Day 18: Hump day

Today is hump day.
It represents the midway point of our field season.
And the supposed transition from feeling like OH GOD 4AM WAKE UP AND 10 HOURS IN THE SUN AND OH GOD IM SO TIRED to feeling more like OH GOD ONLY 2 1/2 WEEKS LEFT AND SO MUCH TO DO...

As far as I can tell this means a transition from one kind of panic and sadness to another.
I for one was definitley starting to feel it today. By 3.30 I was absolutley spent, like hit the wall.
Hard.
People would be talking and I just wouldnt register.
Shooting artifacts was ok, I would get into my groove and just go, but as soon as there was somthing new or somthing to interact with and I was just blank...
Functioning on minimum.

This functioning may have been due to extreme blood loss earlier this morning...

So...
This story starts last night at 9pm with a sleeping tablet...
And ends this morning at 4am with what appeared to be some kind of hack-slash film scene on my pillow...

I have been prone to nose-bleeds for some years now, on account of some nose accidents... and I must have hit my nose at some point during the night, causing it to bleed.
Profusely.

So long story short, aside from being a truly horrifying scene, I had actually lost enough blood to feel really really lightheaded when I woke up.
Staying home wasnt an option today as we had 2 of the crew already out of action with illness and bad backs and the third of our crew off on survey duty.

The next reason was that we had the australian with us today.
And we needed to give her shit.
All day.
No amount of blood loss was going to stop me from this pleasure.

Consumed chocolate to get blood sugars back.
Hit the field.
She will be right m8.

Anyway! We got to the field with only a minimum of chastising to the australian, mostly comprising of afew STRAYYYYYYLIIAAAAAASSSSS and WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE YA?

Today was also my last day on survey, which began with shooting out the remainder of L1T8 which is a dense epi-paliolithic site.

Thousands of artifacts are scattered around the surface with a large amount of fish bone around as well. Of note in this transect is that they were using smaller cobbles than we have previously seen in the neolithic sites, which is inkeeping with the trends of previous years surveys in the Fayyyum.

This change in size is on account of the different tool manufacturing processes and needs, with the epipaleolithic people manufacturing more micro-liths and arrowpoints whilst the neolithic peoples were using more sliced core technologies to make larger flatter flakes as we saw in K basin in the first weeks.

Anyway.

We quickly trained the straylian up on lithics and set her loose on the transect doing artifact survey.
Karl and I played human etcher-sketchers marking in the last of the geo-morph before shooting in the remainder of the transect arms for artifacts.

By the end my head was spinning.
But there was a suprise in store :3
A new desert creature for us!
PRESENTING:
SPIDEY THE SPIDER!!! :D

what. a. cutie!

Usually im not a fan of spiders.

But spidey was pretty cute.

Till it moved at me.

And then i freaked out.

Oh god oh god oh god.

After we lost spidey into the desert (oh god probably in my bag or in my clothing :S ) we moved on to L1T28, marked out, geo-morphed and then shot in for artifact analysis 300 artifacts and 580 bone (in 2 hours). 

The fish otoliths out here are HUGE! like seriously, kind of thumb sized, which is much bigger than most fish specimens I have seen back in NZ... According to resident know-all and paleo-ecology specialist Marcus the fish that used to be in the paleo-lake were huge. like catfish. 2m. bigger than humans kind of sized. 

Terrifying.

We closed down after shooting out the portion of the transect arm and piled into the truck. 

My last day on survey for this half at a close.

It has been a crazy 6 days.

From military scares to lizards in my jumper.

Im looking forward to returning to artifact analysis, and to not rushing like a crazy crazy crazy person to get the transect shot in before sun-down. 

Tonight to celebrate hump day we drink on the roof and toast to a first-half of the field season well down.

My mid-way retrospective for now is thus:

Ive learnt alot.

I love the team I am working with.

I love Egypt.

I am looking forward to eating roast. Mc Donalds. Chocolate. Fizzy drink. Sushi. Burgers. OH GOD SO MUCH. 

I am looking forward to the next half of the field season and the things that are in store for us in the coming days :3

Day 17: Adrenaline and lizards

Today started like most other days that I have been on survey... Drive to the field... Set up... Shoot in... Shoot out...

L1T23 was filled with artifacts and pottery down two arms but was sparce down the others meaning we got most of it shot out before second breakfast.

After second breakfast however we were in for a little suprise.

Enter Lizzy :3

Lizzy is a desert dwelling Lizzard.

And he was the cutest thing I have ever, ever seen :3

Apart from maybe snakey. 

Either way.

So cute.

Now Lizzy was no normal lizard.

He was crazy.

Magnoona as they say here.

He was pretty incistant that he was to live inside my jacket.

Or underneath the total station boxes.

Or in Karls bag.

None of these are good places for a lizard.

We managed to chase him into a hat and deposit him off in the desert.

But he was a clever one.

He came back.

We return from shooting out the rest of the transect and I almost wet myself when Lizzy shoots out from under the total station past my foot and into my jacket again.

Goddam Lizzy.

This is no place for you. 

Finally we remove him from the general clothing and box area.

Suddenly a spider appears.

Lizzy is hungry.

We chase the spider towards our lizzard friend.

Lizzy obliges.

No more spider :3

This morning the moon was still out :3

And also there were really pretty cloud formations

Lizzy the lizzard!

Anywhoo. Lizard excitement over for the day we press on and pack down the total station to move transects.

All of a sudden :O

Our guard rushes over and is like OH GOD NO NO NO NO NO YOU CANT GO THERE

We are like wut.

Its a desert. wut. 

After abit of a debarkle it was found that we had stumbled into the military exclusion zone.

The really really low flying chinook suddenly made sence.

We regretted waving at it.

Our guard is still abit panicky and is telling us to get out now.

In true Simon fashion he replies: Whats the worst that can happen?

Our thoughts turn to the mounted guns, artillary shelling, F16s and abrhams tanks we know are in extremely close proximity.

We try not to think about what is the worse that could happen.

Luckily we manage to shoot out the rest of the transect with no dramas and moved on quickly.

Simon and Bex went on to scope it out and us kids stayed back at the truck to sort nails and tidy.

20 minutes later we get the call to move.

I got the call to drive the truck down.

So this is the first time I have driven on the wrong side of the road.

And its in the desert.

And its the wrong side of the road.

And the wrong side of the rover.

Everything was wrong.

The policeman who escorts us was obviously not used to women driving as he looks at me points and says you? and makes driving noises.

Im like iowa! (yes)

And he starts making prayers and then laughs at me.

So I ask him: Do you not trust me?

And he says: La! La! La! La! La! (translation: no no no no no no no no no)

It was time to yallah so we started off and drove across the desert.

Despite everything feeling horribly horribly wrong it all went smoothly and we made it to the end in one piece (much to the guards suprise)

We get to the end and the guard feins suprise whilst I say various things like iowa! malish! (yes, its ok! no problem!) and he just shakes his head.

We continue for the day with another artifact heavy transect.

This density at this lower elevation from the epi-paleolithic was pretty suprising so some analysis back at base will be done to figure out this little conundrum. 

Anywho. 

Go to leave.

Stuck.

No movey.

No automobile.

Sand-bogged down.

Definitley NOT my fault :P

After awhile all 11 of us pile out of the van and push it up onto the roadway once more and trundle on our way.

No harm done.

The small brown smudge is a chinook. I wasnt brave enough to take photos when they were close :S

Back at base now, feeling good to be back.

Today was pretty intense.

Coming down off the adrenaline from the military zone is a thing thats happening now and sleepyness is getting more and more.

L8rz nerds. 

Day 16: When the going gets tough. The tough screw their knee up.

Today started like most other days in the field.

Loaded up the truck.
Set off to the field.
Get to the field.
Unpack truck.
Set out transect.
Set up total station.
Begin survey.

But then everything took a turn.
A wild turn.
Actually, multiple wild turns.

The first treat in store was what appears to be the house of Lars and Beru from star-wars.
:3
Luckily today I packed my storm-trooper. as one does for the field.
And we did a large-scale renenactment of the return to the house scene and the sandcrawler scene.
It was pretty majestic.

These blast marks. Too accurate for sand-people.

Close-up of the Skywalker household... tomorrow I hope to get a picture at sunrise with the two suns in the background. Luke posed dramatically on the small hill. 

But then the fun had to end :(

and it was into serious mode...

And onto the thousands and thousands of artifacts.

Epi-paliolithic artifacts.
Everywhere.

I had said goodbye to ducky #1 today on the total station and was incharge of teaching Karl (our honorary kiwi from america).

Bad day to learn the ins and outs of survey :P
Hurridley I attempt to teach him set up. levelling. job-structure. file systems. protocols. etc etc etc.
In the end Simon is harrassing and we must make haste.
Like Shadowfax.

So I take the reins and start shooting in the flakes, cores, tools, MNFs, ostrich egg shells, bone and pottery that littered the surface.

So we start shooting in on one quadrant. And quickly realise just how big the job is that lays ahead.
4 hours into survey and we have hardly made a dent.
At all.
It was quite distressing.
You look to the horizon and all you see is thousands of flagged nails.
You look behind you and see that you have covered only afew meters.
Before today I have not felt despair like I did at 2pm this afternoon.

The horror. THE HORROR.

However our distress turned to joy as we discovered a perfect epipaleolithic arrowhead (see below)
It was amazingly well crafted and just all around quite delightful.
Enough to give one abit of a spring in their step as you look in horror at the pure amount of artifacts left to be shot in.

:3 so pwetty!

After lunch break it was back to the transect.

The nailing crew had laid out literally thousands of nails and me and Karl shared and OH FUCK moment when we realised we had 2 hours to close of field and we had an impossible number to shoot in.

Karl rose to the challenge, gazzeling around the field, running between artifacts to shoot them in within record time.

40 minutes after supposed close time and we are still going.

All of a sudden a wild no-battery sign appears.

Tears of horror.

Simon is staring at us and giving us the hurry up.
GLADOS does not want to play.
Shit.
Change battery.
SPRINT TO BACKSIGHT.

FIND A WILD HILL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT.
TRIP OVER IT.
CRITICAL HIT.
KO.

Knee. Not. Good.

Simon still looks on.

Pull self off the ground.
Hop-limp-run back to the artifact area.
Shoot in the last of the artifacts.
Hop-limp-run back to the total station.
Pack down.

As we pack down 2 F16's fly over.
Not even concerned.
This is normal for egypt.
They make a second pass.
We pack down a little faster.
Quite alot faster.
GTFO out of there.

Now is probably a good time to note that the hillside we are working behind has two big gun emplacements and two mysteriously abrham tank shaped holes in the hillside for doing millitary manouvers.

Make haste shadowfax.
Make haste.

We soon finish up.

Only an hour late.
Goddam paleolithic people with their goddam artifacts in the goddam dessert. 

Day 15: Pyramids. Fun. Sun: Just your average day off!

The only words to describe today are: glorious and hilarious. 

Last night was a significant party night.

Significant in that we were farewelling 3 of the dig-house crew :(

Significant in the amount that was drunk. 

Significant in the fact that everyone on the dig-team managed to stay awake past 8pm at night :O

Long story short: Glorious. 

Stories were exchanged, plans were formed and hilarity was had.

Some people who will not be named danced the night away and drank 4-8 too many Fayum sunrises (some devilish concoction of tequila and tang)

The morning was not kind to them.

Those of us who were able to not faint, vomit or otherwise moan and be sad made our way to breakfast after a sleep in till 7am. 

Breakfast cake. 

The best kind of cake. 

As Rachel says: 

ITS CAKE!

AND ITS FOR BREAKFAST!

ITS CAKE!

AND ITS FOR BREAKFAST!

repeat x100.

Soon enough we were on our way to the pyramid tour.

The first time we have been allowed to be tourists since getting to egypt.

10 of us took the van, 2 of our Egyptian work crew, me, rach, slaggy, Sebastian, Nathalie, The Australian, Imperial Rach, and the driver. 

And so it began. The greatest teasing of an australian of our time.

Most of the dig-team are american or kiwi.

Especially now that we said farewell to 3 dutch and 1 sweedish crew members. 

Anyway.

There is one australian.

STRAYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

On the way to Lahun (our first port of call for the day) we begun informing the Americans about Australian culture.

Most of this informing revolved around badly singing that stupid matilda song. somthing somthing billabong. somthing somthing somthing matilda with me. 

Then some background to WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE YA?

Before moving onto STRAYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, VB, Stubbies and Dingos stealling babies.

The australian lost her shit.

Uncontrollable laughter for about 40 minutes.

Even our Egyptian crew got in on it.

Teasing the australian. 

Talking in a ridiculous egyptian-australian accent. 

Oh god it was good.

Any way. this continued all day.

Literally.

All day.

I will spare you from most of it.

But know this.

I think we broke the australian.

Sorry the STRAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYLIAN. 

Looking pretty at Hawaera

The really cool thing about being in Egypt as an archaeologist is that you get to do a bunch of crap that normal tourists dont. 

We were extremely lucky to have some awesome Egyptian dig-crew with us who sweet talked the guards into letting us get down to the canal and look up close at the labarynth remains from Hawera.

checkit outsssssss the labarynth remains!

The next thing we knew was that we were being given tea to drink from the guards :3

It was rather delicious. 

So delicious.

But yet. 

So much sugar.

SOOOO MUCH SUGAR.

The thing about egypt is.

Sugar.

Everywhere.

At all times.

OH GOD MEETING TIME.
SHIT.

WILL WRITE AFTER MEETING AND DINNER.

WATCH THIS SPACE.

:D

Its quite a nice view

Ohhhhhh a landscape shot

Sammy and me at the tombs of the nobles at Lahun.

Me looking at bones and sculls and things.

Bones with mummy wrappings still in-tact

ohhhh look another glorious landscape shot. This time of maydoum.

Offering vessel from Maydoum.

Our dinner at Fayoum city. I have never eaten so much food in my life. 

words will come later. for now. pictures. HOORAH!

Day 13 and 14: A snake called snakey

Today was hard.

The team was split.

Hearth excavators were left back at the first set of transects taht we did yesterday whilst 4 of us moved on to the north-west. 

Me and Rachel ran the total station again today and directed all the survey whilst the rest of the crew were split between artifact analysis and hearth excavation. 

In other news it was decided today that we are going to rename the total station to GLADOS as if you ignore the green paint for abit, she does kinda look like you know. her. 

She even sounds like it.

Point stored.

Connected to total station.

Point stored.

Out of range.

Kill them all.

All of them.

Now.

In other other other news: Snakey :3

Distance shot of snakey in her desert habitat.

GLADOS the total station

The fire on the deck tonight. I dont even. 

Close up of snakey-chan (also known as Snake-Kitty)

So tonight is party night. We are farewelling several of the Karanis team from the dig-house :( This means that we will be having a BBQ. Which means FIRE EVERYWHERE D:

The upside is that tomorow is day off. which means. SLEEP IN TILL 6AM. :333333 

These are some words I never thought I would utter D:

Party party time.

L8rz nerds. 

Day 12: Glorious return to the field

OH GOD I CANT REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY D:

This is why I cant be trusted D:

This is why I cannot have nice things!

LOOK PHOTOS TO DISTRACT YOU!

Justine the "house cat"

Smiley-faces in the sand :3

The endless desert!

Day 11: More sickness. And boredom.

Today was another sick day.

Hoorah some might say... another day home from the field... another day not having to wake up at 4am... and work in the sun for 11 hours...

But not I.

Oh piss is what I say.

Because you havent experienced boredom till you have experienced sitting all day at the dig house with no one else there.

Seriously.

The dig house is located miles from anywhere... and the only things for friends are ferral dogs and Justine the cat, who is aloof and cares not for my mortal needs.

Long story short, the only things to do here are sleep and eat.

And when you are sick, you dun wanna eat.

So sleep it was.
All day.
Fuckit.

BUT!
OMG!
Highlight of the day!!!!!
Sandstorm in the evening :333333 WOOO!
AND IT RAINED.
DA FUQ?

Egypt dosent do rain.

Ok when I say rain, I mean more of a tiny tiny sprinkle of water.
BUT.
IT WAS THERE.
IT WAS REAL.

I need to get back to the field.
Im going crazy with nothing to do.
Sickness or not im going back to the field again tomorow.