a summer in Belgium

[Written July 2019]

It’s the last Tuesday in the village of Sclayn and I can’t believe it. I think back to when I first arrived at our base–how shocked I was at where and how I would be living for the next five weeks. “How could I do it?” I wondered. Thankfully, it’s not only been doable, but deeply enjoyable.

Camp life has become homey and familiar despite all the hard wooden chairs and deflated air mattresses. I will surely miss this place. I will miss the walks down to the corner store to buy chocolate and beers with my team. I will miss watching evening movies together and having family meals together twice a day. I might even miss the satisfaction of hand washing or screening a full bucket of sediment. I think I will miss my tent a lot, actually. It’s always been here to welcome me to rest in the evenings after a long day in the lab or in the cave and shield me from the hot sun, pouring rain, or freezing cold.

Archaeological excavation certainly has not been an easy experience, but it has been abundantly good. I’m grateful for every detail of it, even when it was hardest. I’ve loved the opportunity of turning 24 on this internship. The strength, comfort, and endurance I’ve been able to draw out of myself while I’ve been here when I needed it most reminds me of how capable I really am. This experience has awakened something new and mature in me, and I am curious and expectant where I’m led next because of it.