Field School: The Journey Home (Las Vegas)

     The flight from Atlanta wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. During our boarding, we were told that if we had rolling carry-ons, they would have to be checked and put in the hold, but I had prepared for that and removed the bag I had from Bulgaria - I had put all the souvenirs into my Balkan Heritage Field School tote bag and then put that inside my I <3 Bulgaria drawstring bag that I had used as my dig bag for the past week (I realized on the flight later I had forgotten to take my passport out of my roller carry-on and was frantically praying to Hermes to at least let me get that bag back if nothing else because how did I forget to remove my passport). The seats were a bit roomier than the ones on the Paris flight because there were significantly fewer people on this flight, so the seats were slightly bigger. The flight was supposed to be four hours and sixteen minutes long.
     I met someone named Dawn Rose on the way into the flight because she and I had seats near each other, but her traveling companion had a seat higher up in the plane. Both a person behind her and I told her they were willing to switch with him if she wanted; the other woman ended up switching, so I kept my aisle seat, which was next to Dawn Rose's aisle seat, so we talked for a bit because I told her I was on a dig in Bulgaria, so we talked about archaeology for a while, and she told me where she traveled, before we both went to do our own things.
     The flight had a snack, so I had a weird "cookie" that tasted like doughy cake and some Coke. When they had come back, I asked what they had for hot drinks, and I got tea and asked for their cookies, which complemented the black tea well. The flight had been blasting cold air at us (the downside to the aisle seat and being short is that I can't reach anything above me like the controls for that) the whole flight, and before we took off, they made an announcement that there were no blankets on board because Atlanta had a shortage, so they didn't take any. I was so cold that I made more trips to the bathroom than usual (as soon as I felt the slightest need to go) just so that I could warm up a little bit. At one point during the first bathroom trip, someone pushed on the door with a lot of force, so I yelled "Whoa," because, dude, I am doing my business in here, please wait for a second, the door says occupied.
     Despite the fact that the airline was selling headsets for $2 a piece, I just did what I had done on my first flight out of Vegas, and watched movies with subtitles and no earpieces. I put on Love, Simon again, so if I nodded off for a bit, it wasn't that big of a deal. The final stretch of the time, I put on Thor: Ragnarok, and nodded off during that a few times as well. I kept checking my watch because I was so anxious to get home.
     Once we landed, I gathered all of my things and began to message Folklore Fiancé. They were already at the airport, and once I was let out, I was at gate D34. Folklore Fiancé said they had been at a different gate first, but then went to information. I asked them to call me, and they had told me where they were waiting. We decided to head to the carousel for my luggage and meet there. They asked me if I wanted them to grab my bags if they saw them. I said yes, if they could, but to be careful with the large luggage. Right after they said that, they saw the small one already, and while we were on the phone, told me they grabbed the big one too. We stayed on the phone until I found them waiting by the number 14 carousel. We hugged and my knee popped, so I had to sit for a minute.
     Folklore Fiancé led the way to their aunt's car where she was waiting for us in the parking garage. My luggage was a little worse for wear and it didn't have my lock on it anymore, even though I had a TSA-approved lock, which really irritated me. I didn't see it inside my luggage, either, and I am still angry about it because it was a brand new lock I had bought before I went. We loaded up the car and headed home. We talked about the dig, and I shared some snacks I had bought in Bulgaria with them, and we finally got home around 11 p.m.
     I gave everyone their presents that I had for them: I got Nana a pepper shaker and a magnet that was a mini mortar and pestle; I got three souvenir spoons (one silver, two ceramic) for my aunt-in-law, my sibling-in-law got a Bulgarian wooden flute, and Folklore Fiancé was given socks with traditional Bulgarian designs on it, a miniature notebook that was the very kitschy souvenir design but I knew they would like, a pegasus necklace, and then a necklace with a large charm with Bulgarian embroidery on it. They said they had never seen embroidery on a necklace before and seemed super excited about it, so I was glad I made the right decision on buying it.
     Folklore Fiancé heated up some kielbasa for me before I went to take my shower and soak my feet (because they are very swollen), and we went to bed late. This is my last blog post about my field school trip for the Pistiros excavation of 2018 through the Balkan Heritage Field School!
     That is, of course, until I go again next season 😉

Field School: The Journey Home (Bonjour, Paris - Encore)

     I knocked on Cyrene's door around 4:50 a.m., since we had decided that's when we were going to head down and catch the airport shuttle as we arranged the previous night. When we were checking out, I was prepared to pay the city tax like I did last time, but the fellow may have remembered me from when I checked in, and he didn't ask for it, which was cool. Cyrene and I stood outside to wait for the driver to come and get our luggage in the shuttle.
     We got to the Sofia Airport around 5:12 a.m. because he had to drop off someone at the other terminal, and then unload all of our bags (two other people had taken then shuttle with us), and Cyrene and I parted ways so we could check our bags at our respective airlines. My bag was a little over 21.60 kilograms, but it was still under 23, and that's what mattered. Once I was checked in and headed to my gate, it was barely 5:45, so checking the bags and going through security didn't take long at all.
     Cyrene messaged me and told me where her gate was, so I meandered over to her to say our goodbyes, and we went to grab some things from the place that had snacks and drinks. I bought two bottles of water and a Coke, and it cost me over ten leva, which is bonkers; that is way too much - the Coke was 5 leva on its own. Cyrene and I hugged and went back to our gates, and I ate my breakfast (mini croissants filled with chocolate), and drank one of the waters. The boarding started shortly after that, and it felt like we were waiting forever to board. Luckily, I had an aisle seat.
     But I was next to a baby and their father.
     I reassured myself that it wouldn't be bad because I was only on a two-and-a-half hour flight. The kid did sleep for most of the flight, and I read the guide to Plovdiv I had bought at the museum there. That took up most of the flight. The baby did kick me a lot, and the father kept moving and getting into my space, but I was trying my best to be patient because I know traveling with a kid that has to sit in your lap on an airplane can't be easy. He was very apologetic about things, though, so I had no problem with them. The baby wasn't screaming the whole time, and when they were awake, they were just saying "WOW" about what was out the window or babbling in French.
     We arrived in Paris around 10 a.m. Sofia time, 9 a.m. Paris time, and had to go through security for the connecting flights. Apparently, I can't bring soda or water even though I had bought them in the other airport, so I chugged the Coke, threw away the water, and the little water that they had given me on the Bulgaria Air flight (which honestly I should have drunk as soon as I received it because it was small). The attendant also put my hand sanitizer in a bag because I had forgotten to put it in one because I carry it in my pocket. Other than that, I was able to get through security pretty easily.
     The next challenge was my boarding pass for Atlanta saying "check screens" for my gate. So, I had to find one of the screens, but none of them listed Atlanta as a destination for the time it was leaving, just Vienna. I had seen a machine that lets you scan your boarding pass to tell you your gate, but since I was in line for security when I saw it, I couldn't get to it. Since the screens didn't say where I was supposed to go, I had to find another one to tell me where I was supposed to be. I needed to be in terminal 2E, so I found my way there and where we waited for the bus shuttle, there was another machine. It gave me my gate number, and I took the bus shuttle when it came and got off at the second stop.
     There were a lot of shops on the way to my gate, so I popped into a few of them to check them out since I still have a little Euro left from my mistake at the beginning of this trip. Nothing caught my fancy, and I found my gate. None of the outlets were working, so I gave up on trying to charge my phone or my laptop since I won't really be able to use either of them on the flight over anyway. I ran to the restroom and then back to the gate. I finished the last two blogs and have been uploading my Bulgarian photos to my personal Facebook before I add them to my Ancient Geeko-Roman pages. Since I don't have my waters anymore, I might get some before we board. It's still about an hour before we're going to be getting on the plane, so I'll probably just walk around for a bit, and then come back before boarding time.
     Atlanta, here I come! 

Field School: Farewell and Sofia

August 6, 2018

     Last night, I stayed up late because I was trying to finish packing and fill out my evaluation form for the Balkan Heritage Field School. There was a lot I had to say, but I kept hearing people being loud, so I went to the landing where Siyu, Madeline, Ivan, and Mathilde were sitting and sat with them for a minute and then headed outside to see what the ruckus was, but they were busy playing a drinking game, so I came back inside and finished packing and went to bed. I woke up at 4 a.m., talked to Folklore Fiancé for a bit, especially because there was a dog barking for a solid hour and a half, and fell back asleep.
     My alarm went off around 7 a.m. so that I could get up and get ready before grabbing some breakfast before I had to leave. I was about 99% packed, and Mathilde had offered to weigh my luggage for me with a little device she had. Once I had brushed my teeth and packed my toothbrush and toothpaste, Mathilde came back to weight my luggage for me (it was 21.60 kilograms, and the limit is 23, I believe). She offered to help me carry down my luggage to the restaurant where I was going to await the bus. She took the heaviest piece of luggage, and I got the rest.
     Once I had my luggage settled and sat back down in my usual seat for breakfast, Mathilde sat back down with me where she usually sat, even though we were both done eating. Then Siyu sat next to me, and Ivan sat across from me, pointed to my suitcases and said, "it's real." We all talked for a bit about various things; tattoos because one of the people I follow on Instagram has a trowel tattoo on their wrist, and I talked about the tattoos I wanted to get and about Folklore Fiancé's tattoo.
     Then, eventually, I told the story of my engagement with Folklore Fiancé and how we had planned it together and set it on a particular day, but we each had our own proposal to the other person so that part was still a surprise. Mathilde thought it was super cute, and I showed them all pictures of our engagement rings, and Mathilde was definitely swooning. Ivan said, "I think Mathilde wants to marry you now, too."
     Ivan then told me he was bad with goodbyes, which is why he ghosts everyone when we're hanging out, so I told him I won't make any eye contact when I said goodbye, I would just show up at his hometown in New Zealand unannounced one day. When it was around the time for the bus to be there, I began to gather my things. Nico gave me a coin from Macedonian coin before I left and offered to help me with my luggage and took it outside for me. I said "Au revoir," and Mathilde said she didn't like that, it's not au revoir, so I told her "see you later" in Japanese instead because she and I both study it.
     We got all the luggage outside, and the bus rounded the corner shortly after. Everyone came outside, and we all hugged. We were wished safe travels by everyone as well. When I got to Ivan, we both sort of avoided eye contact and did some weird punch-in-the-shoulder-fist-bump hybrid nonsense that felt super awkward, so I just said "okay, now give me a real hug," and he did. I said bye to Angela and hugged her and told her I would be back. She helped us with our luggage and we all loaded into the bus (I realized at nearly the last moment that I still had my room key in my pocket, so I hopped off the bus to give it back to Angela before returning onto the bus).
     I waved out of the back of the bus window at everyone, and Shahruz saw me and waved, said something and everyone waved before I shut the curtain. When we started moving, everyone waved again out the side window, and Mathilde was waving with both arms until we couldn't see her anymore.
     The bus driver left around 8:50 a.m., which was a little concerning because Jenny and Lina had a flight back to Sweden at 11:15 a.m. The bus driver stopped once for gas and another time for reasons unknown. However, they made it to their flight and safely home.
     Cyrene and I left with Linda and Jenny, who were on their way straight to the airport, but Cyrene and I had another day left in Sofia before we had to leave Tuesday morning, so we planned a few things. We were able to check into the hotel early, which was nice - the receptionist who helped us even gave us rooms across from each other. Cyrene opened the door, and it hadn't been serviced yet, so she was given a new room, so we were a few rooms down from each other. We both got settled before heading out, and I decided to shower later.
     We headed back down to the lobby to ask where we could find a taxi to take us to the National Archaeological Museum (also known as the National Archaeological Institute with Museum) in the city center. She said that she would call us a taxi and we could wait at the entrance outside. He showed up maybe less than five minutes later, and we got into the cab. He began to drive, and Cyrene and I talked, and when we got closer to the area we knew we had to be in, he pointed to either direction, and neither of us knew, but he went left, which seemed right when we looked at the map on Cyrene's phone. She showed it to him, and he pulled over and called someone. He handed me the phone and said "English," so I tried to talk to the person on the other line.
     This was stressing me out because the meter was still running while we were sitting there and a cab that should have cost only ten leva became almost thirteen once we got there (stay tuned to find out why that's not the worst thing that can happen with a cab money-wise). We got out somewhere nearby and walked the rest of the way. There was an underpass and we ended up right in the Serdica Ruins, which was a place we were planning on seeing anyway. I believe it was the East Gate area of the place, so we stopped to take pictures before we continued. We saw some souvenir shops on the way and decided to hit them on the way back before the walking tour since they closed before the walking tour ended.
     Finally, we found the Archaeological Museum. It wasn't as small as I would have imagined, and I bought the tickets since Cyrene paid for the cab. We were both stoked because as soon as you walk in, you see a ton of statuary, stele, two large sarcophagi (on the right, but they're hard to miss) and glass cases full of figurines and other assorted objects that I've never seen in a museum before. Cyrene and I walked around slowly, taking pictures, and I kept asking to get pictures with the statues - especially the one of Fortuna; that thing was enormous. It took us almost a whole hour to get through just the first floor.
     The upper floor had a lot of Byzantine icons, which didn't interest either of us all that much (once things move to Late Antiquity, both of us tend to lose interest), and then we saw a sign about staying a certain amount of centimeters away from the icons or an alarm would sound. So, we avoided them for the most part but made sure we walked past it. At the end of the upper walkway, there were two more small galleries: one about Bulgarian history from the prehistoric times up until when the church became prominent, and the other one was about Sports in Ancient Thrace, which we were both excited to see. The color scheme (orange and black) seemed like it would be obnoxious but it worked pretty well for the setup they had in the room.
     The next step was the Treasury Room, which we almost missed, but the security guards pointed out the door and that it was open (the other doors to the rooms were just a doorway, but the Treasury had heavy iron gates with a plexiglass-like top door over them that we had to pull open). The artifacts were amazing - there was a lot of armor, gold treasure, a bronze head that still had the eye inlays intact, and several other objects such as death masks and several small beads.
     We eventually made our way to the prehistoric hall and meandered around there for a bit, wondering what certain things were, and imagining what it would be like to fully understand the use of something. Cyrene marveled at the fact that people once owned these things and used them; whenever I think about that, I wonder about the things we use every day and whether in one thousand years, people will be digging up our garbage and classifying it as artifacts.
     Since we had gotten overexcited and started the museum, we hadn't eaten lunch, and it was still early in the afternoon, so we decided to hit the National Museum of Natural History, which was only five leva each. We got our tickets and went on our way - some of the things in the museum were interesting, but overall, it felt more like a cabinet of curiosities than a natural history museum. There was a lot of taxidermies, but also very corny things like badly done displays to simulate water. There was also plenty of specimens floating in vials or jars on every floor (there were four floors). I suggested we start on the fourth floor and then work our way down so that we would be done and on the bottom floor once we finished. The first floor was my favorite because that's where all the rocks and minerals were - the rest of it didn't feel quite like a museum.
     Lunch (or early dinner) was the only things on our minds once we left, so we began to scout out a place for food. On our way towards what looked like a busier area with a few options for food options, we found another part of the Serdica Ruins, so we made a pitstop there. Many pictures were taken, and the hunt for food continued. As we ventured on our journey, we passed a Mosque, and it was the first time I had ever heard a call to prayer in person. I thought it was quite beautiful.
     We finally settled on a place called Pizza Einstein, which had a good amount of traditional Bulgarian food options as well as pizza. I ordered a Margherita pizza because I'm simple and I missed just a plain food after having a lot of traditional Bulgarian food for the past two weeks. I did worry that my taste in Coca-Cola has changed though because it's all made with real sugar in Europe, so I'm going to go home thinking the soda tastes bad. It seems like I'm going to have to drink Mexican Coca-Cola to keep my taste buds satisfied.
     When the food arrived, I devoured the entire 26-centimeter pizza in less than ten minutes. I told Cyrene to not rush herself, I was just a fast eater, and it was no worries if she wanted to take her time. She ended up finishing her pizza, too, and then we were stuck in restaurant limbo because we had decided to eat inside and everyone else seemed to be eating outside. Thus, we didn't see our waitress all that often. She brought us the bill, and Cyrene used her card, but the elusive waitress was nowhere to be seen once more. Eventually, she came but told us to wait a moment for her because we were using a card, so she brought a machine to the table.
     Once we were free, we went to the Raffy stand and bought a couple of gelatos to eat while we walked on our way to the Free Sofia Tour, where guides take people on an English tour of the city and show twenty different monuments or places of interest on the way. The walking tour took two hours, and I was beginning to feel both the pizza and the gelato coming to seek vengeance, so once the tour was over, we headed over to the cafe so I could use the restroom. It cost me 0.50 leva to visit the porta-potty from Hell, but luckily I noticed there was no toilet paper when I sat down and asked for some before I had any issues. Thank the gods I had hand sanitizer in my bag.
     Here is where we both made a mistake because we just wanted to get back to the hotel: we saw a cab sitting and waiting, so we went up and asked about the Ibis Hotel Sofia Airport, and he said yes, yes, get in, and of course the first issue we both had was we couldn't find the clips for the seatbelts, so neither of us ended up wearing one. About halfway through the ride, I leaned over to Cyrene and told her that the meter was already at something like 35 leva, which is ridiculous because it wasn't far from where we were dropped off in the morning, and our final bill was nearly 40 leva. For a ride that couldn't have been longer than ten minutes.
     We got back to the hotel and thought about getting a beer, but Cyrene decided to pass, and I thought that was a better idea. I checked in to my flight, but it said I had to print out my boarding passes, and luckily there was a computer I was able to use in the lobby for it, and it didn't cost anything. I scheduled the airport shuttle for us at 5 a.m. and went back upstairs. I kept charging her tablet for her and then I brought it to her room since my phone and computer were dying (since I couldn't charge things when not in the room because the keycard has to be inserted for the electricity to work, which is annoying). We said goodnight around ten o'clock, and I definitely need to go to bed soon because it's half past midnight and we have to be up in about four hours to get ready and catch our flights.
     I have a lot of long layovers, so hopefully I don't go mad with boredom.


If you want to know more about the Free Sofia Tour, here is a link to their website: https://freesofiatour.com/free-sofia-tour/

Field School: The Dig, Day 10 (Final Day!)

August 4, 2018

     Last night, someone had knocked Jenny's drink over onto my sandals, and I had to wash them when I went to bed, using Las Vegas logic of "they'll be dry in the morning" because we have no humidity.
     They were not dry this morning.
     A quick shower and walking downstairs in just my socks while carrying my shoes later, I ate breakfast with Ivan, who left shortly after I sat down (he was just done his breakfast and I was late to when I usually go, and, as a creature of habit, I sat at the seat I always sit at in the morning, where Ivan was sitting in the seat Mathilde is usually in when I'm down there). I ate a small breakfast and wrapped up some sausage to take to our site dog, Sharka (how it sounds in English because I don't know how to spell it in Bulgarian - it means colorful), which I forgot on the table before we left.
     It was my last day at the dig site and I was pretty bummed about it. I didn't want to leave the people I met behind at all and I definitely didn't want to stop digging before there was anything interesting or exciting found (which is why most people stay for four weeks, I guess). I'm partially happy it was my last day to dig because I'm tired and I miss Folklore Fiancé too much, but I really wish I could stay.
     I had made an offering of grape seeds to Dionysus, asking for him to let me find something, anything, interesting before I left. I kept digging and a little while later, I found a small knucklebone, which is a special find because they used these as game pieces when playing dice. Once I had taken the coordinates and filled out a tag for it and put it in its own bag, I continued to dig. Eventually, I uncovered some pottery, but it was too far down for me to get to, but next to it was a pottery sherd. When I picked it up, it looked like I have a black figure sherd with a distinguishable part of a figure on it. I asked Angela and she told me it was a knee and then I asked about another part of it, which looked (to me) like boxing gloves and she said it was possibly part of a garment. So, I was pretty pleased with that find, even though it's technically mass material and isn't "special" by archaeological standards, but I thought it was. So, see, the gods do come through!
     We came back for lunch and rest and went back for the finds processing and washing for the last time (for me). Linda, Jenny, and I were taken separately so we could learn how to fill out a context sheet for the archaeological sites. After discussing it and asking Angela questions about archaeology that I didn't know a lot about, we headed back to the barrack. She asked if I wanted to take the test for it, even though I wasn't doing it for credit, and I said yes. (Well, first I said can I just keep the paper and do it later, but Angela explained that it was a short test so I could do it now so she could go over it - it was only 13 questions, but I got 1 wrong and 1 kind of wrong).
     After that, I helped everyone get the rest of the washing done, and we finished our bags, but eventually were asked by one of our group about helping the rest of the people because we had a lot more to do. So, basically, we had to complete pottery washing, otherwise, the people who were staying for four weeks would have to deal with everything on Tuesday. We helped with another bag, and then I asked Cyrene and Madeline if they needed help because everyone else had cleaned up but they were still washing, so I took some of their material over to the tarp to dry. We all got on the bus and headed back.
     Got back, did this that and the other thing, dinner, blah blah blah, and then we all played Twister together shortly followed by a drinking game. It was amazing and fun and intense and I'm going to miss them all a lot.
     We have an excursion tomorrow.
     Hopefully I don't have a hangover.

Field School: The Dig, Day 9

     I've not been sleeping well. It's been almost three since I've been away from Folklore Fiancé for this amount of time. I miss them a lot and want to go home, but part of me wishes I could stay the whole four weeks. It would be ideal to know how much gets done in that amount of time. Mathilde is trying to ask her mother if she can stay longer. I'm a bit envious that she might get to stay, but I think that the next time I come, I'm going to try and swing to stay the whole time that a field school takes place. I feel weird going home in the middle and not knowing how it'll end up by the end of it (and would have felt even weirder I had come in the middle of it, so I wanted to come for the first session).
     Anyway.
     Shortly after we got to the dig site, Shahruz and Elizabeth found a figurine. That was what some of my other fieldmates, Sydney and Gena, had found the day before with the apt description of, "With tits and nips!" when asked about it. The religious icons and related material were my dream finds, so I'm kind of envious when I've only found mass material and some clay. There's more to it than that, I know, but I haven't even found a decorated pottery sherd (which almost everyone has found in my square thus far, I think, and most of them are staying for four weeks so they probably will if they haven't yet), and tomorrow is the last day I dig.
     The first part of the day, we were getting pictures of the site from different angles. I took some of them, a few of which were on top of a ladder, and let me tell you, I'm not a fan of heights and usually panic when I'm on ladders. I didn't panic at all, and it felt weird that I was so comfortable with it. Mathilde took the pictures of the other section on top of the ladder, and I got some good pictures of her doing that. When I was climbing down to switch around the whiteboard on one of the sections, it was the lower level where the difference between the top and bottom was basically my leg length. When I stepped on the ground, it caught my bad knee at a weird angle, and I fell and rolled. Angela let me sit for a bit when I came back up, and it wasn't too bad, but it still hurt and made me in a bit of a sour mood for the rest of the day.
     Most of the day was spent trying to go around and unearth something in my section, but only five centimeters down, and because I had to go around a lot of rocks, it was pretty slow-going. Mathilde found some interesting things, as did Siyu and Jianing. Angela found a knucklebone in the section Mathilde, and I were digging in, so we had to take its coordinates before moving on. Ivan was doing his technical drawing, so he didn't find much of anything except the curiosity of whether he would be praised as much on his last technical drawing in Apollonia Pontica, where his supervisor said his drawing was "believable."
     The dig was improved a bit by Ivan playing the Lord of the Rings soundtrack at the beginning (he is a Kiwi after all), and then we played different songs that he had on his phone. As much as I say I only really listen to Disney and Broadway, he had a selection of songs playing that was very much my taste that we listened to during the day. I told him I finally found my kindred spirit on this trip because of his music.
     My aggravation was heightened when I got back to my room because the people who cleaned the room had turned off the AC and opened the door (no, no, I left the AC on for a reason...) and I had forgotten to pick up the towel I use for my feet on the floor, so that was gone too, even though the last time, they just tossed it on top of something (which was still annoying because those were my "clean" clothes for after the dig - basically without dirt or anything on it - onto which they put a towel that had been wet and on the floor -_-). I took my shower and finished my field journals because they're going to be collected.
     A wine tasting was scheduled for four p.m., and then we have a lecture afterward, so it'll be interesting to see how that pans out.

Field School: The Dig, Day 8

     I didn't know what a technical drawing was at the beginning of field school. Now, I wished I had never heard those words uttered together in this way. I absolutely abhor it. Technical drawing is the new evil incarnate to me. It doesn't help that I'm the only American in my square, so I feel extra inadequate because of the fact that I am horrible with the Metric system. Even the tape measurer didn't make sense to me. Do American archaeologists use the American system or the Metric? It seems weird if we didn't use the Metric because then everyone else would have to convert it. Either way, I didn't know I could hate anything more than tomatoes, but I was wrong. It was technical drawing.
     That's literally all Mathilde, and I did all day in our square. Eventually, it felt like she was doing all the work. Honestly, I was too nervous that I was going to mess it up to bother asking her if I could jump back in. I helped a bit, but I think I only did like 30% of what was done on the drawing. One of the other people found something really cool, it was honestly a dream find for me, so I'm super stoked for them and a little jealous since I haven't really found anything at all. Afterward, we had to clean up so we could take a picture, so for the last hour of fieldwork, that's all we did.
     We came back for lunch, and it was some type of potato dish; it was pretty good, but still not all that hot. Instead of lingering, I went to go take a shower because I was sweating so badly during the day. The workshop in the evening was pottery cleaning and finds processing, but my group didn't get all of ours done, either.  We packed up and headed back and had a half an hour until dinner.
     Dinner was chicken kabobs and potatoes, so I was pleased. Nico wanted to run to the market after dinner and Cyrene mentioned it, so I asked to tag along. Jianing ended up coming, too; none of us knew the way, but Nico was well-versed in walking there. While we were in the "market" (basically a corner store to us Americans - a very small one, since we're in a literal village), Nico ran into some locals that he apparently knew. It seems no matter where he goes, he knows someone, and apparently, he's done enough study abroad trips to know how to assimilate to a place pretty quickly. He told us some...interesting...stories on the way back as well.
     Cyrene and I are going to work on our field journals for the night, and then I think I'm going to chill for a little while and then go to bed. We have more to do tomorrow with both the square and the pottery washing and finds processing, which was fun. I'm really nervous about digging for the rest of the time because we only have two days left to dig and I'm a little disappointed that we spent a day and a half on drawing the technical drawing when I would have preferred to keep digging.
     Hopefully, I'll be able to stay longer for my next archaeological field school!

Field School: The Dig, Day 7

     The weather report this morning said it was going to rain twice: one around 11 a.m., and again around 1 p.m., so I was worried that it would be raining while we were digging. Our break is from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., so at least we would not be in the squares while that happened.
     It didn't rain, though; in fact, Angela said today was the first real day of summer since we got here. It didn't feel that bad to me. Usually, I'm cranky as hell in the heat, especially when I'm sweating, but because I was doing so much and because I'm used to the dry heat of Las Vegas, everything felt fine to me. Sweaty, yes, but I wasn't as cranky about the heat as I am back home. I think part of the perks of this is that I haven't had to drive in nearly three weeks - I'm not looking forward to having to do that when I get back to Las Vegas and have to drive forty-five minutes to work in a car with no air conditioning.
     The others didn't do their introduction the day before in their field journals, so they went around and did that while I finished up mine. I marked the sketch and then helped the others with their field journals when they got to our two squares. Once they had finished that, we all reconvened in the square, and I manned the wheelbarrow for most of the day.
     There wasn't too much going on today; we continued to dig where we were digging and found more mass material, we took levels for Ivan's area, and Mathilde and I began the technical drawing. I told Angela I was nervous about the technical drawing because I was so bad at the pottery drawing workshop. She told me to not get discouraged and that if I had had three more pieces of pottery sherds, I would have been able to do it fine. However, Petja started me off with the measurements and Mathilde had to draw. I'm really nervous since I'm the only person who doesn't use centimeters in my group (*shakes fist at the American standard system*) because I feel like I'm going to mess it up.
     We carried the stuff back to the barrack, having finished getting down the next layer and determining that we had to do the technical drawing the next day, which apparently can take all day. I'm really anxious about it. I'm not good at drawing, nor am I good with the Metric system. It sounds like a recipe for disaster as soon as I get that paper, so cross your fingers for me.
     When we got back, there was a tourist who asked us if we were students, and we told him that we were here for archaeology. He asked where we were from and we explained all over - we have Americans, Canadians, Swiss, an Aussie, a Kiwi, etc. and he said he was from Philly, and I told him I went to Villanova and he hugged me. It was funny. He went off with his group when he was done because they were off to Plovdiv for the day, which I told him we had just gone and loved it.
     Lunch was stuffed zucchini - rice and meat inside of it - which wasn't too bad, but the soup was the cucumber soup again, and I couldn't make myself eat it again. The cucumbers here aren't bad, per se, but they do have a very unique taste that's not quite what I expect cucumbers to taste like. Put it in a cold soup with yogurt, and I can only eat it so much without worrying about how it'll affect my stomach.
      Some people are doing yoga in the yard, but I decided to just stay in for today because the lecture is at 5 p.m., and I wanted a bit of chill time before I went. I'm also trying to down some of the Cherry Coke I bought at the market the other day so that I won't nod off in lecture. It's a lot for us to go to the dig and then come back for lunch, have a long break, and an evening lecture. The break is nice, though, because it gives a chance for swimming, the sauna and steam room, or a nap (or if you're really good at time management and our lecture is a little later, all three).
     During my downtime the past couple of days, I've actually been looking into other field schools that aren't under the Balkan Heritage Foundation. Partially because I wanted to see what was out there and could figure out if I liked another program or area better and partially because I do pick up on other languages quicker, and I can read Italian and Greek, but I can't read Cyrillic. I do want to learn Bulgarian, though, so I would be able to speak at least a little bit if I decided to come back. Also, it never hurts to learn another language; especially when that language uses the Cyrillic alphabet, an alphabet that is used by a good portion of the world. (Fun fact: Bulgarians were the ones who invented the Cyrillic alphabet, which I definitely did not know until we were in Plovdiv and Angela pointed out the statue of the men who invented it.)
     The lecture today is on the Urbanization of Ancient Thrace, which I'm extremely excited about. I hope I won't nod off this time; I'm not trying to zone out because it's boring, I'm just actually tired from all the digging and the sun! If I could nap, this wouldn't be a problem, but I can't because short naps make me feel sick. We only have a couple more days left at the dig site, and I'm super sad I'm going to have to leave on Monday. I definitely want to do a full session one year.

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: 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: 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:

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