I know, I know, I know! I haven't blogged in forever, and after I promised I would! I'm sorry. With coming home came work and other distractions. And I wanted enough time to let the re-entry shock settle down and to gather my thoughts so I could express them adequately. And, yes, I will be posting more pictures soon! And when I say soon, I really honestly mean soon! :)

This summer has been a very important one for me. I've had a lot of new and wonderful experiences and also a lot of time to realize that since the day I boarded that plane in Dallas, my life will never be quite the same. In Italy, I never had a revelation moment like, "Wow, this sure is a life changing experience." I was just doing what I was there to do. And I loved it, and I became comfortable with it. It became a routine…living in Italy! How crazy that sounds now, to call it routine. It was, in fact, very out of character for me.

Going to Italy, I threw myself into a situation where I couldn't escape and knew absolutely no one. I put myself out there, socially and personally. I took a risk for the sake of my own peace of mind and in doing so, I have solidified my future and made incredible friends. That's not to say I don't already have incredible friends – on the contrary actually. But the people I met in Italy love history and Archaeology and Anthropology and classics enough to make it an obsession…to love it like I do. They are, when it comes to a desire to make that a career goal, my soul mates. Imagine if I'd let my insecurities stop me from going. Imagine if I'd spent that month in Oklahoma. I'd have never found things that haven't been seen for thousands of years. I wouldn't have gone to Rome and Pompeii and fantastically beautiful Orvieto. I'd have never met a truly diverse group of immensely wonderful people.

I've evolved a lot in my years since high school, but never enough to truly be happy with myself. This experience has given me a level of confidence I've only ever dreamed about. I feel really good about myself. I am so ridiculously proud of myself. I feel different – forever changed into the type of person I always wanted to be. It's an amazing feeling, really, to have confidence in myself, but also in my abilities and in my future.

It makes me wonder, what have I missed through the years because of my complacency and fear of change? I hope it wasn't anything or anyone too spectacular, but it very well may have been. I suppose I'll never know, so it's nothing to dwell on. This whole new outlook has given me every reason in the world to not dwell on things that can't be changed or just don't even matter. And it's given me a greater appreciation for myself, and for the people I love.

I realize now, that I am solely responsible for my own happiness. So, from now on, I'll be proudly putting myself out there because after everything is said and done, the most important person you have to face with your decisions is yourself. And after everything I've accomplished this summer, I'd really hate to let myself down.

Pompeii Pictures

I actually took 167 pictures at Pompeii, but these are some highlights.

Me in an oven.

Me in front of the Forum.

Amphitheatre.

A plaster cast of a body found at Pompeii. The position I think is so sad. It looks like he's praying.

A kitchen.

The Temple of Apollo.

There were beautiful frescos all over the Villa of Mysteries.

I experimented with some black and white photography. These are some of my favorites.

You can still see the ruts in the road from chariot wheels.

This last one is my favorite. It was taken from a simple house, and you can see Mount Vesuvius through the hole in the wall.

Ciao, Orvieto.

Well, folks, tonight is my last night in Orvieto. I've had fun and learned a lot, but truth be told, I'm ready to go to London (!!) and I'm really ready to go home.

I'm sorry to say I don't have any pictures again tonight. I wasn't able to bring my laptop up here again. But, keep checking because as soon as I can (even if it's after I get home), I will post a ton of pictures for you to admire and enjoy!

I know I haven't written much about my work in the field, but that's because I don't want to post about my finds and such until I can show you pictures! I will say I had an amazing time in the field, though. A hot, sweaty, greasy, miserably amazing time! This trip has not turned me off of Archaeology. In fact, it's made me want to pursue it more than ever. Good thing, too, as I'd hate to have wasted these past three years in college working toward something I ended up hating.

I'm sure Austin knows of a good internet cafe in London, so I'll try to post there, too. Keep checking! I'll be back!

Oh, the places you'll go...

Bad news: no pictures today. I wasn't able to bring my laptop today, so all I can do is post. But that's pretty exciting, huh?!

I went to the Vatican, Sorrento, Pompeii, and Capri this weekend. The Vatican was awesome, and I'm not even Catholic! Haha! I completely forgot that School of Athens was in the Vatican museum, and when it showed up in front of me, well, I was very excited! The Sistine Chapel is absolutely amazing. Michaelangelo was nothing short of a genius. Then in St. Peter's Basilica, that statement was reaffirmed when I saw the Pieta. St. Peter's was beautiful, though I didn't get to climb to the top of the dome. I would've liked to, but we just didn't have the time.

It's official. My favorite place I've ever been (previously the Tower of London) is now Pompeii. I don't think I can do it justice in the short of amount of time I have to post on here. The city is beautiful, sad, funny, and awe-inspiring all at the same time. I took a ton of pictures there, and I will post a few soon. We got there early (and it was free admission because it was a holiday), right after it opened, so for a long time, there was hardly anyone there. My friend Lauren and I walked around together and got lost in the streets of the neighborhoods. It was quiet, and gave me time to reflect on the people who lived there. Seeing some of the bodies, and the positions they were in, made me want to cry. Everything happened so quickly there, and they never had a chance. It's a pretty crazy feeling to walk in the city that was lost in less than ten minutes. And the temples and structures there...again, this is why I think ancient civilizations are so amazing. They built all of these incredible things with absolutely no technology. I know this sounds cheesy, but Pompeii really changed me. It affected me as an Archaeologist, but even more as a person.

Well, our beach weekend was ruined by something that the locals say is very rare this time of the year...rain, rain, and more rain. We didn't even get to swim in the pool at our hotel in Sorrento! It was such a bummer! The weekend, though, was worth it for me because of Pompeii, but I know a lot of people were really disappointed.

I'm just going to go ahead and tell everyone to never, ever go to Naples (Napoli) if you can avoid it. That city is filthy and creepy beyond words. We may be young American girls, but thank goodness we're not young, stupid American girls. I'm pretty sure we narrowly escaped a potentially bad and dangerous situation because of our logic and awareness. But that's a long story for a time when I have more minutes on the internet.

I felt really sick today so I only had a half a day the field. I'm feeling a lot better now, and I think I just needed some rest after our insane weekend.

I'll be back soon to post more stories and pictures!

Roma!!!

So, picture this:
Eating pizza in an Italian café across the street from the Coliseum, sitting on the balcony with a perfect view, a cool breeze makes for perfect weather, surrounded by good friends, and suddenly, over the speakers…Michael Buble!!!
This was my Sunday lunch experience in Rome!


(At the café with the Coliseum in the background!)

Beautiful Roma! Absolutely spectacular! The Coliseum, Roman Forum, Palatine, Capitoline Museum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo…completely and totally awesome! I can’t even begin to describe my experience at the Coliseum. We waited in line for tickets and I looked around thinking, “How many people walked right here for the last time? How many people took their last breath here?” It was pretty surreal. I’m always amazed by things like the Coliseum…huge, amazingly elaborate structures, created at a time with no technology for such things. It sends me into some sort of meditative state. It reminds me why I love history.

(In the Coliseum with the girls - me, Colleen, Caitlin, Lauren.)

Did you know I have my own Basilica? Oh yeah, it’s called Basilica Julia. It’s in the Roman Forum. Or rather, its remains are in the Roman Forum. Julia was Augustus’s daughter who was eventually banished from Rome because of her promiscuity. Hehehe!

(Me with my Basilica remnants!)

The Capitoline was awesome! We got to see the famous bronze statue of Romulus and Remus, which was exciting!

(Romulus and Remus.)

I made my wish at the Trevi Fountain, then proceeded to enjoy some gelato while sitting in front of it in all its glory!

(Making a wish at the Trevi Fountain!)

The Spanish Steps were crowded. Cool, but crowded, so we didn’t spend much time there.

(Spanish Steps.)

The Piazza del Popolo was fascinating to me because the Egyptian obelisk that Augustus stole was prominently displayed in the center. I’m glad I got to see it, because I love Egyptian history, but at the same time, it made me mad because I’m a firm believer that structures and structural artifacts should be left where they are found…and don’t even get me started on the fact that he placed a cross at the top of it. Completely and utterly disrespectful to ancient Egyptian culture, but I suppose if you’re going to steal something, you don’t have much respect for the people you’re stealing from anyway. Sorry, tangent…but the obelisk was really cool!

(Piazza del Popolo.)

We’re going back to Rome on Friday to tour the Vatican and such things as St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel! I’m beyond excited!
Speaking of this weekend, we’re headed on Saturday to Pompeii, somewhere I’ve wanted to go for a very long time! Then it’s off to Capri for a beach weekend! Ah, Italy, where will your adventures end?!

I've had some great experiences in the field this week! I will post about them asap after I upload pictures onto my computer!

My first find!!!

Ciao!

I would like to inform you all that I made my very first Archaeological discovery today!

I know it's blurry...sorry. But it's a piece of pottery, possibly Etruscan! It's most likely the rim of a vase! AHH!!! How exciting! Never thought a broken piece of clay could be so exciting, huh?! Yeah it is!!

Obviously, we worked in the field today! Not our field, though. There's an Italian guy, Claudio, who's helping us with our site, and basically we were loaned to him for a couple of days to help clean up his site. Oh well, it was fun because there were things like this everywhere, and it was so exciting to find them!

We started out pulling weeds, but then a girl named Caty and I got to work in a trench! It had already been dug, and basically, we were just clearing out all the loose dirt, but when we were done, Sylvia (our field manager) said we did an amazing job and showed it to the whole group and made them clap for us! It was pretty awesome!

I'm trying to post mo0re pictures but blogger is being dumb. And, all the instructions are in Italian, so I can't figure it out. I'm going to have to work on that when I have more time, because I have about three minutes left right now.

Anyway, very exciting day! I got hot and sweaty and dirty and slathered on sunscreen and got even more dirty and I couldn't be happier. I love it here.

Here at last!

Hey everyone!
I'm currently in Orvieto in an internet café so I thought I'd write a little bit about my trip thus far! I can't write much right now, though, because people are waiting on me...
Flights and meeting my group went smoothly, even though I was paranoid the whole time that something would go wrong. I met a girl at the airport. Her name is Katelynn (Not sure of exact spelling, but you get the idea!). She's really nice and came on the trip last year so she's showing me around a bit. I've also gotten to know my roomate, Haley (Ditto on the spelling.) and she seems cool, too. She spends a lot of time with her boyfriend, though. Katelynn's roomate, Lauren, is a lot of fun, too. And, she's an Anthropology major at OU and she loves Ewan McGregor! I'm pretty sure we were destined to meet! Haha!
That's all for now, cause I feel bad for making people wait, and there's not much else to talk about. We didn't go to the field today, so nothing too terribly exciting has happened. I'll be back soon, though, and hopefully with pictures!
Love you all!

Almost there!

In three days, I will be in beautiful Italia, ready and willing to dig in the dirt! I made this blog so whenever I get a chance to stop off at an internet cafe, I can update family and friends in mass!

I hope you'll check back every once in a while and read about my adventures! I know I will love sharing them!