Sunrise
5:00am - The morning call to prayer echoes out across the rural village of Peyniryemez, rousing us from our sleep.
Preparation
5:30am - Tools and water bottles in hand, we ride, in style, the short distance to the site.
Assignments
6:00am - While the shadows are still long, supervisors go to their trenches and students receive their daily, rotating assignments.
Early Morning Work
6:00-9:00am - We pick up where we left off the day before, toiling away in the cool morning air.
"2nd Breakfast"
9:00-9:30am - Paydos rings out across the mound! Sadık has arrived with 2nd breakfast. We break under the tent and enjoy a well-earned cup of çay.
Late Morning Work
9:30am-12:45pm - Returning to the trenches, we notice that the weather has changed. On some days the late morning becomes still and hot under the unforgiving sun, but on other days ominous clouds and strong winds gust unchecked across the Anatolian plateau. On these days the dust flies, and it is best to dress appropriately.
To the Dig House
12:45-1:15pm - A dust cloud on the road signals us that Sadık is coming to pick us up. We pack up the van and return through Peyniryemez.
Lunch & Rest
1:15-4:30pm - Worn out by the labor and the heat of the day, we have earned a delicious lunch prepared by Sadı Hanım. We then shower off the dust and relax in the shadow of the portico or in our cool rooms.
Lab Hours
4:30-7:30pm - Rejuvenated, we enter the old school building and begin "lab work," a catch-all term covering everything from database entry to sherd drawing.
Rush Hour
7:00pm - Like clockwork, at 7:00, the cows come home.
Dinner
7:30pm - Yemek! We pull ourselves away from the tasks at hand and sit down to a relaxing Turkish meal among friends and colleagues. The day's finds are discussed as the sun dips below the horizon.
Bedtime
9:00pm - A sea of stars appear overhead, unobstructed by city lights or atmospheric pollution. Few see the spectacle for long, though, as a filling meal and a hard day's work are enough to knock out all but the most determined workaholics. The Turks quietly chat into the night as we drift off in our comfortable beds to thoughts of the new day ahead.
