Well this field school can be summed up in one word, incredible! We arrived to the Folk High School a week ago today and it was kind of rainy and cold until Tuesday, our official fist day digging. Each morning we all roll out of bed at 7am ( more like 7:20 to be honest) and get to breakfast at 7:30. We have a hearty breakfast of hard boiled eggs, ham, Jarlsberg cheese, fruit, and tea. Occasionally they have seedless bread which I can eat so I lather it up with butter and ligonberries. Words cannot actually describe how good the butter is here, it's so rich and flavorful all other butters will be sub par in comparison.
The bus picks us up around 8:30 to head to the site. It's a 40 minute drive up the coastline to an old viking harbor site. From then on we dig, dig, dig until 4pm. During the work day we have two fikas, or coffee breaks which we all look forward to and we have a lunch break at roughly 12pm. We get to pack our own lunch boxes with food provided by the school. Our very first day in the field we had some delicious smoked salmon, hardly your typical sandwiches and cold cuts kind of deal. We've found some pretty cool stuff while sifting through our square and I can't wait to get down to layer 2 and see what more there is to dig up!
When we get back to Hemse, everyone's hungry for dinner and believe me the food never fails to satisfy. We've had potato leek soup, fresh baked bread, pastas in yummy cream sauces, the list goes on. I haven't had any trouble with allergies as well so that makes me very happy. Julie has also been really happy with the service, the set aside food for her that's both vegetarian and lactose free yet still very hearty.
During the evenings people bike around town, hang out around the fire pit, or just enjoy each others company. This group is full of great, passionate people who have been amazing to get to know. We work very well together in the field and out.
On Saturday we had a bus tour around historic Gotland which concluded with a trip to Tofta beach. The water was a wee bit chilly when we first got in but it gradually warmed up. I'm thankful that today I got to sleep in this morning after a very tiring week but tomorrow I'll be back on that grind!
