Italian Sun
Excavation is going along swimmingly. My new post is in the tablinum of the house next to the trench, which allows me to interact with the people sifting for artifacts while I do the pottery recording. Each morning we erect a few tables and umbrellas so that the area is shaded from the hot Italian sun. Usually one of the sifters takes an umbrella and sticks it in the dirt pile to give themselves shade. Lately it has been pretty warm, and I suspect that I was suffering from dehydration at least once this season. The architect attached to the Pompeii Forum Project (that project stays in the bungalows at Camping Zeus as well) left his drawing board for us to store for next season and gave me permission to use it. This has made illustration go much more quickly since I have an easier surface to work on. Work goes by quickly with “This American Life” (thanks for the suggestion, Vestals Peristyle Crew) or some assorted playlist being pumped out by my iPhone.
The famous Luigi from the bar made us spaghetti with fresh clams and mussels the other day and brought it up to us on site. We sat down at the tables in the tablinum and ate the most delicious meal we’ve ever had on site (or that room has seen in two millennia). The seafood was so fresh because Luigi himself had collected the shellfish the day before. The combination of crushed tomatoes, olive oil, and basil rounded out the dish perfectly.
This year also seems to be the year of visitors. So far my friend Erin from SFSU has come to Pompeii to say hello and have a tour of the city. Since I normally stick to the area around the trench, her visit was a good excuse for a jaunt around Pompeii. I took her to all of the major sites and into the houses that were open. It seems that more houses are closed this year than previously, and the collapsed buildings have cut off access to some of the houses that are usually open. Although these events have limited accessibility to the site, in some ways I think it is a good from a conservation standpoint. Not all tourists are kind to the structures, and I feel bad limiting those who treat the site with kindness.
Yesterday I fell on site and hurt my knees, so my mobility has been limited on my day off (thus this update)!
Photos (finally!): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100655997023526.2945914.2521574&l=bc2abe85a3
