Lisbon/Madrid

Oi!

Or Brazilian Portuguese for hi.  Sorry everybody for not posting anything in a while but its pretty much I've been going balls to the wall here in both Lisbon and Madrid.  As I write this I am on the train to Barcelona going to catch my flight back home tomorrow.  The feeling is bitter sweet but overall I leave with great stories and all the even better people I've met along the way, all in all one of the most rewarding things I've done (and for the most part I'm just exhausted... Madrid does that to you)

Let's start in Lisbon.  Lisbon is the weird mutant hybrid of Rio and San Francisco , I say this because they literally have there own golden gate bridge.  I respected a little more out of Lisbon but I still saw some pretty amazing things.  The hostel I stayed at was empty for the most part so not as great a night life. There I saw everything from the tower of belem to castle of seu Jorge to cathedral of saint Geronimo to the national archaeology museum. I can officially say I love Portugal.  Lisbon is dirtier than I thought it would be but its still charming.  Not to mention the history of the area.  The coolest thing I saw had to be the castle of seu Jorge.  The archaeology was cool and relevant o what I studied in uharte.  Belem was very cool too.  The architecture was amazing for being a fort.    Overall Lisbon was pretty awesome but nothing epic.  I enjoyed Porto much more ( it could be also because I was still getting over my cold but nonetheless)

So being the organized prompt person I am I arrive at the train station to go to Madrid. Only problem was there were only two trains to Madrid.  One at 8am and the other at 930 pm... I was at the train station all check do it of my hostel by 11 am.  It was a nice lovely day at the train station... surely.  I had never been on an overnight train before but or was kind of cool being the only one in an entire cabin.  The feeling was almost ghostly.  So naturally I drank. Bottle of wine and read and slept. Glad I slept I was going to need it for Madrid.

So the hostel I stayed in was called a party hostel.  This did worry me a little since I figured I would have just another awkward situation like my last hostel where no one does anything and just try to make a false weirs party atmosphere. The whole thing was really forced at that hostel.  On top of it I didn't really thing I'd like Madrid too much anyway.  Glad I was wrong.

Now I understand why Fran would call them fascist, because the Spanish are assholes!  I have never had so many people get so impatient and rude with me it was ridiculous.  I realizes Catalonia, Navarre , and Galicia are completely different down to the people.  On top of that all I don't think I've seen such heavy cop patrol ever in my life! I swear there was the equivalent of a swat car on nearly every corner. This probably due to the protests going on but still.

Madrid is almost the stark opposite of Lisbon, very clean, not quite as many historical sites but very modern hip city.  I spent the first day checking out the palace and somehow stumbled into the mall.  It was some neat stuff.  One crucial thing I've realized though is that people don't goto Madrid for the sites they go for the parties.  The first night we all stayed out till 6 in the morning doing everything from salsa dancing to dancing gungnaam style.  I don't think I've had this much fun partying and dancing ever!  The people I met in the hostel were really awesome also.  I ended up palling around with all these dutch and a Portuguese girl all going to school in Holland.  Along with another Brazilian girl as well who I really liked as well.  We went around Madrid checking out all the art museums(weird to classical).  We even spent one day just laying around in the park.  Maybe the most suitable way of ending my trip.  I loved it so much I stayed an extra day and thought about even extending my stay here i n Spain through the weekend.  I saw everything and did everything. I know that's not very specific but I'm that tired to the point of exhaustion.  Someday I'll need to go back hopefully soon.  I'll make this a two partner because honestly I'm tired and I'm hating typing on this thing after a month and a half.  I really can't wait to have an actual keyboard again . Until then
Cheers

Parte dos

I don't know if that is how you say part but whatever.  So here I Sit in the airport in Barcelona waiting for my flight.  By far the coolest of the art museums was the Reina Sofia .  It is a museum of very eccentric art from Dali to picasso .  In one room they just had a chair with an orange and a cane on it.  Didn't really understand how that was art but I still real lg enjoyed the whole thing.  Prado was the famous museum that I didn't get to see but I don't feel like I really missed much.  The thyssen felt much more classic art museum more than anything but I really enjoyed the art so I'll say it was fun.

The one thing I missed was the Spanish archaeological museum. I am somewhat sad to have missed that but I have pretty much spent the past month and a half studying this type of archaeology so I guess I'll live.

Pretty sure the Spanish just hate tourists but I mean who doesn't.  Went to a different part of the city and they were much friendlier.  I definitely went to a couple restaurants where I was hurried just because I was a foreigner and they didn't like me being there.  I just made sure I didn't tip and I figured they got the picture.

I'm gonna miss Madrid for many reasons some more than others but to say that Madrid exceeded my expectations would be pitting it lightly.

Back in Barcelona I stayed in a great hostel for the night and though about getting some drinks actually.. until I laid down and never woke up.  Would have been nice to see some of the thongs in Barcelona I missed because i just wasn't sure how to get around at the time would have been nice but I guess I can just leave in for next time ;)

Next time I write I'll be writing in another timezone.  Until that time arrives I'll see you all soon.

Cheers

 Here is thearade we had in uharte

Come on I had to show at least one dinner pick

A statue outside of Santiago due compostela

Another cathedral in santiago

A creepy dog statue found in porto

All the streets look pretty Mich like this in porto

A guy in a bull costume chasing kids on a village with fireworks of course attached at the top

And just a food view of the cathedral in Santiago really cool rainy place

Hola from Porto, Portugal! 

Alright before I Delve too deep into what I've been up to let me just say how is it that nearly all of Portugal speaks flawless English, yet as Americans ( and Spanish for that matter) don't g terribly far out of there way to learn a second language whatsoever.  Honestly before I got here I tried to get the basic Portuguese words down (which is a actually difficult just because Portuguese makes no sense) but it turns out o can go up to anyone and they all speak English really well, it was great! 

So far Portugal has exceeded my expectation is almost rather stay longer here than go back to Madrid. The city of Porto is absolutely knock out gorgeous.  While I wouldn't say its the cleanest city it has a lot of charm to it.  Lots of graffiti and disheveled buildings are everywhere bug it looks really cool.  On top of staying in probably the best hostel of all time Porto has been by far my favorite city.

I went and walked around the touristy area along the river front and took in the sites despite having a nasty cold (I am not sire of its from staying until 6 in the morning or something it bogglea me) it was a great day.  I've got my little bit of Portuguese down now for talker to older folks who don't speak English but other than that I haven't needed to speak it.  Doesn't mean I don't want to learn it but here in Portugal they really almost spoil you with how much English they speak.  

Anyway I'm going to keep this post shorter because I keep having to blow my nose but the last thing I will note is Portuguese food (all of it) is a gut buster whoah boy.  I had a meal with french fries steak ham cheese sausage and mushroom all piled together it was sort of epic meal time esque.  Oh yeah of course how coils o forget the Bacon.  I hope I feel better I wanted to go checkout some live shows they had going on tonight but I might just take it easy and make sure this doesn't get any worse.  Guess that ,means I'll have to come back sometime... ah darn.

Cheers 

¿que pasa? Para Santiago de Compostela!!

After 10 hours on a bus (with the occasional stop) I made it clear across the country.  I did run into somewhat of a snafu though.  The bus ride took longer than I expected and the check in at the hostel I reserved closed at 10.  I arrives at the bus station at 9:58.  So with two minutes to try and find this hostel I decided tourist find the closest hotel and stay there.  Luckily there are a lot of hotels Andi found a somewhat decent one for 38 Euros.  Really not bad if you ask me (although if I end up with bed bugs...).  

So today I walked over to the hostel I was supposed t stay at 

Last night and find she as just about to cancel my reservation.  She was a little annoyed with me but she was nice enough and understood. 

While I waited for my room to be ready I decided to walk around Santiago and check it out.  Santiago is actually the end of the Camino Del Santiago or trail of saint James,era which apparently is one of the holy Christian pilgrimages that lots of people do.  The pilgrimage is to the cathedral of saint James,es or cathedral Santiago.  So I paid he cathedral a quick visit.  The cathedral was great.  As you walk around Santiago you see people with back packers and walking sticks, its as if you walk into the cathedral and you find them all over the cathedral.  I arrived as they were doing a service so the cathedral was packed. I was able to see the crypt of saint James,and was able to watch a little bit of the service.  The church is very impressive especially in the rain.

Santiago sort of feels like the Seattle of Spain.  It is in the rainiest part of Spain, it felt a lot like the pacific northwest.  Its a very col place to visit I hope to see more since I've only been here a couple hours. 

I know I'm doing a tarantino here but I figured I'd mention ,y last days at zamartze.  On Saturday we went back up to San Miguel aralar for the day of San Miguel or day of saint Michael.  The church of san Miguel is way up high in the mountains above uharte and is always cold and freezing.  The monastery is amazing though. Especially for where it is located,  it is so isolated.  First we went to mass which was all in spanish but the singing was nice and occasionally the bishop spoke in English to particularly mention us (they decided to putisin the front row to honor us).  Afterwards we went and had a big dinner with all the priests and the nuns.  Basically we all justgpt plastered with the priests and nuns.  The drummer everyone got the more they sang.  Got to say that was a lot of fun.

All throughout the weekend they had a festival in the village as well so on top of the day of San Miguel we got even drunker and watched all the parades and dancing, it was a blast! Eventually it all had to end though.  Slowly but surely people trickled out of the group till basically there were only a few of us.  Of course I was one of the last to leave and it was sad but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be visiting other parts of Europesoon enough I'm sure.  Overall great experience at zamartze and I learned a lot.  I hope to do another field school real soon or hopefully try to get employment doing such work.  I hope you all are doing well and I'll post pictures of the festival and Santiago real soon.  I figured you at least deserved an update at least.  

Cheers

Hey happy shiny people,
This week marks my last week here in uharte, and digging here at zamartze.  The past three weeks went by quick but it almost feels like I've been here a month.  A lot of time has passed since the beginning of this trip and it really feels like it.

This weekend we went to Victoria gasteiz, which basically means victory in gasteiz.  Along with seeing the cathedral of Victoria (which apparently is the same cathedral that influenced ken follets the pillars of the earth) we got to wander the city a bit.   The city wasn't as great as some of the other places I've seen, but it was great to see somewhere most tourists don't tend to go to.  There is a statue in the middle of Victoria commemorating the Spanish victory here.  All over the statue there is graffiti of little foot prints.  Of course victoria is in the middle of Basque territory, so hopefully I won't have to spell out the meaning of the footprints.  It almost feels like go into the middle of an Indian reservation and putting a statue of George washington.  It felt a little awkward, I'm sure if I were with either of the basque archaeologists  they probably would have made some remarks about the "fucking fascists".  The tension really is palpable when you are around it for a while. (Whenever we screw up something the running joke is to say fucking Anglo Saxon)

Speaking of palpable tensions all this week there have been protests all over the place.  Last night we watches the riots in Madrid live,beatings, blood, and all.  With unemployment for young people hovering around 60%, I'd be protesting also.  The basques were also protesting in Pamplona today about jobs to the basque government.  Throughout he day we have been getting updates from oihan who is at the protest.  Apparently there are lots of armed ,militia with ,machine guns.  Its pretty ridiculous stuff.  Things seem bad in the us but things are definitely Much worse over here.

The dig is progressing nicely.  The site me, oihan, and Fran are excavating has been figured to be a site of destruction.  Meaning that the place was burnt to the ground through violence.  We have found spears and belt buckles all over the place no human remains though ( yet).  Today because of the strike, in the cemetary I got to excavate human remains somewhat.  The work is a little more finicky but I can't imagine too many people can say they have excavated human remains.
On top of excavating we have to draw the pit lines of the graves which I also had to help with.  Maybe one of the most tedious things I've done so far but surely it needed to be done.

As I approach my final days here I have learned a thing or two.  Archaeology is hard work, don't let anyone tell you anything else.  The work is rewarding in the sense that you get to walk in places or touch things that having been touched for up to thousands of years.  Just yesterday I was walking on an ancient medieval floor that I excavated.  There is something really awesome about that but I can't put my finger on it.  As far as Spanish life is concerned, there is always a real brusque attitude towards everything but always in the most polite way.  In other words people will always be very frank with you but its always in a way where you don't want to punch them in the fave after something rude is said.  There is No skirting around any issue and coming from such an over sensitized place it really is a breath of fresh air.
I miss home (and good beer) but this is something I'm very glad that I got to be a part of.  Being able to live in a small village in northern Spain and being able to immerse yourself into something completely different is fun. It seems I'm going to be heading to a place where it rains a lot so I'm sure I'll feel right at home.  Probably until Santiago de compestela, I'll be coming at you with some more
Cheers

Egunan! (Basque for good morning! I've tried good afternoon and its too difficult)

After a weekend in Pamplona and San sebatian , we got back to digging.  My knees hurt but the work feels worth it.  In Pamplona we went up the street anx saw where running of the bulls takes place (also ate and drank where Hemingway drank no biggie). Later that night me and some people went up to San Sebastian to sit around the beach and watch old people get topless.  Not really, but its pretty city.  My basque friend described it as a San Francisco of Spain (or Navarre...).  Description pretty much spot on.

Before I get to the food and the archaeology I figured I might describe this strange group I'm in cahoots with.  First I'll describe the old guys.  First there's Tim who was a nice guy (rip).  Then there a nico, the most stereotypical new York Jew I've ever met.  Then of course there's charlie the racist southerner, its sort of fun to here's his stories about all the wetbacks and black that inhabit his hometown.
The four girls all are pretty nice.  There's solange from UCLA, Marian who's Greek, Brooke who likes cats..., and Ruth from Ireland.
Then heads of the dig are a little strange though.  First theres the crazy British guy, Rob (pretty sure he is somewhat legitimately insane). After there's oihan (oy-yan) who is the basque native I work with mostly doing archaeology.  We pretty much just talk about terrible Spanish basketball players (cough Victor Claver).  After you got Emma the associate director who is only 25 and actually very attractive (for some reason from her emails I imagined a 40 year old hag).  And finally you have the director Fran who might have the most hilarious accent when speaking english.  Everything that guy says is pretty ,much gold.

The basque cooking is incredible.  Since basques are matriarchal all the men cook and act like housewives for the most part.  Fran has told us stories about how when women come in the kitchen they just stand there and boss the men around.  Apparently there is a gentlemens club where the men go to cook away from the women, you know, instead of gambling and buying hookers. So the cooking is great.  Every night we have different basque dishes such as chistoro, chorizo, soup, and lots of bread.  Last night we had squash soup that was really good, along with some chistoro.

As far as the digging is concerned, on the pit we have mostly found roman coins saying back to the 1sfirst century ( today we even found a gold coin, which was very much intact).  It seems that the building that we are uncovering was burnt to the ground and we are pretty Mich excavating the remains from it.  Lots of wall remnants and burnt bricks that are being uncovered.  As of right now the site does not make very much sense but it seems to be making more as we dig further.  Apparently according to oihan this happens a lot with sites and they just need to be interpreted as is.

Overall though things are going great.  No further incidences and things have been going smoothly.  My knees are a bit achy from all the bending over but I seems to be getting a workout in during the day.  By the end of the day I'm pretty tired fornthr most part so sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I miss everybody at home.  Really miss understanding people and speaking English but surely I'll be back home soon enough.  I hope everybody is doing great I'll I'll talk to you soon.

Cheers

Hey everybody.
Im going to make this short because honestly I'm not in the mood to talk about it too much.  I come with a bit of morbid news here in uharte arakil.

As of this morning, my digging partner Tim straub passed away from a heart attack.  He was 72 born November 16 1940.  I was right next too him when he died, fuck I even heard his last words.  He had been complaining of angina for the past week and I guess as of now it was pretty serious.  I don't have too many words here but judging from his life story he would go on about everyday, I would say he was a great guy with a lot of enthusiasm for life (kind of cliche I know).  I enjoyed all the political conversations and stories we would discuss there in the trenches.  Even when he would annoyingly discuss his endless love for south dakota (maybe I'll make it out there someday, he sure did talk it up)

I helped as best I could but after watching the paramedics for what seemed hours, it seemed his fate was sealed.  This has been somewhat of a traumatic day for everyone but my thoughts and prayers go to his family.  I cannot even bear to imagine getting that call at five in the morning.

I wished this hadn't happened but it did.  Occasionally he would try to give me little life lessons here and there, since apparently being ancient gives you lots of wisdom.  Each day though I would listen to what he would have to say, the one I will remember the most might be
"You know? Just say what's on you're mind.  If you got something to say you better say sooner rather than later.".

 Please do not ask if I'm OK, I'm fine.  I honestly barely knew the guy. I will keep moving along with the world as long as it goes. The only thing I can say from here is this is a day I wont forget anytime soon.

Cheers

Part 1
Greetings from the train to Pamplona.
So I reread that last post and realized what a wordgasm that was.  So much to say yet my attention was divided between what was happening in the hostel common and that blog.

It is easier now to organize my thoughts now I've had a couple days to adjust to Spanish life ( Barcelona primarily).  My Spanish is getting better but I struggle at times where I need to be quick.  I'm starting to maybe think instead of saying ¡hola! I should just say hello as american as possible. Either way this ,might be the best ,my Spanish has ever been.

After getting a taste for the night life and beach life (which apparently didn't exist before 1990 because of the Olympics and used to be a fishing port) I spent the next day taking in the culture and checking out the amazing architecture. I didn't take any of the gaudi (the architect) tours when maybe I should have just walking around though you still get a sense of how old and intricate everything is.  Everything very interesting into
I made my last stop of the day at sagrada familia.  I don't think I've ever had any building take  my breath away and give me chills like la sagrada familia.  Its kind of In a strange spot for how massive and tall it is. Its kind of nestled in between buildings so youre walking all these narrow streets and bam, you see a 500 foot tall cathedral.  It really was something to behold.  As you walk  the steps you start to notice all the intricate and vast designs and begin to understand why its taken them over 100 years to build and why theyre still
Building.

Once you're inside you see these vast caverns up above with each spire having its own design.  As you walk around you tend to nearly run into people who are also staring up at the ceiling.

If you ever get a chance to go to Barcelona (which alone is a great city) go to sagrada familia. You won't regret it.

By tonight I should be at the zamartze archaeological site and be set up for the rest of the month.  Happy post labor to all of you back home. Overall
If you can get past the touristy side of Barcelona you will have a great time can't wait to get back in a month and see how I feel about it then.

Cheers

Part 2

Hey so not cheers actually because I decided to make this a two partner since I haven't gotten WiFi yet. All in all though I've arrived in my final destination (for a while) in uharte- arakil!

The group I'm with is a little strange but I guess I'll cope.  First there are about 4 girls my age from all over the place and of course three guys who are at least all above the age of 60. So I'm the only guy here under the age of 25. There is one other basque archaeologist who is about my age who wants to play some basketball, so i might survive.

The village reminds me of a postcard, it is a really cool old place in the ,middle of basque country (which I'm just beginning to learn about).

The basques are a group of people who govern themselves from the south of France to the north of Spain in the state of Navarre. Also maybe the most blunt straight forward people I've ever met. They even have there own language and very much hate the Spanish.  The history of the basques dates all the way back to the ancient roman times and claim to have the oldest language I'm all of Europe!  The more interesting aspect of this entire history is that they were never actually conquered by the romans but instead were allied with them.  Along with never really being 'conquered' they have a long fascinating history with many opposing parties along with the Visigoths, Charlemagne, and of course the Spanish.  Along with being matriarchal they seem to have a knack for getting and staying put of trouble. Its not Barcelona but it is by far more interesting then Barcelona. I'm looking forward to getting to understand the culture.

That brings Us to the actually dig which I will post pictures of later.  I am not allowed to show picture of the site but I will take pictures of the Church.

The church was originally the original plan e of worship and was a vital trading point through the kingdom of Navarre.

This entire region is very fascinating with some striking landmarks.  The old guys are a little annoying with all of there stories about all the archaeology they've done but the site is interesting enough and the directors have lots of interesting things to say so I believe it will be worthwhile.

After my first day of digging I can say that I'm a little tired but in a good way.  Even found a tooth.  After a long day of lectures and my first time digging, the only thing to do now is find the closest pub with WiFi (along with getting over the annoying of flies) and I think ill be OK. Cheers.

PS I'll post some pictures later

Greetings from Barcelona!
What's happenin everybody? first of all is like to say while being touristy' Barcelona is amazing! Even yesterday when I was getting off the plane being still nine hours behind I still felt it. The thing that struck me most was the strange blend of very old and very rich. Its a little Strange but I'm getting ahead of myself.

First 12 hours on anything is too long, especially a plane. While my first flight to Atlanta wasn't bad I got stuck next to two siblings who fought the entirety of the trip. Three hours of that though tolerable. I dealt with it, figured it was karma for all the times I fought with my little sister annoying everyone around me. The next nine hours of plane though I don't think I'd ever been more antsy/tired/exhausted in my life! I might have gotten more sleep if I could breath through my nose somewhat, but whatever I lived.

So immediately getting off the plane I began to realize how rusty my Spanish was. As soon as I told the taxi driver where my hostel was he had no idea what I was talking about so I told him LA rambla being the only spot I knew of close to the hostel (which later of course I figured out was a 10 minute walk from there). Finally after about 20 minutes of walking wit my enormous back pack and being extremely hey lagged with the use of illegal
 WiFi tapping I found the place.  Finally being able to check in... only to be told that I would need to wait until one to get in to the room. So I locked my back pack up in there closet they had there and just wandered till I got close to he docks and just hung out there checking out the (enormous) yachts. That was the only down point so far.

So as of today I'm wide eyed and bushy tailed.  So far I've just ate read, drank wine, and sat on the beach... nbd. Navigation is fairly easy as well. Unless you have a car walking is fairly easy.  While basically having no street signs you go by landmarks which is easy since there are so many.  Honestly not too sure what to see first. While the statue of Christopher Columbus boggled but figured since its Europe he's more of an icon. everything about it is pretty amazing there's almost too much to talk about. I haven't even touched hostel life but I figured id just ,mention the cool shit and leave the boring stuff for later. (Not to mention the mostly topless beaches).  I honestly could stay here forever, hard to believe this is only just a stop before I depart to other places. Well that's enough of that, until my next post salud!/cheers.

Ayyyoo!

So I'm off to Spain to to have my have my archaeological cherry popped and since I'm going to be out of contact for a while I figured I blog about it! I figured who doesn't love being reminded of all the fun I'm having?  so the logical decision was to incessantly blog about my coming and goings while I'm in spain/portugal!

To explain a little about where I'm going to, I'm going to be living in the village Uharte-Arakil in the Navarre province which is fairly close to the city of pamplona famously known for the San fermin festival or the running of the bulls (sadly I will not be there for this).

Here I will be at the zamartze archaeological field school examining roman burial remains buried outside a 12th century Romanesque church.  The point of the project is to examine the population size that lived here during the medevil period.  I'm sure I will learnmore about the sites and the sites around the area as the school progresses.  

I'm still trying to figure how to post pictures to this tablet but I'm sure I'll figure it out before I leave, rest assumed.  Until dos Del septiembre, I bid you (Portuguese word for goodbye).

Cheers!