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August 17, 2007

My final weeks have passed in an appropriately rich and unexpected manner. Having lost some faith not so much in the Bulgarian infrastructure but in people's willingness to abide by it, I set off for Melnik expecting the worst. Svetana, it appears, has faced similar setbacks as she juggles several digs; red tape and vacations make progress difficult at the digs.

However, as soon as I was within the confines of Svetana's family (three generations well represented) I forgot my frustrations. My favorite aspect of staying with them was the late but festive dinner each night. Produced on a coal stove, and served alongside two small cots, a table, and some improvised shelving, we ate homemade cheese and all sorts of wonderful meats. On one of her rest days, Svetana took me to Rojen Monastery, a dim and golden masterpiece. On the way back, we stopped at the house where her mother was born. We found fresh blackberries in the underbrush and pulled hazelnuts right off the trees, shucking them on the steps.

As part of her work, we met with Melnik's mayor, one of many diverse sources of funding for the local digs. Funding is generally allocated per region, and then subdivided by the administration. Each Fall Svetana oversees funding applications for several regions under the assumption that one or two of her proposals will be favored. This summer, all seven were. This good luck is also a managerial nightmare, and Svetana and I stayed up late after dinner to discuss the setbacks. Over the course of my trip, we have visited all of Svetana's local digs, past and present. Her earliest work in the area concerned  a 13th century castle at the top of one of the many sandy peaks that surrounds Melnik. Here, from 1984-1986, Svetana got her start as an assistant to the site manager. The nearby city of Sandanski, known for its restorative spring water, boasts the largest archaeological site-in-progress I have seen here. A sprawling 6th century cathedral is under excavation, resplendent with toppled marble columns and mosaics. I have also helped her prepare a new site with two other workers, clearing brush and making the first tentative holes. At the edge of one of her old sites (a 14th century church), the workers have uncovered a driveway. This evidence suggests that several other structures border the drive, and we have been clearing the area in search of such ruins.

Svetana and her mother sleep on cots in the kitchen, and her brother has made one of the guest suites his own. A smaller, second kitchen adjoins the first, and a shaded garden connects to the street. Despite the fact that she lives off of so little, I would consider pitying her to be the height of insult. In the first place, I have to admit that her family is among the most warm and close-knit than most I know. She is engrossed by her work and finds it deeply fulfilling. When the mayor drove Svetana and I through town (to be more specific, through the one cobblestone road that comprises Melnik), he rolled down the window and announced to the people sitting outside he was the new chauffer to Melnik's famous archaeologist. Finally, and I feel like a dolt to be so explicit, she wants for nothing. I, on the other hand, find myself sometimes consumed by want. But when I was in Svetana's kitchen, toasting with her brother, uncles, mother, and cousins, I, too, wanted for nothing.