Daily Log: 2. 27. 2005

Today was such a hectic day! The film crew arrived last night so today was the first day of filming. We started out at the site doing some hands on digging work and examining a few burials that were just poking through the surface. Estimating which way a body would have been laid according to the positioning of the pots in the ground is not as simple as one would think. A lot of thought has to go into this because it all depends on which direction to start digging. In the two burials we did uncover, a lot it of was a baby burial located between two stacks of pottery. The second was a burial of a young male (young meaning between the ages of 18 and 23-ish). We didn’t have time to uncover the whole body because we were doing many other things for the film crew. Some of the things we did included, actually lifting bones from a grave, that would be later analyzed, stored, then taken to the local Phimai Museum for the people of the community to come and see. I personally did not get to lift the bones. Arsen did some of this and I am somewhat relieved it was him doing it. Lifting bones requires much patience and a very careful hand. The ‘lifter’ has only one chance to do it right, so it has to be done well the first time.

Another really interesting thing that was done today at the site involved the local village kids. It was their day off from school because it’s Sunday, so there were a dozen or so kids running around. I always bring lollypops with me to work, so I passed many of them out to the kids who were so thrilled to receive them. Also, a few of the younger girls taught me a song and in exchange I taught them ‘Miss Mary Mack’ (a patty-cake game). They seemed to enjoy it a lot, and they all caught on very quickly.

It was really very hot today, as it has been the last 3 days. The temperature has been 40 degrees Celsius in the shade. Forty degrees Celsius is about 103-104 Fahrenheit. The way you determine degrees in Celsius is multiplying the temperature (40) by two, which makes 80, then adding 24 degrees, which makes 104! It is a very humid heat, which makes it just that much more uncomfortable, but frequent breaks throughout the day are essential in keeping everyone healthy and happy!

A funny thing happened at lunch today that would probably make most people cringe. Sitting on the dining table was a huge bowl, and inside that bowl was a heaping pile of fried crickets. I did not want to eat one for the fact that they were crickets and they still had their beady little eyes. But I sat at the wrong table to pass up the crickets because everyone I was sitting with forcefully talked me into having one… then two. I don’t ever remember the taste really, I was just so concentrated on the fact that I had crickets in my mouth and I could feel their scrawny little legs as I chewed them. If you aren’t grossed out by reading this, then perhaps you are the perfect candidate for eating a cricket or two. I am glad I did it but I strongly believe one experience is enough for me!

It was really nice to have the film crew at the site, and everyone had a lot of fun being apart of the filming process. The local people, the scientists, and the volunteers all had their moment in front of the lens, which really brought a different and giddy feeling to the work site! Excavating (or watching) the bones from the grave was really neat. It was almost like it was a new beginning for the dead for them to be cleaned, analyzed, and relocated to a new resting place.

Peace,
Jamie