Life here has been busy!

We have almost finished phasing our insula, which is pretty exciting. We have spent a lot of time staring at rocks and walls, but it has been completely worth it. You know you're with a group of archaeologists when everyone gets excited about the construction materials in walls instead of paintings when walking around on a day off.

Our specialists have been giving us lessons on things like sorting ancient glass, drawing diagnostic pottery, and bones. As much as I love to draw, drawing pottery is a very tedious and monotonous task that I will not miss when we finish. Right now, I might even take flot over pot, its a toss up.

We went to Caserta on our day off Wednesday. The villa was the home of Charles VII in the 16th century and is home to some of the most incredible Baroque painting I have ever seen. Every room was even more beautiful and exciting than the one before it. It's known as the Versailles of Italy and completely lives up to its reputation. Even the gardens were magnificent. There is a half mile (estimated) fountain that runs along a path leading to a giant sculptural fountain/waterfall at the top. And the English gardens were inspired by Pompeian architecture, so everyone got a kick out of that. Today, we visited Capodimonte where we got to walk through some fantastic Renaissance and Baroque galleries (saw Titian's Danae, Gentilleschi, Ribera, Carracci, etc) Of course that made me a very happy panda. I LOVE BAROQUE PAINTING!!!!! Afterward, we explored Naples and had drinks on the coast.

We had a very exciting pick pocket experience on the Naples bus though. We are always on the look out for pick pocketers, and Steph, being the best people watcher that she is, spotted a group get on while we were on our way back to the train station. They get on at both entrances and work together to choose people. Steph caught one reaching in a guys pocket and tried to tell him what they were up to. Unfortunately they made off when a guys wallet when they got off the bus after they were called out, but it was quite an experience. If you are ever in Naples, watch out!

I had another run in with the ants this week. I woke up to a colony in one of the corners of my tent that had a super ant highway running to the other corners. It was disgusting. Luckily they are all out for the time being, but my tolerance for ants is shot.

Thursday night we got to go to a local football match!! The guys who work at the bar/cafe we eat at everyday invited us to the final match for their team, and they won!! It was a memorial tournament for one of the guys sons, so everyone got a medal and celebrated. It was very cool. The guys gave me a jersey for their team for the memorial tournament, which just about made me cry. They felt bad that I didn't have a jersey from last year. They are all too incredibly nice and generous. We are all becoming a fun sort of family.