Finally the internet is working and I can do a quick update!

Below are two pictures of the chamber burial found at our site.  From the detailed photo you can see more ceramics and that there are more than one skeleton present.  

Here a couple of us are working on another burial.  It's a poor burial (we know this due to the lack of grave goods) and belongs to a woman that we lovingly named Agatha.  

Amazingly here cranium was almost completely intact which is extremely rare!  Usually they are already crushed by the time we get to them.

Some new friends

Posing with our invaluable workmen.  Without them, we would hardly be able to get as much work done.

This is just an update to tell everyone that I will not be attempting to thoroughly update this blog from here on out.  The internet here has become completely unreliable and a nuisance to deal with.  Therefore, I will only be doing minimal updates until I return home.  So sorry!

I'm almost done with an amazing Sunday.  Below are two pictures from last night.  One of our police guards from the hotel made our dinner by digging a hole, putting rocks inside of it, setting it on fire and then putting the food in.  I'm told this is similar to luaus?  But it's like an underground oven or grill.

This is the table of crazy people I usually sit with.  I have met so many interesting folks on this trip.

Here I stand in front of the amazing Sipan museum, shaped like a huaca.  You enter from the top and work your way down about four floors.  I was so overwhelmed that at times I got tears in my eyes (the same thing happened when I saw Da Vinci's Last Supper).

Following the museum we stopped at an American style mall for some food and shopping...

...and of course Starbucks.

Hooray for the weekend!  I can't believe that my second week is almost over.  We have been doing a mixture of things in our sections which include: shoveling, sweeping, brushing, emphasizing features, photographing and mapping.  Then we repeat the process.  After a long week of working there is nothing like celebrating with Beer Fridays :)

Here I am posing with my new friend Elisa who goes to school in Illinois (which actually means I might get to see her after the field school is over).

Checking for bugs LOL

It's tradition to drink with the workers at the site of San Hose de Moro on Fridays.  But as the sun goes down the bugs come out, so we have to be careful with our precious beverages.

On Saturdays we eat lunch at Los Patos which has amazing Peruvian food such as...

I have to ask my friend what this was, but basically it's fried sea food

Notice how the sauces are served in shells!

 and Tacu Tacu-rice and eggs of course and fried plantains (my fave)

followed by some play time in the area next to the restaurant

Here are some international students (looks like a pretty happy fella)

Yay!  Feeling better and back in the field!

The new chamber burial

The area we have been excavating

A closer look-we mapped this area

I stayed at the hotel today...wasn't feeling too good :(  Tomorrow I should be back in the field though.  I can't wait to be feeling better and doing productive things again.  It already seems like this trip is zooming by and before I know it I will be back home.

Lazy Sunday afternoons (a.k.a siesta) :)  Our head archaeologist Luis Jaime Castillo, a force to be reckoned with, can't even resist.

The site of Pacatnamu...

...and the first time seeing the Pacific Ocean

Visiting Dos Cabezas...

...and the head archaeologist Steve Bourget! (also an art historian who studies and writes about Moche ceramics and iconography)

A lovely church at Pacasmayos

Please note this beautiful huaca in sector I on Cero Chepen!  You can see the multiple levels that were uncovered, creating a platform for the 'lord' to sit or stand on.

Proof that I was really there ;)

This close-up shows the ramp (seen on the left leading up to the top platform), possibly where the leader would enter from.  Also note the beautiful vista beyond the platform!  It's not hard to tell why they picked this location.

This is just a look at our lab located in the hotel.  Today I got to sit and label ceramic sherds. Above is just one of the beautiful, larger and more detailed pieces that I got to handle.  I can't believe that I'm almost through my first full week of field school!   

So today I had to stay at the hotel instead of going out in the field, due to some unfortunate intestinal issues :(  I thought I would take a moment though, to write a short story during my lunch break.  Last year, on my trip to Italy, my flight arrived late and I lost my baggage.  Because I was late, my transportation was no longer at the airport and I did not have a phone that worked internationally, nor know how to use the foreign pay phones to contact anyone.  I was all alone, upset, and didn't know what to do.  Thankfully, a very nice girl my age, who had also lost her luggage, said that she could help.  The person assigned to pick her up from the airport, as well as another group of students, was Italian and was able to call for my ride/save the day.  The reason I find this story relevant is because after talking a little with the girl I came to find out that she was going on an archaeological dig outside of Florence.  I believe that if my life was a book, the term used to describe this event would be foreshadowing.    

Sorry about my delay in updates about the trip!  The internet here is not the most reliable thing, but we are lucky to have internet at all, so I’m not too upset. 

After arriving at the hotel at 2:30am, we gathered our bright, shiny faces (not really lol) into the bus for our tour around PUCP and Lima.  

The school that graciously welcomed us to the field program gave us a welcome lunch, a t-shirt, draw-string backpack, and other materials about the Moche.  From here we left for a 10 hour, overnight bus ride to Chepen…  

…but not before trying the famed Inca Kola!  A delicious beverage similar to cream soda—totally amazing and totally addicting.  

Our snazzy digs at the hotel J  According to others, my roommate Anne and I have one of the best rooms (only 2 occupants as opposed to 4-6 occupants, real-not straw-mattresses with bedding, and a TV with a few working channels).  Yep, that’s right, we are living in the lap of luxury! 

Next to come: pictures from the two excavation locations!