Keep on Goghing

As some of you may know already, the morning after I made my last post mom and I ran into some unfortunate circumstances. We were in Northern Ireland, driving north, when we stopped the car on a relatively famous road called "the Dark Hedges". We hopped out of the car for about 20 minutes, taking with us only a camera to take some photos of the iconic road featured in Game of Thrones, and when we came back someone had smashed our rental cars back window and taken our carry on bags. Inside of those bags were our passports, moms wallet, my iPad, moms iPhone, moms DSLR camera, and both of our expensive sunglasses as well as numerous other items. Over the course of the morning we were in contact with local police and the Canadian embassy, as we obviously needed our passports. We had to cancel all of moms credit cards, send emails home, call the rental car company etc. It was a complete shit show.  Unfortunately,  having something of that sort happen can really put a damper on you...

Someone needs to explain to the Irish that the width of a road cannot be less than the width of a vehicle.  Now that that is off of my chest, Ireland is wonderful! I met mom in the airport the evening of September 30 and we have been road tripping ever since. We drove to Cork for two nights, Killarney for one night, Kinvarra for one night, and now we are in our accommodation in Garvagh (Northern Ireland) for tonight. Along the way we have visited: - Blarney Castle (and kissed the Blarney Stone) - the Rock of Cashel  - Cahir Castle - St. Finn Barre's Cathedral (in Cork) - drove the Ring of Kerry - Staigue Fort ( Iron Age stone ring fort) - Cliffs of Moher (hiked 4 miles from the visitors centre to Doolin) - DANGLED MY FEET OFF THE CLIFF - Spend the night in a traditional thatch cottage with a castle view out of our bedroom window - visited the Ceide Fields (6000 year old Neolithic settlement preserved by a bog) A lot for four days, right? We're both tired. We're both sick. W...

September 30, 2015 I have lots to say, but no words. I am currently sitting in the airport in Madrid after saying my last goodbye to the best group of new friends I could have ever imagined making. By pure coincidence, we all managed to get to Menorca from all over the world at the exact same time. Within minutes of walking into the residence in Ciutadella I was laughing with you all. Now, three weeks later, I have no intentions of really saying goodbye. We may have all departed in different directions, flying distances that would take days to cover, but I am sure I'll be seeing you again. This group of random archaeologists were the light of my year so far. I will miss you guys so much, I almost don't Juana talk about it. Whenever I come within 5 feet of tomato paste, I will think of you. Good luck on your travels, wherever they may be. Europe, Australia, America, or even three months in Sudan, enjoy.  That being said, I can't be sad for too long. Like the rest of them, t...

So It turns out Maxine is a boy. Oops. He is also apparently laying directly on top of someone else's skeleton. Talk about invasion of personal space. If we ever find out more about that, I will be sure to let you all know. Now, onto the juice stuff. I will tell you what you've obviously been dying to know (please humour me)- what is it that these random students in Menorca do for fun?  Coming into this I really wasn't sure what to expect. What ages would people be? What level of education would they have? Would they be open to going out at night for a good time or would they all have sticks up their asses? As it turns out, there was no reason for me to worry. I couldn't possibly have picked a better group of people to be stuck on an island with while eating tomato paste sandwiches ( bleeeegh). We all share similar interests, even though we all have varying degrees of experience. We all complain a lot, so we got along right off the bat.  As you may remember from my prev...

I have just completed the sixth day of the dig, which means I am almost halfway done. I can't say it's easy, but it definitely is enjoyable. Every now and again I will sit back and take a break from the pick-axe to think, " I am sitting where Romans stood. I am digging in their dirt. I am discovering their pottery, their glass, their tools, their food, and I can look down into a grave and see their bones. This is what I dreamed of. This is what I came for." Before this gets too boring and mushy, I'll just explain exactly what it is that I am doing- and why I am doing it.  For years I have been interested in the idea of archaeology and learning more about the past. Only recently have I acted on this, though. A professor of mine planted the idea of doing a field school in my head and once it was there it definitely wasn't leaving. I applied and was accepted for this field school on the island of Menorca (one of the Balearic Islands in Spain- perhaps you've h...

"I have definitely over packed." The first words that ran through my head while I settled in for my first flight were for the first time not focused on controlling my anxiety. However, my anxiety still arrived. Specifically as I was struggling to clean up the fruit that had spilled into my carry on when I tried to zip it closed and there was no room. The flight to Toronto was turbulent, uncomfortable and frustrating- seeing as I spent the majority of my time thinking about why I packed so much stuff, but it only took me a few minutes once I arrived in Toronto to answer my own question.  Generally speaking, I'm a pretty cold person. I know that no matter where I am going and how I am getting there, I will get cold, and I will be grumpy about it. So I patted myself on the back as I pulled up the hood of my bunnyhug, put on my jacket, layed down on my fluffy travel pillow, and draped myself head to toe in my stretchy cardigan. The nap was good, and became even better...