Hello everyone. This is Adam Ellis. I am a junior at MSU Denver studying archaeology with a minor focus in religious studies and geographic information systems. This adventure to Cyprus for the dig at Vigla will be my first foray into an archaeology field school and I was super excited to have the chance to do it abroad, not just for the experience and quality of the project, but as a return to traveling that the COVID pandemic put a stop to.

I am one of those non-traditional students, as I am 36-years-old and spent the past 13 years working in public safety jobs (think 911 dispatch and ambulance services). It is actually pretty invigorating to be out here working with much younger undergraduates from MSU Denver, Reed College, and Boston University. They are all really ‘good eggs’ and I wish I was half as eager and motivated in my early twenties as they are now. They give me hope for the future and a healthy dose of excitable energy.

I began this journey early with a few days stay in Athens where I took in the sites and culture, before meeting Professor Justin Stephens of MSU Denver shortly after he landed. He took the opportunity to buy me dinner for my birthday and the following day we rushed through numerous museums and a few historical sites before we boarded a flight in the evening for Cyprus. On the first full day in Cyprus, I joined the three Professors along with fellow student Olivia to see how the sausage was made. There was a meeting with the staff of the military base to discuss schedule and regulation regarding when we could and could not dig, as our site was on the periphery of various military shooting ranges. Though I had nothing to contribute to the meeting, I did see firsthand the complexity and somewhat unpredictable nature that makes up the character of the Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project. If you cannot adapt to the fluidity of the process, then work will be much more challenging. But as a local Cypriot named George came to tell me several times during a long conversation I shared with him under palm trees in the backyard of his business, “This is life. This is Cyprus.”

Until next time…

-Adam Ellis