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!

It's a small world after all...

Yesterday evening, while I waited FOREVER on skype trying to sort out my new cell phone plan with Sprint, I saw a consulting request in my spam folder. I responded to be polite, but was a month late and didn't expect any reply. Within 10 minutes, I had a one-day assignment at my full daily rate with a new client. Yay!

I am shocked and amazed that I can be on the phone with a 1-800 number in the States, chatting on IM with John and also picking up consulting assignments while sitting on a porch overlooking the sea and being stared at by a family of goats.

What a teeny, tiny world we live in.

Shout out to Sarah (thanks for the postcard! real mail! Sweet!) And here's a photo of tonight's borrowed dress from the 1980 team....

The 26 hour weekend

Each Saturday, we get off of work at 6 and are released from dinner. We report back to ‘work’ at ouzo hour on Sunday evenings at 8. As one of my co-campers stated, it’s probably good that we don’t have two evenings off – we’d only get in trouble!

This weekend, we rented a car. It was so fun to buzz around the island. We went for drinks, dinner and dancing on Saturday. I have no comment about this except for the photo. Please don’t even ask! Wild night. We spent most of Sunday laughing at me for the antics of Saturday evening and early morning!

On Sunday, Amy was kind enough to drive me up the hill to Mass. When I got back we all headed to the ‘sandy beach’ – the only beach on the island that isn’t mostly stones. There was loud europop, comfortable beach chairs and umbrellas, and pool toys courtesy of Hugh. This is the life, my friends. Here too, the photo says it all.

Sunday evening, Professor McCredie hosted us at his house for a drinks and snacks. The house is lovely – a cantilevered design built into the hill and framed around a central court and grape arbor that spans the outdoor corridor in the center of the house. The corridor has lovely mosaics of river stone that Professor McCredie, his children and colleagues installed one summer. I can see why he’s happy to spend so many summers here!

Today it was back to work, but I’m enjoying learning all about ancient Greek coins! Hope you had great weekends as well!

Photo tour of the office

Here is my day in photos:

Hugh (Professor Wescoat's son who has joined us for the summer) eating a Hobnob, our favorite cookie, at coffeebreak.

More coffee breakers (promptly at 10 each day).

Professor Marconi and his wife Rosalia, who joined us two days ago, exploring the Rotunda of Arsinoe. They are both skilled Spoons players, and Professor Marconi grabbed the last spoon from me in a show of strategy and cunning during last night's game.

The Hieron, one of the larger structures in the Sanctuary and the site of evening yoga lessons led by my roommate, Cindy.

Measuring blocks (sorry, the rulers got cut out.)

Ryan drawing blocks.

Our favorite block, William.

Stars and Lamps

I don’t have much to report for myself today. Yesterday evening we were treated to a lecture on the constellations by the conservation professor. It was fun to lean back on the columns at the site and peer at the same stars and constellations the Greeks used to achieve their phenomenal navigation at sea. (Side note: those clever Greeks managed to circumnavigate Africa in about 600 BC. I’m very impressed – especially since the constellations are not the same in the Southern Hemisphere. I really wonder how they managed that?) It was very interesting. On the other hand, the last time I gazed at the stars in Greece I was 18 and sitting on a beach with a cute boy and a bottle of wine chilling at the edge of the surf. The electricity went out on the island and the three islands surrounding it, so I was able to see the Milky Way for the very first time. “Turning to my companion, this East Coast girl said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could see this in our own country?” The cute boy from Illinois replied, “Um,. Yeah. About that. We can.”

Doh.

Anyway, with 12 other people, this was considerably less dreamy, but it was fun. You can’t take photos of stars, though, so here’s a nice photo of a lamp. One is molded, one is wheelmade. Any guesses? You too can be an ancient Greek pottery expert…

Samothracian Fashion

Every evening at 8 we gather for 'ouzo hour' on the terrace. You've seen the photos and read about the menu. I don't think I've explained the fashion, however. Ouzo hour is the one time of day when we are all clean and nicely dressed. The men show up in pants and collared shirts, the women all wear dresses, and Mr. McCredie even wears a jacket and tie.

But I brought only one dress.

To supplement my meager wardrobe, I chose two dresses from seasons past from boxes found in the attic of the museum.

Please enjoy the photo of the 1972 showstopper, affectionately termed 'the jungle jumper' by yours truly. Note the colorful print and oversized cloth buttons.

Food in Samothrace

Life in Samothrace is punctuated by food. We have breakfast at 6:30, coffee break at 10, lunch at noon, fried ouzo snacks at 8 and dinner at 8:30. Before we got here, we all worried that we'd be hungry around 6. But no. We are stuffed. Constantly. This is because:

1. someone else cooks
2. the servings are HUGE and no one wants to offend the cook
3. there's little else to do
4. greek cookies are tasty

I am not complaining, mainly because it seems like a miracle that someone else is always cooking and cleaning for me. I don't even have to take a dish to or from the table! But the down side is that I've gained 5 pounds....



ALREADY!



I've only been here for ONE WEEK!!!!!!!!


So I am off for a run. Wish me luck in my daily encounter with the fried zucchini patties, fried battered zucchini flowers, fried calimari, and fried meat.