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.