Hi everyone, We got the photos from the archeological dig at Antipatris, so here's me in the orange shirt, trowel in hand under the stage of the odeum, trying to figure out what's dirt and what's ancient plaster. We were tracing a water conduit there, which either drained rain out of the odeum, or in (which would make it the only known music hall in the Roman Empire with a swimming pool. Maybe the citizens liked some music by the pool or something....) That was fun, and I want to do this kind of thing again. This was a busy week. My Dutch student came down from the north with work, and we made a beginning of analysis of vegetation samples done since 2003. Things are speeding up, and all the guys on my team are starting to get preoccupied with the EBONE project, getting their heads into it. I just have to keep track; they don't need encouragement now. Having the student around really prompted each one to think what he want to do, because he has the offer of some free labor to help on it. Just about everyone has a little project for the student.....We are starting to feel frisky, and should be roaring away through the summer at full speed. Shkedy, the chief scientist who is also a participant in the project, gave a review of the EBONE to the lastest professional meeting this week. I could tell he is getting his head wrapped around his own part of the work, in his own way, finding his feet. He's got the confidence now to be generous. In the presentation, he gave firm praise for my work makin this grant possible, that we wouldn't have it if not for my efforts. Yup, that's true. Plus I dragged him in kicking and screaming, but he doesn't remember that part....Anyway, this is not a person known for giving praise, so people were surprised. I was quietly pleased, also at his change of heart. Our departmental secretary, who can't stand me, looked like she was shot in the stomach....heh heh..... Not to gloat for long; I have to get an international workshop in motion for the end of October. We have only one here in Israel during the four years of this project so we want to make the most of it. We are using the facilities of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam (www.nswas.org), a remarkable Jewish/Arab village by Latrun, in the piedmont area halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. So I went down today to meet with hotel staff to organize this thing. I like NSWAS. It is a quiet village in a beautiful setting, surrounded by fields and vineyards. (This part of Israel looks a lot like Italy.) The hotel itself is the "country living" style, very simple, with condominium-style rooms sprawling out like old fashioned kibbutz housing, which it strongly resembles. I feel like I stepped back 30 years to my first visit to Israel, when life was a lot more austere. It even has that same kibbutz smell of fields and strong soap....It smells like a stone tastes, if you know what I mean by that; and this is the distinctive smell of Israel in the old days.... Fortunately, the hotel is not expensive, has a small conference facility, great food in the Middle Eastern style, and had the rooms available, so I grabbed it. This is going to be fun. They are trying to build up their non-political clientele (of course this is the liberal place to be but that's too narrow a market) so they like the idea of inviting a variety of bunny huggers and spreading the word that they are available. My European partners strongly emphasized that they wante to stay here; the political orientation of the village is exactly what they want. So everyone is happy, including me. Never mind the politics, they make a great maklouba for dinner on request, and I already requested. It doesn't need to be served on a giant silver tray by veiled dancing girls (although that would be a nice touch). Hey, we have French and Italians coming; think I'm going to serve them kosher spaghetti? Forget it, we're going to do our meals Middle Eastern style....and our nums are as good as theirs, as I know from personal sampling. (Well if you know me you will not be surprised if the menu is ready before the lecture schedule.) So I'm now busy and rather happy, chasing around like a sheepdog keeping this project on track. I think this is my legacy project, the one I leave behind for others to continue when I retire, so it better be good. My vibes tell me it is good, too. shabbat shalom, Linda |
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