longest blog ever

alrighty.
You may be wondering what I've been up to considering it's been so long since I last updated anything. Really, I wish I had more to say or to at least write that things have been going the way I'd hoped. But they aren't. It's kind of unfortunate to find out that you are apparently unemployable in a line of work closely related to what you want to pursue. For those of you who don't know, I've been applying for jobs with commercial archaeology companies to get more field work experience. It's been over a month and not a single company I've applied for has even given me a call. So I have decided that I had best get a part time job that is allowed under the student visa that I have and that I should find myself a place so that I am not imposing myself onto my friends any more. The trick is that it has to be a job that I could leave should one of the archaeological companies actually choose to hire me.
In the grand scheme of things it's really not that bad. It's just disappointing. If I can't get a job before Christmas I'll see if I can't go back to Greece and do what I was supposed to be doing right now since the opportunity is still there. This, of course, just depends on me getting a visa or something so that I don't jeopardize my excavations this summer, which is definitly something I am not looking forward to having to do.

Enough of that though. The better news is that I was able to spend some time with my mom and oma who came out to my Graduation ceremony a few weeks ago. The ceremony was surprisingly short and efficient. All in Latin too. King's was the first college to go because it was the first of the Royal charter colleges. (oooh, awwe).


After the cermony we spent some time in London seeing the sight. We saw some fantastic musicals as well. First, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. I had been trying to get tickets for this show but it was sold out until 2008 or something stupid like that, but I found some upper balcony style tickets from an unofficial booth that turned out to be better than we thought. The show was also a nice surprise, it turned out to be a lot of fun. But we were still baffled as to why it was so sold out, and, more strangely, why people cheered like mad when Lee Mead, the Guy playing Joseph, stepped onto the stage. I mean, he was good, no doubt about that, but still. Turns out they had done a reality tv show to fill the Joseph role - an amazing marketing ploy that seems to have worked.



Show number two, another Andrew Lloyd, the Phantom of the Opera. I had actually never seen this show, though of course, it is a classic and was very beautifully done. I suppose I had higher hopes for this one than for Joseph so I was left a little bit disappointed. I felt they were holding back just a little from making the big moments as big as they could have been. But still, how could you not enjoy it?
Show number three... Chicago, now starring none other than Kelly Osborne as Mama Morton (those of you who know the musical may be cringing at this moment, and rightfully so). I had heard that the reviews were saying that she was doing a good job. She did not do a good job. This was a marketing ploy that did not work. Thankfully she wasn't on stage all that much to drag down the fantastic job the rest of the cast was doing.
So between the 3 musicals and catching 'dirty dancing' on the tv, and my singing constantly, my mom and oma had an amazingly musical time.

And after London, we made our way up to Edinburgh for a few days. Absolutely beautiful. Some very nice museums and interesting old buildings with tiny little alleyways.



One of the highlights of Edinburgh was Rosslyn Chapel. Started in 1446 (or somewhere around then) the entire chapel is covered in elaborate, and mysterious, carvings. It was mentioned in the DaVinci Code, so it has gained in popularity over the years as a tourist attraction but is still extremely intriguing as a place that has Templar and Masonic connections, heart lines, and an unopened massive vault rumoured to hold things like the grail or the ark of the covenant or a piece of the true cross. (Instead of trying to tell you all of the strange rumours that surround this place, I'll just link you to the wikipedia article...). One of the things I found most interesting, however, was that in their attempts to preserve the sandstone carvings, they covered them in a monochromatic cement mixture. This not only removed the natural colouring of the sandstone and the paint that was applied, but it cause the sandstone to retain water and therefore moss to cover huge amounts of the surfaces. So they had to build an awning to put over top of it to keep it dry. It is interesting that sometimes the acts that we make to preserve our material culture can sometimes do just as much damage.


So. In summation. Had a great time with my mom and oma, and not a bad time just getting things in order. I just wish I had the job I want.

bureaucracy 1, me 0

so I lose. I definitley have to go back to england. It's complicated and weird and bureaucratic and I'm not so mad at the fact that I have to go back, it's that no one could have told me the information I needed to know sooner. I mean come on now. All it takes is someone to actually listen to what your situation is and what you want to do instead of being to busy to care. I mean, when the canadian embassy in greece and the greek embassy in canada tell you two different things, you know the system is confused.
and I'm also mad at the fact that even the little things are not going right for me today... like trying to call a bunch of embassies and then trying to call airway people. for example... trying to call british airways to change my ticket... first, i just happen to run out of money on my cell. second, the first payphone i can find is decapitated, i.e. no reciever. the second inexplicably non-functioning, the third working, but it is now 5 minutes past five. the office closed at five. i try to call long distance to the one in england and for some reason cannot get through.
any ways. I'm just going to have to suck it up and pay the massive amount they are charging me to change my ticket, but first I have to walk back to lefkandi and get the bank card that is sitting in my room instead of being in my bag only to walk back (30 min. both ways). can't say i'm not getting my exercise.

anyways, enough complaining. I'm bitter, yes, but still. things aren't that bad, just expensive and time consuming. Maybe it's better that I go back to england to sort some stuff out, and on the bright side i have some friends there who have already offered up their couches and floors.

that's it for now, i have to get walking if I'm going to make dinner...

This is the view from my balcony. Lefkandi can't be beat for seaside views: what it lacks in creature comforts, it makes up for in seascapes. it's basically a place where athenians come and beach it up for the weekend so the weekends are overrun with vacationing greeks, but there are vary vary few people from elsewhere and we are a bit of an anomally as english speakers. lefkandi has a ton of tavernas, but nothing along the lines of a bank (or atm), post office, supermarket, internet cafe, etc etc. so to get anything you have to walk to the next town 1/2 an hour away. That outcropping of land is where the site is located.

these are the workem i'm with and the trench that i'm in. basically, looking for a big wall. the photo heare is just starting to see it come up, but by this point we've uncovered approximately 9 meters of what is now a 19 meter long wall (you can see it running back in the distance of the trench uncovered last year). I don't mind saying that my wheel barrow and shovel boy are probably the cutest ones, thereby making our trench the hottest one by far (not temperature wise either).

we have along weekend which is great because it will allow me to go into athens and attempt to deal with the greek bueaucracy which will either extend my visa so i can stay until christmas or not. I'm looking forward to a day of waiting and incomprehensible organisation. keep your fingers crossed.

i had grand plans to upload some photos and have this great blog to make up for the length of time that has past since the previous posting... but I can't use my jump drive at this internet cafe. dangit.

well, here's the scoop anyways.

we are now entering our 4th week of digging here at Lefkandi. This last week was nice becasue the first two we were basically digging rectangular trenches of nothing but topsoil. this week we actually reached archaeological levels, just beneath the surface really, but it's all about being north or south of this big wall. (north there is nothing until very deep, south you dig 30 cm and you hit mycenaen beuildings). my trench is all about outlining what the extent of this boundary wall is and how the area connects to what was founf to the south last year. so now I have a part of the large wall and a couple of other, unexpected, smaller walls.
it's exciting. i promise.

I am a trench supervisor, which means that I tell the pickman and the other two workers where to dig, etc. so far I;ve had a greek speaking assistant to communicate through, but things are getting swapped around this week and i will have someone who doesn't speak greek assisting. This should be interesting. It'll be alright, i think, becasue i have picked up enough to generally get the main point across, it's just the details that I worry about. at any rate, my greek should improve by force, which is a bright side.

i'm going to leave it there for now... i promise though that I will flesh it out soon, i think the other internet cafe i go to should be able to upload a few photos which will make all the difference.

love you all and miss you

So. I'm digging. It's going well: I am slowly gaining confidence and not thinking that I'm going to destroy everything, the heat wave has subsided and is now in the 30's rather than 40's, i have an amazing 'T' shaped tan on my back and am working on the shoe tan nicely, and I am meeting people, slowly but surely.
This weekend is a long weekend, meaning that we have monday off. Most people are heading out to the islands. I might have, but I didn't know about this weekend until recently, and I just don't feel like have the energy to go through all the trouble. Plus, I really need to get some work done on my funding proposals this weekend. But, I also figure that I should at least do Something on Sunday for my birthday. but all the really nice beaches are really far. Though I suppose I could head to one of the closer ones and just suck it up, I mean, a beach is a beach. I can't believe I'm whining about not knowing what I should do when I'm in greece, i mean, really now. I'm just to lazy to plan to relax.
love you all, miss you all.

one day of digging and just look at the tan lines.

They let us go home early today because of the heat. I was more thankful than you can possibly imagine. Apparently sitting in rainy england writing your thesis is not good peparation for digging in the greek sun. Who knew?

well. I'm Greece. And it's excessively warm already. Someone said 48 degrees. crazy.
I'm being waited on fo rthe ocmputer, so I'll write more when I have more to say other than am extrememly tired form sleeping on planes and in airports.