Day 1: Our first day started off with a bang! First, most of us woke up at 7:45-ish and then went to breakfast. After breakfast, we were picked up by the van for our dig site. When we arrived, we were familiarized with the site and its history. The oldest part of the site was a Roman military fortress built to protect it from pirates. They had tower locations with underground chambers. In later centuries, it became a farm. They used it to ferment and prepare a special type of fish. Later, it was turned into a villa where we could still see the evidence of a pool and the household layout. Finally, the site was turned into a type of church. They know this because there was a room full of coins and a lamp with Jesus’s name in Greek on it. There was also a grave in a nearby room, possibly of a priest. 

Then, we began cleaning leaves and dirt across a section of the site. The site is near the ocean, so during our break, we walked down to it. Sadly, we couldn’t swim, but it was still pretty. The leaf and dirt cleaning took the entire time because there were a lot of leaves and dirt. We were cleaning the dirt because they needed help preserving the site so it wouldn’t be damaged during the fall and winter. Then at 4, we retired to the resort for our daily free time. When we returned for leisure, we went to our rooms to change and then enjoyed our time off. We went to the pool, played soccer, and chilled with gelato. At dinner, we had some bread with olive oil. For the main course, we had Alfredo pasta with beef and potatoes. We will be well rested for a hardworking day tomorrow.

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Day 2: During this delightful day in Tuscany, we woke up and had breakfast. Yum! After we went and discovered more artifacts of the ancient Etruscan society on the coast of the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. And we also completed extensive, labor-intensive yard work to help the archaeologists uncover new insights into the ancient world. We also learned more Italian from the local people. 

After spending numerous hours hard at work, we returned to the base of operations. Then we dueled in an intense match of fútbol (soccer for Americans), which ended with a penalty shootout. After we indulged in a scrumptious, culturally intense meal to finish our day. Then we all said goodnight to each other and went to sleep.

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Day 3: Today in Tuscany, we woke up and had the same breakfast as we had had the past few days: eggs with bacon. After breakfast, the group went to the site. Our task for today was to clear out two mystery rooms. They were mystery rooms because the archaeologists have not found any clear clues or artifacts that would allow them to reach any conclusions about what the room was actually used for. After we cleared out most of the rooms, the group got very hot and sweaty from being out in the sun all day, so we moved on to a different part of the archaeological project: cleaning pots and other pottery the Etruscans used many years ago. To clean the pottery and other artifacts, the group used buckets of water and toothbrushes to methodically scrub away dirt and grime from the fragments. 

Once we got back from a dig, some members of the group returned to the town outside the resort, where we bought more food and other goodies for late-night snacks. After our free time, the group returned to the restaurant for dinner. We had not had it yet; it was spaghetti Bolognese with french fries and quiche. After that, we had our daily meeting.The group is very excited about Mr. Clothier's arrival, and we cannot wait to visit the site for the first time tomorrow. See you tomorrow.

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Day 4: On the fourth day of our wonderful trip, we worked again! The first thing we did was finish the two rooms that we started yesterday. Then we had our long-awaited coffee and cake break. We continued to work on those rooms afterward. Once we were wrapping up those two rooms, some of us started trimming the bushes to clear a path on the side of those rooms. We worked slowly and effectively so the rooms would look incredible. Then some of us started to get a little tired, so we were very grateful when lunch came around. After our great lunch, we moved to another spot outside the wall, cleaning and dusting the wall and floor before heading down. Then we returned to the resort for our daily soccer game, where Nick scored, and we had pizza and gelato for dinner and dessert.

Day 5: On Day 5 of our Tuscany excavation site, we started the day by cleaning the topsoil to expose the collapsed remains of a fallen wall. We primarily used brushes, clippers, and dustpans to carefully clean up the area. After our daily coffee break, we worked a bit more to ensure we met our daily goal. After lunch, we packed up and headed to Castello di Populonia, a castle that houses a museum of Etruscan history. In the museum, we learned about how Populonia’s ruins were originally discovered and the process of their excavation. The museum featured a large collection of Etruscan pottery, copper artifacts, and a model of how artifacts were recovered from the nearby bay. After leaving the museum, we made our way to the preserved tower and original castle walls. There we got to see an amazing view of the Italian coast and surrounding mountains. We also climbed to the top of the tower and got to yell out our own war cry, “Tung Tung Tung Sahur.” For the next forty minutes, we got to explore the full castle, buy souvenirs, and have gelato. We head back to our resort to have dinner and write thank-you letters to our two favorite guides.

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Day 6: Today, on our final day of this excursion and service dig, we visited ancient Etruscan burial grounds. We were able to enter an amazingly large Etruscan tomb, along with many smaller yet still house-sized tombs, all built around the 6th and 7th centuries BCE. We were shown three different tomb styles that were all present during this time. We learned that the place where they were found was being excavated during World War 2 because of the tons of iron slag left by the Etruscans. Because of this, the roof of the large but still claustrophobic tomb had been reconstructed. In two of the smaller tombs, paintings were found. This was very atypical of the Etruscans. Grant was very excited to learn that in one of the tombs, a statue of an ancient Etruscan discus thrower was found. Last bit on the tombs, but in one of the looted tombs, a miniature statue of Ajax was found. We were told that the Ajax piece was likely part of a much larger scene that told his entire myth. We then hiked back to the car after a quick stop for paninis to grab our lunches and head to the beach for a swim. Lastly, to finish off the day, we gave cards to both of our guides, thanking them for all the work they did on our trip, and said our goodbyes.