let's get acquainted with....jordan

Amidst the madness of packing, I decided to take a minute and acquaint all of you with Jordan. Not that I don't have full faith in you all to know where it is etc., but I went to the bank on three separate occasions last week and on all three, when asking for Jordanian dinars (CDN 1.00 = JOD 0.600), the conversation went like this:

ME: "what is the exchange rate for Jordanian dinars?"
TELLER: "hmmm, Jordanian dinars...it looks like about 0.6...where are they from?"
ME: (incredulous pause) "Jordan"
TELLER: "Great! Where is that?"
ME: (another pause) "The Middle East"
TELLER: "Fantastic! Are you visiting family there?"

Sigh. Not that I couldn't be from Jordan but, people, look at my face: I have the map of Eire written all over it. Sheesh.

Fast facts (all info taken from Lonely Planet _Jordan_ 2006. Map from: www.lonelyplanet.com):

• Land area: 96,188 sq km
• Population: 5,759,000 (July 2005)
• Human Development index: ranked 90th out of 170 of world's countries (Egypt: 120th; Syria: 106th; Palestinian Territories: 102nd; Israel: 22nd)
• Religion: 80% Sunni Muslim, 15% Shi'a Muslim, 5% Christian
• Only 4.5% of Jordan's land is cultivated
• Around 1.7 million Palestinians live in Jordan
• The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth at 408m below sea level
• Over 80% of Jordan is desert, and 95% of Jordanians live in the remaining 20% of land
• Jordan has just 140 cu metres of renewable water per capita per year, compared to UK's 1500, Israel's 340, and the Palestine Authority's 70. Jordan's figure is expected to fall to 90 cu by 2025. Anything under 500 cu metres is considered to be scarcity of water

For a basis of where to locate me on the map (above) I'll be living and working in the town of Madaba. Madaba has a population of 50,000 and is best known for its Byzantine mosaics, which are absolutely incredible. There is also a mosaic school there, for students to learn the production of, and conservation of, mosaics using little pieces of tile called tesserae. The region around Madaba has been occupied for around 4500 years, and is thought to be mentioned in the Bible as Medeba. It's also mentioned on the famous Mesha stele, raised in about 850 BC by the Moabite king Mesha, to commemorate his victory over the Israelites.

Enjoy, and stay posted. The next post should be coming from somewhere in the Moabite desert...

graduate school: "frauds...assholes...& self-medication"

I just read an article in the May 15, 2007 edition of The Tyee, and I strongly recommend it for all you, faithful readers and friends, who are currently in grad school, or are currently contemplating grad school. Heck, I even recommend it for those of you who have finished grad school and, like myself, are left wondering, "was it worth it? Am I better off now, with an MA/PhD than I was with a BA?"


Now, I know that a large part of deciding to go to grad school is based upon the actual field you are in, or planning on being in. For example, a future doctor must go to grad/medical school, a future lawyer must go to law school, and a future archaeologist must go to...?

Most aspiring archaeologists will find themselves up &%$# creek without a graduate degree. It really is that simple. Without an MA, unfortunately, you are not qualified to teach, you can't hold permits for ocntract work and consulting (at least in BC, though I know that most of the US and parts of Europe have the same regualtions), and you are left vitrually without any chance to specialize.

Unlike the MDs and lawyers of the world, however, an MA in archaeology is still not nearly as specific as other fields requiring "higher degrees of learning." I can honestly say that most of what I learned of archaeology came from working in, and making mistakes in, the field. Truly. I don't think doctors get that type of grace period.

So, what does it mean? Why get the degree? I was speaking to a couple of friends of mine today, telling them about my usual lofty plans, and discussing the possibility of beginning a PhD next year. At this point, my friends (including these two I was speaking with) know that I love what I do, and do what I do solely because I love it, said, "well, you may as well just keep on going." To which I agreed and replied, "it's kind of like McDonald's: I've already got three of them, why don't I just keep on going and get the whole set?"

The reason for continuing, besides having the academic equivalent of a complete set of "Shrek the Third" collector glasses/tumblers? It allows me the relative freedom to be able to pursue my own line of research (hopefully) with a slight bit more credibility. And, I do love to teach. And, I must admit, though I won't be saving any lifes with the type of doctorate I'll have one day, I will get a kick out of being called "Doctor" while doing something stupid at a party..."hey doctor, get off that bloody table and quit stealing my gin...!" Not that I would or have done that type of thing.

On anther, slightly related note: if you want all the glory and none of the work, check out this website: http://www.fakedegrees.com/fakedegrees/samples.asp I was absolutely astounded to come across this site for creating fake degrees and diplomas. I suspected a site like this existed but, for some reason, I thought it would be harder to find.

And no, I don't condone this site and, no, I am not going to use it myself. For shame!

field logistics and preparation

There's something so necessary and hopeful in having one (or more, if you're really lucky) great thing/talent/possession/understanding that gives meaning to the other daily doldrums of life. Currently, working the rest of my year around the field season is definitely one of those things. It's worth it. Which is why, likely, there are both a lot of people who identify themselves as archaeologists but work at other jobs during the regular work day and make room in the evenings and on weekends for small excursions and research, and even more people who don't identify themselves career-wise as archaeologists, but who spend every season they can volunteering in the field, even if it is only for a few days or a couple of weeks.

Having said that, I don't want to give the impression that only working with 75% effort the rest of the time is acceptable. If you must do something - for whatever reason - choose to do it well, or what is the point?

I will be leaving in exactly two weeks and there is so much to be done before then. As always before a trip, there are last minute things to buy, Canadian dollars to be exchanged into the local currency, matters to be cleared up and put on hold for a few months, people to see, maintenance and tidying to be done, and so on. But all of these things really help to heighten the anticipation.

Field-specifically, there are lists and notes to be written and prepared, whether it is putting together a preliminary grocery list for the Madaba houses, or creating a list of house and field rules and guidelines, or putting together a mini library and extended bibliography to use in the field. So much to do logistically. It's similar to planning a May long-weekend camping trip for yourself and perhaps 6 of your friends, and then times that by 4 for people and 17 for days spent there.

But, then again, I've always enjoyed planning camping trips and outings for groups, so perhaps I have been preparing for this type of work for a long time. Oh, the interdisciplinary nature of archaeological fieldwork logistics...if only the archaeological research could be as interdisciplinary and varied in its approaches.

data gathering on the interior plateau of BC

The field season has kicked off! I just returned from a brief and relaxing trip to the Interior, where I (along with a motley crüe of people from SFU and one from NYU), spent some time measuring up housepits and mapping the site with a Total Station. Both of these things were desperately overdue at the site, and will help to make the data from the site more accessibile and consistent for other researchers. What a relief that will be!

The site itself (for those of you who have had the pleasure of visiting it) is as magical and spectacular as always. The greens are bordering on neon, and the wildflowers are out: the yellow flowers ringing the high edges of the housepits and growing within the depressions, the white flowers clinging to the north-facing slopes, and small purple flowers scattered here and there in smaller amounts. The weather was absolutely fantastic - couldn't have asked for anything better: hot sun, blowing wind, blue sky. Lovely. And, as if this picture I have tried to paint for you wasn't enough, there were three new foals there, still shaky on their gangly legs, who must have just been born within the last two weeks. It also looks like the bears are starting to come out of hibernation, likely due to the warm weather. While we didn't see any bears, we found some scat on the road in.

The data gathering proved to be fruitful and slightly futile at the same time. As often happens, the more you research, the more you realize that there are problems to be solved - it's a very circular process. And, the more I dip my toe in academia - whether through writing, researching, or teaching - the more I realize just how ugly and political it can be. It all comes back to tradeoffs.

Soon enough, these posts will be coming from the Moab desert. Stay tuned...