Italians in Egypt

Meg has left, and we had a great time going all around Egypt. I was most impressed that we actually managed to go all the places we intended to, and that all of the relatively hair splitting timings worked out in this place where you don’t really know what time the train is coming, we hardly bought tickets before hand, and one bus definitely never showed up.

While I would love to write volumes about all the people we met, the cultural and social encounters we stumbled through, my trying to show Meg all of the diversity of Egypt- its people, classes, landscapes and history- in barely two weeks (while stuffing ourselves with as much falafel and fresh sqeezed juice as possible), the fact is that I have started work again and I just know I will not.

But on the other hand it is really great to be back in Aswan working with an Italian mission on a unique and well preserved predynastic site. Despite the fact of the non-existent monetary compensation for what I am doing, I wake up every morning (at 5:30) excited to get out into the field, work past lunch break without noticing, am only happy to go home because of too much sun and dehydration at the end of the day, and I try to do as much as I can in the evening to keep my end of the project prepared and running smoothly.

The difference this year is that right now, it is all Italian women and me. So it is all Italian, all the time. My understanding of Italian is growing quickly and I’ve stammered out my first Italian phrases like “Bon journo” and “I want to eat.” But the best bit is that Serena brought her young daughter and her mother. Serena’s Mother, Teresa, has all day at the house to make sure our lunches are properly stocked and to cook! So far she has baked a cake everyday that is waiting for us when we get back from the field. And she made pizza last night. After dinners every pan goes back to the kitchen empty. Not to mention that they must have packed their bags with a grocery store, I’ve seen them pull out prosciutto, various cheeses, biscotti, Italian sweets, chocolate bars, and I’m sure there is more…

Otherwise it is a pretty similar continuation of last year. Sayid, Fatma’s son, is a year bigger walking and talking. We have a really great (female!) inspector, an appropriate addition to our so far entirely female team. Except for Hammam who is still Hammam, but somewhat subdued b/c of Teresa’s presence in the kitchen, and Mustafa, his favorite to get into arguments with, being absent. Though Hammam still manages to find drama somewhere. He set up our toilet tent with the non-closeable door facing directly toward the excavations, and found two scorpions where he set it up, the first I have ever seen in Egypt.