Thracian Rain

There is nothing that can compare to the afternoon deluge of a Thracian rain.


Let's think about that for a second.

Actually, there are a lot of things that can compare... but currently this is the wonderful afternoon surprise that I have had to deal with everyday.

I wish there was some way to convey to you all about the bizarre “autumn” weather that Varna has been experiencing this year during the summer. Everyday is hot (~94˚) and humid (~ 53% today for example). At exactly three o’clock the thunderheads roll in from the south and forcefully release their contents on top of our lives. It always catches us off guard. Apparently this is abnormal and identical to what their autumn consists of. Naturally I always wish for the daily rain to arrive early. That way there would be at least some way of cooling down and escaping the ‘mouth of the sun’ that is the excavation site.

I am very grateful that it is the end of the week. Throughout this week my body has been torn apart and slowly rebuilt to endure the hard labor. Today I was no longer sore but the heat was constantly sapping my energy. If I stood for too long, I would become very tempted to slip into the surrounding woods and take a nap. The only way to keep alert and useful was to be active through shoveling/pick axing/trowel/or using the spade all while singing blurbs of the latest song stuck in my head.

Since the beginning of the week my team has made substantial progress. Three others and myself have neatly dug about 2ft down in an area of about 6’ x 30’. Most of the finds have been blessings because there are a whole slew of people that need to be notified and paperwork to be filled once something has been unearthed. Though it is a wonderful moment, I’m not going to lie - this usually buys us a little time jump in the shade and take a breather and quaff your second 2 liter bottle of water for the morning. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to not have any findings. I might start having nightmares about that.

“M6” is the official designation of my square on the master grid of the site and it has been dubbed “the most interesting square” because there are new finds being surfaced practically on the hour. No gold yet, but if there is anywhere in the world to find lavish metals of astronomical worth it would be here (I’ll talk about that more a little later on another entry).

We have found mostly pieces of amphora, decorative marble, pottery shards, Roman roof tile and giant ‘dolia’, which were used to store grains (or treasures if the invaders were on the horizon). The funny thing is, the site director believes that my little team and I have found the wine/grain storage room. How appropriate. Of course the Napa’n would shave a couple feet of dirt off the ground and find the wine cellar right away. Ha.

In the meantime, I must put on some of my fancy togs. It’s Friday and I am in Bulgaria.


Until Sunday, Наздраве [Cheers]!