geologist [part IV--week 3]

The start to week 3 wasn’t exactly splendid—we all woke up that Saturday morning convinced we’d been punched in the face. Robert didn’t even wake up. It wasn’t until we were just about to leave for the site that we realized no one had seen him. Poor thing came running out of his room completely disheveled and anything but happy to be alive.

To add another blow to the already lacking energy level, we realized on the drive up to site that we had forgotten to fill up the water bottles, so supplies were limited for the day. Bah humbug.

My trench was nearing completion—three days later than expected—and the day was relatively uneventful. It mainly consisted of me continuously telling the guys to “just dig deeper.” It was nice to have an easy day, no more pottery and bone, lots of quiet.

Tranquility, however, was not meant to be part of the experience, and the relaxing atmosphere was smashed upon returning to the dig house later that afternoon. It seemed that everyone was going to be coming in for the weekend—Francoise, Pamela, Ben, Kagan, Murat, Nuri and Pinar. The place was pretty stuffed and to get away from it I decided to take a walk.

Unfortunately, upon my return, I also found out that Ismail Bey had gone to talk with Scott and Geoff. He didn’t like the fact that I was a geologist—i.e. not trained as an archaeologist—which I can understand. In reality, however, I hadn’t done anything wrong.

Nonetheless, Scott and Geoff decided to take me off the trenches. I would have another part of a day, but Robert would come over to babysit me, to keep the rep happy. Then, they said, they had a whole assortment of other projects lined up for me to do. Stuff I’d be way more interested in because it was geology. Oh goody.

Now, this bothered me a bit because a) I didn’t need them to find projects for me to do—I had my own!, and b) I was being punished for something that I had never signed up to do—they were giving me these other projects on the grounds that they were supposed to be “more interesting” for me [because they were geology], but it was more to appease the representative. Fine, I can understand that—I’m not a key player in the dig and they’d rather keep the Turkish government happy than have me wreck it for them. Even so, I felt pretty crappy. It wasn’t fair for me to be treated like I was inept and have someone come to watch over me, just to appease the rep.

Oh well. Just bite the bullet and let it go.

The geology project, it turned out, was to work with Nuri and Pinar—geologists from ODTU—on getting cores for geomagnetic dating. I’ll be honest here: that did not interest me in the slightest. It's not really my type of geology and the actual core collecting is not particularly engaging. Oh well.

And, oh the irony! For that project, do you know what I had to do? I sat with Natalie and watched two workers re-open an old trench, and then I watched while Nuri and Pinar take their cores from the area we opened. So, even in doing the geology project, I was still participating more in the archaeology! Heh. Granted, taking cores like these is pretty straightforward…there’s not much geology to do there anyhow.

Yes, it was boring. And relatively pointless. And the rep came over to watch and was appeased.

By the time they finished with the cores, it was only early-afternoon. So, I asked Scott if I could go over to Sepi’s trench. At least in that case I would be able to under a trained archaeologist and the rep couldn’t complain or yell at me. Hooha.

Sepi’s trench was a pretty incredible place. It extended 23 meters in length and 2 meters in depth. There was a huge section with this incredible banded black and white rock, a couple of walls, a little section turning out great bone like a pig’s jaw, and then areas of nothingness. Most of the guys had been sent over to work in the trench, too, so I had a good time talking and laughing with them. It was definitely one of the more interesting and enjoyable trenches to spend time in.

And that’s where I spent the rest of the week working. It wasn’t particularly eventful since the trench had been open 1.5 weeks and it was beginning to wind down. Luckily, we always had ridiculous animals to keep our spirits up—one morning we had a sheep and goat attack. The goats were quite fond of our dirt pile and did their natural goat-climbing-a-psuedomountain bit. From that point they became quite keen on jumping into the two meter deep hole that lay before them and it took all our efforts to get them to shoo. We had already come one morning to find a dead mouse in another trench; we really didn’t need a goat as well. Oh, those silly silly goats!

Back down at the house, things continued to be a bit hectic. People were constantly flowing in and out, though the bulk left on Monday. Then Tuna came back—visa and all—along with another ODTU student, Ahmet, who was working with Geoff in the palace area.

While Francoise and Pamela, Nuri and Pinar all left on Monday, Ben, Kagan, and Murat stuck around. Murat was there to do some photography—he’s an archaeological photographer—and mostly spent his days incredibly bored, as Noel and Tiffin rushed to get things prepared for photographing.

Ben, a hilarious Dutch man working in archaeologic drawing and teaching at Bilkent University, kept me and Tiffin laughing. He mostly spent his time down at the depo, doing professional drawings of some of the more important pieces.

His 11-year-old son, Kagan, had also come along. Kagan is quite interesting. His father is Dutch and his mother is Turkish. He is definitely getting a bit of the Turkish brainwashing in him—everything in the world comes from Turkey, you know—and has a tendency to drive people a tad nutso.

One particularly funny interaction with him went as such:

scene: I am sitting on the balcony after a long day, sipping my water with lemon and mint. I sit staring into space for about an hour. During that time, Kagan walks by a couple of times. At one point he says to me:

K: “Don’t you get bored, just sitting there?”
A: “It’s been a long hard day, I’m taking a rest. It’s not boring to me.”
K: “Oh, I see. I mean, if it were me, I wouldn’t get bored. I have an imagination, you see. I can make things up in my head and keep myself from being bored. But, I don’t know how old you are, so I don’t know if you can do that.”

Heh. This explanation was particularly ironic because it was entirely untrue—that kid couldn’t keep himself from being bored if you gave him an amusement park!

Another time, he came by with a new paper airplane he’d made:

K: “Have you ever seen a paper airplane like this one?!”
A: “Yes.”
K: “Oh.”

My, how wonderful it is to shoot little kids’ dreams, hopes, and bragging rights down, down to the ground!

Otherwise, the week was uneventful, and I took lots of walks and Tiffin and I religiously watched the younger workmen playing in evening soccer games.

One evening, though, turned into a major gossip fest between Tiffin, Tuna, and me. That is where we learned the unexpected and somewhat dismaying news that Murat was married with child on the way. We also learned that Lokman, who said he was 22, was actually 19. We also learned the ages of all the guys, which tended to shock us—men in Turkey age quickly, probably from all the hard work out in the sun, and they are always much younger than I expect them to be. We had a pretty good time, challenging each other over who had the better and bigger gossip. It was particularly hilarious when I told Tuna something and he said “I’ve been here four years and I didn’t know that! How do you know that?!”

In that moment, I was a champion. A champion!

The week ended, of course, with another Friday trip…another eventful Friday trip:

Sepi and Robert were quite keen on seeing some archaeological ruins. Tiffin, Tuna, and I were quite keen on having a picnic. To make everyone happy, we decided to do both.

So, it was off to Akdag...Osman Bey, driving driving driving. Uneventful. Until we get to Akdag and try to travel through it.

Yes, we get stopped by a cop. Apparently, Osman Bey didn’t have the proper documents to be driving us around in the way he was. He started getting upset. Tuna got involved. Osman Bey and Tuna went into the police office. They invited the rest of us for tea. Of course. After much wordplay and many telephone calls we were finally let through.

In Akdag we visited an old Armenian church. It was interesting…? Actually, it was kind of unfortunate how run-down and graffiti-covered it had become.

Oh well, the donkeys that were hanging out in the garden were funny. And the walls around the church were made of perfect perfect perfect textbook limestone. That calcite. That calcite! I get teary just thinking about it.

After that we went to an old old old prison in the middle of town. It was locked but after some finagling we managed to get someone to come open the door and let us in. Tuna pointed out the great old carvings on the wall, like this horse and all the tick marks the prisoners made [counting off the days].

Next, it was off to another set of ruins. The road was a bit twisty and we didn’t have a good idea as to where we were really going. When we finally got there, the result was unspectacular and the hike up to the site was a challenge. Nonetheless, the view was nice and the cool breeze was a relief. The baby turkeys in the cemetery at the base of the hill were also a source of much amusement. They are pretty ugly…in a cute way.

After sitting around there awhile, waiting for Osman Bey to finish praying at the nearby cami, we headed back the way we came and looked for a decent picnic spot. There were a few bladder emergencies and it seemed like finding a place to just settle down took forever. It was hard to find a secluded place, though—all the cesmes were stuffed with people cleaning carpets and newly shaved sheep’s wool.

Eventually, after much pleading by the need-to-pee-ers, we stopped. It was a nice, relaxing picnic…something we had planned to do on previous Friday trips but never successfully did. Tuna showed us The Stick Game, one of his favorite pastimes [and it showed, he was a pro], and it was played for awhile. Then, we packed up and went home.

It was an early day, but that was ok. A big group was coming in from the UK for the night and we were going to have a barbeque. And what a barbeque it was. Mmm. Despite the concerns over his ability to do it, Mehmes made one hell of a feast. The chicken was out of this world. Too bad the leader of the UK group was a vegetarian…heh. Lets just say, we had a lot of leftovers.