ok. its been awhile. but there were reasons for that. the biggest reason probably being that up until this moment i havent been doing much, unless you classfiy being unemployed as doing something... and hence i didnt really feel like sitting down and telling you all about how great it is to be sitting twiddling my thumbs and watching the bank balance continue to downwardly spiral. however. good news. this is no longer the case. hence i can write to you all and tell you about how great my life is. heh. indeed.

so firstly. im home in new zealand. and its different being home after being away for over a year. not necessarily bad different, but not necessarily good different either. for example, i no longer get to cook things like pasta with chickpeas and tomato with plenty of chilli powder. but, on the up side, i dont have to wash the dishes anymore. and other things like that. its nice catching up with family and friends here, but i miss my family (because thats what some of you guys became) and friends from over there. just part of the process.

right. so yes i have a job. as an archaeologist so hurrah, finally what i study has some use. though actually what i studied in beligum - all that mediterranean stuff, not quite so useful. nevertheless its a job, and its good. i have sore arm and back muscles to prove it! currently im working down in tauranga (about 3 hours south) where i am given accomodation, food, money for the car, and a job! the site is a maori settlement up on a hill that will soonish be turned into subdivisions and housing. so it firstly must be excavated. and today was spent doing the following:

firstly i dug a hole. then it got bigger. then it got bigger. then i had to sit down and keep going. then i had to lie down and keep going. then i had to climb into the hole and keep going. yes. its whats known as a rua - a subterranean storage pit, so it has a smaller opening and then bellows out into a bell shape underneath. anyway that was fun. the day continued in a similar fashion - finding features and digging them up, taking samples, photos, surveys and things... anything from postholes to terraces to pits... its fun and im glad to be back home and working with new zealands history again. perhaps no big marble statues are appearing like in turkey, but im enjoying it regardless.

and once thats done, i think other things should hopefully appear on the horizon. im hoping to get work in wellington for a month in january, excavating a group of historic houses in the downtown area before they are removed and replaced with a large road thing. the options look good and now i can smile and know that im getting good experience, having fun, and earning some money to go towards that trip back to the northern hemisphere next year!

this little piggy went to market.
this little piggy stayed home.
this little piggy had roast beef.
this little piggy had none.
and this little piggy went wee wee wee wee wee all the way home.

remember the rhyme? well, i am that last little piggy. and i am home.