NickKnacks - Fieldnotes and Photographs

Lemur Spotting!

2010-03-11T01:05:00.001+02:00

Field-blog Resurrected

2010-03-03T01:20:00.004+02:00

Back in the field!

Three weeks with AMNH on St. Catherine's island off the coast of Georgia looks to be a good 'ol time. Arrived on the island yesterday after planes, SUVs, and boats (not to be confused with planes, trains, and automobiles).

Waiting for the boat to the island on the mainland

The weather was perfect for a near wave-less ride from the mainland to the island. Then a quick tour in the "lounge," a true Indiana-Jones-Style roof-less contraption with bench seats (photos soon). All the buildings are beautifully renovated, and we're bunking in cute little cabins built on the foundations of the slave quarters from the old Gwinnet planation. (Bouns: My step-great-grandma's something-or-other relative was the Mr. Macintosh who killed Button Gwinnet, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Georgia-Gentalman, in a duel!) As if just being able to walk outside in only two layers wasn't enough, yesterday afternoon a pack of lemurs (which are protected on the island through a zoo-bio program) was climbing all over the Gwinnet mansion.

Home for three weeks

Goodies on my bedroom shelf

This morning was an early and soggy morning. Rain rolled through twice, but the afternoon was clear -- and clearing was what we did. Many happy hours pruning Palmettos, moving decaying logs, and attacking a vine-y briar patch twice as tall and three times as wide as me. Work gloves and rain gear are my new best-friend. Luckily the company is good, and meals are gourmet. "Cheeks," lab-staff and long-time island-goer, made a killer chili for dinner. "Bradford Hall" the big all-purpose room/kitchen is the perfect setting for a nice meal and good card game (complimented by a small nip of whiskey). Otherwise, the island is exactly as it should be, tons of spanish moss, marsh and wild-things. In addition the lemurs, I've seen deer, wild pigs, hartebeest, egrets, and white-headed falcons. Southern-hospitality reigns, and apparently there are ghosts... visit to the cemetery and Native American burial grounds soon!

Crew looking out over the marsh

This is it!

Searching for a heart of gold

2009-07-03T08:09:00.002+03:00

Back at New Buffalo.

Sure feels nice

Unique New York

2009-05-01T23:30:00.002+03:00

It is pouring rain and pounding thunder and there are two girls doing a well choreographed rain-dance on the Barnard lawn.

I missed it here.

Paris, Je t'----

2009-04-25T15:34:00.002+03:00

Springtime in Paris ... blah, blah, blah.

It's been beautiful here and some how I've been completely turned-off by taking pictures and/or site-seeing. Just sit and drink and eat. Things could be much, much, much worse.

My French is basically all gone and what remains is a mangled mess but I manage by the good graces of Cyrena and her various American-loving French friends. I had no idea such things existed.

Today I will go to the Montparnasse Cemetery and take pictures; The weather is appropriately grey and blustery.

A tout a l'heure.

Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany

2009-04-15T12:09:00.003+02:00

Nicks
Mistaking straight for gay and gay for straight
Battle wounds (elbow vs. pavement)
Lost-and-found keys

Knacks
Bugermister
Bright-blue leotard
BIKES
Bust of Nefertiti
Babbling Aristophanes
Beautiful weather
BUDDIES

S.P.Q.R.

2009-04-07T17:30:00.001+02:00

So Rome went like this ...

Private room at Laterno House

Piazza Noava, the Pantheon, Trivi fountain (three coins = return, fall in love, get married?), Capuchini Crypts (bone mosaics!), Spanish steps (beer at sunset), dinner in the Jewish Ghetto, American Bars

Ostia Antica (picnic in the ruins), Thunder storm, home cooked meal, whiskey and peach tea

The zoo!, sore feet, quiet night, EARTHQUAKE

Forum and Palantine hill (hot, croweded, no audio-guide, ancient), Basillica of San Giovanni, best Pizza, Tree folk

Leonardo Express to the airport

Not jam-packed but appropriately Roman I think.

The Rain in Spain

2009-04-02T19:35:00.000+02:00

Around the world in 30 days

2009-03-25T13:23:00.000+02:00

So I'm off ... the grand-tour itinerary is as follows:

March 26: Cairo to Barcelona
April 2: Barcelona to Rome
April 7: Rome to Berlin
April 15: Berlin to Stockholm, Stockholm to Ostersund
April 21: Ostersund to Stockholm, Stockholm to Paris
April 29: Paris to New York
May 5: New York to Los Angeles

I love Cairo; the past few days on my own have been great, but I'm ready to head "West". Ready to take my time and see my friends.

On y vas!

To the Sun God

2009-03-23T22:47:00.001+02:00

Pyramids at Giza

"Alex" and the Delta

2009-03-22T22:38:00.000+02:00

Lower Egypt

2009-03-18T10:28:00.001+02:00

Karanis in the Fayum

Quiet Roman town for thinking

Hanging Church

2009-03-17T10:18:00.000+02:00

Middle Egypt

2009-03-11T11:47:00.002+02:00

Amarna, White Monestary, Asut, Beni Hasan, Sohagg

What a Relief

2009-03-10T01:04:00.002+02:00

Upper Egypt

2009-03-09T00:32:00.000+02:00

El Qab, Qubette el Hawwa, Elephantine, Philae, Kalabsha, Abydos, Karnak, Luxor

(that order in time, not in space, and certainly not as shown)

Nubia (seriously?)

2009-03-08T08:32:00.003+02:00

I'm Lovin' it

2009-02-27T19:40:00.003+02:00

Hate to say it, dear readers, but I'm compelled to tell the truth ... I am blogging from a Macdonalds in Aswan. The pull of free internet was too strong. And beyond that it's been two months since I had a burger (which also a confession that, yes, I did order a Big Mac for the first time in 5 years). Megan and I practically ran here after our seminar tonight, and now (after X orders of fries) the servers (I'm sorry "team members") are our best friends. I should be ashamed, but truthfully, I just can't.

On a less horrifying note, Aswan is beautiful. We've spent the last two days island hopping and visiting temples, tombs, and quarries. This area of the Nile, just around the first cataract in Southern Egypt, really is one of the most stunning places I've ever been. The Nile is clear and blue, and fallukas sail around it in the perfect breeze. The Nubian's are even more friendly as the Egyptians (if you can really make that kind of distinction) and the light is perfect most every time of the day. Our first night here we ate at the Aswan moon restaurant, which is actually a barge tethered to the shore. From the balcony of the hotel room we can see the rock-cut tombs of Qubbet el-Hawa high on a hill on the west bank.

I can't convey anything with words (I am in a "Mac" after all) so I leave you with a photo ... hopefully to make up for the opening image. (It's not even the best I have...)

Luxor(eous)

2009-02-24T20:29:00.003+02:00

Arrived in Luxor this afternoon. Talk about culture shock within culture shock.

We left the Oasis after a frantic three days of excavation. Really rewarding but made the departure a little abrupt. It was sad to watch the dig-house and staff go through the back of the mini-bus. One of the more home-y homes I've had.

Luxor is a huge city on the Nile and a far cry from the three avenues of Mut. Our hotel is rather fancy, with a roof-top pool and cafe, and the streets are eerily clean. Too many old tourists in shorts for my taste -- we're going to have to adjust to being treated more as meal tickets than as curiosities. The Nile is absolutely beautiful here. We went down to the banks at sun-set and watched the sail-boats and cruiseships.

Cannot believe I am actually here. I had started to forget I was in Egypt. Suddenly what felt like eaons at the dig-house is a blink of an eye. Tomorrow we head down to Aswan and a bunch of sites around the first cateract. It's supposed to be the most beautiful part of Egypt and I think that will drive it home -- I'm here.

Hanshouf

2009-02-20T15:47:00.002+02:00

Yesterday, 45 minutes before our deadline, the permit came.

THE PERMIT CAME... freak-out ensued.

Offah. So we're excavating for 4 days. We were out in the field today, but the topographers didn't make it over to our area until the last hour or so, so we had no grids to work with. Tomorrow hopefully we can start work in earnest. The geophysist doing the magnotometry work arrived last night just in time to come out and sit around with us. It should be really interesting once we get going.

Hanshouf ...

("hanshouf" meaning "we'll see" in Arabic)

Bashendi Rug Factory

2009-02-19T16:12:00.000+02:00

" ... do they have purgatory in Islam?"

2009-02-13T12:34:00.004+02:00

What a week ... beyond the fun stuff we've been doing our future has been dangled in front of us like a toy mouse. Wednesday it still seemed as though our permit would never come. Enter grand plans of a Nile cruise into Nubia and an extended tour of the Nile Valley. Come Thursday the permit paper-work is miraculously found and Nile cruise dreams are crushed and replaced with a short 10 day excavation season. Too bad I haven't had a souvenir buying excursion ... looks like there will be no days off until the end of March!

While the uncertainty was trying, I have finally gotten excited about actually doing some work. Vacation living is all fine and good, but the American work-ethic has corrupted me into thinking I need to earn my keep. It's amazing how different the Egyptian attitude towards work is. Everyone makes jokes about the Egyptian work week -- and work day. Tea figures prominently three times a day, and Thursday is your day to prepare for your weekend -- Sunday is to recover. I don't think it's totally a bad system. While it makes getting things done harder, it makes not getting things done easier, and who was it that said humans are made for doing things anyway? What about living? Plus, what if you really like tea?

So ... we're still waiting for the magic permit to physically arrive in our hands. Until then the survey team has gotten permission to walk around the site looking innocent and avoiding anything that looks like "work". We'll start practicing laying grids around the house today and then tomorrow (inshallah) we'll begin.

Can't say it's not dramatic!

Da Nile isn't just a river in Egypt

2009-02-07T17:09:00.000+02:00

I haven’t been writing because I'd like to stay in denial. We haven’t gotten our permit to excavate yet, and it finally being two weeks late, the odds that we will are dwindling rapidly. The last couple weeks have been frustrating, but we’ve filled the days with lots of interesting things. People from both houses have been coming to lecture to us on their work, we’ve begun learning middle Egyptian hieroglyphs, and on a rotating basis we’ve got to go out with Ellen and Johanna the geologist to do non-survey around the site. Where we can we’ve been pitching in on projects to clean up the artifact database, wash-draw-sort pottery, fix maps, and the like. Everyone’s been a good sport about it, and it’s obviously been harder for the folks who’s year’s work depends on new material that comes out of the excavation. If permission doesn’t come within the next week, we’ll head out to the Nile Valley early, which certainly won’t be a bad thing! We’ll have lots of extra time to see sights off the beaten path and may even get to take a side-trip to the red sea.

We’ve also been taking some incredible field trips. At the beginning of the week we went to the Medieval settlement of Balat. The dark and windy streets are the same as they were hundreds of years ago and the people that live there today live largely the same lives as those at the turn of the first millennia.

Yesterday we climbed the escarpment on the edge of the oasis up to the Libyan plateau. This hike was the most amazing trek I’ve ever made. We got driven to the base of the scarp near the Medieval settlement of el Qasr, and started up the gradual slope. Eventually it turned into giant sand dunes interspersed with limestone and quartz outcroppings. The rocks are amazing and alive and its clear where water or wind have given them wrinkles and winks. All the way up I was stopping to pick up crystals, bright purple rocks, and stone tools.

When we got to the top it was like looking at a satellite view of the oasis. Little swaths of green and yellow and white salt fields. I swore I could see the curve of the earth. After we ate lunch on a ledge we tromped around the plateau. So flat and covered with wind-polished lime-stone that it looked like tundra… snow in the desert. There’s also millions of outcrops of chert cores, which are the smoothest most beautifully mottled stone you’ve ever seen. You just want to rub the stones over your skin all day. The plains look like another planet, covered for miles with perfectly round bowling ball sized rocks.

Eventually we headed down -- running and sliding and falling down a sand-dune the ran the entire descent. There is nothing like falling fast without fear. Honestly the most joyful laugh I think I’ve had since I was three and saw the beach for the first time.

So, despite the real possibility that the future is dig-less, we’re working on some child-like wonder.

Desert Escarpment and Libyan Plateau

2009-02-06T12:44:00.000+02:00

going up ...

(not posed)

coming down ...

Medieval Balat

2009-02-01T09:26:00.003+02:00

Yelah

2009-01-30T14:12:00.003+02:00

This is exactly how I wanted to spend my 21st birthday.

Out in the desert you can see an incomprehensible number of stars. Nestled between two giant rock outcropping the Bedouin flute and drum echo around and up into the bowl of the sky. The bonfire lights up the line of color in the rocks, the stars stay bright.

~

On the 24th we had a lovely celebration here at the house. Gabor got a cake and brought it out after dinner with hoops and hollers. Then my lovely roommates and friends surprised me with snacks amounting to a small feast, cheesy plastic decorations all over our room, and too many people and too few cups to drink Egyptian whiskey from. Dancing followed. Enough said. True colors came out and Aaron asked "is this crunking?" while trying his best.

Then, last night we went out with Sami "the desart fox [sic]" for our Bedouin bonfire. True to custom they were forty minutes late picking us up from the house in two vans of questionable functionality. We got a little lost winding out of town and up a hill on the edge of the cultivated part of Mut. Moment of silence passing through the cemetery of small mud brick Sheik's tombs. To be honest everyone was a little apprehensive from this shaky start, but when we got to our destination and the bonfire and music began, it became clear the outing was totally legit. Sami had even written my name with rocks high up on one of the surrounding hills. We sat around the big stone fire ring on rugs and cushions and low wooden tables while listening to an old weathered man in a big scarf play the double flute, and a group of 4 others (including Sami) played drums, big tambourines, and sang. Took some warming up, but soon everyone was dancing in a circle around the fire, Sami leading the clapping -- and we hadn't even begun drinking ... just the setting and the music put everyone in a natural altered state. The fire was bright enough to cast a large circle of like outside the stone, but still had an otherworldly quality.

Dinner was a vegetable soup that was more vegetables and less soup and spiced to perfection. Cabbage wraps with rice inside and super-tender hunks of lamb (we think). Top it off with an Egyptian Stella and/or Bedouin tea, which is the sweetest drink you'll ever have. Everything (minus Stella) was heated in big metal pots over the fire. After we out they brought out hookah and used the coals from the fire to light them. The music continued and so, of course did the dancing. All our hosts immediately took a liking to Nate, who I introduces as Hassian (his Arabic name), which never fails to break the ice. All night "ya Hassian" rang out over the music.

Megan and I took a little break and walked over and up one of the big rises surrounding us. You could see the lights of the oasis stretching out for miles around, and we laid down in the sand to take in the sky. Stars, planets, the milky way. It's no wonder the night sky was so important to ancient religions, without artificial light it stretches for ever and has infinite depth. Counted shooting stars and made plenty of wishes.

We walked back down following the sound of the drums and singing. After dancing for a while and learning some "traditional" (who really knows) dances with scarves and a stick, Sami threw his scarf over my head and said "just for a minute"... a minute later I was unblindfolded to a beautiful two tiered birthday cake with matches for candles. I was so surprised and the whole thing was so beautiful I couldn't keep a huge grin off my face. Too impatient to wait for plates, the first piece made its way into my open hands.

We danced for maybe another hour or two and then decided to break camp and head home. After a little problem getting the cars started we headed back down into a completely different kind of civilization. When we got back to the dig-house James came over to invite us to the latter end of an Australia Day party. They really know how to do it up over there. By this time it was around midnight and they'd already been going for 5 hours... we apparently brought the second wind to the party. It seems, for the time being, the bad blood between the Americans and Australians might be cleansed (thanks in part to Megan's gracious attentions to head-hancho Colin Hope). Dancing with the Aussies too, though of a different sort. Not everyone came over, but Ellen made up for it with plenty of unexpected dance moves.

The night finally ended on its way to morning. Sitting outside our window with Aaron and Megan for a recap of the night and then sleep of the extremely deep variety. Woke up this morning just in time for lunch (it being our day off -- finally) and spent the day lazing around. I feel like we've been here long enough that the urge to constantly be out having an "experience" is starting to fade, and I'm mostly content to let them come to me. Thursday we might have dinner with Yousef, one of our new friends from town, at his house and get to meet his wife and kids. That experience found us totally on its own. I can only imagine how many more might be looking for me in the next 21 years. Rather exciting...

Puppies in any tounge

2009-01-28T09:17:00.005+02:00

Backyard

2009-01-23T11:03:00.000+02:00

"El Muzawaka is a large cemetary associated with the settlement of Amheida"

2009-01-17T03:00:00.000+02:00

Roman Period Temple Dier el-Hagar and El Muzawaka cemetery in Dakhla

Washing

2009-01-15T23:39:00.002+02:00

prepare for banalities

Today was a good day (and I suppose those are the best kind of day to write about).

I woke up for 8 am breakfast and to all our delight instead of the usual bread and cheese Gabor our lovely cook had made Tammaya (falafel) and fuul (beans). A slightly productive morning working on my presentation of the temple and Roman fortress at Douch in Kargah turned into a really interesting class on early Christianity in Egypt. Cue my favorite lunch of grilled eggplant, fresh veggies, gibna betta (cheese), and pita. There was no water in the showers so I convinced Megan to go to the hot “spring” with me. We brought Andrew, Matt, Kyra and Iris along for protection … eventually we needed it.

The hot “spring” is really a key-shaped concrete trough with hot spring water pumped up from deep in the ground. The water is perfect bath temperature and runs from a big pipe, through the trough, and out into the irrigation ditches. To get there you walk down the hill from the dig-house, a cross and down the road a bit, and towards a small pump house and stand of palm trees. There wasn’t anyone there when we got there, and we jumped in. Besides the slightly iron-y smell it was really nice -- deep and clear. Our first visitor was a man, his young son, and donkey who were apparently there to fill up plastic jugs of water. The little boy came and sat with Kyra and put his feet in the water. We exhausted out Arabic talking to him. Basically we found out his name was Mahammod, he was from Mut, and he liked the water. We couldn’t remember how to ask him how old he was. Then who should show up but Ashraf (our all around friend and guide) and some of the house staff -- apparently to wash the dishes! Cue some awkward gender dynamics. Megan and I were the only ones in the spring (granted with shirts on in an attempt at modesty) and Ashraf jumped in no problem. It was pretty clear the rest (including man with son and donkey) were just around for the novelty of the girls in the pool. Nothing explicit but obvious nonetheless. Somehow different than outright heckling. Didn’t really bother me as I’d been a prepared, but it was clear that the other girls hadn’t gotten in for fear of just a thing. Regardless I found it to be pretty relaxing, dish-washing or no.

A nice walk back to the house in time for Arabic. Good dinner of kofta (grilled, ground lamb), Egyptian pizza, and roasted potatoes. Half-way through this post the Australians showed up with Uno and funny accents. Somehow it got to be 11:30 which is late when you have to make a 7:30am breakfast … a tout a l’heure!

"And now, as for Horus, he was lying under a shenusha-tree in oasis land"

2009-01-13T19:35:00.000+02:00

Settlement and governor's tombs at 'Ain-Aseel

2009-01-12T12:18:00.001+02:00

Nicks:
ultra hot, hot-spring water showers that burn
cow-sized mosquitos
sulfer smell after dinner

Knacks:
hot showers (!)
governer's tombs
"fi stella?"
baTaaTis

Pictures of a place beyond words

2009-01-06T10:05:00.000+02:00

Click on photos to enlarge

Yellow Rose of Cairo

2009-01-03T18:20:00.002+02:00

Time for Egypt!

I flew to New York December 29th and could hardly believe I was actually headed into the Sahara. The trip is so routine by now. Even showing up to Cathedral Gardens at 110th and Manhattan Avenue to meet Ellen and running to Central Market for some peanut butter before hopping in a car to JFK felt pretty run of the mill (minus the heartfelt send-off from Sev and Jules, that was just heartbreaking). We met everyone at the airport and after having to go back and put said peanut butter (and Ellen's alcohol... "for gifts" she says) got on Egyptair flight 39 to Cairo. I sat next to Megan (my roommate and all over buddy from Barnard) and we both tried some drug-assisted sleep to marginal sucsess. At one point she woke up, asked me to open her water, and when it sprayed a little due to the pressure change said, "It was happy to see you!" in a high pitched voice. She laughed for about a minute afterward before fading off again. Ambian works in mysterious ways I guess.

When we landed in Cairo the next morning, we were all bit groggy but the city woke us immediately! What impressed me on the way down was the way bits of the city are interspersed with true desert... dunes and all. It is a loud and busy place that proved itself to be so right from the beginning. The baggage claim was a crowed mass and the bus ride to the Happy City Hotel gave us a decent taste of Cairo traffic (we would soon have to navigate on foot!). We took a desperately needed nap at the hotel and then made our way to a traditional restaurant for dinner, then went back to the hotel roof top for drinks and shisha until midnight. Sana saaida! Happy New Year!

Happy City Hotel nightstand console

On the first day of 2009 we went to "The Mugaba", a government building that we had all been warned was beaurocratic hell on earth, to get our visa extensions but it proved to be almost empty and very naviagable on new years day, el hamdu lellaeh. ("thanks be to god" and "god willing" are phrases we have learned to add to the end of almost every sentence, and to use whenever one doesn't know what to say. They are, of course, also extremely pertinant in a place where things like the police showing up in the middle of your arabic lesson and needing to see everyone's passport for allah knows what reason!) We spent the rest of the day exploring and doing errands before heading out to the oasis. Megan and I very proudly changed money and bought bread and vitamins all by ourselves. The bread shops, which can be found in every block, smell incredible and the bread litterally spills out onto the sidewalks. There are fruit vendors just as often and nuts spilling out from the bodgea like convience stores and juice places. Men with giant boards of pita on their heads ride around on bikes, motercycles, and any other imaginiable kind of moving vehicle. It's impossible to imagine not being hungry at all times in this city!

The a bread shop from our window at the Happy City Hotel

The rest of our day in Cairo was spent dodging traffic, crossing the Nile (surprisingly like any other river in a big city), and going to the Cairo Musueum. If I had died and gone to heaven, I would have gone to that place. It's an imposing building but inside is a nearly dingy, poorly lit, treasure trove of all things Ancient Egyptian. Amulets, statues and all number of other old thing are stuffed into glass and wood cases strangely remincient of those in Schermerhorn hall at Columbia. We spent some time in the king Tut and adjanct rooms and barely scratched the surface of all there is to see. Hopefully when we're back in Cairo in March we'll get to spend more time there. By dinner time I was so exhausted it was almost all I could do to grab soup in the Hotel restaurant, pack up my bags, and get to bed. We did manage, however, to find a place that sells (and delivers to your door!) whiseky for my 21st birthday... we figured that a little American tradition should be upheld. Haha.

Sphinx outside Cairo Museum (cameras weren't allowed inside)

The next day we rose bright and early, gobbled gibna bitta (a great cheese somewhere between feta and cream cheese) on crossiants, and piled into the little bus that would take us to Daklah Oaisis... 12 hours (though it proved to be 13) into the Sahara. I sat in the back, but thanks to dramamine the tales of upchuck Annie will have to stop somewhere around 2008! From the highway on the way out of Cairo we saw the Giza pyramids. Another died and gone to heaven moment. Many people had told me they were disappointed, but from a crowed bus of archaeology nerds, they seemed pretty much up to snuff.

Pyramids at Giza! Swoon ...

Ashraf, our lovely egyptian guide for the entirety of the tripe, and our liason that manages said problems like the police showing up at the dig house and getting us safely through checkpoints along the road to the oasis, kept us updated on what we were seeing as we headed out into the desert. That is to say, he pointed out the pyramids as we left Cairo, and the fact that we were in Daklah when we arrived! I kid, a bit, but most of the LONG LONG ride was desert -- flat, tan desert. We stopped a few times to use the bathrooms (only one squat!) and streach and take photographs.

The group taking a stretch by some iron mines

Regardless we were more than ready to leave that bus far far in the past when we arrived at the dig house after dark. I was not prepared for how beautiful the house is. It's rustic, to be sure, but arriving at night to the mudbrick courtyards illuminated by hanging lanterns was too picturesque for words. (pictures that do it justice soon!)Delicious hibiscus drink and friendly house-staff greeted us and we ate a much needed dinner, unpacked, and hit the sack with huge grins on our faces.

This morning we woke early and cold. Breakfast was yummy cheese, honey, pita and hard boiled eggs. After we set-up the library and computer lab we had some time to explore around the house. The fields and palm groves surrounding us are exactly what you think an oasis should be. Muddy and green and lovely. Climbing palm trees and catching grasshoppers ensued. We sat for awhile just in awe of the commanding view of the desert scarp and town. But, turn around and there is the distance is the Sahara. A strange substitute for the pacific ocean, but just as expansive feeling. The night grows old now so I'll save more dig-house antics until another time. Suffice it to say I know realize an oasis paradise really exists.

[Photos of dig house, etc delayed due to really SLOW connection]

...

2008-07-10T06:48:00.000+03:00

Quickly before I forget... (apologies for listicle)

Forth of July = work, jumping off the Taos Junction bridge into the Rio Grande, chicken dinner, Johnny Walker, two-stepping with a real cowboy at the Sagebrush (Sev roped me into it)

Saturday = day off = plant walk with Wind (learned how to tell the difference between dandelion and hemlock, make rope from milk weed, eat reeds and other leafy things to cure what ails you), laundry, Jeff's melancholy departure, leaving my wallet on top of the car and driving away (ice cream and movie to wallow in)

Sunday = back to Vista Verde trail, MORE TIPI GLYPHS than I ever thought possible, home early to get a tour of the old Morningstar commune (awesome ruins, amazing location)

Monday - today = still at the same site which is proving to be an amazing assemblage of Apache or Ute glyphs of the scratched variety. Hard to see and a pain to draw, but once documented it becomes clear it's excitingly new stuff. It gets boring and exciting in waves.

The future = work through Friday, powow on Saturday, paper work on Sunday, the next week is all up in the air. Don't want to leave ...

LBDFA

2008-07-04T02:43:00.000+03:00

This place does not like cars. Kaet's "beast" has been put permanently out of commission (more because we're scared of it than any actual problem) and Tuesday morning Chaco, a neighbor's dog, chased a squirrel under the hood of Mari's Honda Hybrid and preceded to chew off the license plate and emblem as well as scratch and claw the bumper and hood. Mari only joined us Sunday night and a busted car is not what you want on your mind when you have an 8 hour day out in the field ahead of you. I went into town with her instead of out to the field to figure it out. Stopped at Michael's while she made the necessary phone calls and got the most amazing chocolate cream cheese croissant. Eventually she talked to Chaco's owners and they easily agreed to pay the damages. It's still going to take some time and brain power to get it to the shop and fixed and all. Bummer.

Heading back a few days ...

Saturday was a half day of work and Jeff's 20th Birthday. Sam, Albert, Christian and Tessa came out to visit. It was so great to see them! We went to the Gorge Bridge and the Earthship visitors center. We've decided we want to build and live in an Earthship palace. Albert's in charge of finding the land. They had to get back to Santa Fe so they couldn't stay for the birthday feast and hot spring jaunt. We made a surprisingly yummy gluten and dairy free cake and went to the hot springs they used in Easy Rider. They're more like luke-warm springs, but it was pretty idylilic. We walked down in the dark and some locals had built a fire. The sky was perfectly clear and the fire flys were out in record numbers (which for this area isn't tons, but enough). I was the only one who kept jumping in and out of the river to keep the springs feeling toasty. Lakeside has trained me to think this is the only way. I think it is.

Sunday was our "day off" and we slept in (until 8:30). Jim, a friend of Bob's who lives on the other side of the highway in Arroyo Hondo took us out on his land. There was an amazing concentration of lithics and pottery and an old pit house that apparently someone had preliminarily excavated a while ago. Jim is a member of the only non-native Katsina society in the world and is trained in putting on sweat lodges. He invited us to one on Saturday. We might go. It would certainly be a trip. He is a wonderful guy and has a very friendly way about him. He took us up to some rock art and gave his interpretation and while anglo appropriation and all that he was completely genuine. He has a silent thoughtfulness about him that's a nice change from some of the pontificating the goes on around here. After our field trip with Jim we came back and made a huge brunch feast.

In the afternoon Anand, Kaet and I headed out to Santa Fe. Anand had to catch an early flight monday morning and I wanted to visit the clan at Tessa's so it worked out perfectly. Icing on the cake came with the revelation that Megafaun was also playing a little show that very night. We had a beautiful drive through a monsoon. Amazing downpour and thunder and lightning. Cranked the music and made a real road trip out of what became a little over 2 hour drive. Some snaffos (or "faffs") finding Tessa's, getting food, finding the show, but we made it in the end. The show was at this guy's house who hosts bands for free. Santa Fe is a little lacking in a deep music scene it seems. In any event it was the perfect intimate venue for their music and I was beyond thrilled to see the boys and their bearded little faces. Post-show we all went back to Tessa's to hang out and were greeted with fireworks from the roof! Tessa's dad has a beautiful place on a hill and we watched the lights of Santa Fe from the patio. So funny to have gathered such a group so far from all our native states. Because of our numbers crashing at Tessa's was out. So, the two chorts (Anand and Kaet) and I relied on the hospitality of Phil, Brad, and Joe and laid ourselves out on the floor of their hotel room. We had to get up at five to get Anand to the airport shuttle (only slightly brutal) which gave us plenty of time to grab grub and head out to meet up with everyone in the field. "Showers" in the Rio Grande are the only way to make it through the day.

Monsoon season has begun here and the clouds roll over the perfectly clear sky every afternoon at about three. The light is, if it's possible, even more incredibly in the early evening after the storm passes. It leaves little bits of clouds here and there that make the sunsets absolutely heart breaking. I had started to take the views here for granted, but driving back to New Buffalo every day we hit the highest point on the highway in just the right spot to see the whole Rio Grande rift valley and the gorge at the perfect time of day. One of these days I'll stop and take a picture. It may be that I'm particularly focused on the looks of things as I took my first real shower in four days, but I think that this may be one of those places that is never just so-so, but always breath-taking. Lindsey's impeccable taste in music helps keep us awake on the ride in in the mornings, but the drowsy carful in the afternoon perks up only on this curve.

Tomorrow is the fourth of July and we'll be working a full day I imagine. A few of the towns around here put on parades and parties and since we'll be taking Saturday off I think we'll try and celebrate somehow. Talk of putting on a BBQ here for the guys may manifest in more than talk, we'll see.

Nicks

Crotch splits in the middle of the day in the middle of nowhere (dun du duh)

Knacks

$11 replacement jeans from WalMart

Unlucky in lunch, unlucky in love

2008-06-27T06:54:00.000+03:00

Christina told me she read this and didn't seem too impressed. I guess I should try to craft these posts a little more, but the sun really saps my ability to turn a witty phrase, haha.

Since last I wrote we had a slow monday, spent tuesday doing laundry and going to Taos peublo, had Kaet's car get a flat at the trail head and had two very strange "crickets" scavange food from our shelves at New Buffalo. This week has been a little slow. We've been finding some interesting stuff but it's all been within a fairly small area and today seemed like most of us were getting a little antsy to move on. We still have a fair amount of work at that site, though, so we'll have to make really interesting lunches to make up for it.

The "crickets" are two very very strange women that showed up here "to garden." Barking in the shower and other oddities included. We'd probably be laughing it off if they were in any way friendly. One of them has clear cokebottle glasses about three inches thick and short grey hair and the other is a very large black young lady with a bad case of vertigo. She holds onto the walls as she walks down the four steps into the Buffalo room. They creep around and don't seem to do much. I wish Bob (who runs the place) could find a good group to get this place going. The crickets found an ad about New Buffalo in a newspaper at the Taos bus station. Serendipitous yes, but il-fated it seems. How do you kick someone off a commune?

The Beast, Kaets car, continues it's beast-like ways. Second trip to the shop in a week. We did learn the answer to the age old question, "how many archaeologist does it take to change a tire." Turns out seven almost does it. Eight might be better.

Last night we tried two-stepping again. I think we've improved a bit. The trick is, apparantly, not to move your feet very much. I can't quite get my head around the dance but don't move your feet thing, but I think I've got the Muskogee (sp?) spin down.

Today we ate outside and watched the sun set. I need to remember to take more photos here at New Buffalo. There is such a thing as too many photos of boulder fields.

Nicks

Forty bug bites on my left arm only

"Crickets"

Knacks

Drawing faces on hardboiled eggs

Caves twenty degrees cooler than the surface

The Taos Te Tching

2008-06-22T17:05:00.000+03:00

Yesterday was the solstice and I have to admit that, in sum, the celebration exceeded my expectations. It started off with a cheesy, new age-y "ceremony" (in which I - as a woman - had to sprinkle water off a sage branch on people) but quickly devolved into a down home sing-a-long with some of the old New Buffalo and Rainbow Family folks who now live the life on "the mesa." Apparently there's a movie called "Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa" that's all about these folks. Two Ravens, Dog Man, Robbi to name a few. Robbi is a lovely old man who plays a mean mandolin from his wheel chair and has more than a story or two to tell. We sang for hours and hours (five, maybe?) and never repeated a song. A scene I wish Erin and Parker especially could have been a part of. Tambourni's, drums, guitars, harmonicas and even a cello at one point appeared out of the crowd. I promised to get a copy of "Where There Walks a Logger, There Walks a Man." I taught him "Whistle Punk Peat" and he decided he needed to know more logger songs. Ended the night out by the bonfire. People came and went and there were varying degrees of weird nostalgia and real Taos folk. Not a pure throwback. A fun time.

Today we went back out to the Vista Verde Trail (late, around nine) and documented a sight we found friday. Hundreds of flakes, a few pot drops, and a bunch of really beautiful and unusual points. At about 3 a big thunderstorm rolled in and we decided to call it a day due to the lightning. Standing on a giant hill of iron cored basalt is not the best place to be in that situation. We took the grocery store by storm instead. Walkie talkies make shopping for eight much more efficient.

There's actually been a few little storms in the past three days. The first was friday in the middle of the night. I woke up to rain pounding on my tent and some really amazing thunder. Luckily my tent held and I woke up dry and happy. A small swap did form a little down hill from me because an irrigation ditch over flowed. Everyone else has move to the lower pasture. I guess i'll join them soon. We can't break up The Shire (which is what we named our little tent camp).

Now were sitting (as usual) at the kitchen tables on our computers. Well, Jeff is drawing a projectile point, but he's an exceptional young man in that respect.

We seem to be breaking up the days enough so that this won't get old very soon. Corn dance at the Taos Pueblo on Tuesday. It's really exciting to find these things and talk about what we find. For example, on thursday, we found a bunch of possible rock shelters and sheep pens that were associated with dateable pottery and stone tools. It's amazing that you can start to construct the story of the early historic shepherd who was spending tim on this hill with his sheep when a Saint's day came around and he decided to peck some crosses into the stone. You can start to figure out the story in the same place those people where standing. Simple. Obvious. Still woah. I'm still not super confident that I know what I'm looking for and that I'm missing a lot, but the nature of the survey is that we will never get everything. I'm getting over it. We've also been followed by our butterfly (from the Katsina mask site) for the past few days and have named it Ginger (after Anand's new love). It almost landed on me today. Apparently in one of the cultures from around here the afterlife is a world of flowers populated by butterfly spirits. Oooo...

Everyone is getting along smashingly and we all seem to genuinely like each-other (or at least I genuinely like everyone else) for which I am eternally grateful. Have to get some recipes from home so I can pitch in with dinner one of these days. Irish soda bread and Marbella chicken I think. I'm open to suggestions of course! (The cheaper the better!)

A week ago today I pulled up to New Buffalo expecting to be roughin' it and here I am dirty a bit tired but perfectly content. Couldn't have asked for more really, except maybe for boots that aren't coming apart at the seams. Ha.

Nicks:

Finger cut from using a swiss army knife to cut ducktape to repair

Boots

Nacks:

Robbi

Sing-a-longs

Walkie-talkies

Forgive me Father, it's been three days since my last shower.

2008-06-19T04:44:00.001+03:00

I think I've given up on a full recap of the drive out. Suffice it to say the drive with the folks was a blast and the places my mom found for us to stay were lovely. It's funny how quickly one starts to feel at home in a place that waits for you after a long day.

Yesterday we finished up our survey of a major portion of the sage flats on the Western Rim of the Rio (which is NOT near Pilar I came to find out). After sitting on the edge of the plateau looking down into the Rio valley we headed towards Pilar (for real) to check out a site called Suazo that was surveyed last year. We got our rock art tutorial there. Some pretty incredible glyphs there.

We then went a mile or so down a road and began a glyph survey up a VERY steep and high hill. We found quite a few things and returned this morning to document. The view from the ridge was incredible and the fact that we climbed it would make my mom cringe. Had my first run in with a cactus. Blood sacrafice to the gods necessary for a sucessful project I'm told.

The undergrads and Sev had dinner at a roadside Mexican place (everything is roadside here) and then went to lecture at SMU. As interesting as it was we were all totally exhausted and struggled to make coherent conversation with the lecturer when he approched us. No great impression.

Woke up a quarter before six again this morning. Waking up with the sun is a really good feeling.

After documenting the glyphs north of Suazo we headed out to Vista Verde trail down in the gorge. Major boulder hopping. I think this may be my favorite kind of survey. Keeps you interested lest you fall off a ridge. We didn't find much until the end of the day when we found some incredible archaic and pueblo glyphs. [I don't have any photos but will tomorrow.] We were all astounded as they are incredibly beautiful, and far more complex than we (meaning Sev) have ever seen for glyphs that old. Sev started talking about them and the site in an incredibly reverential way and I have to admit that I definitely felt some sort of difference standing under that particular rock face. A huge yellow and black butterfly kept circling the site too. I'm taking it as a sign. Cheesy as it may be.

Sev, Anand and I boulder hopped back to the cars as the rest of the group walked the trail. It's really such an dynamic landscape I want to get in as much of it as I can in this short month.

I write now from the kitchen as the "grad students" cook dinner. They've taken control of the food situation very successfully and us youngling offer not complaints. We moved our tents to a immensly better site out in a pasture off the kitchen under some trees. Should be nice sleeping away from the barking dogs next door. Tomorrow we head back to the Vista Verde trail Grad student-less as Sima is leaving and Anand and Kaet are going to ABQ to pick up Anands "love interest," Ginger. We've been teasing him endlessly. They'll be staying in the "enchantment room" as the wooden plaque on it's door proudly proclaims.

Today is Lyndsy's birthday so we're having cookies and ice cream and building a shrine somewhere down on the river to celebrate.

Nicks

Knees (cut and bruised)

Neck (RED)

Knacks

Katsina mask glyphs

buffalo burgers in tortillas

[There's not enough bandwidth here to post photos but I will as soon as I figure it out]

A League of Their Own

2008-06-17T06:30:00.001+03:00

First day out in the field:

Went out Pilar way (western rim of the Rio Grande). Within about 10 minutes of walking

transect lines we found a good site with tons of lithic scatters, a bit of pottery, and some points. Took a while to hit my stride but by the end of the day I'd found my first projectile point! (yay - don't worry, I've given up on my tattoo idea).

Still stunned by the scenery here... we walk with our noes to the ground and look up to find one of the most impressive vistas I've ever seen staring right back at us. Still getting a feel for the way the landscape actually "works" but time, time, time.

Worked on some mapping with Sev when we split off and then some "recon." We would walk just 10 meters and find another site.

Exhausted by the end of the day (and still am now). Bumpy ride home and then a quick jump in the Rio Grande to cool off.

Got home. Set up tent (possibly on top of an ant hill). Ate. Listened to Bob, the big guy here at New Buffalo, share some history of the place. Just as we are finishing Wind shows up. Weathered looking guy who truly lives off the land. Sometimes crashes here on a pallet of straw outside and finds most of his food in the brush and mountains. Now we're all here sitting in the kitchen on our computers while Sev tunes up his guitar for a little sing-a-long. Too classic right?

Nicks

bugbites

sunburn

anthill

Knacks

First point

New Buffalo

Music

A Fish Called Wanda

2008-06-16T07:43:00.000+03:00

Just arrived at New Buffalo after a long drive from the Albuquerque airport to drop off the folks and pick up Jeff and Christina.

Update from the 1000 miles to get here soon.

Night in the kiva and tomorrow a tent!