Friday, August 26, 2022

Field School at Ancient Eleon resumes in 2022

Photo 1. The EBAP 2022 team gathered in our home garden in Dilesi

One of the priorities of the Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project, (EBAP) since our work began in 2007, is to give students, especially ones from Canada, the opportunity to learn about Greece’s past through archaeological fieldwork. Many of our students begin their undergraduate degrees saying they 'love mythology', and that they are fascinated by the ancient world in film, television, and video games. Students come to see that our area of study is multi-disciplinary, the questions we ask are relevant today, and that our methods have wide applicability in the modern world.

One of the best ways to engage students in the ancient world is to offer experiential learning opportunities. Beginning in 2007, the Field-School Program (GRS 495) has been offered through the Department of Greek and Roman Studies at the University of Victoria as a key element of the Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project (EBAP). This is a synergasia (collaboration) project of the Canadian Institute in Greece, co-directed by Brendan Burke and Bryan Burns (Wellesley College) under the directorship of Alexandra Charami (Ephorate of Antiquities of Boeotia). In 2022, we were a team of 25 students and scholars focused on survey and study, based in the town of Arma (photo 1).

Photo 2. Van Damme orients students in the settlement zone of ancient Eleon

The team included our largest group of undergraduates in several years, most enrolled in GRS 495 taught by Dr. Trevor Van Damme, also from the Department of Greek and Roman Studies at the University of Victoria (photo 2)

Photo 3. It’s an early start to the day in Dilesi

As usual, our team assembled in Dilesi, on the Euboean Gulf, at the end of May. (photo 3) After orientation and a group dinner by the sea, we began in earnest on-site Monday morning May 30, 2022. There are many parts to a successful field school but probably the most important factor is communication and organization, so that everyone knows when to show up and what they are expected to do. Our team of student volunteers and graduate student leaders were effective, and everyone got a chance to participate in all the various aspects of the project. As they engage with the scientific questions that inform our research and reflect on their own contributions, students write blog posts on our project website that explain aspects of life on the EBAP team and place the site of Eleon within its wider Boeotian context.

Photo 4. Cleaning a wall already exposed at surface levels

Our project this year had several components – the cataloging, photography, and study of previously excavated finds in our apothiki, cleaning work at the excavation site which had been covered since 2018 in preparation for further documentation by the Digital Eleon team led by Jordan Tynes, geophysical survey on the acropolis and in the lower town, and architectural cleaning and survey around the acropolis (photo 4).

Photo 5. Schoolchildren of Arma gathered below ancient Eleon

Our work in the fields surrounding the established archaeological site was welcomed and assisted by numerous land-owners and the village of Arma. We’re grateful to the support we’ve received from the community over the many years of our work. This year we were delighted to receive an invitation to speak to the village schoolchildren near the site in June (photo 5).

Photo 6. Introduction to Boeotian ceramics in the apothiki
In the apothiki, ceramics and osteological material collected from the survey in 2007-2009 and excavations from 2011-2018 were the primary focus of study (photo 6). Our conservator, Nefeli Theocharous was also based there and taught the students some aspects of archaeological conservation.
Photo 7. Lifting the protective coverings from the excavated areas

At the excavation site, we lifted the protective tarps for the first time in two years, swept and cleaned the surfaces and walls in preparation for the creation of a new, more detailed, 3-D site model (photo 7). Students had the opportunity to wash and record ceramic finds that had eroded from the excavation scarps over the last two years and learn how to identify various categories of ceramic finds. Students learned how important it was to properly record where something is found and how to care for it. Once the site was cleaned with careful sweeping and the removal of weeds, (photo 8) a project of photogrammetry took place so that all the architectural features could be recorded fully for a new, forthcoming digital model. Our technology has improved over the last several years, with better drones, cameras, and software (not to mention our own expertise!).

Photo 8. Eleon’s NW complex, after 10 years of excavation and maintenance

Exploration below the acropolis of ancient Eleon was a return to work begun in our first year of the EBAP survey, in 2007. Back then, open fields and olive orchards were systematically walked, and the material found on the surface was collected. We wanted to return to the area because during the field walking, cut stone blocks, sometimes adjoining one another, forming wall fragments, were recorded. The overgrowth and centuries of agricultural work had obscured what we revealed this year to be a large stretch of fortification wall interspersed with at least four towers (photo 9). By the end of the season, we were able to trace the course of this wall through geophysical prospection and surface survey along the west and south of the ancient acropolis. Our students were excellent workers, clearing the tall grass and accumulated soil fill to record the structures for the first time. In parallel, our team of ceramic experts including Charlie Kocurek, a PhD candidate at the University of Cincinnati, restudied ceramic finds from the lower town defined by this wall in the EBAP survey in preparation for their final publication.

Photo 9. Significant architecture was uncovered beneath the tall grass

In tandem with the architectural survey, our geophysical team, led by Dr. Nicholas Herrmann of Texas State University, conducted GPR (ground penetrating radar) and geomagnetometry survey above the plowed fields and over the course of the fortification walls. This work is non-intrusive and provides a good picture of subsurface remains.

Photo 10. The most impressive section of ancient Eleon’s polygonal walls

Our excavation work on the elevated plateau of Eleon has revealed fascinating evidence for the history of the site from the early through late Mycenaean periods (1700-1100 BCE). The large polygonal wall which has been an iconic feature of the site has been dated by us to the late Archaic period, (photo 10) but it always stood somewhat in isolation since we did not find other stretches of this well-made masonry. Now, with the geophysical survey and the architectural study of the walls down below the acropolis, we suggest that ancient Eleon during the Archaic-Classical periods has an interesting story to tell, one that we hope to continue to reveal next year and beyond.

Brendan Burke, University of Victoria, co-director, EBAP

Friday, August 19, 2022

The Bays of East Attica Regional Survey (BEARS) 2022 Season: Snouts to the Grindstone

The Bay of Porto Rafti as seen from the north (Photo: Melanie Godsey)

Faithful readers of the CIG blog might remember previous posts about the 2019 and 2021 seasons from the Bays of East Attica Regional Survey team. Since our little pilot season inaugurated the project four summers ago, we’ve been doing our best to press forward with a systematic investigation of archaeological surface remains around the bay of Porto Rafti in Attica. The project aims to answer three discrete research questions about the history of the bay that we formulated based on previous archaeological fieldwork in the area. These research questions concern aspects of the regional Early Bronze Age maritime economy, post-palatial Mycenaean settlement history, and the organization of Archaic/Classical Attic demes. We’ve also been turning up a lot of exciting material from other periods that haven’t been much discussed in scholarship on the history of Porto Rafti, especially the later phases of the Roman Empire.

Map of the research area

In pursuit of answering our primary research questions, we spent most of the 2019 and 2021 seasons conducting gridded collection on sites in the bay with extraordinarily dense and rich surface assemblages. These sites are located on the islands of Raftis and Praso and the peninsulas of Pounta and Koroni. In 2022, the last of our the three planned field seasons, we hoped to augment the information we obtained from those gridded collections by casting a broader net of survey units around the town of Porto Rafti. Although most of the territory surrounding the bay is covered in modern development, we hoped to drop intensive survey units around the town wherever possible, so we might get a glimpse of the remaining evidence for human activity to the south, west, and north of the bay’s shores. We also needed to finish our survey of the islands in the bay, including the remaining grid squares on Raftis island (about 50% remained unsurveyed after the 2019 season) and the islets of Raftopoula and Koroni. Finally, since the extensive architectural remains on the Koroni peninsula had never been thoroughly mapped and documented using modern methods, we hoped to conduct a systematic study of the many walls and complexes atop the mighty citadel.

The early summer sun rises on the BEARS 2022 season (Photo: Taylor Stark)

One of the fun parts of the 2022 season was that – finally! – we had quite a lot of work that did not involve gridded collection of dense surface scatters, so the team got to experience a range of different field methods. In 2019 and 2021, most team members spent the majority of their time in the field time poring over and collecting material from very dense assemblages in 20×20 meter grid squares, then working together with their team-mates processing collected material – counting and weighing tile, sorting out which of the dozens or hundreds of diagnostic pieces should be selected out for collection, etc.

Mel and Rob with a large bag of well-preserved diagnostic sherds, Raftis style, in a 2022 grid square (Photo: Shannon Dunn)

This sort of work was appropriate to the kinds of deposits we were encountering in the bay, but it is very different from the typical daily routine of a Mediterranean survey, which involves walking larger survey units in regular tracts, moving around the landscape rather broadly, and often spending quite a lot of time finding very little material at all. We were excited to be able to provide a broader range of training in survey methods for our students during the 2022 season, including experience walking 300+ regular intensive survey units. Our typical daily schedule this year spread personnel over three field teams, plus a group working in the museum to process and analyze finds. One of the field teams surveyed intensive units throughout the town of Porto Rafti – targeting fields and open spaces in and amongst the coffee shops and vacation homes.

Surveying a unit in the town of Porto Rafti (Photo: Rob Stephan)

The second team spent their time on the Koroni Acropolis learning how to identify, analyze, map, and photograph architectural remains. Of course, it wouldn’t be the BEARS project without at least some gridded collection on extraordinarily rich sites...and, indeed, the third field team spent most of the season working in grid squares on Raftis and Raftopoula islands, with one day devoted to a brief extensive survey of Koroni islet.

The architecture team at work on Koroni (Photo: Elliott Fuller)

Although our methods were a bit more varied this summer, one aspect of the survey that remained the same as past seasons was that we ended up with a bevy of interesting finds! The survey of the town turned many small sites spread around the basin of Porto Rafti’s bay, including pockets of Late Bronze Age pottery, plenty of fancy Archaic, Classical Hellenistic black glazed material, a few tantalizing pieces of possible Early Iron Age material, and even burnt roof tiles to match the tile ‘wasters’ we documented on Praso in 2021. The architecture team on Koroni made many original observations about possible phasing and reuse of the walls on Koroni, generally thought to be all datable to a single period. Collection on Raftis continued generating large quantities of diagnostic material. The part of the island we surveyed this year produced almost exclusively LH IIIC finds. Since we’d already collected material from about half the island, we weren’t expecting many surprises. However, the team encountered many new types of finds that had not come to light in the 2019 campaign – pictorial Mycenaean sherds, worked pumice tools, a polished serpentenite axe, a rare type of ceramic candle-holder, Minoan-style loomweights – alongside more of the same kinds of artifacts that made the 2019 assemblage so informative and intriguing – loads of figurines, unusual types of cooking pottery, etc.

Survey continues on the steep slopes of Raftis (Photo: Rob Stephan)

Perhaps our most exciting discovery on Raftis was an extraordinary collection of over 200 groundstone objects. The assemblage is highly varied in terms of types and material. We collected many pieces of tripod mortars, a type that is relatively rare in the LH IIIC period, other querns and mortars in various shapes and sizes, and dozens of hand tools for polishing, grinding, and pounding, including some very fancy pestles in lovely pinkish andesite. We also documented raw materials in various stages of production, including a huge piece of raw andesite the size of a Labrador retriever and a tripod mortar preform. Most of these finds were concentrated in the northeastern corner of the island. Our preliminary hypothesis is that there may have been a workshop for the production of groundstone objects in this sector of the island. If we are correct, this would complement the evidence for a pottery workshop that we documented on Praso islet last season in building a robust picture of a productive industrial landscape in Porto Rafti bay datable to the 12th century BCE.

Groundstone all over town on the northeastern slopes of Raftis (Photos: Sarah Murray)

Overall, the season was a lot of work! Fortunately we had our biggest team ever. After operating with teams of about 10–12 participants in 2019 and 2021, this year we expanded to 21 participants, including faculty, grads, and undergrads from Canada, the United States, the UK, Germany, and Greece. The fact that we were able to complete all of the season’s goals in four short weeks is a great testament to the enthusiastic efforts put forth by each and every team member. As you can probably imagine, surveying fields in between concrete holiday homes was not always the most picturesque or glamorous archaeological fieldwork experience (you should see our modern trash counts), and the consistently high winds this year often made our traverses onto and off of Raftis island quite nerve-rattling. But everyone kept a great attitude no matter the task (or risk of falling into the sea with a backpack full of heavy groundstones). We’re really grateful to everyone for bringing along plenty of sticktuitiveness and good will to BEARS 2022. Now that we’re done with most of our fieldwork, the next step is to turn our BEAR snouts from the fieldwork grindstone to the publication mill in 2023 and 2024. Interested friends should keep an eye out for additional updates to come, both here on the CIG blog and on our project website, bearsarchaeologicalproject.org.

Intrepid BEARS team members march onward into the future (Photo: Shannon Dunn)
Sarah Murray, University of Toronto, co-director, BEARS

Friday, August 12, 2022

SNAP 2022: Death by Heavy Residue...

Figure 1: Plan of Stelida sondages, 2015-19 (Y. Pitt)

This season the Stelida Naxos Archaeological Project stepped back from fieldwork, and focused our attentions on post-excavation study, with a small group of us working for just over a month in the Ministry of Culture’s new storage, and research facility.

The process started with three of us overseeing the transport of all 358 crates of artifacts, and samples from the old apotheke in the post-town of Chora, to the new facility just outside of Glinado. We are honoured to be the first project to have moved into this terrific new building (light, cool, and spacious); while we will miss our old town centre base, we simply did not have the space needed to properly study our finds. Moving day was unsurprisingly tiring and sweaty, and we spent much of the next month slowly reorganising the heavy crates into a logical system, but all went very smoothly thanks to the Ministry approved transport company, and the fact that the new apotheke is big enough to have a truck drive the crates straight into the basement…

Figure 2: Small sub-set of the early Aurignacian stone tool assemblage from trench 28, with the Klisoura Cave (Argolid) publication to hand for comparanda (SNAP).

Thereafter our work had four main foci. My initial work concentrated on studying the material from trench 28 (Fig. 1), one of our incredibly productive sondages immediately adjacent to the chert outcrop, and in front of Rock Shelter B, an area we believe that was used for seasonal residence in the Pleistocene (Ice Age). The upper strata contain a mass of classic early Aurignacian stone tools and related manufacturing debris (Fig. 2). Such material has been previously recorded from Greece, most notably at the Franchthi and Klisoura caves in the Argolid, assemblages that have been dated to between 33,000-40,000 years old, a lithic tradition that many have viewed as reflecting the first appearance of modern humans (Homo sapiens) in SE Europe, having come from Africa via the Levant, and Anatolia.

Figure 3: Shannon Crewson (McMaster), and Angeliki Pefani (Athens) painstakingly sort through heavy residue samples from the peak sanctuary (SNAP).

Alas, my time working through this fascinating assemblage came to a close all-too-early, as I had to ‘take one for the team’, and attack our backlog of heavy residue samples. This is a mass of material collected from water sieving, a process we employ as a means of recovering organics (which float to the surface, the ‘flot sample’), and micro artefacts that would otherwise be missed with our onsite screening of soil, i.e. tiny items that would slip through the mesh of our normal sieves. This latter material, which is captured by the finer-meshed screen, a mixture of stones, and artifacts, is referred to as the ‘heavy residue’ (Fig. 3). Typically we had been taking a sample of around 60 litres of soil per archaeological context, a relatively manageble amount in terms of the amount of time required to process from water seiving, via drying the sample, to sorting though the residue to extract all the cultural material. This changed, however, in 2019 when we discovered the later Bronze Age peak sanctaury, at which point we collected 100% of the soil, which was then lugged downhill in sacks for water sieving (Fig. 4). While we diligently worked our way through the the initial part of the process, by the end of the 2021 season we were left with some 65 crates of unsorted heavy residue, material that became a priority for our 2022 activities.

Figure 4: The 2021 team carrying sacks of soil for water sieving down the western flanks of Stelida from the peak sanctuary (D. Schulze / SNAP).

I won’t pretend that sorting heavy residue is the most exciting task, it involves sitting for hours, hunched over the sample diligently working your way through it with tweezers (Fig. 3). Luckily, unlike our Pleistocene samples which typically produce *nothing* (alas organics simply don’t survive our highly alkaline soils over tens, if not hundreds of thousands of years), the peak sanctuary heavy residue was remarkably productive. The best samples, from the eastern terrace, an area that has produced significant quantities of in situ (sensu latu) dedicatory objects, plus the residue of food prepration and consumption, contain quantities of carbon, plaster, tiny beach pebbles, pottery sherds, shell, animal and fish bone, mica-schist (broken roof tiles), and residual Palaeolithic stone tools. Once in a while we would find something a bit more special, including a carnelian bead, plus a not insignificant quantity of tiny bronzes, typically rectangular ‘strips’, or votive blades (Fig. 5), a well-documented form of offering from other peak sanctuaries, and the kind of treat that kept us going as we waded through our crates of heavy residue. Ultimately we prevailed, with all of the crates of heavy residue processed, a significant diminuation of our storage footprint. More importantly, we now have our samples ready for our various specialists to study, including detailing which animals, fish and molluscs were consumed in the rituals, and the plants and timber being burned.

Figure 5: Making it all worthwhile… a tiny bronze strip from one of the hundreds of bags of peak sanctuary heavy residue samples (SNAP).

While SNAP 2022 was mainly a lean, mean, sorting machine, time was also made for some specialist studies. Shannon Crewson continued her work on the metals from the peak sanctuary (Fig. 6), a study that is part-contributing to a multi-authored paper we are preparing on two of the new anthropomorphic figurines, while Dr Vagia Mastrogiannopoulou (Lemnos Museum) focused on the ceramic assemblage, benefitting from discussions with Dr Jill Hilditch (Amsterdam University) on the fabrics, and technologies of Bronze Age Naxos. All of this work further benefitted our new junior team-members, and returnees, including undergrads from Athens, and Oxford, the experience of helping with the ceramic study, a welcome respite from the piles of heavy residue. 

Figure 6: Shannon Crewson uses the project DinoLite microscope to detail one of the metal finds from the peak sanctuary (SNAP).

While we all look forward to coming back to Stelida – ideally to the field – in the summer of 2023, for one of us, the return to Greece will be much sooner. To our delight, long-term team member Shannon Crewson has been awarded the Canadian Institute’s prestigious Homer and Dorothy Thompson Fellowship for the 2022-23 academic year. Shannon has been with project since 2015, initially as an undergraduate, then from 2016-18 as a University of Toronto graduate student, her Master of Museum Studies underpinning her role as co-curator of our 2018 exhibition on Naxos. In 2020 she returned to McMaster as a PhD candidate, where she is now working on how to best represent the deep-time history of Stelida to the public, with her time in Greece this coming year being dedicated to her study of modern Greek, discussions with museum curators, and some ethnographic interviews with key stakeholders on Naxos.

Prof. Tristan Carter, Department of Anthropology, McMaster University (stringy@mcmaster.ca), co-director, SNAP

Friday, August 5, 2022

All Play and Some Work: My Internship at the CIG

After three flights and 24 hours of travel, I arrived in Athens in early May. I had been wanting to be an intern at the CIG for years (since before covid) so I was very excited to finally arrive in Greece. As a student of archaeology and classics, I was ready to dive headlong into history.

At the Acropolis

I spent most of May exploring Athens. I visited the National Gardens, Olympieion, Acropolis, and many other classic Athenian sites. The Acropolis has been very high up on my bucket list for years, so finally checking it off meant a lot. I’ve visited several times since, and it never gets any less spectacular. One of my favourite things about Athens is how the Parthenon plays peek-a-boo, popping out from behind buildings and at street corners all over the city. I also watched my first of many sunsets from Lycabettus Hill, and tried many traditional Greek foods.

Temple of Apollo, Aegina

My first trip outside of Athens was to Aegina with my good friend Emily, who was here in Athens conducting research at the Canadian institute. We visited the Temple of Apollo, went to the beach, and spent an embarrassing amount of money on souvenirs in Aegina town. Emily also served as our de facto translator, given the fact that my Greek was (and still is) largely limited to “ena frappe glyko parakalo” and a lot of words that roughly translate to “*#$@#$%&!”

The institute also hosted Hallie & Toph Marshall and the UBC 2022 Go Global Greece class in May - they performed the ‘Dawn Chorus’ from Euripides’ fragmentary Phaethon, which was absolutely fantastic. I had the opportunity to become friends with many of the UBC students, and had a great deal of fun “carousing” around Athens with them, as Jonathan would say.

With Susan-Marie Price at the inauguration of the Institute’s new premises

At the institute, the end of May and beginning of June was an exciting time - we hosted the Inauguration of the Institute’s new building, and the annual Open Meeting. I had a fantastic time at the Inauguration, pouring drinks and rubbing elbows with archaeologists and diplomats alike. By the Open Meeting, I was an expert in creating beautiful charcuterie boards; more importantly, I greatly enjoyed all of the reports on the projects run through the CIG, and Dr. Chelsea Gardner’s presentation on the CARTography Project. I had the opportunity to have dinner with her and several other Canadian and American archaeologists after the event, which was the cherry on top of a wonderful evening. Another bright spot was meeting so many friends of the institute, such as one of the CIG’s first Fellows!

Villa della Regina, Turin

Immediately after the Open Meeting, I headed off to Turin and Milan for a weekend, where I visited art museums, cathedrals, and the second-most important collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world. I also stopped by several archaeological sites, and ate my weight in gelato and pasta. All in all, it was a great trip. After Italy, the CIG hosted its last event of the year, a lecture by Dr. D. J. Ian Begg about his book on Gilbert Bagnani; I particularly enjoyed the lecture both because I found the content interesting in itself, and because Bagnani spent much of his life in my mother’s hometown in Ontario, where I spent all of my childhood summers.

Display in the Cyprus Archaeological Museum

My next trip took me to Cyprus, where I saw the United Nations Buffer Zone, an incredible natural landscape, and the national archaeological museum. I also got a terrible sunburn on the beach, so bad that my bright red skin almost looked like it was emitting light. The whole experience was wonderful, and Cypriot people are so kind and welcoming.

With one of my bullseye’s at the Red Lion

Upon my return to Athens, I continued visiting all of Athens’ many archaeological sites, from the Lykeion to Hadrian’s Library, which has been the best experience. I’m a huge classical history nerd, so I never get tired of looking at columns and remaining bits of walls. With my friends, I’ve also taken advantage of Athens’ wonderful restaurants, bars, and museums. I also made it a point to make it to many Tuesday nights at the Red Lion, where I earned the nickname “Bullseye Kate.”

An overview of ancient Delphi

I then headed to Delphi, which was indescribable. Getting off the bus and seeing the mountains stretching out to the Mediterranean was a wondrous sight. We stayed the night in Delphi and got to the site as soon as it opened, so we had it all to ourselves. Walking around, I understood why this place was seen as mythic. We also visited a wonderful artist’s shop - she was incredibly kind and I got my favourite souvenirs from my entire trip.

Standing in the Lion Gate at Mycenae

After Delphi, I headed to Nafplio, where I taught my friends to look for pottery sherds in the dirt and climbed the supposed 999 steps up to the Fortress of Palamidi (it took me an embarrassingly long time to reach the top). I returned to the area later to visit Mycenae and Epidaurus, which were both incredible. I found handles of amphoras in the dirt near Mycenae, which was surreal - I felt like a real archaeologist! At Epidauros, I stood in the center of the Amphitheatre and tested the impeccable acoustics myself.

The theater at Epidaurus

That trip was followed by a quick jaunt down to Sounion, and then a weekend in Meteora, where I nearly died while hiking up to the monasteries in 40 degree heat, but where I also had the most incredible time touring the monasteries and nunneries and imagining what those places would have been like 500 (or 1000) years ago. A nun took a particular liking to me at St. Stephen’s and showed me around, explaining all of the frescoes and occasionally scolding visitors for exposing a shoulder or knee.

Panorama of Meteora, with monasteries to the right

Finally, for my 21st birthday, I headed to Thessaloniki, where my personal favourite spot was the Rotunda, built in the 4th century AD. It has beautiful mosaics; I marvelled at the fact that they were still in such good condition after so many centuries. While in the area, I also headed out to the archaeological site of Pella, the capital of the once-great Kingdom of Macedonia, and Vergina, where I saw the monumentally impressive tomb of King Phillip II. While in Thessaloniki, I also had perhaps my favourite ice cream of all time - if you’re in the area, do yourself a favour and get a few scoops of almond praline from Fregio.

The Rotunda in Thessaloniki

While you may believe that my experience at the CIG has been all play and no work, I actually did manage to fit a few hours of work in between all of my travels. I worked primarily in the library, cataloguing new items, updating the catalogue, physically schlepping books back and forth between different shelves, and finding volumes that we perhaps do not need to keep. However, as the number of interns dwindled from three to one (me!), I also took on the tasks of laundry (which is never-ending), welcoming visitors to the CIG guest apartment, handing out free-entry passes, working on the new website, writing descriptions, and more.

These are just a few of the (thousands of) pictures and many experiences I’ve been lucky enough to have while in Greece. I’ve had the chance to meet so many wonderful people, see incredible sites, and enjoy absolutely every aspect of life here (except for the fact that you can’t flush toilet paper down the toilet)!

I can’t wait to come back soon!

Kate Haberl, University of Toronto Intern, Summer 2022