Last Days of the Dig ...

So the last thoughts on the archaeological dig ...

I guess my first thought is -- what an insane 2 weeks!

It was great, rough, tough, inspiring, informative, tiring, fun -- all of it.

I've already mentioned (OK, whined) about the some physical difficulties, in my case made more acute because of the IBS, not being able to eat what everyone else was eating at times, etc.  And did I mention how cold it was?  How very, very cold it was?  And the primitive bathroom facilities?  I digress ...

But there is also the thing of being the only non-archaeologist in the group.  It's not easy when they are all talking shop and you have NO idea what they're going on about (and, truth be told, some of the minutia is ... well, boring ... sorry dudes!)  And they talk about it all the time ... and you come out of your room and find people making stone tools in the living room or sorting big bags of bones or shooting dead animals with stone-tipped arrows ... and you throw up a little in your mouth ...

Here's just a sampling of what our living room contained:

But how can you possibly blame them?  Archeology is not just a job for them, it's their hobby and passion, and to get a whole group of them together -- they just can't help but revel in their archaeological-nerdom.

And in any case, even though I was the odd duck out, it was just such a lovely group of people, so funny and friendly, that in the end, it didn't matter that I wasn't an archaeologist, they welcomed and helped and taught me.

There was Irene, from Catalunya who taught me the most on site and with whom I was gleefuly able to speak in Spanish.  And there was Luando, Struan, Cindy and all the local team as well as the South African students, House, Chantal and Alex (they of the amazing braai.)  There was Chris from Texas, who was known alternately as "Texas Chris," "Trench Foot Chris," and/or "Tetanus Chris," who explained a lot of stuff on site to me and whose "The first time I got trench foot" story nearly made me pee myself.  There was Cory, an enormously tall and happy-go-lucky Australian with an intense love for Vegemite.  Hans, perhaps the most eloquent person I've ever met (even several-many-lots of glasses in, if you know what I mean ...) Naomi, who stayed with us in Cape Town and whose passion for bones is matched only by her passion for Matt Damon.  And of course, there was Kyle, who despite being in charge of a whole bunch of sh*t always made sure to ask how I was doing, and who is one of the genuinely nicest people I've ever met (except when he's on a go-cart, he's a fiend on a go-cart!) Anyhoo, there are too many folks to go into individually, but sufficed to say that this was a remarkable group of people.

I think that the best part of the whole experience is how much my understanding and appreciation and respect for their work grew.  I have always known that Aaron's work entails the kind of patience and dedication that I don't have, but I feel like I now have a REAL understanding of how hard he works.

 

So I met an amazing group of people, I learned a bunch, I got to hold millenia-old artifacts in my hands ... what else could I ask for?

Dolphins, of course!  The last day I was on site, there was a pod of dolphins who spent hours upon hours surfing on the waves ... My pictures suck because they were pretty far out -- but it was SO amazing.

And getting to see things like this every day was such a privilege ...

 

One last rainbow at Pinnacle Point...

And here we are, saying goodbye to Kyle and Naomi in Cape Town:

So yeah, I survived ... I don't know if I'll ever do it again, but I would not have missed it for the world!  I feel super lucky and very grateful to have had this opportunity ...