Dear Diary

I’m on the train to Chiusi heading back to Vescovado having just spent the weekend in Rome with Michael. Not only am I sad to be leaving the big city to go back to the filth and gossip of Scavi (though I secretly love it) I’m bummed that I just left Michael who is going back to the states.

The trip to Rome like most of my trips was pretty low key but also super fun. After having finished backfill day on Thursday, Tony decided that Friday would be a good day for a field trip to Florence. So, we left on the bus to Siena at 7am and all got on the train to Florence from there. But not before an espresso at the train station (I was working with 2 hours of sleep since I finished packing at 3am and had to get up for breakfast duty at 5am)

After an uncomfortable nap on the train we headed to the museum. We dropped off some bags at the apartment where Joe was staying and then walked to meet Tony. Half the group followed Handy while a bunch of us waited for Joe. (this turned out to be the right choice since Handy got himself and everyone else lost – Tony was not pleased.

Once everyone found us we went into the museum. It was a pretty small museum but ridiculously jam packed with stuff. Also, it’s not air conditioned.

Definitely a problem

I love museums, but standing in a room crammed with 30 people when it’s 40 degrees inside and then trying to listen to a lecture (especially one by Tony) is not pleasant.

The trip improved considerably when Tony gave us free reign to explore all the rooms on out own. This week because of the craziness of opening new trenches in Poggio Aggutso we didn’t have a paper to write so Tony asked us to write a page on what artifact we would steal from the Florence archaeological museum and why. I’ve decided that the Chimera is a necessary addition to the décor of my room.

There were a few other people who were planning on travelling to Rome after Florence this weekend and Francesca kindly asked if I wanted to tag along with them for the train ride. So, after the museum we trotted back to the train station but not without stopping for kebab on the way (I asked for everything on it and later found out this included fries – oddly delicious)

We bought out tickets and some snacks but foolishly not water. The ride cosisted of some silly chats about childhood and Grayson’s ridiculous exploits. A couple hours into the ride we started to get a little loopy from dehydration. Foolishly we didn’t check how long out stop at Chiusi was so we sat for ½ an hour on the train complaining about being thirsty when we could have just gotten off the train and got some water at the train station café.

Then miraculously Mike, Kelsey and Michael showed up on out train car having just switched trains from Siena. Being the awesome dude he is Michael donated his 1.5 litre bottle of water to us. Hannah and Alex had resorted to drinking train water by then while Amanda Grayson and I had just drank beers (mmm dehydration and alcohol) so Michael’s water was much appreciated.

Not only was it nice that we had water, but with Michael on our train it saved me the trouble of trying to meet up with him at termini as planned. Michael and I parted ways with the other 7 at the train station and we walked to find our hostel.

It took us a couple walks up and down the street that our hostel was supposed to be on to actually find it since you had to check in at the restaurant/ bar that was owned by the same man as the hostel. When we did check in, the man at the bar lead us across the street and down the block. He opened a huge wooden door and lead us to the smallest elevator I had ever seen. Michael and I later marvelled at the fact that the 3 of us fit inside with all our stuff.

Once we made it to the fifth floor alive, and unlocked a second door, we walked down a little hall to out room and collapsed onto the bed.

We decided that the first order of business was a shower. (its funny that we complain about cold showers at Scavi, but sometimes when we’re travelling they’re the most delightful thing.

Once we were squeaky clean we decided to head out and explore. The ultimate goal was a panini place that Jason had recommended to Michael. We walked in what we later discovered to be a rather roundabout route but we walked by the Domus Aurea, the Colosseum, Trajan’s Column and a bunch of other cool places. (I think I did more walking in two days this weekend than ever before)

After getting lost and then finding ourselves again we got to the street the panini place was supposed to be on and began searching. We were starving, but determined to find it. We walked the entire length of the street almost to Vatican city (it had been a long walk since we started at termini) then we finally gave up and went for 1€ pizza slices which were sublime after our long trek.

Once we were recharged with food we decided it was probably time to head home since it was 10pm and we still had a 2 hour walk ahead of us. On the way home we stopped for gelato peach and strawberry for me and coconut and banana for Michael

Back at the hostel I realized that flip flops were a poor choice. Not only were my feet filthy but now I have a delightful blister on the sole of my foot which is going to make crouching on the hill for 8 hours rather uncomfortable.

After scrubbing my feet it was time for bed. Tragically our air conditioning unit didn’t work so our room was balls hot.

We both woke up so many times during the night dripping in sweat. Rome’s heat was so sticky, it was pretty gross. But at the very least it was better than our night in Rome the previous weekend spent on the frigid floor of the airport.

After waking from our fitful sleep for the final time, somewhat ready to face the day, we crossed the street to the restaurant where we got free breakfast for staying at the hostel. We had delightful café lattes and pastries. I am going to miss the good cheap coffee in Italy. Even 0.80€ train station espressos are delicious. Tim Horton’s is really going to taste like crap after this trip.

With breakfast finished we decided to walk along the street we explored the previous night so we could go into the stores that we looked at when they were actually open.

We went into this little junk shop that had used books and records and I found a copy of the Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. I lied about which bin I found it in so I got it for 4€!

After that shop we stopped for Paninis before moving on towards Vatican City. We found some little religious paraphernalia stores and Michael bought a little folding triptych

Like one he had seen and coveted in a store that was closed in Amsterdam. As we neared the Vatican we began a quest for a Popener (bottle opener with the pope on it) and looked in all the little stalls for one. They were surprisingly hard to come by. I looked for some gaudy Pope themed jewellery but all I found were rings sized for giants.

From there we decided to walk to the Pantheon which was one of the places I most wanted to see. We came upon it without a ridiculous amount of trouble. Finding it was made easier by the enormous dome shaped shadow it cast in the street as we approached it. Although it was extremely crowded (free admission will do that I suppose) it was incredible. I’m perpetually astounded by the skill that it must have taken to construct.

After the pantheon we decided to go to the Crypt of the Capuchin Monks and swing by the Trevi Fountain on the way. The fountain was astounding; I just stood and stared at it for a good while. But more important that the fountain was the souvenir stand next to it where we discovered Popeners!

We found the Crypt next with a little help form my frommer’s guide. There were several rooms in the crypt filled with hundreds upon hundreds of bones artfully displayed in aesthetically pleasing designs across the walls and ceilings as well as mummified monks standing. The last room had a skeleton on the ceiling which held a scythe made from femurs and scapula as well as a set of scales made from phalanges and frontal bones. Below him was a sign with the message:

What you are now, we once were

What we are now you will be

Creepy.

We wandered a little aimlessly after that until we decided it was about time for a nap. We headed back to the hostel and slept until 8 when we got up to go out for supper. We went to the restaurant across from the hostel again since we got a 10% discount.

Michael ordered a .66 litre Birra Moretti and the waiter said wow and looked impressed when I asked for the same. We got an appetizer of mozzarella and proscuitto which was delicious. I got gnocci with pesto for my main course and Michael ate spaghetti Bolognese. I never really loved gnocci before, but this was sublime.

After supper we decided to be touristy again and do some more walking. We stopped into a little restaurant to get another Moretti and we found Moretti Grand Cru - .75 litres, 6.8% alcohol and with a champagne cork (as well as much better tasting than a regular Moretti) they may have been 9€ each, but I didn’t mind since it was Michael’s last night to drink Moretti.

We ended up at the Colosseum and lay in the grass next to the illuminated building drinking our ridiculously classy beers - definitely one of the more memorable moments of the summer. It was so surreal to look up from the grass and see the Colosseum above me.

At midnight with birra number three we decided it was time to go home. On the way back I finally bought coconut from a street stand which I had been wanting to do since I saw people selling it at Palio in Siena.

It was as delightful as I expected.

Happily once we made it back to the hostel, our room wasn’t nearly as disgustingly hot as the night before. We passed out into a relatively uninterrupted sleep (until Michael punched me to wake me up for breakfast)

We got our lattes and croissants then went back to the hostel to pack up and check out. From there it was a short trot to the train station then the usual fight with the self service ticket machine and the search for the correct binario. At 11:00 my train was ready to leave so Michael and I said our goodbyes and I sent him off with a breezer to remember me by. Michael left to spend the day and night at the Hilton to wait for his flight home the next day (with air conditioning and room service – jerk). And I was back to Vescovado for another week.

internet fail

sorry for the lack of posts lately.

Not only have I been busy with the dig and my exciting weekend trips, the internet at the out house is now broken so we can only use it of we steal internet in the aftrenoon from next door (difficult since 5 out of 7 days we are at the hill for 8-10 hours) or go to a bar or cafe and buy something and get the internet passwords.

I have been mostly keeping up with the chronicling of my days in either my journal or in word documents so I'm going to try and get those up over the rest of the week.

I have delightful stories from the site, lovely italian beaches and yes, Amsterdam.

muffa

Getting up this morning was difficult.

If you know me at all you'd realize that rising at 5am every day is quite a challenge.

today we had leftover coffee after breakfast so I brought it to the mag with me (thanks dad for telling me to bring an insulated water bottle - cold water on the hill, hot coffee in the mag. delightful.

Thursday was spent shifting more boxes full of mold but luckily I protected myself from the muffa with a bandana over the mouth and nose - not only practical but extremely stylish.

Mag bandito.

I brushed out a most ridiculously mouldy box of mouldy terracotta chunks. Then bleached it to delightful mostly cleanliness

The bandana helped my breathing a lot, but not even that could keep the dirt out of my nose. (a general rule – never look at your tissue after blowing your noses here – its terrifying) Theresa told us once that after a day in the mag she blew a dead spider out of her nose

Delish

Although I do enjoy the mag, it does get slightly monotonus.

Rochetti

I am so full of delicious bolognese sauce right now it is almost painful but I swear Julian is a god in the kitchen.

Today was another day well spent in the Mag. (my hives are getting much better (and by better I mean going away!))

Again we started off with some delightful dry brushing of yesterday's finds, then I went to finish finding the spools (called Rochetti) for Jason. most of them were relatively easy to find, but some were in the wrong box and there are 3 which are nowhere to be found.

We switched up tasks partway through the day and I helped move boxes again. many of which had grown a nice layer of black mold in addition to the 40 years of dust and grime. I tried to rub off the black residue from my skin but it only came off when I washed with soap in the evening.

Patricia joined me after lunch to try and find the elusive rochetti and dug through the boxes another 3 times each, then we double checked to make sure they weren't in the museum. but no luck.

I organized them all quite nicely but I suppose Jason will have to find the others his self.

After finishing work in the mag. I stayed again to look at some artifacts and tony was there to lend insight into the paper as well as the site as a whole. quite helpful.

Then the 20 minute walk down to the house in all the humidity. powering along to Ratatat makes it so much better though.

By the time I arrived it was almost time to go to Tony's lecture. He gave us a sort of background of Etruscan culture through burial sites (most etruscan sites are grave sites) it was very interesting. I hope as the weeks progress more discussion will be provoked.

Then it was time to help with supper. We juiced lemons, cut bread, sliced zucchini grated cheese, made salad and dressing and waited expectantly for Julian to bring the bolognese (we'd been hearing rumors of it's deliciousness stewing for 2 days)

and like I said - heavenly.

not only that, he and Owen (his boyfriend who is visiting (who also happens to be a pastry chef!) baked loaves of fresh focaccia bread with rosemary.

I am in love with these men.

After eating more than was good for me (my mouth said YES my stomach, no.) Patricia convinced me gelato was a good idea.

It doesn't take much arm twisting

so off to the Commie bar we went. We walked through the staring silent old men as always and bought our treats in broken Italian (I'm quickly learning how to order gelato at least!)

half coconut half hazlenut. yum.

Then to my room to do some homework, which is still in progress...

I should get back to that

Ciao!

Magazzino Vampire

Today started off much better than yesterday, even though I had a 5am rise again. My face was much less swollen and the hives on my arms had begun to fade. my legs may look grosser, but I figure they're radiating out before they go away.

I burnt my hand making coffee because we have to use camp coffee percolators on the stove in order to make enough coffee for 60 people in time. The percolators don't have good lids and if you fill them too much they can and will overflow. So I burnt my hive covered skin.

delightful

once breakfast was finished and the floors of the house were swept and mopped, the 6 of us trotted up to the magazzino.

the morning was spent dry brushing the previous day's finds and then cleaning out more boxes of finds from previous years that had collected dust and mold (and enormous spiders!) There were actually several huge spiders found today. Christina had the misfortune of organizing a box of catalogue cards which housed a spider with a 2 inch leg span. it was revolting, luckily as I pulled it out, Jason had a sandal at the ready to dispatch it. (sorry dude, but you were scary and moving way too fast for our liking)

after dry brushing and organizing cards, I was put on Jason's service to pull out particular ceramic spools from the boxes of finds from previous years. He and Tony are working on a project to do with reasons why some are decorated while others aren't. It is somewhat tedious work as not all the boxes are as organized as the first seemed, but as always it is super cool to dig through all that cool stuff.

we got our sexy dig t-shirts last night. they're super cool with an illustration of a bone inlay on the front and everyone's names on the back saying: Poggio Civitate 2010 Field Season 2615 Years in the Making. It is pretty deeply nerdy, I don't want to wear it here so it won't become filthy and sweaty like every other article of clothing, I'll have to save it for bragging rights when I get home.

I spent a little extra time at the mag after we finished work, looking through artifacts to collect info for this weeks assignment which asks us to consider the types of manufacturing which took place in the 6th and 7th centuries BC at the Workshop on the site. I have a bunch of articles to go over. and the assignment is due friday. we'll have a new paper to write each week which is nice since everyone is going to want the weekends off to go traipsing around.

I might go to the beach this weekend since we didn't make it after the Sienna trip last weekend. and then the week after I'm planning to go to Rome. I'm not sure who I'll go with since there are a lot of people going to Rome be all at different times. I'm sure I'll find a nice little group to go sightseeing with.

and now, since it is midnight and I must rise early yet again as I am banished to the mag this week to stay out of the sunlight so as to not aggravate my temperamental skin, I must to bed.

Julian made frittata for tomorrow's breakfast. I am in love with that man. everything he makes is heavenly. He bought fresh ricotta cheese from a farmer nearby and it was delicious. and we had pasta and roasted eggplant which was to die for. we eat gourmet food every day. I can't believe he feeds 5o people in such style! (also he is so charming and good looking meyoww!( jealous of his boyfriend))

I am excited to eat "something other than yoghurt and shitty croissants" as Juilan put it.

yummo

Cetirizina Alter

Last night was horrendous, I was so itchy I couldn't get to sleep at all, I was tossing and turning the whole night I finally fell asleep around 4:30am only to have to get up at a little over an hour later.

Then, today I awoke to an even more lovely swollen face. and the rash on my arms and legs had intensified.

I grabbed some coffee and bread for breakfast and began my solo power walk up the hill to the site to the tune of Passion Pit which improved my mood somewhat.

I tried to ignore the itchyness at the site because I really wanted to be there and do some work, but it was terrible, I kept having to take off my gloves and rub and scratch my arms and neck to avoid going insane. (and I was only there 2 hours)

Then my night in shining armor appeared in the form of Tony. He saw me frantically rubbing my scales and told me he'd be finished at the site soon and would take me down to get something for it.

We walked to his car and he drove to a slightly larger town than Vescovado to go to the pharmacy.

The car ride was quite nice, he is an excellent conversational companion and we chatted about university, Italy in general and the dig specifically.

At the pharmacy Tony pointed out the weird baby food they had there (prosciutto and horse flavoured!) he then poke to the pharmacist and gestured at me asking me what I thought was going on with my skin at appropriate moments.

I was handed some antihistamine and a cortisone cream and Tony didn't even let me pay for it which was very kind of him!

He dropped me back at the house and I took the antihistamine and a shower. I put on sunscreen this morning even though that may be what is causing the reaction because I figured hives are better than sunburnt hives! skin could start. so the shower was so my skin could start afresh.

Now I'm going to take a nap to make up for last night, then I'm going to go to the maggazino to avoid the sunlight while not having to feel useless. plus, the mag is AWESOME.

ps. I took a picture of my gross swollen red bumpy face, shoulders and chest but I haven't yet decided whether I wish to display my monstrous face on the internet for all to see. I'll probably be more inclined to do so once I no longer resemble Quasimodo.

itchy

I didn't get to mass today, Patricia decided that she was too hung over to to celebrate her birthday in such a way.

I did however wake up with what I thought was a sun rash so I spent the morning reading in the shade.

In the afternoon we baked a birthday cake with some odd cake mix which came right from a bag with no additional ingredients required. we made a double layer cake and because we had no icing we covered it in nutella. (nutella seems to be a food group of its own here)

after baking we all hung around until 6 when we walked up to the town of Murlo (pop. 70) to go to the restaurant for Patricia's birthday supper. as a Party of 24 in a small restaurant I think we rather overwhelmed the staff, appetizers came amongst the entrées and some people waited an hour for their food while others got theirs promptly.

I regret ordering rabbit, as it came as chunks of carcass still with bone and it was only a plate of meat. it was nice, but not exactly what I was expecting.

we had an absolutely ridiculous time trying to split up the bill again, apparently it is impossible to get separate bills in Italy. everyone was getting fed up with each other and I was getting super itchy and frustrated.

A girl I was sitting with told me it looked like I had the same hives she did when she found out she was allergic to penicillin.

I'm taking amoxicillin for my throat infection

uh oh

after we finally figured out the bill (mostly) a couple of us left and ran back to the house to put out Patricia's cake. we all sang her happy birthday and gorged ourselves on nutella cake.

it was pretty good for having come out of a bag!

my rash seems to be mostly in the places that sun hits, it's worst on my shoulders, chest, neck, and arms and there is a line on my shoulders where my tank top straps covered. it has spread to my chest (which was covered by a shirt) and legs. and my lips and ears and face look yucky and swollen. I have no idea what is going on with my skin, but I want it to stop.

so now here I sit trying not to scratch off a layer of skin which is proving rather challenging. I have a wet cloth and a bottle of aloe, but I feel sooo itchy. and I look like i have some gross skin disease. I am not looking forward to spending 8 hours itching in the scorching sun tomorrow.

pool party.

Today was nice and leisurely. it being saturday, we didn't have to work so we spent the day in Vescovado just hanging out. we bought some groceries to last us until monday when the beautiful Julian once again feeds us with his ill culinary skills.

I spent much of the day trying to write an entry about yesterday's Palio which took forever (if you didn't notice it's nearly 2000 words worth) Also snacking, and walking around the town.

this evening there was a pool party organized at the hotel across the street (the building we are staying in is also owned by the the woman who owns the hotel. everyone ate a delicious supper there and drank italian drinks. I had a "roman coke" first which was like a rum and coke but with white rum and brown sugar, it was revoltingly sweet, so the next time I went to the bar I asked John Luca (the son of sinora who owns the hotel and acting bartender for the night) for a rum and coke, dark 8 year rum and only a little coke. it was delightful.

After midnight when the pool party ended we all migrated to the kitchen of our house and drank and chatted there. We snacked on nutella and bread (nutella is very popular here) and Julian made a most delightful sandwich of mozzarella and fried onions which he shared with John Luca who in turn shared with me. and my god was it yummy and greasy.

after everyone went to bed, I was still wired so I spent an hour cleaning the kitchen, washing pots and pans, everyone's glasses, wrapping up lemons and mopping up spilled wine.

I did this barefoot and my feet were black by the time I finished. I tried to wash them, but the filth seems to have seeped into my skin. not even my trusty bar of jergens soap seems to work. I suppose I'll have to wear off the filth over the next few days.

tomorrow (or today as it's 3am) is Patricia's birthday so she and I are going to attend mass at 11am in celebration. We had a good time celebrating with alcohol today since she just turned 18 which is legal drinking age in Ireland (where she is from). A bunch of us are going to go to the pizzeria in Murlo for supper in celebration as well.

today wasn't quite so exciting as yesterday but it was lovely none the less. I was especially good since I got to talk to lots of people that I haven't gotten to know yet, especially the staff.

time to rest up for mass.

g'night

Private Dancer

I tried to write this yesterday right after all the excitement, but I was way too exhausted to finish. So now after my nice sleep and cold shower (hot water doesn’t get turned on until the evening) I’m rather wide awake – unlike the rest of my roommates - and ready to write.

Yesterday was the most jammed packed day ever. It was to be my first day digging on the hill so I rolled out of bed at 6am in order to grab breakfast and make it to the site for 7:00 sharp.

I decided I would walk alone listening to my iPod on the way to the site to see how fast I could make it up the hill. So I left the house and passed 7 people on my way up, making it there in 22 minutes flat (heck yeah!!) the walk up the road is a gentle slope and quite easy – with an absolutely beautiful view of the Tuscan valley I might add. The way up the path on the hill itself not so much, it was at that point that I began to break a sweat and I was really felling it by the time I reached the top breathing hard. But I made it alive and had 15 minutes to sit and regain composure before work started.

I’m also never doing that again, I’m going to give myself 40 minutes and take a leisurely stroll up each morning I think.

I was in Dan’s trench, we’re going to switch digging teams and trenchmasters each week which I’m really happy about since it will give everyone a chance to get to know everyone instead of just a few people really well as well as dig in different areas of the hill.

Dan is very quiet but if I had any questions he was very happy to answer them and he wasn’t disinterested in us, I just think he is so much older than us than the other trench masters that he feels no pull to socialize and just likes to get his work done.

We spent the morning clearing the topsoil from the trench and sifting though it for pottery, tile and bone. We were finding pieces of terracotta tile throughout as well as a couple pieces of pottery.

My best find of the day was the most ridiculously enormous worm I have ever seen in my life. I got a picture of myself pretending to eat it when Andy the trench master of the trench nearest to where I was called another staff member, Taylor, over. Once he arrived he was offered 30 euro to actually eat it.

Which he did.

And I got it on video. (it’s revolting he gags back a ¼ of the worm corpse)

By 12:00 when we finished early for the day (on account of the Palio) We didn’t quite make it through all the soil in the trench and there is a funny catwalk of dirt left through the centre where the groups of people were working towards each other.

The trot down the hill was considerably less pleasant because of the heat, but it was no less scenic. A bunch of us went to the tabacci to buy tickets for the bus into Siena then we came back to the house to wipe off the grime from digging and make ourselves somewhat presentable to go into town.

It is funny how everyone is apologetic about being filthy and sweaty all the time here but we are all equally dirty and gross. And we are so worried about our own disgusting state that we don’t notice anyone else.

So many of the students decided to go the Palio that we filled the entire bus except 3 seats. The drive into Siena is lovely and only takes about half an hour. Once we arrived we walked through crowds of people on the way to Piazza del Campo where the race takes place.

The race consists of 10 men riding bareback 3 times around the track of the Piazza. The men are from different contrade in Siena, which are the neighbourhoods that all have different symbols. There are 17 in total but only 10 of them get to race for reasons unbeknownst to me.

On the way to the Piazza we came across parades of men in costume chanting and drumming, a group of Torre (tower) men began a chant that sounded incredible. The atmosphere in the city was amazing. The amount of pride the people had for their contrade was awesome like some extreme nationalism. We found a spot in the centre of the Piazza at around 3 and waited for the festivities to begin at 6.

As the day progressed the Piazza filled with thousands of spectators from all over most wearing the flags of their contrade around their necks. We were standing near many people from the contrade of the Nicchio (seashell) which was my favourite flag although there were a lot of cool symbols, like the she wolf the dragon and the unicorn.

The spectacle began with a 2 hour presentation of the different contrada where members dressed in medieval costume some on horseback, some not, paraded around the piazza and waved and threw their flags. And although it was incredibly warm and tiring standing for hours it was an incredible experience. Lastly a bunch of members of the church on a mixture of a parade float and a chariot drawn by oxen came out and waved to the crowd.

Once the riders came out they rode in a circle as the crow cheered then everyone stopped talking and some people were saying “shh” so we all quieted down and suddenly the piazza of thousands of people were absolutely silent. You could have heard one person speaking across the piazza (if anyone were)

Then a man begins to announce the names of the contrada (in what I assume would be the order they were supposed to line up in) and the crowd reacted as each name was spoken (it was quiet disappointment or excitement then back to absolute silence.) there was one woman standing near us who would yelp as though in pain each time her contrade was not called.

Once all the horses lined up I figured the race would begin promptly

Boy was I wrong

This is extremely difficult to explain because I just barely understood what it was that I was watching so I apologize in advance.

Tony tells us that the horses are all drugged up and it was pretty evident from the frenzied way they were acting and how the jockeys seemed to struggle to keep control of them. There was one rider, the Torre jockey who would stand away from the horses as they lined up if he turned his horse away and walked back, all the riders would leave their line and follow him only to turn around and try to line up again. According to a friend of the staff who lives in Vescovado who was standing with us The Torre rider was the one who was most powerful and he was allowed to wait until he liked how the horses had lined up and he was ready to run. Finally he was happy and he turned his horse and began to run towards the line which then took off in front of him.

The race was 3 laps around the piazza and then it was over.

Boy was it a jammed packed 75 seconds. The Leocorno rider fell off his horse when it t-boned the wall of the piazza halfway through and was hurriedly carried off in a stretcher (apparently the horse is actually declared the winner of the race so had the Leocorno horse won without its rider that contrade would still have been able to win.) Jockeys were hitting each other with their crops. And it was just general madness.

After it looking like the wave was going to win for most of the race, it was the Selva (forest) who eventually came in first. And then the piazza was filled with emotion, people were weeping and screaming, grown men were hugging each other in consolation and crying and fistfights broke out among people. We left the piazza in a flood of people and as we walked there was a trail of blood leading from the square.

A large group of most of us left at the same time and everyone was hot and tired and people started arguing about what to do. It was slightly ridiculous. Things got better as we split off into smaller groups. Thankfully I ended up in a lovely group of 5 who were just happy to wander Siena and soak it all in.

We grabbed some pizza for supper (and had a hilariously difficult time doing to math to divide the bill amongst us) Then walked around the streets as the Italians celebrated. We found the contrade of the Forrest and streets were closed off and tables had been put in the streets where people ate and drank and sang and just generally made merry and celebrated together.

In our wanderings we found a Grom gelato place which is purported to be the best. And, well, the raspberry and chocolate I had was basically an orgasm in a cup. While standing outside Grom a procession of Selva people with drums and flags came walking by chanting in Italian. There were people all over with baby pacifiers tied to their scarves which Theresa (the cataloguer) tells us has to do with the religious aspect of the race and symbolized rebirth. We met two Australian girls in Grom who had been with a tourist group wearing shirts printed with “I survived the Palio.” They told us they took them off because after asking them what it sad, a surly Italian man told them he was very offended and that it wasn’t very Christian of them to wear such a thing.

After Grom we walked back to the Piazza del Campo where the cafes had put their tables out in the track and people were eating supper. We laid in the middle of the piazza and looked at the stars and talked. The perfect end to the day in Siena.

Once 11:30 came we decided it was time to find a cab and head home. This took longer than expected because since there were 5 of us we needed to wait for a van to come by and as the first one did, an angry old man skipped in front of us and took it for him self. Finally a second one did come and we began the ride back to Vescovado.

While we talked and laughed on the ride back my ear finally popped from the plane ride. And then just as we were coming to the house, Tina Turner’s Private Dancer came on.

A beautiful end to the day.

It is one I will definitely be thinking back on come dreary winter days.

that entry was so long I've been writing it intermittently throughout the day. I started at 9am and now it's 5:30.

Dry Brushing

So, my first full day of work happened today. The day began with a little intro to what we were going to do on our Magazzino days. Basically finds processing.

Dry brushing is going to be the bulk of our mornings; we’re going to brush the dirt off the “bulk finds” from the day before (bulk finds being bulk pieces of pottery and bone which aren’t particularly remarkable.) We clean them to make sure they aren’t “special finds” which are finds which have distinct features like full profiles of pots, inscriptions, or decoration.

We also had another lovely talk from Tony about the catalogue, and the volume of artifacts that have been found. The idea of putting them together is baffling. There are pieces found meters apart in the ground, and separated by years in the dig that have been found to join together. It’s pretty incredible.

There was this horse hoof and part of foreleg that were found two years apart and in different trenches and yet someone somehow was able to see that they fit together and rejoin the two parts. Conservation work is so cool.

After the chat we were set to work in a sort of assembly line removing big boxes of finds from the 60s from their shelves and lining them up to be taken out and dusted/dry brushed off to get rid of 40 years of accumulated dust. The space was cramped and the boxes of terracotta were extremely heavy not to mention splintery and full of dead spiders, but the notion that we were sifting through pieces of ancient history makes it not only worth it but unimaginably exciting.

While carrying I noticed a box of bones just piled among the boxes of ceramics, on top I recognized a femur and the brow ridge of a human skull. Something about the human remains just sort of brings home the fact that we are excavating a past thriving community.

It is also incredible to find the impressions of the hands of the Etruscan workmen who moulded the clay. Sliding my hand into those depressions and holding it just like the person who made it two and a half thousand years ago did gives me shivers – pretty awe inspiring.

Even something so mundane as dusting off old finds is exciting to me. Perhaps as the summer progresses I’ll tire of it but right now I still feel like an excited little kid.

I’m happy that I’m finally going to get to go in the trenches tomorrow. I know that the heat and hike are probably going to crush my spirit (crouching for eight hours doesn’t sound all that appealing) but the thought of finding something – anything is definitely incentive enough!

I hope to report back that I’ve found an incredible artefact tomorrow, though I’m sure I’ll be equally excited about a shard of a terracotta roof tile.

Here is the dusty deed in all it's glamorous glory:

Tomorrow is a half day because il Palio is happening in Siena it is some sort of insane violent bareback horse race that is a medieval tradition. apparently there is basically guaranteed to be riots in the streets at the end.

wouldn't miss it for the world.

I think there's still dirt in my nose from all the dry brushing.

yum.

ps. Happy Canada Day All!!

I hope everyone is having fun at the party at my house right now! I know the fireworks will be "phenomenal" like always.