Welcome back everyone. Sorry for not posting this week, but it was a busy week and I didn't really have much time to write. Also, there wasn't a whole of stuff we did that I would consider "interesting" blog post material, so I thought I would just do one big post.
This week was our introduction to conservation. Starting off the week, Sunday was interesting. We spent almost the entire time in Khan es-Shawarda, a large merchant square in the Old City. We learned how to make a conservation survey by actually creating one for a specific feature of the khan. We were split into three groups of two and each given an area to analyze. I was working on one pillar of the faรงade, looking at its construction, the condition of the stones, mortar and prior conservation work, identifying hazards to the pillar, and creating a new plan of conservation that addressed all the issues with it. The exercise was just a practice, since we had very little knowledge of conservation at this point. It was meant to give us an idea of what happens before any work is done on a structure. It was very interesting to actually work with the real process of what happens, but I would have liked to have had some background information on the process before actually doing it. Being thrown into the activity without any prior knowledge about conservation made me feel uncomfortable with my work because I knew I was doing things wrong, I knew I wasn't understanding everything that was needed, and I knew that my report was inadequate and lacking. When I do things I like doing them correctly and properly, so I don't like doing something if I don't know how to do it right. I definitely learned a lot by doing the exercise, and I'm glad it was part of the program. I just wish it wasn't the very first thing related to conservation that we did.
Monday morning we finished our reports and explained them to everyone else. The rest of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were filled with lectures about conservation, cultural heritage (both physical and intangible heritage), conservation laws and international bodies that deal with conservation and cultural heritage. Tuesday afternoon we also were told a little bit about projects that past STS participants have done, to help us start thinking about what projects we wanted to do.
Yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon we had a lesson about Purim. Since half of the participants are not Jewish, we learned a little bit about the story and customs, including mishloach manot, giving gifts. Last week we picked someone's name to make a gift basket for, like a Secret Santa, or what I will call Secret Mordechai. This week we had to make a small gift basket to give to our person, and Wednesday we did the exchange. The gifts were just small things, mostly candies. It was fun doing it and seeing what people got for each other. Then we ate hamentashen and played with costumes that one of the staff brought. A good introduction to Purim before next weekend!
Today (Thursday) we had a tour of archaeology in the Western Galilee with Eliezer Stern, the chief archaeologist of the area. We drove around the area talking about archaeology of the area and going to some sites. First stop was the Cabri Springs and Olive Press park, where there is a partially reconstructed Roman olive press as well as a hidden aquifer and aqueduct from the springs that isn't open to the public. Then we went to the Yechiam Fort. It is a a Crusader tower that was expanded by the Ottomans into a fortress. It has a great view of the surrounding hills. After the fort we drove to a little path that took us to another Roman olive press and oil factory that was overgrown. Then we went to a cave in a village. I'm not allowed to say why we went to the cave, where it is or why it is special, since the information is too important, unclear, and unpublished. What I will say is that it was really, really interesting for me as an anthropologist.
Then we had lunch in a park, which also had some archaeology to explore. In the park was a small village, no more than thirty yards long, that was not excavated but above ground, and completely overgrown. It looked like how archaeological sites are presented in movies, with worked stone lying everywhere, vines and bushes covering everything, and gaping holes in the ground. The village specialized in making olive oil, with at least four different olive presses within the buildings. After exploring Olive Town we went to a kibbutz, I don't remember the name, and saw a Byzantine mosaic on the surface. Only the mosaic was left exposed after the excavations of a church were back-filled. According to Eliezer, he is going to have the mosaic covered as well since the kibbutz was not adequately taking care of it. Our last stop was a small Byzantine tomb underneath the floor of a building next to the Ghetto Fighters Museum in Lochamei haGetaot. The tomb was really small, with room for only two or three people to stand, but had nice frescoes on the walls.
This evening we went to the Theater Center for another play. It was all in Hebrew, but again I understood a good part of it. There was a video of an old, local Arab woman telling the story of her life in an interview, while an actress interacted with the audience and compared part of "her" story of escaping Europe during the Holocaust to the Arab woman's experience before, during and after the Independence War. Some of it was confusing, and I know I didn't understand a lot, especially when both the Arab woman and the actress were speaking at the same time. It was still entertaining, and I'm glad I went.
Okay, time for me to go to bed. It's time for the weekend so I get to recuperate and prepare, as we are spending all of next week in Jerusalem. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm not sure if I will have time to put up any posts until after Purim. Stay tuned!
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