Day 6

I apologize for my tardiness in posting Day 6 blog. I will to yesterday and today separately so that it's not one long blog.

Work yesterday was pretty hard. Temperature did not get as hot as predicted. We're still clearing debris from a previous excavation. Saw a Bedouin shepherd come through tel Gezer with his flocks of sheep and goats. It was pretty cool. Everyone stopped to watch him pass by.

Since tel Gezer has been made a National Park recently many people come through to tour the site. Additionally, people use the areas as a recreational area to bike, jog, and walk. So, we get several visitors every day who stop and watch what we are doing.

Discovered that Tel Gezer Project employs a Bedouin man to watch our site and equipment for us at night. He sleeps ON TOP of our cargo container that holds our equipment at base camp. I had noticed a mattress up there earlier in the week but didn't think much of it.

Food yesterday was much the same as it has been. However, lunch and dinner included new main courses . . . a stuffed bell pepper (with rice and hamburger) and a spiced sausage. Interesting. I put hot sauce on the bell pepper. It was pretty good. The yellow bell pepper was a bit too mushy, but incredibly sweet. The spiced sausage was not too bad. I ate one by itself, and then another stuffed into a pita.

Did our first pottery washing yesterday. Everybody gets a labeled bucket, a bucket of clean water, a drying box, and a little vegetable brush. The pottery, which is from the previous day, is soaked in water overnight. We scrub the pottery shards clean and then set them in a box to be sun-dried. Tomorrow, the pieces we washed will be "read." The professionals sit at a table and go through the pieces to see if they are "diagnostic." That means that they have something on them or about them that can tell us something . . . when it was made, who made it, what it was used for, decorations, inscriptions, etc. 80-90% of the pottery we collect is "trash" and will be sent back to tel Gezer and dumped! Oh, the agony!

Dirt. Dirt is everywhere. When you are moving literally tons of dirt by hand it gets everywhere. I have come to the conclusion that many articles of clothing and my boots will not be making it home. They will not be usable! When I come back from the dig site I am covered in dirt. Taking my hat off and setting it down on my lap on the bus and a cloud of dust puffs up from my hat and my shorts. And I mean, just setting it down, not slamming it down on my lap!

It takes me a really long time to get clean. The tiny shower in our room is about the size of a telephone booth . . . a small telephone booth. You have to turn a dial/timer to get hot water. Apparently I don't wait long enough (or I'm not doing it right) b/c I have yet to take a hot or even a warm shower. Cold is pretty much all I get. Anyway, back to the size of the shower. Trying to clean the thick layers of dirt off the lower part of the legs is just about impossible. I'm glad I don't have to shave them like you ladies (and Jeff).

Washing clothes . . . they have a family in the Neve Shalom community that washes clothes (1 lb. for 2 shekels). They do it 2x per week. However, apparently they have a hard time getting your clothes back to you. A clothes swap is conducted the day after wash day. Some guys are still looking for their underwear! I brought enough clothes to got about 10 days w/out washing. I started to go ahead and get mine done, but considering the slim possibility of getting all my clothes back . . . I have elected to do what many are doing . . . wash my own. Some guys bought buckets and soap on "store day" and are doing them by hand and letting them dry on the patio. Looks like my Mountain Dew boxers will be flying in the wind! I'll wash all my clothes today!

Had a lecture on archaeology theory yesterday. The back of my eye lids was just about all I studied during that hour. It was tough staying awake through that lecture. Now, to be fair, I had already put in 7 hours on the tell, an hour of pottery washing, and had been up since 4:00 am. A lecture on very important information (in case Dr. Ortiz stumbles upon and reads this blog . . . he's the guy in charge and the guy who gave the lecture . . . loved it Dr. Ortiz . . . can I get that lecture on video?) is still difficult to listen to and comprehend.

Watched the first half of "Kingdom of Heaven" (figured a movie about the crusades, Jews, Christians, and Muslims would be a good movie to watch) and went to bed early . . . about 8:30 pm.

Shalom

Trey