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.

can there be a better birthday?

I doubt it.
Not when you wake up after a spectacular trip to eastern Turkey with your equally spectacular foodie friend Yvonne and find:

a) you can take a shower because the water is running

b) this image in your inbox [with a "happy birthday to you. love from mom and dad" attached]:




That's right.
Le Creuset. Limited Edition Color.
Now proudly owned by one Ayla P.
Booyah.


other birthday highlights included:

1. five (nearly) pristine ginger gums and a very long CVS receipt c/o the Paleobotanist

2. a pretty pretty little sketch from Hum c/o Auntie Andi

3. a lovely card from Grandma and Grandpa

4. a successful dinner [first time I've actually cooked in about two months] and a tasty plate of cookies with tea at the pastahane down the street

5. a totally rockin' postcard from Lindsay D.

6. excellent fresh figs, a perfectly selected watermelon [thanks to training by dear Yvonne], and half a frozen banana

7. finally opening the stash of dried cranberries the Paleobotanist sent months ago

8. 93-degrees rather than 99-degrees

9. water-water-water-water-water-water-water

10. putting up all the printed pictures and maps from recent travels, making my map room one crazy cool photolog

11. realizing all was well and good after having a few moments of incredible, insatiable panic at the thought that all my music and digital photos had been deleted

12. love and wishes from friends and fishes [I was particularly fond of Nan's wish for my day to be a rainy one]--thanks to everyone, it was really nice to hear from you all


a swell birthday, indeed.

susuz hayat...

...gercekten cok zor.

--Burcin Buyukpamukcu

Indeed it is true, as my dear cousin Burcin said, "waterless life is really very hard."

Folks, things in Ankara are still bad news bears with the water situation. The mayor went on CNN Turk the other day to declare that the water would be turned on for the next 10 days. After that period, water cuts would be reconsidered. It would all depend on how people used water in those 10 days.

It's a hard choice for the government. First, the water pipes are old and can't handle the constant changes in pressure. Reinstating the water cuts may just result in more water wasting--more pipe explosions. On the other hand, apparently, there's no water.

Except, wait, what is this I hear? The mayor was warned years ago about this problem and decided that the subway system was more important than updating the water system? So, now he's depending on the new Kizilirmak project? And we actually have enough water to last us six months but he decided to start the water cuts now to speed up the project?

What now? What's going on? Just tell me [us] -- is there water or is there not?!?!?!

Conspiracy theories abound [the fault of Zionists anyone?], the government is being blamed for neglect, the mayor is blaming the DSI while the DSI is blaming the mayor...in the end, though, that doesn't matter. What does matter is that people are still sans water. For example, my cousin Burcin. The depo in her building has dried up. Additionally, people are getting sick and having reactions to the heat+no water combo. For example, my aunt Firuzan. Something's gone wrong with her face.

Someone, anyone, has got to take responsibility--the truth needs to finally and clearly be given and people need to be helped. After the 10 day grace period, the water cuts will likely be restarted...to an even greater extent. Instead of two days off, the water cuts may be raised to four days off. Health officials are wary, suggesting that one day off is the only acceptable amount of time to continue secure hygiene.

People are angry. They are angry at AKP, blaming them for protecting mayor Gokcek and not firing him. They are angry at Gokcek for not heading the warnings. They are angry because new reports show that Turkey, in general, is undergoing rapid desertification. They are angry and they are scared. With good reason, I'd say.

At the same time, those with consistent water aren't exactly conserving. I see huge loads of laundry put out to dry. At midnight I hear my neighbor washing her balcony [while her child screams at the top of his lungs to other children on other porches where their mothers are washing their balconies].

Indeed, my water is back on. It was a bit faulty for awhile. I was a bit worried because I saw my neighbors with lines full of laundry while I wasn't getting a drip. True, I'm on the top floor of my building.

I'm trying to conserve. Those efforts are not exactly aided by the temperatures that are being experienced here. It literally feels like I'm burning in hell. It is horribly hot with no kind of respite, no breeze, no water. Ice cream melts...while sitting in the freezer. Of course, my mom can always put it into perspective: "think about those soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq who are living in 140-degree weather with heavy bulletproof suits on."

True, it's not that bad...but it's not that much better. I live in a state of constant dehydration. I can't even make my body move sometimes because it's so weighed down by hot air...

So, I'm leaving...again. I feel pathetic because I've only been back three days and I can't tough it out. I don't know how the people are doing it...especially the devout Muslim women. I don't know how my aunts are doing it.

I feel pathetic, but at the same time I feel it's sort of reasonable. I am worried about getting sick. If I'm gone I'm not consuming water. In some way, Gokcek was right about the whole "take longer holidays to lower the pressure on the system" deal.

I'm lucky that I have the resources to do this...I'm very lucky. I'm also lucky that the ticket prices are low to the places I want to go visit. In some ways I feel like I should stay for solidarity's sake, but at the same time it's a great excuse for me to travel. Additionally, all of my family in Turkey has encouraged me to get away if I can.

Agghhhh!

I don't have a good way to reconcile my internal conflict, but the fact of the matter is that i'm leaving...tomorrow morning. I'm going out East for five days. It will be a welcome respite and a chance to spend some time with my friend Yvonne. I will also have a chance to see some places that I have wanted to see for a long time, like Ani, Mt. Ararat, and the castle on Lake Van. It's also one of the few opportunities that I have someone else to travel out East with, a fact that brings much comfort to my parents [and myself].

In the end, I think it's a good choice. I'm ok with it. Actually, I'm secretly [or not-so-secretly] thrilled about it.

But, dear reader, it means I will be gone from you. I will be back soon. Really, it's just five days! And then I will give you the new updates on the situation...and move on to more enjoyable stories, like all these trips!

And, as always, I'd love to hear from you and of your personal going-ons. So, do email me sometime!

So, until my return...

May your days be waterfull. [ha!]

i'm not an archaeologist, not yet a geologist [part III--week 2]

Week 2 started much like week 1 ended. Then, Tuna came.

Tuna opened a new trench and I was assigned to work with him. It started out rough with the guys being pretty tough, though they didn’t verbally abuse me as much as ignore me. That was because Tuna was Turkish and could understand them and thereby give them a hard time in return.

Tuna is going to the University of Arkansas in August and he had a few visa issues to deal with while he was at Kerkenes. Consequently, soon after getting to the site he actually had to leave again. The day before he left, Scott came and told me that I would be taking over the trench…

Hi. Yeah,I was not expecting that and, I won’t lie, it made me pretty nervous. The thought of having to direct a trench of guys who despised me was not a thrilling one. Additionally, it was nerve-wracking because I was taking on a responsibility for something that I hadn’t signed up to do. What if I screwed everything up? Poor Tuna had to deal with some general unpleasantness from me for a bit. Then, I got over it.

Tuna, in response to my worries, was great. He could sympathize with my frustrations and had had a similar experience with the workers his first year—the only difference was that he knew Turkish and could strike back. He tried to help the best he could and, amazingly, he managed to make the workers recognize, talk, and listen to me. Mostly, for that day-and-a-half before he left, he always deferred the workers’ questions to me—“Tuna, what do we do now” “Ayla will tell you”—and would leave me alone at the trench while he went off to take notes. As a result, the guys got used to interacting with me and when Tuna left they had no problem listening to me. Better yet, they actually talked to me.

I ended up with a pretty great group of guys—Mustafa, Ilhamid, Lokman, Talking Mehmet. They were mostly patient and took their time with me, often helping me improve my Turkish. Soon we even got to a point where we could joke—a serious accomplishment for me and my Turkish skills. Sometimes, though, Ilhamid would start tense conversations about politics, economics, philosophy, and religion and Talking Mehment would make things awkward at least once daily by professing his undying love for me. Usually, though, Mustafa or Lokman would break the ice, the former by doing something ridiculous to impress me and the latter by starting a new conversation.

In the middle of the week, we suddenly hit a huge patch of ceramic and bone. It was a small section horizontally, but it extended vertically about 60cm and into the walls. Additionally, the fragments were so poorly preserved that taking them out was hell on earth. Consequently, it became a remarkably frustrating and uncomfortable task—Lokman and I spent nearly two entire work days sitting in the middle of the trench under a blazing sun and 90-degree weather trying to get pieces out.

Then, it all took a turn for the worse…

One day, Ismail Bey came over to see how things were going in the trench. He came at a particularly heavy time for ceramic and bone. It was close to the end of the day and we were all hot, tired, and dehydrated. He watched as I pulled some pieces out and then he went over to our collections bags, dumped them out, and examined the finds. Suddenly, he started chiding me, telling me that I wasn’t careful enough, that I was taking the pieces out too haphazardly and too quickly. Mind you, he’d been there about ten minutes and knew nothing about the situation.

He left and nothing happened. He chided me again later that night. A few days later he came back and attacked me again, this time over a piece of painted pottery that we’d pulled out…because it was broken…but it was broken before we started taking it out.

I started getting frustrated with his attacks, but on Wednesday a great storm rolled in making excavation impossible. So, I got out of getting yelled at for my poor excavation skills for the day. The replacement, however, was not so great—it was freezing cold [they actually lit the furnace] and I had to spend my day with my hands in cold water washing pottery. If you know anything about my hands and what happens when they are cold, you can imagine this was not a pretty sight. But, it had to be done.

Thursday was our half-day, so luckily I didn’t have to deal with the issue again as we spent part of the day drawing and the afternoon in Sorgun.

Another release from the week's frustrations came in a couple of good walks alone and with Tiffin through the village and surrounding fields...

...purple wheat, ugly little chickens, donkeys hanging out on porches, huddling fat-tailed sheep. Really, how could you not be in a better mood after seeing all that?

sidenote: Here's a fact about fat-tailed sheep [care of Scott]. Apparently, their tails were never that fat, they've been bred to be that large. As a result, they can no longer reproduce on their own. The shepherd has to stand there and hold the tail of the sheep up for mating to take place!

Friday I got out of the chiding too—we took a trip to Mt. Erciyas and Kayseri. Erciyas was beautiful, but unfortunately we weren’t able to hike up.

The poppies and wildflowers were also out in full force, adding a lovely touch to the already pretty pretty environs.

We drove around the mountain and then went on a hunt for lunch. Sepi really wanted Iskender, which I relayed to Osman Bey. So, we went on a search…an unsuccessful search. However, since I had told Osman Bey we wanted Iskender, I was blamed for all the running around…but the fact was, I wanted manti [Kayseri is famous for its very tiny manti]! In the end, we drove all the way back to Kayseri and, after some more roundabout walking, we found a place in Noel’s guidebook that allowed us to get both manti and Iskender. How ‘bout them apples?

After lunch, Tiffin and I went to a carpet place that the group had visited the prior year and Sepi had frequented on other occasions. The guy spoke great English and although he didn’t remember Tiffin, the mention of Sepi brought excited recognition. With Sepi came discussion of another Turkish girl who had worked at Kerkenes, Bike [Bee-kay], who the guy claimed was “my best friend.” Since Tiffin said she new Bike, the guy called her up and made Tiffin talk to her. It was a bizarre experience, but hey, the more connections we had the better!

We didn’t have a lot of time before we had to be back at the van, but the intro schmoozing had to be done. We had our tea and, just as the guy started the carpet show, in walked the rest of the group. Apparently, one of the people at the shop spotted them at the cami and made them come for a visit.

Unfortunately, this renewed the schmoozing as the guy wanted to talk to Sepi, but eventually we got back to business. Long story short, after a few grueling nail-biting hours we all walked out store. I ended up with two kilims—older and well used, but they have a lot of character. I also got them for a good price, less than what I expected at least. Speaking Turkish helped, I reckon. Robert, in turn, hemorrhaged money but ended up with some outstanding pieces. Tiffin also ended up with a good deal on a pair of beautiful rugs—couldn’t take one and leave the other for a stranger [as grandma would say]. It’s like separating twins!

It was getting late. My carpet had to be repaired a bit and they said it would only take 15 minutes. Yeah, 15 minutes of Turkish time a.k.a. an hour. I felt bad for making everyone wait, but it wasn’t so bad as we sat and chatted with the owners for awhile.

At some point, one of the young guys brought Tiffin a rose. When the older man discovered that I didn’t have one he rushed out and picked one for me, too. Then, for Noel, he put together a nice big rosy bouquet. The smell was absolutely delightful!

Scott said later that the young fellow originally wanted to give me a rose, but when he discovered I was unavailable he was just as happy to give one to Tiffin. Oh Turkish men, so swiftly their love flies to another!

It was 7 o’clock by the time we finally started on our way back to Kerkenes…much later than we had originally planned. The sun was going down and the light on Erciyas Dag as we drove away was striking. We made it back to Sorgun around 10 o’clock and stopped at “the best fish place in town,” where they only serve one type of fish…the one they keep in the fountain. Since Tiffin and I don’t care for fish we skipped out on the delight and ordered soup. The grilled fish took awhile and we were done eating by the time it came, but it looked pretty good. By the time we were done it was late, but everyone went home full and happy…even Osman Bey!

wanderlust and waterlessness.

Whew! What a whirlwind month. I've been out-and-about in the world and I'm finally here to report back...with loads of pictures, of course.

Before I start up on my most recent activities, however, i'd like to finish a few series I began. Namely, Kerkenes and Cyprus. After that, we'll be back to a [semi]regular flow.

Unless, that is, the water situation in Ankara continues as it is...

I returned to Ankara last night amidst a three- to five- day water cut in the city. Since the beginning of August water has been cut-off regularly, two days off-two days on. This past week, the water was turned on again and a pipe burst when it couldn't withstand the rush of water. Potable water flooded streets and water reserves dropped to 4%.

Water has been a major problem in the city this year. With daytime temperatures consistently between 95-112 F sun galore and no sight of rain, Ankara has undergone a serious drought. Additionally, the lack of rain and snow in the winter and spring gave us an unusually low reservoir to begin with this summer. A new pipeline is being created to bring water from the Kizilirmak River, but it's not expected to be up and running until November. Furthermore, the water resource infrastructure in Turkey is quite old and has not been well maintained, causing problems such as burst pipes and inadequate retention.

It's a bad situation. People are traveling far outside of Ankara to stand in line for hours in the sun to fill canisters from fountains. Hospitals are strained, some are not accepting new patients unless there is an emergency. Water-borne disease is a concern, causing schools and universities to consider delayed start. Using water from taps that have recently been cut-off can also result in sickness. Health professionals are recommending all water is boiled anywhere between 10 minutes and 6 hours. Conflicting reports.

The water cuts should have been started in May, but with the election looming the mayor of Ankara chose to delay, hoping it would serve to gain votes for AK Parti. Indeed, AK Parti did win, but it's backfiring on him now as people are calling for his resignation. He, in turn, is calling this shortage a result of Global Warming and "God's will," asking people to pray for rain [rain prayer sessions have been organized in the city] and telling people to take longer summer holidays to ease the strain on the city's water supplies. He, in turn, has changed his habits--instead of taking a shower every day, he only washes his hair--and has encouraged people to do the same...and they might, if they had water to begin with. Though I doubt it--this morning my neighbor threw a big bucket of water on her balcony to clean it.

Thursday evening, the burst pipe was apparently fixed--earlier than expected--and water was turned on again. When I arrived home last night, I had water. This morning, however, it was shut-off again. This despite the fact that the mayor has claimed no cuts would occur for 10 days. I'm confused.

I think everyone is confused.

As a result, I may end up doing some more traveling, getting out of Ankara to places where there is water and where there's no concern of disease. At the moment, I don't anticipate that will be necessary. I'll try to keep you abreast of things as they progress.

In the meantime, prepare for massive posting and picturing. woo-wee!