Lightening and Games

Last night we had lightening without the torrential storms. It was beautiful to see the flashes over the ocean while we ate dessert and drank too much retsina. Retsina is a white wine with pine pitch in it -- it's much better than that sounds. As a date exclaimed on my last trip, horrified when I ordered a glass, "you know that's the stuff that's too bad to sell abroad, right? That's why we stick pine pitch in it -- to cover the smell!" Whatever, we think it's fine.


After dinner, we played the Weather Game. This is where you pick a few categories and then describe one of your companions. Then everyone has to guess. I thought this had hurt feelings written all over it, but everyone has been nice about their descriptions. Last time it was harder, but now that we've spent 24/7 with each other for five weeks, everyone guessed on the first try. Here's mine, courtesy of Genevieve:
Person: Reese Witherspoon. Place: Midtown. Verb: Enterprising. Mixed Drink: Gin Fizz. Shoe: Open toed strappy sandal.

What would you be?

Greece is trying to kill me

Okay, so i spent yesterday morning in the clinic again treating an allergic reaction to raw eggs. I have succcessfully avoided my personal kryptonite for 22 years, and then in Greece I have two awful encounters within four weeks! What is going on here? I ate a piece of spanikopita, something I indulge in frequently in the States -- heck, I even make it at home a few times a month! It is a BAKED snack! So what was the problem? The Greek doctor and our hotel manager say that they don't bake it very long here in order to keep it 'moist.' Huh.

I'm pretty sure this was cooked, though, so now I'm a little concerned that I may be allergic to something unknown -- how can you avoid the unknown?

Grrrr. I feel gross and my dig-mates are pretty disgusted at the amount of raw egg we consume every day. For the first time this trip, I REALLY want to go home.

Jumanji

During the still weather last week, the many tiny residents of the island invaded our hotel. Overnight, like a biblical plague, we were attacked by ants, mosquitoes, gnats and spiders. We were already living with huge crickets that jump towards you, not away, when they're scared. They share the bathroom, shower and hall with us, and Ryan has one as a bedmate. Due to a crack in the foundation, and another under the window, I had ants all over my pillow and throughout my thesis documents a few days ago. When I dragged the sheets out and sprayed all sorts of chemicals on my bed, our hotel manager, Evangelia, just laughed at me.

One of our dig mates, Eliza, coined a new adjective -- the island has 'gone Jumanji' on us. YUCK. As you likely all know, I HATE bugs. This is a learning experience.

Since bugs are gross, here are some photos of me measuring columns this morning with Yong, the architect, and other teammates.

Working, working, working

I know that, from the outset, it sounds like vacation -- Greek island in the middle of nowhere, someone cooking and cleaning for you, a few feet from the ocean, games most evenings, yoga....

wait a minute. It IS pretty vacation-like.

However, this consulting thing is killing my beach time. I'm editing from 5:30 - 6:30, 12:30 - 3:00 and 6:00 to 7 or 7:30. With weighing coins and typing in little data cards in between. I'm really looking forward to being done next week when they submit their proposal!

This is my long excuse for why there are no pictures of goats today. I'm sorry! I will definitely get many photos of goats this weekend, but I ran out of time today. However, I'm not complaining, because I'm pretty sure I'd get no sympathy from the desk bound!

Coins, coins, coins.

Today, I typed in information on and looked at more coins. Tiny little bronze coins. Pitted, green corroded coins. Coins in envelopes. Coins in drawers. Coins in fingers, not on the floor!

Okay, clearly the coins are messing with my head.

In other news, my fellow dig-mates think I'm crazy (or they should) because I am having super weird dreams. Last night, I actually got up in the middle of the night and yelled at an 'intruder' I thought I saw in my bedroom. The conversation with this trick of light/figment of sleepiness (that seemed to be a youngish, tall man wearing only a towel) went like this:

umm, who is it?
Hey, hello, who IS it?
HEY! HEY, HELLO-OOOO, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!!!
then i touched the wall through this figment and felt really stupid.

Big discussion at the breakfast table by the five people who woke up hearing this. Not that anyone came running, but they claimed to be waiting for the 'scuffle.' Someone pointed out that the only likely intruder would be a goat eating a towel, not a person wearing one!

I better lay off the ouzo before bed!