SURVEY.

Well. I should've blogged during survey, but I unfortunately did not. We had some sketchy internet service, and, I suspect, a media guy who stole all the bandwidth to update our class blog. ;) GRR, WES, GRR! :)

So. Here's some of the highlights/stuff/things I learned/found interesting.

-Survey is where you walk fields (parcels) and you look at the ground and pick shit (pottery, useful lithcs, stuff) up. You walk your own transect. And God forbid you cross into someone else's!

-Our team was led by Robert, the best g-d team leader/Army vet/paratrooper in all the land. He's a bit gruff and rough around the edges, but basically- he's the shiz, and seriously, a badass. He knows his stuff, I'd trust him with my life, and I'm really glad we got to work with him.

-We worked with Hussein, a professor from Yarmouk, and Dalal, one of his students. They were interesting characters, and I liked them a lot. I was actually very sad to see Hussein go on his last day.

-Alex and Ryan left us one day to go work with our soil guy, Bernhard Lucke, at Hesbon. Lucky bitches. :) But the day they left was pretty glorious in the field- we got 12 parcels done AND we were very relaxed and chill about it. (Thanks for our long breaks, Robert :D)

-Robert really kicked our butts the first few days, we hiked and walked and did fields at a very fast pace- but when it came to the end, we really had done so much, that we got to take it really easy.

-One day, the team got to play with camels. It was unfortunately the day I was sick. BUMMER. The camels apparently give kisses and hugs and try to play with you, but according to Alex, is more like trampling, but still playing nonetheless. haha

-Being sick SUCKED. I think I was just exhausted and had some serious sun exposure. My mom freaked OUT because I had (what we thought was) a spider bite, and she thought I was sick because of that. I assure you- I'm fine. The bite is completely gone. HOWEVER. I went out the field that day, even though I felt bad, because I mean.. our team is small, I wanted to pull my weight. I was fine, y'know? haha But the bus ride out, I was so queasy. And once we got off the bus and hiked a bit, I barfed, about 3 times. I wasn't happy- and in fact, I cried. Rachel had to tell me the logical thing to do "Your body needs rest, and you have to do the right thing for you." Instead of telling me "you're sick go home." Because I would've responded with "No, I'm fine, YOU go home!" (she knows this... because she's the same way! haha) So, she ended up having to tell Robert, because basically, I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't admit I was sick. And once he was like "It's fine, today will be pretty easy, don't worry about it." I started crying "I'm really sorry, guys!" They all looked pretty freaked out, as did our bus driver, and Mohammed, another professor from Jordan. Mohammed was really wonderful though- I'd probably venture to say he has kids. When we were on the bus, he'd ask if I needed anything, tell me where he was going when the bus stopped. Once, he made sure I'd eaten something, and I told him I'd had crackers. (which wasn't a lie, mom. lol) But he was really a lovely human being, and I appreciate him... and I appreciate the fact that he had a meeting at Yarmouk that day, so I was able to go back to the hotel, since the bus driver had to take Mohammed back to the University anyway. Needless to say, I slept for about 11 hours that day.

-Dave Hill and Seth visited for a day. I don't actually know why, but their help was appreciated. They actually did some work and pulled their weight- which is more than the other team had said about them. ;p However, that day was the ONE day we happened upon a home of Bedouins and were invited for tea. SUCH a lovely experience. I love the Jordanian people. We had several cups of tea, and some coffee. We got to hear all about their livestock, and the fact that they planted wheat this year- which is really interesting for Bedouins, since they are Nomadic, and not sedentary. We got to meet some of his children- to which I totally gave some snacks. :) His children were beautiful. It was just a really wonderful experience, which really makes me even more interested in Cultural Anthro.
HOWEVER. I think that I would be more interested in hanging out in the house, instead of the tent. I'm very interested in both places... But the women and men are separated very distinctly- and as a foreign woman, I have the honor of being able to be in both places.
I was really interested in the fact that, for this one rare opportunity, I was actually able to see and spend time with a Bedouin man's daughter. At first, we asked how many children he has. He said 3 boys....Then he hesitated, and added "And 6 girls." One was in the tent with us, serving us tea and coffee... maybe she was learning how to do it? I was very intrigued, as the rest of the women were still in the house.
The house is really where it's at, though... I'm really interested in what the women do, and what their role is and what they do while the men tend to the goats and sheep and wheat.
The man of the house offered us breakfast, but we couldn't stay. I'm fairly certain we offended him.... until he told us about a cave and tower nearby, and was able to drive us in a truck there, which I'm fairly certain made him very happy! It definitely made us very happy- we got to ride standing in the truck bed! :)

-We investigated some caves and possible tombs and a place where a building is/was/could've been a tower.... HOWEVER. the tower guards came out and told us to leave, because apparently- we were no longer in Al-Turra, but in Ramtha, the neighboring village. Soooo we could've been in trouble-- good thing Hussein was with us! :)

-Dr Walker seemed very interested in what we found- but it seems someone else has been working there... maybe the DoA or the University? I don't know... but we went out again and took photos and GPS coordinates and maybe it'll be a site in the future... who knows. It would be pretty awesome.


....and now, we're in Israel. Which has been a serious mystery/adventure/crazy awesome time all in itself. More to come on this subject... But for now- I sleep. We had a very full day in Jerusalem, and tomorrow, we hop a bus for Tiberius/Galilee/Safed.

:)