Daily Log 2. 22. 05

Today I switched up my assignments at the site. I started the day off digging in the same area I have been, but at around noon I was interested in learning something new to do, and later I would come back to my ‘area’. For the first time since we started, I emerged from the ‘pit’ and went over to the pottery area. Harriet, who is one of the scientists, was sifting through hundreds, possibly thousands of broken pottery pieces with two Thai workers. I joined the three of them in their efforts to pick out pieces of pots that were from the base or rim of a no-longer-existing pot. Removing pieces of rim and base will give the scientists an idea of exactly how many pots were being produced and used in the area around Ban Non Wat.

It was such an incredible feeling to have all of those pieces of pottery dating back 3,500 years at my fingertips. It’s as if each piece has its own history, its own story to be told. Once we went through the same batch of pieces twice, we spread all of the ‘shards’ along the table to be photographed for record keeping. Once the pieces or ‘shards’ are photographed, the rims and base pieces are placed into plastic bags which indicate what they are. The rest of the broken pottery is tossed into a HUGE pile. The pieces in the pile will later be used to fill the site back in, so they actually are never removed from site. (Only the pieces used for scientific reasons are removed.)

After tea, myself and a few other volunteers left the site to go to the Phimai Temple. The temple is an old ruin built around the 11th and 12th centuries. It’s a walled area made up of numerous stone buildings, housing various depictions of Buddha. There were tons of little rooms, and separate areas to explore and revel in the artistic beauty of the walls, ceilings, and floor. The temple was also filled with hundreds of Thai school children, probably there on a school trip. They were excited to see western people at the temple and a few of them even asked to get a picture with me!

Sadly we only had about an hour or so at the temple. An hour is definitely not enough time to take in the atmosphere, which is why going back is an absolute must. One of the things I have been looking forward to most before coming to Thailand was going into the Buddhist Temples and having a chance to feed off the incredible energy that’s found within them. I was so glad to go to the Phimai Temple and I can’t wait to explore that one more, as well as others that dot the entirety of Thailand.

Peace,

Jamie