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: 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!