The other morning we were out waiting for the buses to go to the site. And we looked down the driveway and saw a group of about ten monkeys playing and running around. I was disappointed I didn't get any pictures of them! But they were tackling each other and running around. They looked so awkward on the ground; I generally picture monkeys in trees.
For class this week, we switched restaurants. No worries, the bar prices at the new place are better than the Happy Hour prices of the other place. So we were in this conference room in the restaurant, and it was air conditioned! It was so strange; it was the first time I had been in air conditioning since I've been here. But Michiel gave the first part of the lecture. It was all about site methodology, or how sites are excavated. He also spent a while talking about data structures and Geographical Information System (GIS). So it was a lot about how archaeologists can use computers to interpret and analyze data. Really interesting stuff. Then we had a delicious dinner, and Dr. Fitzpatrick gave a presentation. It was fantastic. He taught us about the Saladoid people, who lived in the Caribbean from 500 BC to 650 AD. It was just a really interesting class and made me excited about archaeology and my future. It's really awesome stuff.
That was a lot to read. Here's a picture of me from the hike last weekend for your entertainment.
Making our way through the jungle
Digging this week went well. We're continuing to find pottery and shells. I found a substantial amount of turtle bones the other day. We've also found more human teeth, and two phalanges. Still no burial though, but we'll see what happens. Then for the other trench, we brought in a backhoe to clear some of the dirt. When they finished, there were darker circles in the soil called post molds. It means that at some point, there was a post in that exact spot. Then the post was either removed or rotted away, leaving the dark spots in the soil. We're still mapping and analyzing them, but it was an exciting find.
Because sometimes dental picks and toothbrushes just aren't enough
It's rained and stormed here a lot lately. When we're at the site we can see the storms come in from the ocean, so we can always tell when we have one or two minutes to get to the shelter. Most of the time when it rains during the day, it'll rain for between 30 seconds to 2 minutes and then stop. Lately we've been having some intense storms at night. I woke up a few times during the week to the thunder and lighting. The storms are so loud since all of our windows are open. Last night we had the worst storm since we've been here. The wind was so terrible; it took down a few branches of trees here. We had to close all of our shutters, which we haven't done since we've been here. Plus the storm completely destroyed our lab. We lost a lot of the material we had collected, and the things that are mixed up are impossible to sort and now worthless. It was really upsetting.
Here's a view of the bungalows from the water. I'm in the one on the lower left.
Not bad living arrangements
I'm officially Scuba certified! I'm now certified as an open water diver. I was pretty excited about it. We'll probably try to do another dive while we're here if we have time.
I realize that in every picture on this blog I'm covered in dirt and mud. So here's one from last week when we got dressed up and went on a sunset cruise.
Looking good
I can't believe it's already the middle of July. The program is already half over and I'll be back to school in a month! Time really does fly!
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