By: Jackson Warner

Before you decide to come to Cyprus or even after you head to Cyprus, you might be asking yourself what a common day at the dig site will be like. You might want to know how to prepare yourself for the work at the dig site. In this blog, I will be telling you everything you will need to know and tell you what you will need to prepare for when you come to the dig site.

This is your guide to a typical day at the dig site.

Digging itself will be tough work; one thing that isn’t in the Survival Guide to buy are knee pads. I would highly advise investing in knee pads. Oftentimes, you will be working while on your knees, and knee pads are extremely helpful. Like the advice in the Survival Guide, even though it gets hot, pants and long sleeves are needed to protect you from the sun, and all you should need is sunscreen for your face. 

            A common dig site day will generally be a 5am to 12 am dig. This will mean you will want to wake up at 4am generally, but you can push the time if it doesn’t take you very long to get ready in the morning. You will need to be at the parking lot, where the vans are parked, which is a short two-minute walk from the hotel you are staying at, by the latest 4:55 am. My advice would be that it is not worth it to take a shower before you dig, even if it helps you wake up, as you will be getting plenty dirty during your dig days. On dig days in the morning, you will go to Zorbas Bakery before you head up to the site. Zorbas has a very wide option of food and drinks, so if you have forgotten to pack a lunch/second breakfast, it is a great place to pick up food, or if you prefer not to make your own lunches/second breakfasts, it is a good place to get something as the food there is cheap. You will want something to eat on site. Typically, you will get to the site at 5:30 am, and you will grab your supplies and set up the tents before getting in your EU (excavation unit). 

            Next, you will be digging until 7am in your trench until there is a 15-minute water break. The mornings are generally pretty nice as the sun isn’t out yet, and sometimes, there is a nice breeze coming in from the ocean. After your 15-minute water break, you will be digging again until 9 or 9:30, and that will be your 30-minute lunch break. After your lunch break is when the sun starts to hit, and it can get quite hot, but at that point, you are only working for about another two hours until 11:30 or 12, and then you will begin cleanup. Then, after cleanup, you head back to the hotel, and you will have the rest of the day to do whatever you want to do!