Finally an update!!!!!!!!!

Update for last Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday:

As there have been no blogs for a while some of you may have guessed that I am busy; others with more imagination probably assume that Dr. Schuler traded me for an electrical adaptor and some pita bread. Never mind them, Harvey the giant Rabbit will keep them company. I am still here, and still hard at work—or play, however you prefer to look at it. I dig holes in the dirt and hike small mountains and listen to questionably genuine stories—but no one offered me a piece of the true cross yet, so I guess I’m alright.
Tuesday was great, I really am beginning to feel my rhythm, and yes, there is a rhythm to digging out giant boulders and hauling buckets of dirt one at a time. The tune sounds somewhat like The Emperors Death March from Star Wars, but the actual work is not quite so intimidating. Speaking of more than meets the ears—as far as eyes go, there is more than dirt and boulders in the square my team is working on. In addition, the fill also contains shards of pottery and bone, tessera (small clay squares that serve as a base underneath mosaics) and Roman glass and roof tiles.
As pottery assistant Ihave begun to learn to distinguish between all different types of pottery and fill (don't be impressed everybody has to)--and it's not easy either! Fine ware, coarse ware, handles, rims, bases, cook ware, pot, casserole, bowl, juglet, and so on and so forth. On that note; exciting finds of the week included a coin, much of a large pot, not fully excavated, several city and structural walls, and the continuation of the Roman street in the square my team excavates.
Some readers maybe wonder how a typical workday runs; here are a few words, or paragraphs, hmmm... Wake up is around 4 am--we all drag ourselves out of our beds and put on our sturdy cotton pants, wool socks, boots, and tee-shirts. Into our packs we throw tissues, wet-wipes, a multi-tool, masonry trowel, 2 liters of water, and sometimes a camera and/or notebook and pen, among various other small specialized tools. The rest of the tools are provided up on Hippos. A granola bar and coffee are recommended because breakfast is not til 8. Once ready we drag our bleary-eyed selves out of our apartments and toward the bus which takes us down thehighway and partway up Hippos. Barely able to see our feet (mostly because our eyes aren't all the way open) we struggle up the steep and stony path past abandoned military barracks and tunnels and mine fields- and to the northeast church-which is well....northeast.

Once digging begins Dr. Schuler sets his watch andyells out a water break every 25 minutes. Once when he didn't Cameron shriveled up and Andrea had to roll him up and carry him down in her pack and rehydrate him in the Sea of Galilee; he's had a slightly wrinkled look ever since then. The rest of us drink 4 liters of water during our 7 hours on the dig, and we're fine.

The rest of this riveting report shall have to wait, Ihave to wash my waterbottle and be up to dig in a few hours. Much love, hope you enjoy the pictures, many more to follow!