This morning Hanan, Will, and I finally found a floor in our seemingly bottomless pit. But it was only a corner, and the rest had eroded away. For the rest of the time after breakfast, Will and I were the dirt wenches while Hanan, David, and Adam removed almost a meter of dirt out of a 5x5 square.
After lunch I jumped fully clothed in the river with Hanan, Will, and Dr. B. Sure beats washing clothes in the sink!
I took a shower, then sat on the porch with a book and Paul Simon. We had pottery washing, which was boring as usual, except for the water we splashed on each other.
I went to the guys’ cabin and we watched some old Tom Hanks movie called Nothing in Common . . . not the best cinematic experience.
We went to supper (we call it breakfast because we eat bread, eggs, and cereal basically), then went back to the guys’ cabin to watch The Wedding Singer. All of us had seen it, but we had a blast.
Well, now it’s 9:20 and time for sleep!
Tuesday, June 27
Dr. B is starting to feel sorry for our little group. He said he would buy us pizza if we found a wall. Later that changed to “a stratified feature,” then “something other than dirt,” finally, “I’ll make y’all some grilled cheese sandwiches tonight, and maybe we’ll have pizza tomorrow night.” This all reminds me of the line in Spaceballs when they’re combing the desert and the guy says, “Man, we ain’t found ****!”
Dr. B calls us the Vikings; I suppose because we’re forging ahead into rather undesirable territory! My name is Helga.
After lunch I washed a bunch of clothes in the sink, then went to the guys’ cabin. Will wanted me to help him with his maps for his course work. Instead we ended up watching a dumb 80’s movie about a robot. When that ended, we had pottery washing.
Then we went to Dr. B’s cabin for our grilled cheese sandwiches, and they were yummy!
Wednesday, June 28
Our main entertainment was the really bad puns we made, trying to make the others groan. Lots involving the words “pick” and “hole.” When Dr. B told us that a brick hadn’t been laid, Will said, “At least we know it wasn’t pregnant.” GROAN. Now when we come across a brick, we try to ascertain if it’s “pregnant” or not.
Kristi took a funny picture of Will, Hanan, and Adam lying in the hole with me standing and holding a pick-ax over them.
I was kind of disappointed that our efforts over the past week were all for basically nothing.
After lunch, we jumped in the river. I took a shower, then went to the guys’ cabin to watch a really stupid Val Kilmer movie called Top Secret. I want to rent it at home, since it’s the kind of movie that Bobby, Mom, and I love.
I started missing Mom and Dad today because Dr. B got an email that said to give me their love. Also, while we were digging, I suddenly thought of that song Dad used to sing – “There was a hole, right in the ground . . .” I haven’t thought of that song in ages!
We watched Steel Magnolias and we’re going to bed kind of late.
Thursday, June 29
We took a long swim in the river after lunch. Hanan and Will kept going under water and sneaking up on me. I took a long shower, then helped Will finish his last map. At pottery washing, there was a film crew from the BBC. They’re doing some kind of feature on archaeology in Israel, and they’ll be at the site tomorrow. How cool to be on the BBC! While we were sorting the pottery, Ami sat with us for a little while, and remarked that so far, the best finds have come from our section, B2. We are pretty proud, especially considering that they’re going to close B2 after this season.
8:45. We just got back from the pizza place, and it was good! I ate a tuna pizza – delicious, even though I wrinkled my nose at the idea of it. Outside was an Israeli dance club, so we got to hear NSync and Britney to our hearts’ delight.
Each day we get more and more discouraged as we dig our hole to China. David said, “I bet this is the retard area, and they’re up there laughing at us.” It sure seems like it – we’re just moving dirt. We went down almost six feet.
Today was probably our last day in the pit. We found . . . nothing. Jo found a handle with a seal imprint on it. We had to clean the site really well this morning because they photographed it. Jenny and I got to pose in the picture because we had on colored shirts. By luck, this was the first day I took my camera out there – perfect.
Mom and Dad always tried to tell us that life isn’t fair. This morning Dalit split up the Vikings on other jobs, even though Dr. B thought our hole was getting to something. One of the assistants, Jim, went in to do the final clean-up; he found a figurine and a mud-brick wall. Will, Hanan, and I just looked at each other as Ami, Dalit, and the photographer crowded into the pit. I think Dr. B felt our pain – he gave us a look of sympathy. Anyway, now that Dr. B’s hunch has been backed up, the Vikings go back into the pit tomorrow. And tonight, he’s taking us out and treating us to pizza in Beth Shean.
