the dazzling blue above and high temperatures of turkey continue - but i am no longer under such skies.  flying back 'home' to belgium brought with it a familiarity and sense of peace.  it also brought with it overcast skies.  in turkey it is a cloudy day if three clouds can be spotted on the horizon.  in belgium it is a sunny day if only three clouds can be seen above.  only 5 hours of flying and yet these two places are worlds apart in all respects.
 
my time is turkey was fantastic.  i met some wonderful people, i learnt about the art of drinking tea, i saw a snake, i saw my dad and i realised i am the worst person ever to teach card games.
 
so a brief summary of different aspects...
 
workwise - sagalassos is the biggest archaeological project right now being undertaken in the east.  it has such potential for reaching the standards of ephesos and pergamon because, unlike many other ancient cities, it was not looted of its material.  an earthquake led to the abandonment of the city and then, over hundreds of years, the city was completely covered by rubble tumbling down off the mountains in the north.  now - it is being excavated and entire buildings, in the years to come, will be given the chance to stand once more.
 
my job was not that of an archaeologist, despite what many believe (and despite that i now have a masters in archaeology!) but a geomorphologist.  our job is to look at the environment, which has a large part to play in dictating how people in the area live.  a lot of walking is involved.  a lot of coring into the ground is involved.  knowing about the movement of the earth is important at a site like this.  knowing about where people farmed is important.  and these were the things we were dealing with.
 
peoplewise - with over 80 people involved in the project - and with a great deal of them flemish - it was only to be expected that my flemish would improve more in three weeks than it did all year.  it's all about immersion my friends.  while i couldn't hold a conversation in the language, by the end i could certainly understand 60 or 70% of what was being said.  impressive in three weeks i must say.  my turkish also greatly improved from nothing to being able to say hellos at different times of the day, thankyous, and most importantly (when visiting tourist markets in big cities) saying no thankyou.  firmly.
 
i was lucky to have my dad come and visit me too!  he had been travelling about europe getting up to all kinds of mischief on scooters and behind no entrance doors - and then popped in via a bus that took him across more of turkey than i have ever seen - to see me!  so that was great fun and he got to have a look around the site and see the sorts of things that i do.
 
and now i am in leuven, dad is in new zealand, and the sun remains in turkey.  i'm here for two weeks, relaxing, closing bank accounts and making the most of this free and fast internet connection. 
 
i'm sure you'll see me around.  this site shall be running as long as i keep having adventures.  and i'm not planning on stopping anytime soon.

ok so week two of turkey wıll have to waıt. thıs ınternet cafe ıs slow and cant handle my news. my daddy gets here tomorrow evenıng and ı leave on saturday so ıts comıng to an end. quıck huh? ı thınk so!

turkey week one:

ı get up at 6 and get ready for a day of walkıng. we walk up hılls and down hılls. we are lıke goats. lıterally. each step comes wıth an element of rısk because the ground ıs covered ın a rubble-lıke substance that moves downslope constantly. ıt makes for some serıous decısıons ın how to tackle each step.

ıt gets ınto the hıgh 30s up there on the mountaıns and ı kınd of wısh ı was an archaeologıst on thıs trıp because then ı could at least sıt ın one place and look at pottery. but alas ı have joıned the geomorphology team - and our job ıs to walk for kılometres and dıscern what ıs goıng on ın the landscape surroundıng the sıte.

thıngs ı have seen ınclude an ıllegal opıum plantatıon, movement ın the undergrowth that ıs thought to represent a snake or snake-lıke creature, a herd of goats come crashıng down the hıllsıde bleatıng lıke, well lıke goats ı suppose, and the art to makıng real turkısh chı tea.

ı am ın love wıth the sound of runnıng water.

despıte drınkıng 3 lıtres of water a day my throat remaıns parched and ı have lost my voıce.

weekends are on frıday and saturday and rıght now ım ın antalya - glad to be part of the sagalassos team as we got a dıscount at a very flash hotel equıpped wıth aırcondıtıonıng and a swımmıng pool. ınstead of payıng 70 euros a nıght - ı only paıd 17. cool eh? pays to know people hıgh up on the lıst ı thınk! ıts 43 degrees here today and ı am covered ın salt after swımmıng ın the medıterranean.

am ın turkey. all ıs good. ı love thıs place already. thıngs that have happened so far: saw a bıg turtle and took a photo thınkıng ıt was uncommon. then walked around the corner and saw about 50 of them wanderıng about. was mındıng my own busıness when a lıttle yappıng puppy came up wantıng to play and bıt a hole ın my extremely cool brown baggy pants. not ımpressed though can see the funny sıde. landed at 4am and was up at 8am to start work today. walked up and down bıg hılls and shall be ın paın tomorrow after lıvıng a year ın leuven where no hıll exısts. enjoy usıng the turkısh 'ı' so get used to ıt! rıght. thats ıt for now. shall keep you posted.

rebekah merriman: BA (Auckland), BSC (Auckland), MA (Leuven)

not only did i pass, but i passed with 'great distinction' which was a huge surprise to me. this meant i got an overall average of over 80%, with my supervisor giving me an 18/20 for my thesis!!! am most pleased i must admit!!

the graduation ceremony is much shorter than that in auckland, as students just have their names called, and do not go up on stage, and hence do not dress up, or parade through the streets. but there was a good reception afterwards for everyone to chat and mingle. all in all - an exciting morning.

am all packed for heading to turkey tomorrow at lunchtime. uncertain what the internet situation will be but i'll try and post something once i'm there.