Welcome to Murighiol (7/1/2012)

The group met at 10 a.m. to take a four-hour bus ride to the village of Murighiol, where Halmyris is located. The bus didn't have air-conditioning nor functioning windows (apparently it's some kind of Romanian superstition to have more than one window open simultaneously).

Romania is a very flat land, and there wasn't much to see during the drive except for miles upon miles of bright yellow sunflower fields (which were quite stunning, actually). Sunflower seeds and oil are a popular commodity here. For those of you who have been to Greece, Romania looks very similar, but much poorer and without the hills. The village of Murighiol, where we are staying, is home to only a thousand people, and most of the houses are disheveled with thatched roofs. Some of the nicer-looking homes are stuck and have orange or grey tile roofing. The roads are unpaved, uneven dirt. There are stray dogs and cats everywhere, like Greece, and often people allow their farm animals to roam the village unattended. But since it is such a small town and everyone knows everyone, John says, if someone were to steal something or break into someone's home, the villagers would find out about it and could probably figure out who did it. So, crime as we know it isn't a problem here.

Myself and eight other girls are staying at Mihail's house, while the six boys and two remaining girls are staying in quaint cabins located just outside where we eat our meals each day. Dr. Mihail Zahariade is a sixty-two year-old Romanian archaeologist, who is head of the Romanian Institute of Archaeology. He and John are co-principal investigators for Halmyris. He is very sweet and hospitable, and speaks English well but very slowly. His house is quite nice in comparison to some of the other houses in the village. It's a ranch style, white stucco house with air- conditioning, a large unkempt garden and a wrap-around porch that overlooks Purple Lake. The house has the main part where Minail lives, with a kitchen and living room, ad then it has three unconnected bedrooms, each with two or three beds and a bathroom. I am staying in one of these three bedrooms with Allison, a senior archaeology major at Dickinson, and Andrea, a senior art history an classics double major at Weslyian.

After settling in, John gave us a quick tour of the village (its very small), and then we met up with Mihail for dinner.

As most of you know, I do not eat any meat, poultry or dairy products. And the word "vegetarian" (let alone "vegan") doesn't exactly exist here. Romanians are big on eating meat with every meal, and potatoes come with everything whether they're mashed, boiled or fried. Oh, and don't forget the beer. Lots of beer. Romanian beer has twice the amount of alcohol than in the states.

John and I have had a little trouble trying to explain to our cook, who doesn't speak English, what vegetarian means and why I can't eat anything that's cooked in butter. But I realize this is a situation where I need to be a bit more flexible, and so far I am just trying to be easygoing and eat what I can that's on my plate.

Otherwise, our meals are well-prepares and fresh. We are served breakfast and then two or three courses for both lunch and dinner.

After dinner, we all headed over to a sports bar to watch the World Cup final. Mihail and John were rooting for Italy, while the rest of us cheered on Spain as they won 4 - null.

It's been a long day of traveling and meeting new faces, and I know I will pass out the minute my head hits the pillow.

First night

A two and a half hour delay, a missed connection flight and 12 hours of air travel later... I finally made it! (I actually wasn't so sure I was going to after missing my connection flight from Frankfurt to Bucharest).

I ended up arriving at Bucharest International Airport (Henri Coanda) around 5:30, where I met my professor John and three other students on the trip. From there, we took taxis to our respective hotels and hostels. Another student on the trip, Graham (who so happens to be from CALIFORNIA, Sami Tutone!), and myself are staying at the Butterfly Villa Hostel.

It's my first time staying at a hostel, so I didn't really know what to expect, but I figured I shouldn't expect much. It's a quaint stone building that has a courtyard and a locked gate entrance (as most of the hostels here do, from what I've seen). This hostel seems to be run by young adults who live here full time. Thankfully, I am staying in a single room on the first floor; otherwise, I would have had to drag my luggage up a narrow winding staircase (much like the ones in Athens).

My room is small; similar in size to my freshman year "economy single" dorm, except a bit longer. A pine bunkbed sits against the far wall, where there's a large window overlooking the courtyard. The floor and walls are tiled in beige and taupe limestone, with a decorative border separating the two colors. I'm thankful for the stone walls and flooring because there is no air conditioning, and the tile will help keep the room cool at night (though I'm only staying here for one night, anyway).

After John dropped us off at the hostel and we freshened up, Graham and I walked to a nearby pub a few blocks away, where the group was to meet for dinner. Fortunately, Graham knows his way around the city quite well. This is his third time volunteering for this dig, so he is familiar with Romania. I, on the other hand, hadn't a clue where to go, so I followed him to the pub like a lost puppy.

There, we drank and ate with John and the rest of the crew, which consists of about 15 people (mostly students of John; some have graduated, like me).

Everything is very cheap in Romania, and the dollar goes far here. It's 1 Romanian lei to 0.3 USD. So everyone was buying beer, having dessert. I ordered some whiskey. The boys looked at me like I had three heads.

Although I came into this not knowing anyone, everyone seems to be easygoing and friendly, and we've already started planning a trip to a resort on the Black Sea this weekend.

Tomorrow morning, we are all meeting John outside the Funky Chicken Hostel (yes, that's the name) at 10. From there, we will take a bus to the town of Murighiol, where we will be living and digging for the next four weeks.

T-Minus Three Days

I remember being five and watching Jurassic Park for the first time. It wasn't the T. Rex or special effects that grabbed my attention, but rather a much simpler detail. Toward the beginning of the film, Dr. Grant and his team of archaeologists are hard at work on an excavation site, digging for dinosaur bones and gingerly brushing dirt and dust off the fossils. I want to do that, I thought to myself then.

Archaeology is often glorified in films like Jurassic Park, Lara Croft: Tomb Taider and Indiana Jones, where the archaeologist goes on wild, near-death, action-packed adventures. In reality, the life of an archaeologist is anything but (or so I've been told). Despite Hollywood's unrealsticly glamorous depiction and my mum's polar opposite opinion of archaeology, I've decided to find out for myself what an archaeological dig is all about.

When I studied abroad in Greece over a year ago, one of my professors there, Dr. John Karavas, invited me to join him and other students on an archaeological dig in Romania that summer. However, I already had my internship with Christie's set up which overlapped the dates of the dig. John and I have kept in touch since Greece, and this past winter he reminded me again of the opportunity to volunteer for the same dig this summer. It was an offer I could not turn down and the reason why I have started this blog back up.

In three days, I will be taking an eight and a half hour red-eye flight to Frankfurt, where I have an hour layover before taking a two and a half hour plane ride to Buccharest, Romania. I have been waiting for this all year, and I can't believe it's nearly here.

The excavation site in question, which I will be working on, is at Halmyris by the Danube river. It is situated near the lower reaches of the Danube Delta (and c. 30km west of the Black Sea). Modern place name is Murighiol and the nearest town is Tulcea.

Halmyris has been the subject of ongoing investigation since 1983 by the Romanian Institute of Archaeology, and there is still a lot of ground to cover, so I'm told. It has a full occupation history of some 1,300 years; originally a Geto-Dacian settlement, later a Greek colony (hence the name) and by the first century A.D. a Roman fort, harbor, trading post and civil settlement. It carried on as such throughout the Late Roman/Byzantine period until it was abandoned in the early seventh century A.D.

I am told investigation has focused on the actual fort so far. John tells me it was one of the most important forts in this particular frontier sector, as it guarded and monitored all traffic through the Danube coming in from the Black Sea (a major communication and trade route in antiquity). For this reason, it was always the base of a squadron of the Roman fleet (Classis Flavia Moescia) and of 400-500 strong legionary detachment. Later on, it was the base of operations of the Cuneus Equitum Arcadum, a 300-strong cavalry formation. According to evidence thus far, it was abandoned in the reign of Heraclius (seventh century A.D.), following the withdrawal of Roman forces from the entire province, John says. Though, latest findings might suggest a date of occupation to the 10th century A.D. The area excavated so far is confined to the northern part of the fort. It includes the northern gate, three towers, public buildings, a bathhouse and the remains of two Christian basilicas. In one of them, I am told a crypt was found, containing the actual and unspoiled remains of two saints, Astyon and Epictet, who martyred at the fort in 290 A.D. A pilgrimage, dedicated to their memory, usually attended by hundreds--if not thousands--of people, is held at the site on July 8.

Of equal importance is the adjacent civil settlement. By the third century A.D., it is mentioned as a "civitas" (city) which confirms a population of more than 5,000. It later became the seat of the local bishopric; by the fourth century, it is mentioned as one of the region's 10 most important cities (in the company of Tomis, Callatis, Histria, Olbia and Charax). Gradiometric surveys have confirmed that the civil settlement alone occupied an area of more than 30 hectares, John says, suggesting a population of more than 8,000. The civil settlement has not been investigated, but surface findings have so far yielded 3,500 coins, among other things.

The dig itself is a long-standing and very reputable one, falling under the auspices of the Romanian Ministry of Culture and the Romanische-Germanische Zenteal Kommision (Mainz, Germany). According to John, the current principal investigator of the site, Professor M.M. Zahariade, had been working there with the support of the Earthwatch Institute in Boston for a number of years. John has been working on the project for the past five years and will be directing the investigation of the area of the harbor (both civilian and military), where I will be working. On the basis of the preliminary investigation held in the summer of 2011, finds included many bronze artifacts, weaponry, jewelry and more than 25 coins, Roman dice and pieces of a Roman board game. Thus, I'm told it promises to yield many more things and should be a very exciting season!

The official excavation season will start Monday, July 2 and end on Friday, July 27; though, I will arrive in Buccharest on Saturday, June 30. The excavation team will consist of volunteers, mostly from U.S. universities, but some Romanian and British students are to be expected. We will all stay at the apparently very picturesque village of Murighiol, which is situated along the Murighiol lake (Purple Lake) and roughly 500 yards from the Danube river.

Internet connection is supposedly non-existent, John says, despite the promises he has received. So, I am unsure how often I will be able to check email and update this blog. But I will be staying one night in a hostel in Buccharest upon landing in Romania before traveling to Halmyris, and I will have free Internet in my room so I can check in with everyone then and write a new post.

Between now and Friday, I will be buying a plethora of mosquitoe repellent products (they eat me alive) and packing as lightly as humanly possible for a Winsor (which is not all that possible). The next time you hear from me, I will be in Romania!

Wish me luck!

Attika, agapi mou

It's 6:36 AM Eastern Standard Time, and I'm sitting in my own bed with my laptop and a cup of fresh FILTERED coffee. Mmm.

I pretty much slept for 9 out of the 11 hours during the flight home, had a nice dinner with the fam (vegan meatloaf- haven't had that in a while!) and hit the hay by 9:30. Strangely enough though, I woke up around 4 and couldn't really fall back asleep... must be the time change and such. I figure it will take a while for me to readjust back. Until then, I probably won't be sleeping like a normal human being.

EST - 1, MORGAN - 0. Sweet...

It feels so strange to be back in the states. The snow, for one thing, is a bit of a shocker. There's just so much of it!! And the air is so bitter cold! I thought it was cold our last few days in Athens but this is just horrid! Driving home with my dad from the airport was an interesting ride because I slowly began to absorb the difference in the landscape around me. It feels so strange not to see green fields of orange and olive trees, colorful Mediterranean style buildings with orange tiled roofs, cerulean blue skies, or the limestone silhouette of the Acropolis in the distance. Instead, I see WHITE. White picket fences, white snow, a white bleak sky, white colonial style houses... Almost the complete opposite.

During our farewell dinner at a local taverna, my Greek Art History professor, who is a world-renowned archaeologist living in Greece, told me to contact him if I come back to Greece and he would give me a private tour of any site I wanted to see. For me, it's not a question of if- it's a question of when.

While I was living in Athens, I met many people who- like me- first became acquainted with Greece through a study abroad trip with their university. Each one of them told me how that was the beginning of their "love affair with Greece," because they just continued to come back until they made the decision to move their permanently. I can already see this happening for me. There is something about Greece, almost like an infection that just takes completely over you the longer you stay- and you either get it or you don't. And once you get it, there's no cure besides giving in and going back.

This trip has really extended my knowledge of ancient Greece and it has showed me all the opportunities in careers that Greece has to offer me. I've also discovered a real passion for the Bronze Age period as well as Archaic art and architecture, and I think that this is something that I would really like to get into.

There is so much to do in Athens (let alone Greece) for someone like me who is interested in what I'm most passionate about. I feel like it would be silly not to consider living or at least going back to Greece in the future. We only merely touched upon the surface of what Greece has to offer-- with over 2,000 islands and all of the Peloponnese and mainland Greece, one month is just simply not enough time.

So, I guess my next language to learn will be modern Greek then...

Thanks to all who read my blog and experienced Greece with me. I hope you enjoyed it and maybe even learned a little something too. I had the most amazing time and I've returned home feeling refreshed and missing Greece, agapi mou, already.

Yassus for now :) and polla filakia! (as they say in Greece which means "many kisses")

I hate packing.

It's our last day in Athens and it's raining. Greece is crying for us!

I HATE packing. Hate, hate, HATE it. The only thing worse than packing, in my opinion, is UNPACKING. Bleh.

We took our Greek History final yesterday morning and then went back to the National Archaeological Museum of Athens to finish looking around. It's a huge museum though, unfortunately, much of it is closed off due to a shortage in staff. There are a lot of labor strikes going on right now in Athens- one being the public transportation. We're lucky Pangrati is pretty much within walking distance to everything we truly need.

We just had our Art History final this morning. I got an A+ on the Art History midterm so hopefully I'll do well on this exam too.

Since our plans for the day are somewhat on standby considering the weather (I was gonna go for a nice long run around the stadium, then all of us girls were gonna walk around Pangrati, Plaka, Monasteraki, go shopping, stuff our faces with baklava... ya know), we're going to get some packing done and wait it out. Hopefully things will clear up soon!!!

I am SO sad that it's our last day. I honestly can really see myself living and working here in Athens. There is just so much to do here in Greece, with over 2,000 islands, how could one ever get bored? It's official. After I graduate, and do a bit of traveling, I'm moving to Greece. Sorry Mum, Dad, but you'll just have to come and visit... or move too.

Tonight we have our graduation ceremony at the Athens Centre followed by a farewell dinner at a local Greek Taverna and then possibly staying out until 6 AM in Gazi seeing as we'll have a full 11-hour plane ride to catch up on some sleep.

Last Weekend in Attika!

On Thursday, we got let out of class early, I went for a nice long run and then afterwards Sami and I went to the “Benaki Museum” in Plaka. The museum was fantastic, the building itself is a beautiful classical style structure made out of white marble. The museum was really unlike any I’ve been to before because it had artwork of all periods starting from Neolithic all the way up to present day, and the most interesting thing was the way they presented everything- they mixed modern pieces amongst the ancient ones so as you were looking through geometric pottery from the 600s BC, suddenly you would come across a modern sculpture that would just kind of make you stop and think. I really enjoyed it.

We stayed there until about 8:30 and then we headed off to downtown Plaka to have some dinner. We ate at the same restaurant we had gone to for lunch the day we saw the acropolis. The taverna itself is literally at the bottom of the acropolis so when you look out the window, you can see the lights from the acropolis and the parthenon glowing in its immensity and glory. We shared the “seafood platter” which was a fairly good size plate of tuna salad, vinegar octopus salad, fried calamari, grilled shrimp, and anchovies. It was absolutely delicious! Probably one of my favorite--if not my favorite--meals I’ve had here thus far. The seafood tasted so fresh and it really hit the spot. After we were finished, the owner of the restaurant offered us a complementary traditional greek dessert, on him, and of course we accepted! He gave us a huge plate of revari which is a honey soaked spice cake and a raisin sorbet with bourbon caramel sauce drizzled all over the plate. Yes, I ate some! It was incredible and the greatest part was after that meal, I didn’t feel yucky or overly full because we had walked so much that day and after dinner we walked around Plaka a bit more and then had to walk back to our apartment. I’m loving the lifestyle here- no wonder everyone is so lean despite the amount of carbs they seem to eat! They walk all the time! After that meal, Sami and I kept saying how we could totally live here. Even though I’m not much of a city girl, I could really see myself living and working in Athens. There’s so much to do in Greece, so much history, it would be almost impossible to run out of things to do!

Friday it rained ALL DAY. It was an awful awful day. It was windy, cold, wet. Sami and I attempted to go out anyways but that just ended up being an awful idea. We got soaked and were miserable. We decided to head back to the apartment and just work on some homework. Boring.

Today seems like it’ll be a little better in terms of the weather. It’s a bit nippy, very cloudy and a little windy but hasn’t started raining yet. I just did 8 miles at the track and now I’m going to meet up with Ally, Julie and Sami at the Acropolis Museum to explore Plaka some more. I’ve decided that Plaka is my favorite section of Athens! It’s gorgeous, quaint and more quiet than other parts of the city.

Unfortunately, I no longer am able to get wifi in my apartment for some reason which totally sucks! So I won’t be able to post as regularly as I have been doing in the past. We won’t be doing a whole lot of sightseeing this last week-- just finishing up classes, writing some papers, final exams, and then we have our graduation ceremony at the Athens Centre on Thursday evening with a ceremonial farewell dinner at a local taverna to follow. Then, we leave for the states! So sad :’(

Saturday night, after us girls shopped around Plaka, Mary, Samanatha, Ally, Julie, Phil, Zach, Sami and I all went out to a club in a district of Athens called Psiri. It’s similar to Gazi in the sense that it has a bunch of clubs and bars except it’s a little less touristy and expensive, and its a bit rougher around the edges and more locals tend to go there.

The club we went to was called “Vega” and in order to get in you either had to be on their list or make friends with the bouncers. Obviously we did the latter. The club was pretty crazy, the bartender was a transvestite, and for once everyone--even the greeks--were dancing! Normally they just kind of stand there, purse their lips, and bob their heads to the music and check you out as you walk by. Us girls just kind of stuck together like we always do and had a good time. We got home around 5, ate hummus in our semi-drunken stupor and passed out. Great night.

Sunday, Sami and I woke up late (naturally)- I went for a nice long run at the stadium while she did some writing in her travel journal and then we went window shopping in Monasteraki (all the shops close by 5 o’clock on Sundays). we walked around forever, just getting lost in the city, which is really the best way to explore. by seven, we were thirsty so we stopped at a cafe to have some coffee and a little nosh to refuel before heading back home. Once we got home, we took a three hour nap before getting all dressed up for our last night out in Athens! We went to this really cool bar in Plaka that we have walked by in the day time and have always said that we should check it out at night. three of the four walls are lined with shelves holding bottles of house-made liquor in every flavor and color that you could possibly think of- mandarin, raspberry, coffee, lemoncello, chestnut, green apple, banana, pistachio... you name it, they got it. The fourth wall had two large shelving units that were holding huge barrels labeled “ouzo” and “brandy.”

While Sami and I sipped our drinks and chatted, this "lovely" Greek man whom I shall nickname "Eyebrows," due to the fact that he had a unibrow situation going on above his eyes, came over and sat next to us. He and his friends-- who were all about 40 ish-- had been eyeing us since we walked in. He was kind of drunk, didn't speak much english and very creepy. Just another night in Attika for ya!

Delphi

Wednesday, we woke up at the crack of dawn to drive 3 hours to the town of Delphi which houses the Temple of Apollo and the very place where Greeks from all over would come to consult the oracle. Delphi is an amazing archaeological site all in itself. It's nestled along the southwestern slope of Mount Parnassus, and at the top there is even a bit of snow!

From the entrance of the site, continuing up the slope to the Temple of Apollo itself, are numerous remnants of votive statues and treasuries, which were built by the various Greek city-states (mainland Greece and overseas) to commemorate victories and to thank the Delphic oracle for her advice, which was thought to have contributed to those victories.

The most impressive is the reconstructed Treasury of the Athens (shown above), built to commemorate the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in the Persian Wars.

After the Athenian Treasury as you continue along the "sacred way" leading up to the Temple of Apollo, you find the "Sibyl rock," upon which the Sibyl (the first oracle at Delphi) is said to have sat to deliver her prophecies.

Delphi is not only the Greek mythological site of the Delphic oracle- the most important oracle in the ancient Greek world- but it is also the sanctuary of Apollo, a major site for the worship of the god Apollo after he slew the Python (a deity who lived there and protected the "Naval of the Earth"). Shown in the two pictures below is what remains of the Temple of Apollo, a Doric temple in the typical style of Archaic architecture- austere, simple, lacking in ornate decoration.

This sacred precinct of Apollo in Delphi was also a panhellenic sanctuary where every four years athletes from all over the Greek world competed in the Pythian games, one of the four panhellenic games and a precursor of the modern Olympics games. Shown below is the mountain-top stadium where some of these competitions took place. It was quite a hike to get there!

The view from the top was absolutely incredible. Once we made our way back down, we took a short bus ride to the next town Arachova to have a lunch break. It basically looked like a Greek version of Straton- it's a mountain town and there are ski shops galore!

We didn't get home until dinner time on Wednesday, due to the three hour bus ride back. It's Thursday now and I'm sitting in my Greek History class. We just got our midterms back, I got an A! Waahooo!

It's actually a sunny day today (we've been having a fair amount of rain lately here in Athens, and it's supposed to POUR all day tomorrow!). I plan on going for a nice run at the stadium later and then maybe bumming around Athens for the rest of the day.

As I mentioned before in earlier posts, we have this Friday off and about half of our group is actually flying off to Rome tonight for the weekend. The rest of us are staying here and doing some day trips which I'm excited about. Can't believe we only have a week left!!!