Field School: The Dig, Day 6

     Do you want to hear a bunch of teenagers and adults sing "Rain Rain Go Away" after not hearing it for several, literal years? Go to a dig site that is usually dry and simple dirt during an unnaturally rainy summer.
     I wasn't the first one at breakfast for once, and I sat in my usual seat and ate my usual breakfast. Instead of having sliced sausage and buttered bread, I made it into a sandwich today (wild, I know). I was one of the first people out to the shoe shed, and I put on my boots and headed to the bus. The weather was pretty overcast, so we were worried about the rain.
     We were right to be worried.
     We continued digging where we were, but at around 9 a.m., it began to rain. There had been a small drizzle beforehand, but this rain looked like it wasn't going to stop. Angela suggested that we take our break then so that we would be able to keep digging if the rain stopped, but wanted to give it a chance to pass. So, our break that we usually have around 10:30 a.m., we ended up taking a little after 9 a.m. This irritated me a little because I was finally getting into a groove with my section of the square in which I was working. Part of me wanted the rain to stop right away, part of me wanted to just have it rain harder so that we didn't have to keep doing the go-and-stop, stop-and-go nonsense.
     Even though I should have saved it for later because I'm super cranky when I don't eat by a certain time, I ate my power bar and had some water. Luckily, about forty minutes after the rain started, it stopped. We made our way back to the site, where many of our areas were covered in water or just way more wet than we wanted them to be. Thank the gods I decided to buy kneepads before I came here.
     We continued working in our sections, but at some point, one of the instructors was smoking near the square, and I had a coughing fit. I couldn't breathe, and when I didn't stop, Angela asked if I was okay and I said I was allergic to the smoke and the other person finished her cigarette and went elsewhere. Later, when I told Angela I was dizzy from the cigarette smoke, she said that the woman smoking was far away - sure, but she was still standing right next to our dig site and smoking while the wind is blowing. I'm really sensitive to it; that's why I put it on my form before I went under my allergies!
     Due to the fact that I was extremely dizzy and lightheaded, I kept standing up in a daze, and Anglea told me to sit down and take a break. While I was sitting, she told me to look through her binder to find the document sheets about the site in which we were currently digging. I flipped through it quickly, and upon inspecting it more thoroughly, I noticed all the paperwork was for another square in the site, and only for that square. None of the information I was looking for could be found, so I had to wait for Angela to come back over to let her know this. She checked everything too, so we're wondering where the papers went, but she assured me that we had scans so we would use those if we needed to.
     Once I was feeling a little less woozy, I was able to get up and walk around a bit. The first thing I did was sketch the square in which we were working to show any new or more detailed features. Angela had me fill out the introduction to our field journals and what was going on in every square, which I could notate in my field journal as well. I did all of these things until it was time to leave and lunch wasn't all that appetizing today, either.
     We had a decent break time between lunch and lecture, so I went swimming with Cyrene, Zoe, Gena, Sydney, Elizabeth, and Mathilde. After Jianing left the building from getting a massage, we all went in to use the sauna and steam room. I stayed the whole time for the sauna, but only sat in the steam room for a short while, but it did help my throat and chest a lot compared to earlier.
     The lecture today was on epigraphy, which was really interesting. It was also one of the only times we've had time in between lecture and dinner, so a lot of people went back to their rooms. I just chilled and ate chocolate until it was time for dinner. The group switched up their table habits to see what would happen, which was an interesting turn of events.
     The dinner was fried peppers filled with cheese, and they were cold. It wasn't very appetizing; I ate one and then Jianing told me she had ordered fish and convinced me to just order something since I couldn't eat the dinner. This was a good choice because I ordered potatoes ("French fries" but they look like flat, doughy chips) and they were filling. I stayed and talked with Cyrene, and occasionally jumped into the conversation between Mathilde, Ivan, and Siyu.
     Elizabeth had decided to watch something again, and most of us watched an episode of Nailed It and then we all decided to go to bed. Tomorrow will be another adventure. 

Field School: The Dig, Day 5

     My morning started off with an intense cramp in my right leg that woke me up; I wasn't surprised because we had walked nearly 20,000 steps in Plovdiv yesterday. Since it was 5:30 a.m., I thought I would get up and begin my day so that I would be able to get some things done, since I hadn't finished some of my other blog posts yet, so I worked on them a bit. It was the first time I was not the first person at lunch because I went down a little closer to 6:40 a.m. instead of right at 6:30 a.m., which is when breakfast is supposed to start. One of the things that was exciting about breakfast was that a person had messaged me on Instagram asking me about how I got to an archaeological dig and what I had done for school because he was interested in Ancient Rome, so I talked up the program and offered to help in the future if he ever needed it. It was a good feeling!
     It looked like everyone was pretty beat because of how much we did in Plovdiv, we were less rested than usual, even compared to when we stay up late. We got our shoes, took the bus to the site, and started working. We were all on the one side of a square while Ivan was doing something different with a feature that was sticking out of the wall of the square. Mathilde, Siyu, Jianing, and I were all working in stripes or rotating who was checking the dirt for findings and taking the wheelbarrow. I dug in two different places, but I was mostly at the wheelbarrow today.
     Our break went by super quick. I didn't drink any tea because I had plenty of water and I just ate the tea biscuits because I was tired and had finally changed which pants I was wearing so I forgot to bring a power bar to eat. The tea biscuits are fine enough, but I want something to fill me before we have our late lunch at 2 p.m. It says 1 p.m. on the schedule, but it's usually 2 p.m. by the time we eat, and if you know me, you know that's my limit before I get extremely cranky about lack of a meal.
     We got back to work, and right after the break, it began raining! It was a light rain but there was a lot of it, so we were worried we would have to pack up again, but it passed quickly enough. (A fun fact we learned when it was raining that our supervisor told us was that in Bulgaria they say that if the sun is shining when it's raining, that's when the bears get married; she doesn't know why they say this, but they do - she said it was most likely just a folk belief.) Luckily, I had brought my raincoat and decided to cover my bag and my water under it to keep dirt off of both, but mostly because my waters kept getting too warm in the sun. I put my field journal and Angela's notebook and pen under my jacket as well along with Siyu's bag so that they wouldn't get wet. As soon as the rain subsided, we got back to working more intensely.
     The mass material was most of what we've found thus far, so our special finds have been pretty slim. The first of our special finds wasn't even found by us, it was found by one of the supervisors with his metal detector in our pile of dirt, but I believe that was on Saturday. I don't think we've found anything since then.
     We stopped at 1 p.m. and sketched the part of the square we were working in and wrote all the information about it in the field journal. I don't think my field journal is as intense as it could be, but part of my problem with the field journal is that I have to write on pages that are squares and not lines. If I had a field journal that had graphing type paper on the left and lines on the right, I would have an easier time. Additionally, the standard size of paper in Europe is something called A4, which is about 8.27 × 11.69 inches, so none of the papers I'm given fit into my notebooks, which is frustrating.
     The sketch and the journal entry didn't take me long and I packed up and took two of the boxes to carry back to the barrack. Jianying saw me struggling and took one off my hands for me, and Siyu grabbed something that was haphazardly on top of the other box I was still carrying, which was just trash. We put everything away in the barrack and Alex, the son of one of the instructors, helped us put things away. Everyone else was still doing their field journals, so I washed my hands and got onto the bus when Gena mentioned it.
     The ride back to the hotel, I sat with Shahruz and talked with him for a bit, but everyone seemed very tired and hungry, and a lot of people seemed cranky. We got to the hotel, and Angela told us that our bus would be back to take us to the museum for the lecture at 4:40 p.m. Today, we had cold cucumber soup again, chicken and potatoes in some kind of sauce, and then fruit for dessert. I can only eat so much of the cucumber soup before I have to stop; I don't mind it, but it's mixed with yogurt and it's cold, and I'm technically lactose intolerant, so I don't want to go overboard. I had most of the chicken, but the skin fell off into the sauce so I didn't bother with it, and the potatoes were good, but all of it was so hot, it was hard to eat, and I was impatient, so I just burnt my mouth instead. I don't eat peaches, so I thought that this would be a good time to go upstairs and get my shower.
     After my shower, I took some time to catch up on the blogs that I haven't been able to publish because the nights or days I wanted to write them, I was either too busy or too tired to finish them. We were told to meet for the bus a little earlier than it showed up, so I was one of the first people out waiting.
     We went to the museum for a lecture about coins and coin minting in Thracian areas; I assumed this meant we would be walking in the galleries and talking about those coins, but we ended up in a basement with a long table. This frustrated me because I didn't bother bringing my notebook because I thought we would be standing the whole time. So, instead, I just listened and tried not to nod off. During the lecture, we did learn that the hotel we're staying at, Villa Terres, was named after Teres II, the king of the Odrysians in middle Thrace from 351 B.C.E. to 342 B.C.E. Angela pointed out that the owner spelled the name wrong and doesn't know why he had spelled it with two R's when traditionally it's only one R.
     On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the supermarket first, and I spent nearly forty leva on chocolate and some pop - they had Elderflower Fanta, I had to try it. Also, I got a big Cherry Coke so I would stop buying them from the hotel bar. Everything else was candy, chocolate, and paprika flavored Ruffles.
     We all had dinner (during which I cleared up a misinterpretation I had this morning when I thought Ivan had said "that's a bit much" in response to me saying "Good morrow, fellows," but the bit much was in reference to the I <3 Bulgaria bag I bought in Plovdiv to replace my other bag that began to die...) and then gathered together and managed to get The Prince of Egypt to play on the big television. We were told the drinking game that went along with it, and my drink was almost gone before the first five minutes of the movie, but I stuck with only one beer.
     It was time for a quick shower and then some YouTube and a chat with Folklore Fiancé before bed.

Field School: Plovdiv (July 29, 2018)

     Plovdiv is a city that's been continually inhabited for about eight thousand years, so it makes for an interesting city to visit, where the styles of architecture and culture are often mixed. This city will also be the European Capital of Culture in 2019, which is something I had never heard of before, but once I looked into it, I was convinced that it was well-suited to hold that title.
     Due to the shenanigans I engaged in the night before, I woke up a bit stiff, but at least I didn't have a hangover. I got dressed and headed down to breakfast, but the door was locked to both the restaurant and the door to the back where the pool is, so I went back upstairs and waited on the couch for someone to come out. Once someone showed up, we both headed down to breakfast where the door was unlocked this time, and I grabbed my usual breakfast. We all talked and then waited for the bus.
     We got a more comfortable bus this time since it was taking us to an excursion rather than just going to the dig site, and it had seatbelts, which our previous buses had not had, so we were told to put them on. The ride to Plovdiv was about an hour, an hour and a half, so much people dozed off while we were on our way. I have a hard time sleeping on public transportation, so I managed to stay awake the whole time. The bus driver stopped for gas about half an hour before we reached Plovdiv, so we were told to use the restroom if we needed it. Angela informed us that when we got to Plovdiv, there would be a walking tour first, and then we would go to lunch, and then we would have some free time to see other things or go shopping - which many of us were excited about. Since we started digging, this was the first day we didn't have to dig, so we were happy to have the break.
     It was supposed to rain, so Angela suggested we bring our raincoats if we had them, but I put on a long sleeve shirt (mistake one) and brought the raincoat just in case (mistake two). I should have just worn and t-shirt and said I would deal with it, but alas.
     Anyway.
     Once we got to Plovdiv, our first stop was at the Archaeological Complex where the Small Basilica was, which dated back to the 5th-6th century C.E. The outside looked modern, but when you went inside, you got to see all of the conserved and protected mosaics from the original Basilica. There was a film presentation about Plovdiv that we watched in a little section above the mosaic area. The whole thing excited the group because it talked about a Stadium, an Ancient Theatre, the fortifications, and so on. Needless to say, the group was anxious to continue on with our trip. We all grabbed maps and pamphlets from the stand, and some people bought souvenirs - I got more postcards and a bookmark depicting the ancient theatre - before we continued on our adventure.
     The group continued to walk to the next area, but on the way, we stopped in front of a church because next to it was another area that had revealed mosaics. Some of them were covered, but because there was a heavy storm in Plovdiv the night before, a lot of the coverings were blown off. This was even with the protective cover with sand on top - the winds were high, and the water was worse. Angela told us about how the restoration project would proceed and that they were trying to make sure that no further damage came to the mosaics.
     Our adventure intensified when Angela took us down an original Roman road that had been flooded by the storm, so the group had to carefully walk in a single file line on the edge of the road so that we would get through the underpass. After scooting carefully to the next side, we met up with our tour guide who works at the Plovdiv Archaeological Museum.  She showed us the Roman forum and the Odeon as we walked and explained that they knew that the library and treasury were there as well.
     The guide took us toward the pedestrian road in Plovdiv and pointed out where the Roman Stadium started, we took a group picture on the "Together" sculpture, and then continued to the end of the Stadium, where you could see one of the entrances and the stairs. The only startling thing about it was someone was meditating on the stairs, so I felt a little uncomfortable taking pictures with her there, but I didn't want to interrupt her, either. I took them just in case I wasn't coming back, but luckily she was gone when we passed it again during free time so that I could take better pictures.
     We left the one side of the Stadium and followed the guide to the model of the Stadium that was set up on the opposite side of the ruins. She explained to us how big the Stadium was and what sort of events were held there, such as gladiatorial games and chariot or horse races. The guide asked if we had any questions and when we didn't, she moved on to the theatre.
     The Ancient Theatre is interesting because they still use it for shows and performances. There were workers setting up for an upcoming event, so there's a lot of modern equipment in the pictures I took, which part of me is delighted by, and part of me doesn't like at all. There were also ruins just sitting right outside of the theatre, and I took pictures of that, too. There wasn't much to explain or see, but she showed us that if you were lower class theatre guests, you would sit at the very top, and then she pointed out where the Emperor would be sitting in the front should he choose to come to the performance.
     We passed the Ethnographic Museum on our way to the Roman fortification, but on top of the Neber Tepe hill, the ruins were jumbled with other materials, such as the Hellenistic and Medieval material. However, since Romans reused material, we know a Hellenistic structure stood in this area previously, but will never know what it looked like before the Romans dismantled it - at least, we don't currently have any evidence about what it looked like.
     While we were on top of the hill, our guide explained to us that Plovdiv is "The City of Seven Hills," however, the seventh hill was used to pave the roadways so that it no longer exists. Additionally, on the hills we could see from where we were standing, there were temples to both Apollo and Demeter on those hills. Unfortunately, Demeter's temples (if I remember correctly) is fully excavated, but there's nothing there because concrete was poured to put in a weather building on that hill. The Apollo temple is fully excavated as well.
     The guide took us to the other side of the fortification area to show us an area that's been partially excavated. She said it was difficult because they could go down four meters and still not reach the cultural material they were looking for; this is the lament of quite a few archaeologists, I'm certain.
     She said she was going to take us the shortcut way to get to the Plovdiv Archaeological Museum from there. Of course, this was on a really high area, so I panicked a little because of my fear of heights. I kept my head down, looking at the stairs until I got to about halfway down. Eventually, we made it, but the stone stairs were original and extremely steep. It's no wonder no one could siege the fortress; it's nearly impossible just to get up a few stairs, let alone several sets of them.
     The Plovdiv Archaeological Museum began with the Prehistoric objects in the tour, and once we got to the Thracian part of the museum, Angela took over. We saw the different treasures found in Plovdiv and the statues of gods and important political figures, as well as mosaics. Most of my pictures were of these objects and artifacts. The final room was focused on the Byzantine era, which we don't need to know about because our focus is on Thrace and the ancient world only, but it was interesting to see. After a quick browse through the temporary exhibits (more Byzantine and Christian artifacts), some people went to the store, and some went to sit and wait for the rest of the group.
     This was one of my first big purchases because I bought several books in English and bilingual and a good amount of postcards, too. It was about 42 leva, so that wasn't that bad. I grabbed my raincoat out of the locker I used while we were in the museum. It was about 1:30 p.m. when we left the museum, and it was probably around 2 p.m. before we finally ate. The food was all traditional Bulgarian food. We were given a salad to start, and then some flatbread with dips, and then they had skewered chicken and pork. It was all very good, and I'm a very picky eater. The dessert was flan, but mine tasted extremely eggy, so I didn't eat much of it.
     Since most of us were finished with the meal, we were given permission to run amok on our own. We tried to wait for the group, but the group split up relatively fast. Cyrene and I ended up going off on our own trying to find ridiculous or tacky souvenirs to take home. Since I saw a bookstore, I wanted to stop in and find a couple books I tend to buy while traveling: both a fairy tale book and the first Harry Potter book in the native language of where I am. The third book I got because Cyrene pointed it out to me and I got excited. I didn't realize I had to pay for bags or knew how to ask for one so I had to carry my books. After wandering around for a while, we connected with Sydney and Mathilde and made our way by retracing our steps and having to walk up the ridiculous hill again.
     We finally found some of the souvenir shops we were looking for, and Sydney and Mathilde wanted to go ahead of us. Cyrene and I managed to stop at almost every souvenir shop and got a little something in each if we found what we were looking for. I got things like iron-on patches and pins, some more postcards, a keychain of one of the artifacts found in Plovdiv, a small traditional doll, and then I got a bag because the books were beginning to be hard to hold. The bag was not meant to hold heavy things, so I ended up having to carry it from underneath anyway, but it was better than carrying everything loose.
     Sydney and Mathilde went off to different shops, so we split up for the rest of the time. Cyrene and I decided to wander down a few other streets into a couple more shops and then called it quits when we got most of what we wanted from the shops. We were getting tired, and we wanted something cold, so we stopped at a Raffy. I got a chocolate hazelnut flavor in a bowl. Cyrene got fig and violet in a cone, and she let me try some of it. It was very good.
     There was still some time until we had to meet up with the group, so we checked out a place called Euroland, where I found another drawstring bag because the one I had bought at the Dollar Tree in Las Vegas was beginning to shred. It was an "I heart Bulgaria" bag, which is pretty cool. It was only 3.15 leva, so I was surprised at how sturdy it felt. There was another backpack for 14 leva, but I didn't want to go overboard with it. We paid, there was some confusion about being asked for a bag, I got one this time even though I didn't want one, but I was able to put my raincoat in the backpack and the other bag that was not very sturdy into the plastic one so that I was able to carry everything with nothing breaking.
     Cyrene and I headed back towards the McDonald's, where we saw Gena and Madeline waiting. Eventually, Shane passed by us, and I talked about the Raffy, and he went to go get raspberry gelato. We were told Jenny may have been lost, so we were hoping that wasn't the case while everyone was waiting for each other. When it got closer to the time we were supposed to leave, we headed over to the McDonald's, and everyone eventually met up. The ride back I was sitting with Nico, who fell asleep, and I was near the front of the bus, so I didn't really have anyone to talk to.
     I set my things down at the dinner table because I thought it was at 7:30 p.m., and we had gotten back by 7:18 p.m., but someone came down and told us that the schedule said that dinner was at 8 p.m. Mostly everyone went upstairs to do things or went outside to play with the kitten that was there, but I left my drawstring bag on the chair and took my souvenirs upstairs. I set them out on the bed so I could take pictures and show the Folklore Fiancé (except for their presents, of course). I had managed to send all of my pictures I had taken during our tour (217 pictures and videos, to be exact) during lunch at the restaurant, so I messed with some of those and sent them to people.
     Dinner was good; it was some kind of meat and vegetables, and dessert was a chocolate crepe. I had changed after we had gotten back because I needed to get out of the long-sleeve shirt I was wearing, and it helped a ton. I went outside for a little bit because people were out there and I put my feet in the pool while Mathilde and Ivan played soccer with one of the instructor's children. He was very good at it. Elizabeth and Cyrene came out when I went back inside, and I tried to stay out again with my feet in the pool, but there were too many mosquitos for me - things I did not miss about where I used to live - and I went back inside to get ready for bed.
     When I saw Cyrene again, I told her that the hotel staff had mistakenly thrown away the empty bottles I use as water bottles because I forgot to fill them with water and put them back into the fridge, so she gave me one of her empty bottles. It holds 2.5 liters of water, which is good because, apparently, you should be drinking 3 liters a day here when digging, so that worked out. Now that I'm falling asleep at my keyboard, I think it's time for bed.
                 


If you want to know more about Roman Plovdiv, this is a good place to start: http://www.romanplovdiv.org/en

Field School: The Dig, Days 3 and 4

Day 3 (July 27, 2018):

     Last night, I had a beer with Cyrene on my balcony, and I told Shahruz and others that they were welcome to join if they felt like it. When Cyrene decided to go to bed, Shahruz came up, and we talked about American politics with Mathilde, and we were trying to explain the electoral college and voting. It was a very stressful conversation, and I hated having it because I literally want to avoid politics but, apparently, everyone knows how much of a joke the current politicians are, so I guess there was no escaping it. I went to bed shortly after Shahruz left.
     Most of the day was taken up by cleaning the square so we could get all of the dirt off of the features. During this, we had to check the dirt in a wheelbarrow and take it to a designated spot and dump it once we were done checking for any missed findings. After the break, we returned, and the workers had taken our wheelbarrows, which was annoying, so we had to wait for them to bring the wheelbarrow back before we really continued.
     We all got together to get our field journal done, which was a lot of work and I never feel like I'm doing it right. I keep asking Angela how to do it because it was harder for me to understand a lot of the field journal stuff and how thorough I have to be. Angela keeps it simple, but when I see other people doing their field journal, I get nervous because it isn't as detailed as everyone else is making theirs.
     We came back and ate, then I showered and got my bathing suit on and went into the sauna and hot steam room with Cyrene, Nico, Zoe, Shahruz, and Sydney. It was a lot of fun. I didn't know how to do any of it, but Zoe knew how and Nico got the person to unlock the door for us. We were hanging out in the pool while we waited and had some good and interesting conversations. I rinsed off and went to go change into my regular clothes now that I was refreshed.
     Earlier that day, I had mentioned how fussy I was about coffee, and Angela suggested I get a white frappe from the bar to try rather than the coffee we have at breakfast. I drank it while I waited for the lecture, but it still wasn't sweet enough. We went to the lecture, and I had some of my frappe left, so I took it with me, and couldn't finish it - it looked really gross at the end of the lecture. I took it back and left it on the bar during our break, and then headed back to see the presentation about the squares we're currently working in. They told us to pay attention because we would be doing a presentation like this at the end of two weeks (those who are here for four weeks present twice), so that's another thing I'm not really looking forward to doing.
     I left my door open when I came back because I knew a few people wanted to use the aloe vera I had in my room and I allowed them to do that and eventually a bunch of people ended up in my room. I asked where the others were and I was told the guys were sent out to get alcohol and some chaser. When the boys got back, we - Mathilde, Gena, Zoe, Madeline, Shahruz, Elizabeth, Siyu, Ivan, and I - played a drinking game (during which, Ivan voted for me as the smartest person in the room as part of the drinking game, and I'm not going to lie, that was one of the highlights of my day).
     Now I'm tipsy and want to watch The Good Place, so I'll be heading off to bed.
     (Spoiler alert: I fell asleep watching The Good Place and went to bed around 1 a.m.)


Day 4 (July 28, 2018):

     I'm surprised I didn't have a hangover when I woke up. Even so, I made sure I drank some water and got a quick shower before I got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast, which was the usual fare: bacon (?), sausage, bread and butter with water. Spoke with some of the other people at my table. We got up when it was time to go and got our shoes and headed out to the site.
     We took out the tools for the dig, loaded up the wheelbarrow with the tools we needed like the pickaxes, spades, and shovels - and I took it to the squares where we were working. We didn't start in our squares today, though. Most of the beginning of the day was spent learning how to draw the whole site at the beginning of our field journal; we had been just drawing the sites we were digging in before, but now we went back to the front of the notebook and made sure we measured out our drawings to scale in comparison with the site, which was extremely frustrating to me.
     The drawing is no joke - I figured it wouldn't take us that long; however, every time I thought I was done, I asked Angela, and she asked me to add something or make something more detailed or to resize part of my drawing. Due to the extensive detail you have to include for the drawing of the entire site, it must have taken us an hour and a half to two hours to be completely finished with our drawing. I asked Angela to look over mine one last time, and I was so relieved when she said I was done.
     The next thing we had to do was to take pictures of the site with the date, the square number, the measuring sticks, and an arrow pointing to the North. We all rotated who would be taking the pictures, and each person changed the measuring sticks and little board with the date and square number depending on the angle of the picture. Angela told us once we were done with that that we would be using the total station to learn how to read levels manually from far away. She said there was another tool that gets all the accurate information rather quickly, but it is important for us to use the manual one first and learn how to use it because you never know if your other equipment might malfunction or be forgotten, etc.
     We measured with a meter stick in the squares and the others looked through the total station to get the readings. Because everything is in centimeters, and although I know it sounds intuitive, I wanted to be sure I was doing it right, and I asked how to add centimeters and meters. Siyu laughed, and I was really embarrassed, but I told him I'm sorry, I'm American, I want to make sure I'm doing it right (albeit the way I said it started with a very snippy "Don't laugh, I'm American because everyone else in my square is originally from or currently lives in a country that uses the metric system). I was honestly really upset about it - not at Siyu, but at myself for not know the metric system. Ivan even asked me "how do you add feet, then?" and because I was flustered, I said, "you just...add them together." Later, I clarified that twelve inches is a foot in America. So, that was embarrassing, and I wanted to sink into the square and never emerge again.
     After taking the levels, we went on break and continued taking the levels when we came back. We didn't start digging until around noon about ten centimeters into the dirt to get the next layer up. We scraped it back until it was time to fill out our field journal for the day. Once we had finished, we headed back, and everyone else was doing their field journal at the barrack tables. I helped put stuff away because I was finished mine and then got on the bus to head back for lunch.
     I showered after lunch and then ended up hanging out with people a little later in the evening on the back patio, but there were heavy winds that made it cold and the thunder and lightning pushed us inside. We played some games together again, and I went back to my room pretty wonky, especially because I had spilled a lot of drinks on myself, so I got into the shower first and then crawled into bed. Honestly, I don't usually drink, but I don't want to be left out.
     Yay, anxiety!

Field School: The Dig, Day 2

     Time goes by much faster when you're digging an entire conservation layer up from the ground to try and remove the plastic that was left at the end of the archaeological season from the year before. We left after breakfast, during which I stole a sausage to give to a stray cat who had been yelling at me below my balcony last night, and once I had put it in my fridge and grabbed my hat, I switched out my shoes and was ready to go. I was scared we would have another rough day because I had heard it raining early in the morning when I woke up, but when we got there, it was as sunny as it could be.
     Our group was split into two and Mathilde, Siyu, and I all worked on another sector while Ivan and Jianing went to work in the lower level of the original square we were in. We had to clean up the dirt and such and remove the plastic. This is honestly what we did all day. I tried to let people rotate and eventually I ended up taking the wheelbarrow a lot. It was easier and more fun for me, I think. Today was definitely more fun than yesterday, anyway. We found a lot of mass material but won't know what they are until they're cleaned.
     The break was at half-past ten, so we all headed back to the barrack to have tea and coffee with biscuits. There's also a local dog there, named Sharka (how it sounds in English; I don't know the Bulgarian spelling) and we have her some biscuits and I left my coffee cup once I washed it and filled it with water for her so she would have clean water to drink and she wasn't drinking water from the dirty bucket under our water spigot. I washed the cup again and put it back. I tried to have coffee because I've been so dead tired at the end of the day but it was disgusting - I added four sugar packets and drank half of it and then I ended up spilling it, so it was fine. The break ended at 11 a.m., so we headed back to the site to finish up.
     I manned the wheelbarrow and helped the other two when they needed me to take the buckets out of their sector when the supervisor was elsewhere. The time went by really fast and I was trying to make sure I drank enough water, which I don't think I did.
     Yesterday, I kept my gloves on for most of the day because of the mud and the rain, but because it was dryer today, I ended up abandoning my gloves after the break and just got my hands dirty. I still used a trowel to go through the dirt of course, and we found a lot of mass findings (obviously). Once it was almost time to go, we all gathered together and Angela explained to us how to write our field notebook. We headed back to the barrack and everyone else was finishing their field journals.
     We got back to the Villa and had our shoes switched out a little before two o'clock. Lunch was not something I wanted to eat (just a plain omelet - I didn't know they ate eggs so much here or I would have indicated that eggs in excess hurt my stomach), and hot chicken noodle soup. I'm going to snack and then our lecture will be at 4:30 p.m., which is a timeline of Thracian history, so I'm excited about that since I don't actually know much about Thrace.  

Field School: The Dig, Day 1

     My alarm went off at 5 a.m., but I turned it off right away because I wanted to sleep in more. My AC had gone out, so I had to sleep with the door open, and there were people by the pool being really loud. On top of that, for some reason, my key won't turn the lock from the inside when I go to sleep, so I had to put my suitcase in front of it so I would know if someone was getting into my room in the middle of the night. So, I was stressed because it was very humid in my room, I kept hearing people yelling outside, and I was anxious about my door and didn't fall asleep until 1 a.m. However, when my alarm clock went off again, I had a message on my phone which I read, and then I was up.
     I got up, got dressed, and prepared myself for breakfast. The outside felt good, but I didn't want to be on my balcony, so I went downstairs to walk the pool area of the Villa. Linda was already outside and asked if I was alright and I explained that I was just trying to wake up by taking a small walk. I made a round around the perimeter of the territory and took some pictures of snails to send to Folklore Fiancé (they were very excited about the snails). After my short walk, I went inside to have breakfast and sat with Linda. Since we were going to be digging today, I wanted to skip on the cheese for breakfast and ended up having a lot of sausages (or something akin to it) instead.
     Each of the participants made it down one by one, and I realized I had forgotten my sandals upstairs in my room, so I ran back upstairs to get them. We were going to leave our boots in the shed outside of the hotel after we were done digging, so we didn't track in a bunch of dirt when we returned, so Angela, the director of the dig, told us to leave our sandals there so we could switch them out at the end of the dig and wear them back to the hotel. I came back downstairs, and I was done breakfast, but it wasn't time to leave yet, so I sat with Cyrene and Elizabeth until our bus came. We dropped off our shoes in the shed before we left and waited for the rest of the group to come outside so we could go to the site.
     On the way to the site, it began raining a bit, so when we got there, we were given our field notebooks and got the introduction to the tools we would be using at the site. One of the supervisors made sure we knew the names of all the tools: trowel, spade, shovel, hoe, pickaxe, and of course, dustpans and wheelbarrows. We were given gloves, and when it seemed like the rain had passed, we all were assigned our groups. The square that my group was assigned was the one I was hoping to be in, so I was excited about that.
     We put the ladder in the area where we were, and we had to start cleaning. Since the site is only dug for the field school, the last people who were at the site had covered up the features with plastic, and because of the weather over the past year, we had to shovel out what had fallen on top. Bulgaria is not usually rainy, but it had been uncharacteristically wet for a while, so we were shoveling a lot of mud. My boots were half covered in mud when I switched out of the square for sifting through the wheelbarrow job. The mud was very heavy, and I will admit I was disappointed because it was so wet and I was expecting a very dry workspace. But, as Cyrene pointed out, if it's shite weather (my words, not hers) and I still manage to have fun and enjoy it, then I'll know for sure that I want to do archaeology as a profession.
     At least it isn't hot like it is back home.
     It began to spit again, so we kept digging until it seemed like the rain was going to come down harder. We moved over to the break area for tea and coffee and waited for the rain to stop. A few participants were trying to get the attention of the stray dog that keeps coming near us but then running away. She's very sweet but very timid. The rain stopped again, and so we went back to dig. I was back in the square while someone else manned the wheelbarrow. The rain came back not soon after, so we had to pack up and go back home.
     It was disappointing to go back home after being rained out on our first day, but my back and feet were a little bit relieved. It's a lot of hard work and continuously slipping in the mud was killing me, especially with my knee injury. We had a little bit of down time before lunch, so I showered and got in my swimsuit, and went down for lunch. Almost immediately after I was done eating, I left and got into the pool. I didn't want to get all the way here and spend all this money on a room and not use the pool at least once, so I was eager to get in. Although, I had forgotten to reapply my sunscreen, so now I have a wicked sunburn on my back, but luckily I have aloe!       
     Cyrene and I left the pool around 2:30 p.m. and sat next to the pool on chairs until around 3:00 p.m. I took care of some things I needed to do until 3:50 p.m. because we had our lectures (there were two today) starting at 4 p.m. They were interesting, but I'm so tired that I kept nodding off and I felt bad. There was some time between when the lecture ended and dinner, so I took care of some other things and then went down to dinner. I'm not sure what dinner was, but I didn't like it.
     I asked if anyone wanted to hand and Cyrene and I decided to get beers and chill on my balcony while we drank. I ate a lot of chips once I was done my beer and dropped a few off the balcony because a cat wouldn't stop screaming, so I guess she was hungry? She ate the chips. I'm going to try and bring her real kitty food tomorrow.
     Let's hope for no rain and a semi-dry square tomorrow!

Field School: Pistiros

     Our welcome orientation was in the same building as the winery, so we went to the "classroom" area, where we were shown a short overview of the Balkan Heritage Foundation and an introduction to the field school. We had an icebreaker afterward, which was easier since I had basically met and talked to all the people already, so I wasn't nervous. Most of us are here to see how we like archaeology, even though some of the people had participated in another project earlier in the summer or in a previous one. There are a few people who were graduate students, some adults who just wanted to see if they liked digging because they find archaeology so interesting, and the majority of people on the dig were undergraduate students. We have people from the U.S., Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, so it's a pretty mixed group! I was surprised there were no people from the U.K. in the group, though.
     We took a break, and we brought down our passports to fill out a form for the local police because we're staying in the area for more than three days, so they have to know who we are and why we're here. I grabbed my passport and headed back down. I filled out the form and handed it back, not realizing I had left the rest of the paperwork I was supposed to sign and give to them to settle the shuttle and leftover cost if we had anything left to pay. After running upstairs to grab it from my room, I ran it back down to the project coordinator. I had to pay €19.60 for both, which nice to have the Euro vs. leva option, so I used some of the Euro so I would have leva left for when we went out. I tried to give myself a 20 leva a day limit so it would last me the entire trip.
     It was finally time for lunch, which was bell peppers stuffed with some kind of rice and a cold soup made from cucumbers and yogurt. Due to my issues with food texture, I just ate the rice, and I tried the soup, which I liked for the first three bites, but then it was too much for me. I loaded up on bread again to try and get me through the day. We had a siesta after lunch, so Cyrene and I hung out in my room since her roommate wanted to nap. I ate two of my Chewy bars I had brought with me (thank the gods I read a bunch of archaeology field school blogs before I left that suggested protein bars and snacks from home because you'll want them - they were very right). I usually can't nap without feeling sick, so I just didn't bother and talked during the siesta.   
     Once the siesta was over, we headed back to the room where we had had our orientation. We began a lecture with one of the professors to learn about Ancient Thrace. There were some technical issues with the computer for the PowerPoint, so the lecture started late. It was fascinating, but I felt myself nodding off a bit. So, tomorrow, I think I will try to rest more with my siesta time. The rest of the lecture had to wait because we had a small excursion to go on in the evening, so they stopped the lecture and said it would continue on Thursday.
      Our first stop was the Археологически музей "Проф. Мечислав Домарадски" or, Archaeological Museum "Prof. Mieczysław Domaradzki," which was named after a Polish archaeologist who discovered Pistiros, which is the site in which we're going to dig. We were given a tour in Bulgarian which was translated into English by the coordinator for us and we were allowed to take pictures (which I will be uploading to my Facebook page, my Instagram, some on my Twitter, and on my Tumblr as well, if you want to see!) so I did that while I listened. The gallery was pretty small, but there was an amazing amount of conserved pottery and loads of coins, which is something the coordinator and supervisor told us we would probably be finding a lot during the dig.
     The next stop after the museum, which felt very rushed out the door while we were inside, even though I was hoping to buy something from their small shop, was the actual dig site. Pistiros is a place where both people from Ancient Thrace and Ancient Greece interacted, so there is material from both cultures at the site. We were told a brief history about each of the spots at the dig site as we walked through and the archaeologist we were going to be working with explained where things would go and how things were, so all of that was really interesting.
     We began to head home, but we were able to stop at the supermarket (which is very small compared to what I'm used to when I hear the word "supermarket" - if you're American, imagine a very cramped, long corner store - that's what it was like) so we could get some snacks. I bought some chips, a Cherry Coke, a buttload of chocolate, what looked like meringue, and some cookies. Could I read any of the Bulgarian? No. But I saw pictures of sweets I liked and got those! I also bought the Doritos to see if they taste different than American ones (they do).
     It was getting late, so we all piled back into the shuttle bus to get back to Villa Terres for dinner. This dinner was chicken with fried potatoes, and I was so relieved. I finally felt full after a meal; I know I shouldn't be so picky, but if the texture is wrong I just can't eat it. It makes my tongue feel weird. We were also given ice cream for dessert, which was great! By the time we were finished with dinner, it was 9:30 p.m., but I wasn't tired yet. Cyrene and I decided to go sit by the pool and relax for a little bit before going to bed. We stayed out until about 10:15, and decided to call it a night. Once I had a shower and wrote my blog, I was ready for sleep.
     Tomorrow is the first day we dig; I'm super nervous, so cross your fingers for me! 

Field School: Villa Terres

     Yesterday, I checked out of Ibis Hotel Sofia Airport around one, and I was told I owed €0.50 for city tax, which is fine, but I wished I had known that beforehand. I thought I had pre-paid everything, so what if I didn't have that on me? They really need to get themselves together with that one. It's the second time I was not told something or told something incorrect even though it would have been easy to tell me about the charge before I had even stayed. What if I hadn't had any money on me yet? So, I was irritated about it, but it wasn't a lot of money, and I had it with me, so I gave it to her. She told me her colleague was about to leave for the airport, so she asked him to wait to take me with them. I went to Terminal 2 on the shuttle and then I had to wait for a while. Of course, the Sofia Airport didn't have any internet reception where I was waiting, so I began to read some of the handbook with a highlighter.
     Once I couldn't concentrate anymore, I went to find a bathroom because I was beginning to feel the dairy I had had earlier in the day. One of the great things about European bathrooms, especially in their airports, is that the doors are low to the ground, the sides aren't open at all, and I can fit two suitcases and my laptop case in there. So, after taking care of that, I finally got some reception and decided to use the ATM to get some Bulgarian lev before I was picked up. The internet finally allowed my cell phone to connect to the internet, where I checked the money. It looked like, even with the fees, I would be able to take out 300 Bulgarian leva. It didn't seem like enough for two weeks, so I set a budget of 20 leva per day which seemed a reasonable amount, especially because our meals are included with the trip.
     Worried that I wouldn't be able to do anything if I sat back down, I went over to the little souvenir shop and bought a surprise for Folklore Fiancé and ten postcards that I want to write out and send to the U.S. as soon as possible. I found a seat in the arrival area, and I heard two girls speaking English, so I wanted to say something, but I wanted to wait until they said something more obvious that would confirm my suspicions that they were here for the dig. My computer finally connected to the internet on that side of the airport, so I was messing around online until I heard them mention a group.
     That's when I asked if they were there for the Balkan Heritage Field School, and they said yes! Their names were Mathilde, from Switzerland, and Gena from the U.S. I'm not sure if Gena spells her name that way, but it's shortened from a name starting with a G, but it sounds like Jenna. We began to talk and get to know each other before the fellow who was driving the shuttle for us showed up. We were waiting for some other people, but two people on a flight were delayed, and someone else missed their flight. We all got into the shuttle, and we were on our way.
     We arrived at the Villa Terres hotel about an hour and a half later. After we got our luggage, we all waited to be shown to our rooms. My room was on the second floor, all the way at the end of the hallway. I have a double bed and a balcony all to myself! The balconies have cute little tables set up, and I love sitting on the balcony to write, but people keep smoking below me, so once that happens, I have to go inside because I'm allergic to the cigarette smoke. (I was trying to finish this post outside where it is cool and refreshing, but someone had to ruin it with their godsforsaken cigarette. Please keep your stick of bullshit away from me, thanks.)
     Our dinner was soon after we arrived, but it wasn't a lot. I was actually kind of disappointed in the dinner. It was just a bunch of vegetables, which I guess was because I was sitting next to folks who ate vegan and vegetarian and didn't find out that there was even chicken until it was almost gone, but I did get one little piece. At least I brought some snacks with me here. We got wine with dinner, and we talked a lot. I talked with Cyrene, who was from L.A., for a while on my balcony and eventually we all went to put our feet in the pool, and we were wondering when we would be able to swim. Apparently, we needed to sign something before we went into the pool, so we weren't allowed to swim in it yet. Some of the other folks were tipsy and just went right in with their clothes on. I wanted to do the same, so badly, but I decided it was probably best that I didn't.
     It was nearly midnight when we decided to go back to our rooms, so I tried to sleep, but I ended up talking to Folklore Fiancé instead because they were still awake. We talked for a bit, and I messaged some other people, and I couldn't fall asleep at first. I set the alarm and finally passed out. My alarm woke me up at 6 a.m., which I shut off and promptly fell back asleep. At 8 a.m., I woke up in a panic, thinking I had missed the breakfast, but it was at 8:30 a.m. today, so I went out to the landing and Mathilde was reading Circe (the same book I'm reading!) and waiting for others to come out. We all went down for breakfast together.
     My breakfast was an apple,  bread with cheese and sausage, two other bits of some type of sausage links(?), bread with honey, and a lot of water. We took a short walk after breakfast and then we all went to our rooms to get ready for the welcome orientation and introduction to everyone on the trip. We have lunch and siesta from one until four o'clock, and then we come back for a lecture.
     I will let you know how those go! 

Field School: Good Morning, Bulgaria

     Today, I woke up sweating, in the pitch-dark room, not knowing where I was and had a brief panic attack. It took me a moment to remember that I was in Bulgaria, my cats weren't here, and Folklore Fiancé was back home and not next to me. It was not a good way to wake up, and it was thirty minutes before my first alarm was set. I looked at the A.C. on the wall, and at some point in the night, it must have turned off (spoiler alert: it seems that it doesn't stay on at all, so I have to keep turning it on...) Since I was all sweaty, I decided to get up and get ready for the day. I showered off again to get the sweat off me and then got dressed in something that would keep me cool for the day; just a white v-neck men's shirt and red basketball shorts.
     Last night, when I checked in, I was very frazzled from the non-stop traveling I had to do, so I wasn't really comprehending everything that was said to me and forgot to ask some things. So, I went back downstairs after showering and getting dressed in the same thing I'm wearing now because I put my pajamas on at first, but I don't know the Eastern European rule of being in a hotel lobby in your PJ's, so I put on the real clothes instead. Anyway, I told him that I needed the shuttle back to the airport after all, and he pushed my check-out until 1 p.m. instead of noon, which was nice of him (I had to be at the airport by 3:30 p.m.), and then I asked if my breakfast was included because I know it was included on one of my reservations. He told me no, so I said okay and went back upstairs to go back to sleep.
     This morning, I got up and went to check my e-mail confirmations of my reservation. It looked like I did have my breakfast included for this stay. I took my whole computer down to the front desk, and it was the same person who I had interacted with last night, and I turned it around to show him. I said, "You told me yesterday that I didn't have breakfast included with my reservation, but I pulled it up, and it looks like I do." He agreed and told me that the breakfast would be ready in about fifteen to twenty minutes, even though it was already 6:30 a.m. and that is when they advertise that breakfast will start. I thanked him, went back to my room, watched the new Steven Universe and talked to Folklore Fiancé before I headed down to breakfast.
     They didn't have any of the food labeled, but luckily it's pretty easy to tell if something is fish or coconut, which isn't usually served during breakfast anyway, so I didn't have to worry too much. I took a slice of what looked like ham, a couple of pieces of what looked like some sort of spicy sausage that was sliced, a couple of what I think were Vienna sausages, some black olives (which I never thought to have with breakfast and I haven't had olives in a while, so why not), a croissant, and some bread with butter. They had a cappuccino machine with buttons for hot water, hot milk, coffee, cappuccino, and hot chocolate. I hate coffee when I don't get it from either Folklore Fiancé because they used to be a barista and spoil me, so I never like how other people make it, or if I get it from Starbucks with very specific instructions. It took me three trips to the machine to make it taste right. Eventually, I just mixed a double cappuccino with hot milk and hot chocolate before it tasted okay to me. Not great, but drinkable. But, you know, I had to overflow the coffee cup first and get it all over the machine and the counter before I did that. (Don't worry, I cleaned it up.)
     While eating breakfast, I heard the news playing. I am a person who does not like hearing anything in the morning, let alone news, especially with American politics going into a swirling vortex of fuckery, I tend to avoid it because it stresses me out. It would have been fine if it was just the Bulgarian news. But, it wasn't. It was American news, in English. You know what I would have liked to not hear after I got all the way to Eastern Europe? About Drumpf's latest nonsense. But that was the accompaniment I had during breakfast. That, and the dead bee on the windowsill next to my table. (I think it was a bee? It was yellow and black with a stinger but didn't quite look like a bee but didn't look like any other stinging bug I'm familiar with.) Anyway.
     I had accidentally taken too much bread for me to be able to finish it all, so I wrapped two bits of bread in napkins and put them in my pocket with some butter for later.  That's what my lunch is going to be, I suppose. I'm not sure of the etiquette here because I know most European countries don't really do things like "doggy bags" or leftovers, but I had already taken the bread, so it's not like I could put it back. Also, the habits of squirreling away food when you're a student die hard. Once I had finished my breakfast, I didn't know where to put my tray, so I went back to the front desk to ask. The girl there told me to just leave it on the table and asked for my room number to check me off for breakfast.
     After returning to my room, I had some time to chill. I put the bread from my pocket on the desk and luckily I had a disposable knife from my flight, so I'll be able to use that for the bread and butter later. I'm going to chill for a little longer, then I'm going to read some of the articles I still need to read, maybe read some of one of the books I brought with me, and then I'm going to eat and pack up and get ready to check out. The field school is picking us up from the airport, so luckily, there's an airport shuttle here that's free from the hotel to the airport. I'll be sitting at the airport for a decent amount of time while I'm waiting for them since I have to check out two and a half hours before I'm supposed to be there.
     It's almost the beginning of field school! I'm so excited and nervous.
     T-minus six hours until I'm on my way!               

Field School: Sofia

     Well, I finally made it to Bulgaria! It's almost 9 p.m. Sofia time, and I'm in my pajamas relaxing in bed, so let me fill you in on what happened between my last post and now.
     We started boarding, so of course, the line was down to the designated smoking area, where I kept coughing because I cannot handle the smoke, ever. My throat is still tingling from it, and that was hours ago. When we finally got away from the smoke, I saw my carry-on bag that had to be checked as I passed, so at least I saw where it had gone. What frustrated me the most was that when we were boarded, I saw plenty of spaces where I could have stowed my luggage. I know that it was probably as a precaution because they couldn't know for sure whose would fit, etc. etc., but I was finally near the front of the plane this time around!! I had the seat 3F, which I was surprised about. It was at the front of the plane and a window seat. I have a love-hate relationship with window seats; this is because I want to be able to get up and move around without disturbing too many people, but I like watching the take-offs and the descents. Two young dudes were next to me this time, which was fine. I accidentally sat in the wrong seat at first, but the person in the middle seat was fine moving when I told him I was actually on the other side of him.
     The plane was taking forever to take off, and I had no idea why there was so much of a hold up (spoiler alert: we got to Sofia at 6 p.m. instead of 4:45 p.m.) Once we did take off, I was trying to read one of my books on Sofia, but I didn't get too into it because I was passing out. I didn't really sleep on the plane, but I did conk out a few times for a catnap.
     One thing I did wake up for was the food, which was fish.
     I'm allergic to fish. And seafood.
     Once I told him this, he looked distraught and said it was the only thing they had (which is weird because I thought I had told the airline about my allergies, but I'm going to double check before I go back home. I gave it back to him and said I was fine with the rest of the stuff and he didn't have to bring me anything else. Despite that, he brought me fruit, cheese, a quinoa and bean salad (which I also couldn't eat, but I didn't want to tell him that again, so I took it with me and threw it away later), which was really nice of him. I ate most of it and was full by then anyway. The smell of the fish was really overpowering and nauseating for me, so it made it hard for me to get anything else down with that scent pervading the air.
     We landed over an hour late from the originally scheduled time, and I had to figure out my way through the Sofia Airport so I could find my luggage. Also, I needed a bathroom because every time I'd try to get up and go, the "keep your buckles fastened" light came on. After a winding journey that made me wish I had brought some enchanted string along, I finally came to the passport check and got my passport checked for Bulgaria. They used to stamp you into whatever country you were in and then the next stamp wouldn't happen, but I guess that's changing now, too, huh?
     The hotel I'm staying at has a free shuttle, but there was nothing that indicated which one was their shuttle. Either I was supposed to schedule it, or I just didn't know where to go, and ended up taking a taxi instead. It was €5. I checked into the hotel and went to my room and showered. It felt so good to get the three flights and 20+ hours of travel off of me. I scheduled my checkout and my shuttle for tomorrow, and breakfast is only €7, so I think I'm going to get breakfast from them tomorrow morning. Then I'll study a bit, get all my stuff together, and check out.
     But, right now, I definitely need to sleep.

Field School: Paris

     Time to wait once again! I'm in Paris, in the Paris Aéroport Charles de Gaulle, where I have been twice before now in 2008. I can't believe it's been ten years since I've been to France. I just heard that our take-off has been delayed because of the preparation of the cabin. But, I want to back up and recount the Detroit flight while I was waiting to board for Paris. I walked for ages because I didn't realize that the Detroit airport ALSO had trams. Is it because I haven't been abroad for ten years I've not noticed this? Either way, I walked almost the full 40-something gates to get to mine. Once I got there, of course, I had to go the furthest way to find an outlet for my phone. Not too long after I had sat down, they started calling for boarding. Once I heard my zone called, I got up and got in line, and I was given a new seat, which is fine. What is NOT fine is that the attendant felt the need to fold my boarding passes and shove them back into my passport.
     Now, I'm going to be real with everyone: I have diagnosed obsessive-compulsive tendencies. A type of OCD that isn't as overbearing as it could be, but still affects me. One of those things that set me off is keeping official documents straight and pristine. When I had to send away my birth certificate to get my passport, I nearly cried because not only did they fold it but they stapled it, too. That's unacceptable to my brain, so now all I'm thinking is the conservation I know and will have to flatten out my boarding passes when I get home to properly display them in a memory book (or a frame, which drives the Folklore Fiancé bonkers; I frame everything, and they don't understand why. This is part of why.)
     So, after that upset, I put my luggage in the overhead, and it looks like it won't fit. Luckily, a fellow sitting across from me helped me adjust it so it would fit. I was trying to get an agent to help me, but she seemed upset that I was asking her for help - which I get, she has other stuff to do. I was just anxious that it wasn't going to fit. The flight attendants rearranged the overhead stuff so it would fit before we took off, though, so I didn't have to worry about that anymore. I was relieved to see that I had an aisle seat because I avoided using the bathroom on my first flight because I was stuck between two skinny fellows and didn't want to disturb them. I was less relieved to see that the cupholder on my dinner tray was broken (these were the ones that fold out on the bottom of the tray so you can have a cup there without the whole tray being down) so I couldn't use that. And, I forgot my headphones, but luckily, the flight provided me with headphones for this flight!
     Except those were broken too. One side was hanging literally by the cords and wires. I tried it, and it ended up working out in the one ear, so I just dealt with that. I decided that I was just going to watch movies. Since the flight I was on previously had certain movies with subtitles, I was able to watch Love, Simon in its entirety (I had seen it with Folklore Fiancé in theatres when it came out, and we both cried...a lot) and then I watched half of Thor: Ragnarok.  On the Paris flight, I was able to finish the Thor movie and watched Hot Pursuit and the 2016 Jumanji movie before I found Thor: Ragnarok as an option. By that point, it was over half the flight out of the way, and I just decided to watch The Big Bang Theory - I do enjoy the show but I am very critical of the problematic aspects but I relate a lot to Sheldon, so I like watching it.
     The Paris flight had a dinner that was a pretty nice spread! I couldn't eat the dessert, though, because it was coconut cake and I'm allergic to coconut. I was able to eat the extra bread, though! I got bread, butter, cheese, green applesauce, a quinoa black bean salad I couldn't eat, and the main part was chicken in a sauce I surprisingly liked, and it came with kale mashed potatoes. I love potatoes, but I hate kale, so I was shocked that I liked it at all let alone finished it. The light breakfast they had was a muffin, plain yogurt (which was disgusting, so I dumped two sugar packets into it), and orange juice. I was able to get tea, water, and soda at different points of the flight and had hot chocolate with breakfast, which was nice.
     Once I got to CDG, I was hella confused. I realized then it was the first time I'd ever gone into this airport without a large group. I'm almost thirty, but traveling on my own still makes me a little anxious. Either way, I found my way to the gate I needed and got on another tram, where I missed my gate and had to ride it back after I got off and realized the opposite track was closed completely, so I should have just stayed on the tram in the first place. I went back and followed the long, winding hallways, and had to go through security.
     Again.
     Which I forgot about.
     And, as an American, my first instinct was to take off my shoes. Well, I looked up with one boot in my hand and went "oh, no one else is doing this," and put back on an untied boot and I stumbled through enough French to the attendants that they replied in very rapid French and I was not prepared because the last time I spoke French, remember, regularly, was ten years ago, when I was last in France. I am very rusty. Which is better than I can say about my Bulgarian, because, despite my best efforts, is still non-existent.
     Once I found my gate, I sat down and immediately started coughing and realized there was a strange smell that was making me choke. I realized then that it was cigarette smoke, which is another thing I am allergic to, and upon investigation, CDG does indeed have designated smoking areas past security. Which is where I must have been sitting. So, I got up to walk around to clear out my lungs. I couldn't find food that I liked for lunch, so my lunch is a Coca-Cola that is lukewarm (gross - another OCD thing: I need certain liquids super cold, but I needed the caffeine more this time), cookies, and Bueno bars (some of my favorite foreign chocolates).
     The attendant just informed me that because the flight to Sofia is full so that our carry-on bags (the large ones) have to be checked. I need to make sure that I've brought a lock for both bags just in case this happens again because now I'm going to be extra anxious until I get there. At least the flight is only a couple of hours! It's the shortest flight of my trip.
     We should be boarding by 1:30 p.m. Paris time and I should be in Sofia a little past 5 p.m. Sofia time!
     I haven't slept a wink, I'm really anxious, and really hungry.
     Cross your fingers I stay sane for the final stretch!

Field School: The Domestic Flight

     Here I am, sitting at the D gate, waiting for my flight. It boards around 11:30 and we are scheduled to leave at 12:18. So, I thought, another blog post before I get on my flight to Detroit! One of the downsides of going so far to Europe in the summer is the airlines are all very expensive if you don't have a bunch of connecting flights. I'm waiting for my flight to Detroit, and then in Detroit, I will be waiting about two hours to go to Paris. Once I'm in Paris, it's another two-hour wait until I get to Sofia. So, lots of waiting.
     My intention was to sleep in this morning until at least 7 a.m., but my fiancé's cat had other plans and woke me up at 4:30. I had to get up to go to the bathroom, and he and my fiancé's other cat ran out of the bedroom when I opened the door. My cat, Athena, usually sleeps in the closet and doesn't get along with other cats, so she usually stays in there. My fiancé's cats have the advantage of having lived in that house before, so they warmed up to it much quicker. I did manage to fall back asleep and was woken up by my alarm clock at 7 a.m. My fiancé got up and did their morning thing and I got dressed right away because I was anxious. I made sure I had my watch on and everything together. I frantically packed last night and forgot to put some of my snacks in my carry on (oops).
     I ate breakfast and had a chai that my fiancé so graciously made me (honestly without them, I would struggle to feed myself half the time) and grabbed the leftover Euro I had in my car from when I studied abroad in 2008 and 2009 to France and Italy and put it in my new wallet. One of the 2 cent Euro coins I separated for an offering to Hermes. I used my car key to dig a shallow hole next to the mailbox where I currently lived and buried the coin there. I poured a small libation of my morning chai to Hermes and said a small prayer. The contemporary Hellenic Pagan delighted in doing such a simple ritual that made me feel much better about traveling.
     My aunt-in-law drove me and my fiancé to the airport and we managed to go the wrong way a couple times! McCarran International Airport is HUGE and it was so intimidating. I had only flown out of Chicago, Philadelphia, and Newark (NJ) up until this point, so this was definitely an experience. I got through the baggage check pretty easily and the longest wait was while I was in line for security. As I waited in line for security, a heavy feeling washed over me because it was a feeling I hadn't felt in a while: it was how at home I felt at the airport. Hermes is my patron god, after all, so it makes sense that I would find comfort in an airport where travelers from all over the world are bustling by, a plethora of languages flying from their tongues. It gave me a sense of calm and belonging I haven't felt in a long time.
     Everything went by with no issue whatsoever, but I did take off my shoes and gather things together rather quickly so I could dump it all in the buckets and scurry over to the scanner. Once I had gathered all my belongings back up, I got my shoes on and repacked what needed to be repacked, and headed to towards the D Gate. However, I didn't see the gate, but a tram pulling towards us. It seemed that were were to take a tram to the D gates! I've never taken a tram inside an airport before. I've taken the L / El (I use both interchangeably; sorry if it's wrong, Chicago!) into the Chicago O'Hare International Airport but walked everywhere once I was checked in. So, that was an experience!
     Once I got off the tram, I headed straight to the D gate and sat down. I was having trouble finding an outlet and I was worried about my phone having enough charge (it was already at 59% even though it was at 100% at 7 a.m., but I had been using it until 10 a.m., so it was a little drained by then). The first outlet I found didn't work so I moved to another spot. Eventually, an outlet became available and I'm letting my phone charge while I write this blog post! My flight should be boarding in about forty minutes, so I'm debating on whether to read or write once I'm done with this blog post.
     But, knowing me, I might just bounce around on social media until it's time to board.
     Detroit, here I come!

Field School: Preparation

     If you follow me on other platforms, you know that I am getting ready to go to Bulgaria for my first field school. I'll be documenting the experience (as much as I am permitted to do so!) on this blog until the end of my session. Since I work a full-time job already, I chose to take the minimum session amount and go for two weeks. Due to the fact that I'm not doing this for university credit (I have already graduated undergrad, and I'm entering my M.A. program in the Fall), I was able to go for the shorter period of time. Additionally, it was a little cheaper than paying for college credits. It did cost me a little more because I paid for a single room; this was mostly because, as a non-binary trans person, I found that it would be a little difficult to place me. I didn't want to be grouped with a gender I don't identify as, so, luckily, I was accepted early enough that the "early bird" cost was almost the exact amount cheaper as it cost to get a single room. I just hope that nothing is messed up and I end up with a roommate.
     Traveling as a non-binary person is frustrating because a lot of the time you have to indicate an honorific for the airline, and it has to match your passport. However, if they had given me the option for "Reverend," I would have been fine. I'm an ordained interfaith minister, and I use "Reverend" for my gender-neutral honorific for the most part. Once I get my Ph.D., it'll be Dr.! But, until then, I wish I could have chosen "Rev." at the beginning of my title instead of what I had to choose.
     Anyway, I leave tomorrow! (Yikes.) And I still have some shopping to do. (Extra yikes.) Don't be like me, kids. Shop for everything and have it at least three days ahead of when you're supposed to leave. My anxiety is skyrocketing because I checked the weather in the areas I will be in Bulgaria, and there's going to be a lot of rain. I currently live in the desert - we don't get a lot of rain where I live. I don't have a raincoat. Heck, I don't even have a coat. So, I'll be doing a couple runs during my lunch hour today to try and get a light jacket, a cheap wallet (my current wallet is one I do NOT want to lose), a drawstring backpack (surprisingly hard to find?), a cheap computer bag, and some tape to make sure my luggage tags don't get ripped off my luggage. I should also get a luggage lock, but not sure where I can get that, so I'm going to need to go to 1-3 stores before I go home tonight.
     Fantastic.
     I've already packed my carry on, but need to rearrange my plastic baggy of toiletries because it's already too full and I have to decide what's the most important to put in it. I haven't traveled out of the country since 2009, so I was no longer familiar with the rules and regulations for carry-on bags. Additionally, I've never flown out of Las Vegas before, so I'm extra nervous about that.
     I did a lot of my planning early on, in November, when I knew that I was going for sure. I paid for my program and single room first, and then for my flight second. My flight wasn't too bad, but it was almost as much as the trip cost me. I needed new luggage because my favorite suitcase, which I bought in Japan in 2007, was beginning to finally break (what a lifespan; I'm really rough on my suitcases). A set of three was about $110. Then, I realized I didn't have any pants anymore, because again, the desert, and the ones I did have no longer fit. Ordered those last week because I could not find my size in a store. I have literally gotten all of my clothes for this trip over the last week or so. If I hadn't had to move in the middle of getting ready for it, I might have been more prepared (long story short: our apartment had gone way downhill, and now we're living with my fiancé's (lovingly referred to as Folklore Fiancé on other platforms) family). Either way, I have to make do.
     One of the other things I wanted to make sure I had were knee pads. Even for someone with healthy and never-injured knees, it's important to have those or a kneeling pad; however, I had a knee injury nearly two years ago (imagine unpacking mannequins off a truck and then BITING it right onto your knee), and it never healed quite right. So, it was imperative for me to have them before I left. That, and a bucket hat, two things I never thought to buy until a little under a month ago. I still have to do laundry and pack my checked bag, but then I go to the airport tomorrow morning at nine!
     My flight is at noon, and I have a flight from here to Detroit, then Detroit to Paris, and then from Paris to Sofia. So, a lot of different flights!! However, I love flying and that's not my issue. I just hate waiting. There's some time between each of my flights, so I have a total of about sixteen hours of travel time. Then, I have to find my hotel when I get to Sofia. It seems that there is a free 24-hour shuttle service from the airport, though, so that's great! I don't think it's too near anything for me to see and I have to go back to the airport to get the ride with the rest of the group, so at least I chose the hotel well. I want to make sure I can stay awake long enough to get myself out of the jetlag, though. I can't sleep on planes. So this will be an interesting trip...
     The other thing I managed to mess up because I did it last minute was the most annoying thing because I should have known better since I have gone out of the country three separate times before this: currency. I ordered €50 from my bank because I forgot - I knew, and I forgot - that Bulgaria doesn't use Euro. So, now I have Euro for my layover in France, I guess, and for when I get to the field school because of the leftover fees I still owed them. I just need to make sure I take my cards with me, too!
     But, because I figured I wouldn't be able to post for a bit once I started flying all over the place, I wanted to get a blog post out a little earlier than I was planning! Shout out to my co-workers and my mom for contributing for the trip when they didn't have to :3 (one co-worker got me a holographic elephant journal for the trip! With owl stickers! So, that's going to be my travel journal.)
     I'll probably post Sunday evening once I get into Sofia because I'll be trying to focus on traveling! Either way, if you want to follow me before I post again, be sure to check out my other social media platforms:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theancientgeekoroman/
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    And if you would like to support me and my future projects, please consider becoming a Patron!

https://www.patreon.com/theancientgeekoroman

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed my frantic rambling!

Introductory Post

Hi, I'm the Ancient Geeko-Roman and welcome to my blog!

As it states in my description, my long-term goal is to educate people who might be interested in Classics or related subject matter but may not have the time or the resources to pursue it at the university level. This is what my YouTube channel will be about, which will launch in mid-August!

This blog will contain my original content, commentary too long for my YouTube videos or connected material discussed in a video (such as an academic paper I have written), response blogs, and personal experiences with academia in general, Classics, and related content to the ancient world. This will also include more current and contemporary content as well, such as book, television, or movie reviews, and so on. Content may differ greatly from time to time, or I may post when there are personal updates that might be interfering with regularly scheduled updates. I am a Tuition Scholar at Villanova, so my duties there may cause some infrequent postings to make sure I stay on task for the work I am assigned.

A full introductory post will be posted on my YouTube in mid-August. Until then, here are the rest of my social media pages on which you can follow me:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theancientgeekoroman/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/theancientgeekoroman/
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Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/theancientgeekoroman/
Tumblr: https://theancientgeekoroman.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theancientgeeko/

And if you would like to support me and the project I am undertaking, please consider becoming a Patron!

https://www.patreon.com/theancientgeekoroman

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to interacting with all of you in the future!


DISCLAIMER: All opinions and views on my blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect any beliefs or views held by associated institutions.