August 26, 2009

Wednesday

Aug. 26, 2009

I was in the lab again today, which was a relief after yesterday. I wasn’t going to go, but they asked for volunteers and no one offered, so Andrea asked me if I wanted to go. Of course I’m not going to refuse. I just washed pottery today, so there’s not much to talk about there, but tonight was fun.

We’re actually in a small town outside of Orvieto, though still part of the “community of Orvieto”. Tonight was the first of 4 nights of their “party of the year”, where all the residents come out to dance, sing, and socialize. Tonight – or at this point last night – there was a singing/accordion playing/electric piano playing duet. The music mostly consisted of waltzes and foxtrots and other ballroom dance songs, but there were a lot of line dances (like our Electric Slide or Cotton-Eye Joe). I was able to participate in those by watching the residents, who all knew the steps, and an “older gentleman” helped me learn some of the other dances (I’m sure the really simple versions, but it was still fun). The average age for most of the night was probably somewhere in the mid-sixties. Only at about midnight did the age level drop, and that only because some of the eldest people had gone home and ¾ of the excavation team showed up. The dance floor was just across the creek from our dining hall. By then, the music had changed to almost all line dances, and then we took over and just jumped around for a while.

It was probably the best night I’ve had since I’ve been here, but I am so sore and exhausted, I know I’ll pay for it (later) in the morning. It was worth it.