The first week of excavation just finished. And it has been a hell of an experience. I’m with almost all of the crew at a hostel in Aqaba for a small break. The world cup is playing in the background. But, my camera is broken.
I don’t feel entirely comfortable writing in too much detail about the excavation on account of the Nat Geo media embargo I signed. But, there have already been plenty of walls uncovered, and I am in the process of drawing my first actual soil profile.
Thankfully, waking up at 4 am every morning, hiking along the wadi to the site, and working in tons of wind and fine sediment, hasn’t scared me away from archaeology. It is exhausting and difficult, but it doesn’t detract from the excitement of what we’re doing. There are plenty of awesome individuals here who deal with the workload with humor and overall crazy behavior, which makes the whole thing a pleasure to go through.
I’m keeping a daily journal of my experiences on and off site in order to get academic credit.
I will write later on some of the difficulties that digs like these face, especially the political side of those difficulties some time later on, because I’ve learned a lot about what is needed to actually set up a project like this.
Hi:
I live in Aqaba and just came across your blog. Wow! How are you able to work on the dig in 100+ degree weather? I’m finding it so hard to adjust to the summer here compared to Portland, Oregon where I moved from.
Anyway, welcome to Aqaba. I hope you’ll consider joining our Facebook group “Live in Aqaba”, and check out our website http://liveinaqaba.com
I look forward to reading more of your entries. It’s always fun to read about the experiences of fellow Americans in Aqaba.