Day 6: More About our Site

I have to tell you (in case you were wondering) that by all reports, our project is being spoiled rotten in a lot of respects. People keep saying it's archaeology the way they did it back in the day. Our resort, for example, is incredible. Most expeditions that the staff have been on have apparently involved camping at the site. Given the sheer number of bugs, spiders, snakes, and scorpions at our site I cannot tell you how glad I am that we're not! I'm not kidding when I say we're in the jungle. It's so cool!

Also, all of our food is cooked for us by the restaurant next door, called Hode's. They even pack us lunch for the dig. Belizian food, by the way, involves tons of chicken, cooked every way you can think of, rice and beans (of course), and more cole slaw than any human should consume. Considering how hot and humid it is here, the food is actually remarkably heavy.

Back to the site! I mentioned something really crypic the other day about the north end of our current site and I thought I'd clear that up (can you tell I finally have more than ten minutes to write this?). Warning: this might become a little bit of an archaeology lesson so I'm sorry if I bore you. You can always skip to the pictures. So, why our site is so unique: Usually (as in prettymuch always) Maya buildings are organized in Plaza Groups. A plaza group is a cluster of buildings oriented around a central square plaza, usually oriented in the cardinal directions. These plaza groups are closed on all four sides and are the form used in all planning from huge temple plazas to individual households. So, you can see, the fact that our site differs even slightly from that norm is a big deal.

El Aguacate (that's our site) has a main plaza that's much longer than most and only bounded by monumental buildings on three sides. To the south (which is where you enter from) stands a large building that (and keep in mind that this is all covered in jungle and therefore we're not positive on any of this) is, like the Maya structures you picture, a pyramid shape with stairs going up the front and a square sunken courtyard on top, surrounded by rooms. This was probably what we would think of as the palace building. On the east and west of the plaza stand two longer buildings that were probably for administrative and elite residential purposes. And that is where the normal part of our site ends. Be excited!!

Ok, the cool stuff! To the north of the western long building stands a huge pyramid temple (presumably, of course). Not only is this in the wrong spot according to the usual Maya model (because, you recall, it should be bounding the north side of the plaza) but it also doesn't face a cardinal direction. The temple is actually slightly twisted and faces about three degrees east of north. This is unheard of! And THEN, where the temple should stand we have found a smaller mound that is of (I suspect) a significant sacred purpose. Nevertheless, it's very small. We have already found some stuff there and will continue to but I can't really go into detail online.

Ok, Archaeology lesson over! ...for today. Today my team finished up our round at GPR by scanning the eastern long building which was REALLY hard. Dragging that antenna up the side of a pyramid covered in rocks, logs, and trees sixty times over is definitely a workout. But it's exciting because tonight we get to go compile our data and take the first look at what's under there!! So it was definitely worth it!!

Here's a picture of my team! That's Sunaina, yours truly, Aaron (he's MacGyver), and James (tomorrow's his birthday!). We're working on our notes inside the thatched shelter that the workmen just finished building on our site. Cool fact? It's made entirely of materials they grabbed from the surrounding jungle! Even the logs are tied together with vines... Here's another with Sarah, the GPR specialist who ROCKS and has been teaching us lots. We have our arms crossed because we're trying to look tough and strong after traversing that MOUNTAIN of a building mound we're standing on all day.

I'm headed out to Caye Caulker this weekend with a bunch of people from the project! It's a notoriously fun, laid-back island in the Caribbean and I'm really excited! It does mean, however, that you shouldn't expect a post again until Sunday or Monday. Sorry! But I promise I'll post pictures when I get back.

Love you!
Elise

Days 4&5: What is a Picnic without Bread?

That's the song that a local band serenaded our table with last night at dinner. It pondered that timeless question and lamented the accidental purchase of Sauerkraut instead.

I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday! We're into full-swing excavations now so I'm really busy (plus internet access is pretty difficult) but I'll try to fill you in. We broke up into six operations at the site, one survey, one Ground Penetrating Radar, and four excavations. The excavations are about 3x3 meters. The students split into six groups (three or four to a group) and we're gonna rotate around to all the different operations. I'm in group 1. We rock.

I've been working on the GPR operation, which is actually really cool. It's a device that uses an antenna to transmit radar pulses into the ground and measures how long until they reflect back to check for "different" areas. You drag it back and forth across a a grid (twice a meter) like a lawnmower to make profiles, which are like vertical slices of the ground, and then a computer compiles them and looks for patterns. Unlike excavations though, our grids are about 20 by 30 meters, so we get to cover alot more ground.
Here I am dragging the antenna (the orange box) across our first grid. The trick is that you can't get any air between it and the ground, so we have to clear a lot of rocks and sticks. Also, ideally you go in a grid pattern, which is a little difficult around the trees of the jungle.
This is what the readout from the GPR looks like (we all took turns walking the antenna, manning the computer, and clearing the path). We're looking for triangular blips. But really it's hard to read until you get back to the lab and consolidate everything. Which we're doing tomorrow!

Exciting news! Our professors were looking around and this site is WAY more major than anyone realized! They found an entirely new plaza group of buildings! Yay!! We're hopefully gonna go take a look at the new part tomorrow.

Answering some questions I've gotten...The town of San Ignacio is technically a town but we are still in what I would normally consider a very small, almost rural setting. The "resort" is prettymuch only occupied by ourselves and other archeological project groups. I haven't really explored the town very much yet because we've been so busy but I'll be going in later this week so I'll let you know. There aren't really any Mennonites where we are, but about half an hour away, in the (even) more rural area.

Ok, gotta go! But I'm having a GREAT time and I'm really excited about everything we're discovering!

Love you,
Elise

Day 3: My First Archaeological Find!

We went to our site for the first time today! It's called Aguacate (for now) and it is a never-before-excavated minor to midsize site on Mennonite land about a 45 minute drive away from our resort. The Mennonites, who farm corn in huge fields, left this particular part of the jungle untouched. Thank goodness! This is because they knew that there was a Maya site there and because there is a lagoon about a half kilometer from the site to the south that the Mennonites still enjoy today. Our site is in the heart of the jungle, and we hike about fifteen minutes to get to it. Working in the jungle means that there are CRAZY amounts of bugs including ginormous spiders, tons of leafcutter ants, and god knows what else. Ok, its almost dinner time, so here are some pictures really quick!

"Maya Ruins -->"

That mound in the back there is a building! Our site consists of a long rectangular plaza with buildings like this along three sides. The North end of the plaza is different and distinctly strange for a Maya site (!!!) but I'll have to get to that later.

And lastly...
My first find!! It is a round nodule of chert or quartz (too round. definitely made by human hands) found in the as-of-yet mysterious North end of the plaza. My prof was actually really interested in it! I don't know what it was used for or anything yet, I'm just stoked that I found something so apparently unique on what was just a survey day! If that was on the surface, image what's underground!!

Love you!
Elise

Day 2: Welcome to the Midas Resort!

We're still in orientation mode so I haven’t even been to our dig site yet, but trust you me, we are in the jungle. I was talking with a friend about how walking to our cabins feels like being in an extended version of being in line for the Indiana Jones ride. There’s the same constant, ubiquitous bug drone that the ride does so well (sorry to use Disney as a reference twice in two days, but they do a pretty amazing job at recreating this! Who knew?) plus all of the other bird and animal noises. We’re even pretty sure we heard a monkey last night, but no sightings as of yet.

The Midas is actually a cluster of buildings, with no two the same. The front building features an office, kitchen, and back patio that serves as a great common area. In addition, there is a new building up front that’s still under construction but some of our project are staying in the more complete rooms (I say more complete because they’re definitely not finished—still missing things like doors…). Behind that is meandering walkway that winds among about ten or fifteen small cabin-type buildings that are also rooms. To get to them you walk through a ton of different trees that are actually labeled so I know that they include avocado, banana, and custard apple trees. I totally plan to grab some avocados when they ripen.

Here is my cabana, complete with a front porch and a hammock! I share it with three other girls, so it’s cozy, but fun. We have our own bathroom, with a shower, which is nice. The best part though is that this entire cabin is decidedly on a slant—you notice as soon as you walk in. It’s funny because I actually feel a bit like I’m on a boat sometimes. Occasionally, or in the morning, I forget there’s a slant and stumble around like an idiot, but its fun. Actually, you’d be surprised how many things a little bit of a slant can affect.

Inside are two beds, tables, chairs, and a nightstand. We also have a totally nonfunctional TV and a lamp. AND we totally lucked out because we are one of like three rooms with an air conditioner! Hooray! We run it constantly.

I found my camera after some serious searching (yay!) so expect more pictures. I can’t wait to start digging!

Love you!
Elise

Day 1: Welcome to (the Airport in) the Jungle!

At 10:15 local time (CST) I finally landed in Belize! The airport was, as Dad predicted, minuscule. Coming in to land, we could see nothing but trees—the little boy behind me was actually seriously concerned about how we were going to land with all those trees. Truly though, the landing strip was prettymuch cut out of the jungle. A little less than one commercial flight an hour lands there, in addition to a couple private jets. ‘Customs’ is two guys sitting behind desks stamping forms. So tiny!

I met up with four other people from my project who had arrived at the airport at the same time and we set up camp on the benches out front. The weather was the same gray-skied, muggy, 85 degrees all day long. There was a breeze so it was nice but definitely a bit strange because you can’t really track the passage of time. …which turned out to be a good thing because we ended up waiting at the airport for six hours as the rest of our project showed up. We bonded.

The bus ride to San Ignacio was about two hours long and FANTASTIC! Belize looks like a mix of Louisiana and the Caribbean as imagined by Disney in Pirates—all ramshackle, Technicolor shacks on spindly stilts in the middle of the swampy jungle. I cannot imagine what would drive anyone to say ‘I know, lets clear this crazy jungle and build a temple here!’ but hey, apparently they did. And I get to go dig them back up!

Our ‘resort’ is also pretty awesome, but I’m super tired from traveling all day so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Oh, and confession time—I forgot my camera! What and idiot! So you’ll have to see pictures too.

Love,
Elise

Day 0: And she's off!

Today's the day! I fly out to Belize via Miami tonight! I can't even tell you how excited I am. I'm all packed and everything, and hopefully I didn't forget anything, so it's off we go! I arrive in Belize tomorrow morning, and from there we drive to San Ignacio, so I'll keep everyone posted whenever I can. Be excited!

Love,
Elise

Day -2: An Update!

I leave for Belize day after tomorrow! I'm basically ready to go and so excited. Nothing particticularly special to update you on today except to say that if you're going to Sonoma, you should be STOKED about Iron Chef night.

Happy birthday, Oma!
Love,
Elise

Day -3: Looking the Part

I spent most of today test driving various gear to make sure it works. Mostly, that means that I looked like Indiana Jones. It was so awesome! I have to wear long, light pants and long-sleeved shirts in the field for bug and sun protection, which means lots of cargo pants, etc. I've also got some pretty serious boots for jungle trekking. Here they are below modeling their new coat of waterproofing:
Add a hat (my cowboy hat, specifically) and the look is complete. I can't wait to actually get to the jungle!

Day -4: The Dig Kit

As is to be expected from any trip involving archaeology, I have a fairly extensive list of tools and gear to pack, and as of today (thanks to a quick shopping trip with Mom) it finally looks like my 'dig kit' is coming together. Yay! What is in a dig kit, you ask? Allow me to elaborate...

Firstly, there are no shovels in a dig kit. We do bring something called a trowel, but as my professors have emphatically pointed out, this has absolutely nothing to do with gardening. Instead, our trowels, which can be purchased at the hardware store as "pointer's trowels" are flat metal triangles with a raised wooden handle. Updates on what exactly one uses it for will come as soon as I find out. We have also been told to bring standard surveying equipment, like a line level, a compass, a metric measuring tape, and flagging tape. Flagging tape, by the way, is not at all sticky--but it does come in fun, obnoxiously bright colors! I've also got tools for recording information, like mechanical pencils, sharpies, and an (hopefully) indestructible notebook of metric graph paper. And what dig kit would be complete without brushes?

My departure is fast approaching! I'm back in the Bay Area until I leave on Saturday. As I write, in fact, I am doing a test run of my boots. I can't wait!

Love,
Elise

Day -5: Did you know...?

I'm dying of excitement over here, so I thought I'd bust out a couple fun facts about Belize to pass the time.

Did you know that Belize gained its independence from Great Britain in 1981? That's right, the country is only six years older than I am! Before independence it was known as British Honduras. Also, this means that English is actually the official language, although Spanish and Kriol are also recognized. According to my Professor, most Belizians speak both Spanish and English.

Did you know that Belize is very prone to hurricanes? And that I'm going during hurricane season? But don't worry, it'll be fun! And wet. The area I'm going to gets 4-5 meters of rain a year. That's right, METERS.

Did you know that Belize has historically been very popular with Mayanists because it is the most politically stable country in the Mayan area? Their other options are southern Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.

Ok, that's all I've got for right now. I'm leaving LA today to head north, so I'm almost all packed. Exciting!

Love,
Elise

Day - 6: Look, a Blog!

Monkey sightings: None. Well, it is LA...

Welcome to my travelogue! Rather than trying to remember to send out emails or facebooking everything, I thought it would be fun to have a blog for anyone who wants to know what I'm up to in Belize. Plus, this way, there will be pictures! I don't know how often I'll post (I'm hoping that I'll do it every day, but who knows?) but I hope you'll enjoy getting updates. Also, there's a comments section below so I guess you can use that (or just email me) to respond.

Right now I'm just finishing packing before I head up to NorCal to catch my flight on Saturday. Oh, and I start Malaria pills today! Exciting stuff. Less than a week to go!

With love,
Elise