So Close, Yet So Far

Well as of today (the 5th of May) there is exactly one month to go before I blast off, which comes as both excellent and nightmarish news. This is all rolled into one gigantic blob of reality that is currently making a beeline for my face. I seem to be living in a bi-polar twilight zone at the moment where things are happening both extremely quickly and unimaginably slowly at the same time. As the day approaches, I am finding myself getting more excited and impatient by the minute. It seems like every time I turn around to take a look at the countdown another few days have passed.

A few major things have occurred since last I wrote. First of all, the ball has been set rolling with regards to me finding a job in the UK when I get there. I have lodged my application with 'Overseas Working Holidays' and they have in turn passed it on to an organisation called 'UK Pubs'. The theory is that they will call me any day now and conduct a phone interview, making sure I am suitable for any position they may have available. It shouldn't be too much of a problem as the job revolves around customer service, and believe me when I tell you that working as the sole employee on a petrol station during peak hours is all the experience you will ever need in patience, adaptability, stress management and customer service. I should be able to come up with answers to any questions they throw my way.

Secondly, I received all the information for Mitrou a few weeks back. The pack contained an unpublished article on the excavations up to the end of 2007. I have made this my bible and have been religiously pouring over every snippet of information I can find. Reason being that the more you know when you arrive on the site the easier it is to adapt and the less you have to have explained to you. I have also been trying to find out as much information as I can on nearby and contemporary archaeological sites which should give me a good idea on what artefacts and remains we should find.

Interestingly I have also been informed that the inhabitants of Tragana (the village we are staying in) do not speak a word of English. I don't know much modern Greek except for a few basic phrases so this should definitely make life interesting. I will be trying to learn as much modern Greek as possible in the next month, and also hopefully while I am there. In the event that this fails miserably (as do most of my budding ideas), there will of course be people working at the site who will be able to act as translators, but that's not nearly as fun! We will also be at least 10 miles away from the nearest ATM and Internet connection. Never fear though, because I will still be able to update this page often, it will probably just be in weekly chunks rather than every few days.

It looks like my good friend Jasha, who has been gallivanting around the UK and Kenya for the better part of a year, may be in the neighbourhood when I arrive in Greece so we will definitely try and meet up. I seem to have inadvertently picked up a couple of spare days as the dig will only be providing accommodation for us from the 9th of June. This means I have 2 nights in Athens with which to explore the city a bit and hang out with Jasha, maybe picking up a snorkeling mask (Tragana has excellent snorkeling apparently) while I'm at it.

It is now getting to the point where I am starting to think about all the things I will miss while I am gone. Relationships have to be put on hold, I will not have the same degree of support from friends and family, no home cooking, and certainly very little spare time to just relax. While some of these things are more of an issue than others for me, I am relishing the opportunity to assert some degree of independence and also the opportunity to go on something as amazing as this trip. The important things will still be here when I get back.

Till next time (assuming I survive this years major assignment season and still have the ability to type).

Chris