It is cloudy and threatening rain today (it's already rained twice and the forecast promises us Transylvanian thunderstorms this afternoon) so we have the morning off from digging! However, we'll be working in the lab this afternoon, doing some bone cleaning and identification. Gotta brush up on my anatomy. (ha, that was punintentional)
Yesterday was good but frustrating. We didn't get nearly as far as I or our field director wanted us to in exposing more of the possible goodies in our area. I was working with two very nice, but very detail-oriented people, which meant that we spent a loooong time brushing off bones and being very careful--and not a lot of time moving dirt. We weren't very efficient and it drove me a little bit nuts, especially since we're not digging today and I'm not sure if he's putting us in the field tomorrow, so we may have to wait until Monday to actually get somewhere.
To be fair, though, this is the very first time most of the people here have done any digging. So while they know their anatomy and bioarch stuff, they're not as up on the practical, hands-on side. I'm a little antsy because I just want to dig. I need practice on slowing my roll and going slow and careful, though, so this is good for me.
The clay we're working in, however, is not good for my brand new shiny trowel. This is what it looks like after two days of digging.
And I'd like to make a point of saying thank you to Andy, because his joke present of the vampire hunting kit has actually been really useful.
It's perfect to carry my trowel, my sunscreen, my little field notebook that I haven't actually used, and I have been carrying around the paintbrush just in case, but they have field ones already for us to use.
Also, in terms of adventures, yesterday was a fun one. AJ and I went shopping in a big proper Kmart/Walmart type place and boy, was that fun. We bought a whole bunch of great stuff and we're sharing supplies for lunches (since we have to provide our own for lunch break in the field) so our current plan is peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Oh my lord, the honey here is exquisite! I've never been a big honey person; I was into it for a little while when I really liked herbal teas, but then I switched to black and honey doesn't really go with Tetley or Twining's. (Or maybe it does. Ian?) But we put honey on bread/toast for breakfast in the mornings and it is the most delicious thing I've ever had, oh goodness. I'm hoping I can bring some local honey home for you guys to try, because you'd love it.
In terms of trying new foods, yesterday was also fun. A few of us walked to the corner store about 7 minutes from the house and bought Lemon Ciuc. Ciuc is a popular local beer (I've tried a sip of someone's and it's okay for beer) and they have a low-alcohol content, lemon one that is really yummy. So we had some of that in honor of Fourth of July. And then our dinner was (get this) stuffed cabbage rolls, with sausage and rice inside and something like sour cream on the side. It was interesting.
And on a final note, here's a picture of me actually on the dig. Parentals have seen it and probably already shared it, but I'm really excited to be here and doing this!
*Re the title, I have Yeats' The Stolen Child in my head and have since yesterday around lunchtime. Specifically, I have the Loreena McKennitt song version going round and round in my head.
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