Archaeology

This past week we have been working on a real excavation in Bergharen. Its some medieval stuff with the occasional prehistoric or Roman feature underneath. I found a big piece of pottery too. But I turned it in rather than pocketing it because they needed it to help date the site. Next time though... I am learning a lot about excavation and getting to rather good at some things. I can do all the drawings as well as dig holes. I am not so good at identifying soil layers and stratigraphy but come on, who is? The archaeologists are beginning to trust me to do things on my own too which means I will have more opportunities to steal artifacts! Also they let us ride in the shovel part of the crane thing which was fun. Clearly serious archaeology is happening here. We only have about 2 more days on the dig though because the developers want to start building their houses or buildings or whatever. it is kind of frustrating because we wont be able to get everything done in time but that's how it goes.
This weekend though should be exciting as the Vierdaagse comes to a close. A huge party is going down in the city tonight and I intend to be part of it. Except it is raining a lot a lot right now. Melissa and Myra will come hang out with me though. Also! The other night Melissa and I went out and saw some awesome cover bands and also saw 2 people we know! Of the hundreds of thousands of people in Nijmegen right now, we saw people we know. We might as well be locals. Tuesday night we watched fireworks while sitting on the dike outside our house. The fireworks were mediocre probably because Dutch people aren't good at blowing things up. But they did play Let It Snow during the show. I still haven't figured that one out. Crazy Dutch.
On Monday a new student will arrive and then another one will come the week after. We are hoping they are cool and not boring. And hopefully they will counteract some of the less agreeable residents of the house which I shall not mention by name.

The Heineken Experience

I forgot to mention that Erin and I went to the Heineken Experience. I learned a lot and drank some beer. Also some Asians took their pictures with me. Perhaps I look uncannily like a member of the Heineken family. Or Asian tourists love taking pictures.
Nijmegen is getting crazy! Tons of people are here and more are streaming in. Last night we went into town and the city looked like a giant party. Everyone was out on the streets, drinking, dancing. It kind of reminded me of Iowa City on a weekend night but better. We hung out with two friends of Rogier and they were nice but a little weird too. One is a serious anarchist. Friday night we hung out at Rogiers too and met more of his friends. There was a Czech anarchist that night. Also, Rogier has hung out with Frank Zappa and has pictures of them together. He has led a very interesting life. He was a professional cook at one time too. Now he is an archaeologist.
Switching topics. Silent Disco. Amazing. Nijmegen has one and we saw it last night. Everybody wears headphones and dances like crazy. But if you don't have headphones, you cant hear the music so its silent. Also, people can listen to different music on various channels so you might be dancing to a song and I could be dancing to something completely different. This leads to hilarity. More of these should exist.
Sidenote. As is the case with most things, after a few drinks I am highly skilled at riding my bike. I can speak Dutch too.
I really think I want to live here. Houses are expensive though.

Vierdaagse!

Life in the Netherlands continues to be blissful. More pottery gluing and bike riding. Marike, the Dutch archaeologist who lives with us, has been cool lately. Hanging out with us and such, she likes us better than the previous students. Dave is still annoying. I think Floris has a thing for Myra, Myra things Joep has a thing for me, and we all know Mikele has a thing for Melissa. It is funny and awkward. Mainly awkward for Melissa because she is engaged and Mikele is putting on the moves. Next week is the Four Days Marches, Nijmegens biggest event. People walk 40-50 kilometers a day for four days and the city has a party all week. It should be quite the spectacle. Plus we get a paid day off. Melissa and I have planned some joyous outings. Rogier and Mikele know whats going on too so they can help us find the good bands and such. Should be an interesting event.
This past weekend I met Erin in Amsterdam and we hung out there. Did some touristy stuff ie Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum, Red Light District, canalboat ride. Also took a nap in the park one afternoon, ate pancakes, ate fries, drank beer, visited some coffeeshops. Except we are no fun when high because we just get tired. But the Red Light District is fun. I stared more than I should have. Turns out there are a lot of British creepsters there. Gross. I will be going to Amsterdam again when Christina visits so I can do some other fun things like the Marijuana Museum and the Sex Museum. You know, all those good things that Amsterdam is known for. Anyway, it was great to see Erin and she is having an amazing time in Geneva so all is well.
I think of everywhere I have been thus far, the Netherlands is the place I would want to live. Dutch is a crazy language and would take me a long time to learn but everybody already speaks English! Also, if I found myself a Dutch man, I could be assured that my children would speak at least two, if not three or four, languages. I cant lose. I will work on getting a full time job with the Nijmegen Archaeological Bureau. They don't pay much, but I can figure it out.

Nijmegen

I love the Netherlands. And in particular the city of Nijmegen. I could definitely live here. Except everything closes at 6 which doesn't work for me so much. But I guess most people only work 4 days a week so I can deal with it. I am living in an old farmhouse with other American students and two Dutch archaeologists. The house is great and though we don't have any animals, we are surrounded by land that does have animals. Sheep, cows, horses, goats, chickens. They are all here. The house is right next the the river Waal and looks over into the city. Very convenient. I have a bike and ride it everywhere as it is the premier mode of transportation for the Dutch. The weather hasn't been great but I can get over that. The only bad part is that with rain, we don't get to work on the actual dig as much. Also the dig site has been rather slow lately anyway. So I wash dirt through a sieve and try to find pottery or flint or wood. I find a lot of worms, snails, and even newts. In short, I find ways to amuse myself. I have learned a lot considering I knew nothing about actual archaeological methods when I showed up here. So that is good. I don't know if I could make a career out of it but its fun. the people are all nice. Rogier is basically our go-to man for everything. He tells us what to do, how to do it, cool places to go, and answers any question we might have about the Dutch. The other Americans are nice. Myra is an anthropology undergrad, Melissa is art history grad, and Dave is...well Dave is a 50-something eternal student and general unemployable individual. He isn't exactly a favorite among us. But that's ok. He can one up every story we have and be a general know it all. I think he is enjoying himself and I can enjoy myself in spite of him. Lately we have been going to the main headquarters and gluing pottery together. It ranges from Roman to Medieval to modern stuff so it is quite a task. I am not a superstar at puzzling it all out but I am getting better. It is really satisfying to put a whole pot together too. It just gets cold in the warehouse because it is temperature controlled. I like it all. It can sometimes get a little dull but then I just make some fun for myself which means finding random things to glue or asking absurd questions of everyone else. Ja, I like het Nederlands. My Dutch is not outstanding though.

Greece

June 14. To Athens! It was hot there. Very hot. Met Esther and a group of her friends in Athens. All very nice people. Hung out for a day then jumped on a sailboat and headed out into the Aegean. I love sailing and I am good at it. Our captain Dmitri thought I was good too. I bed he would let me have my own boat or something. We sailed through the Southern Cyclades for 8 days. Stopped at Kythnos, Syphnos, and Kimolos. Swam a lot, got too much sun. Ate a lot of feta cheese and olives and gyros. Some of us swam out to this rocky island and jumped off a cliff. It wasn't too high but still lots of fun. Explored some islands, relaxed on the beach. Slept a lot. Saw the blue and white houses that Greek islands are so famous for. I would highly recommend sailing in the Greek isles for a week. Or more.
Finally we returned to Athens and I got to go to the Acropolis. It was scorching up there though. Still I was there. I plan on going back to Greece to really do everything but I am glad I have finally been there in person. Checked out the ruins, felt kind of nerdy, saw more things I had previously studied. Hung out with Greek people. That kind of stuff. So Greece is fantastic. I think I should return when it isn't so hot though. Perfect. Unfortunately, I left my journal there and am now without it. But Esther was going to send it to me so hopefully it makes it. I don't know how reliable the Greece to Netherlands postal route is.