Howdy ya'll!
Just checking in again. Today I finished the presentation for the Underwater Archaeology STEM program. I was responsible for putting together a brief presentation for the museums on Underwater excavation and a few of the excavations the Underwater Archaeology Branch of the NHHC (aka the group that I'm interning for) was a part of. It really was a great learning experience. For instance, I learned that I don't think I'd ever want to volunteer for the headache that is underwater excavation. Besides the fact that there is no air down there, visibility is poor, you have to worry about the local wildlife a bit more, and by the way, YOU CAN'T SEE ANYTHING.
After turning in the presentation, it was right onto another project. This one is still dealing in the same section. With each presentation is an activity. I'm currently working on the excavating activity, geared towards high school students. It's pretty cool. Basically we're trying to simulate a dig in any way we can. Excavation teams of students have to "dive" and document three-four different artifacts from a "ship wreck". They need to document their location in the wreck, give a thorough description, provide measurements, and even make a little sketch.
But here's the catch. They can only "dive" in pairs and trios, and only for 5 minutes at a time. That's all the "oxygen" they have. Also, their forms aren't waterproof, so they have to take notes on "waterproof note cards" and bring them back to the surface to document each piece and draw the item from memory.
Because of the time constraints of an excavation season, their season will only be thirty minutes long. So they're not racing each other, but they are racing the clock. And the better and more thorough the data, the easier time they will have identifying the ship they were excavating later on.
Pretty cool, huh? I thought so. The only thing is, I'm a little uncertain about the difficulty. These are high school kids (like honors program high school kids), so I wanted to make it challenging, but at the same time it's difficult to judge what is challenging for someone who isn't an archaeology major. This activity might be difficult for me. If that's the case, then it might not be possible for the high schoolers. I'm going to have to run some sort of test. The good news is, I'm not making them set up their grid system in shifts. That's something I'm recommending they do beforehand with the teacher so that they have a nice and easy grid to work with on their plans. Their grid and their scale already set up, they can focus on the artifacts and documenting them. Grids always take forever anyways.
Tomorrow I get to start researching which artifacts I'm going to include. We want to use examples of actual ships, but we can't just take an artifact out of a museum case. So we're thinking photos of the artifacts, maybe blown up and cropped so they can see the details. It's supposed to be, essentially, a more durable, two-dimensional version of the actual thing. Might seem a bit lamer than the real deal, but I think museums would appreciate it better.
Just one more thing before I sign off for the night. Today on my way to work, I had the fortune of running into an acquaintance from school. You know who you are if you're reading this. All I've got to say is that it is indeed a small world and we should get together some time down here in D.C. Shoot me a message.
Nighty night folks!

Well here's another post.
I don't really have anything interesting to tell you guys because I've been off of work for the last week. My bosses are in Scotland, we already have off on Fridays, so they just said "hey, take Thursday after Fourth of July too!"
For the Fourth of July, I walked around a bit. I went to the Museum of Natural History which was fun to go back to. They had this interesting anthropology and forensics exhibit upstairs. Basically it looked at some of the early American settlers and showed people how much we could find out from their remains. We could figure out if they were sick, how they died, even if they broke their finger at some time during their lives. It was really quite fascinating, in a morbid sort of archaeological way. You know us...
For Fourth of July I went down to the Lincoln Memorial. It was PACKED. But then what else would you expect. It was still one of the best views of the fireworks at the Washington Memorial, hands down. We even got to hear the music to go with it because they piped it through to the memorial. The walk home was an insane crush of people all headed for the metro. THAT was a nightmare. I'm really not that fond of crowds.
After that it was pretty much boring. Did some work on the STEM program I told you about last post, or maybe two posts ago...It's an on going thing.
I go back to work tomorrow. Yay!
And that be about it. See, short post. Not much going on. I did spend some time with my co-worker Claire over Fourth of July but it was otherwise uneventful.
Right now it's raining. Well, thunderstorming. It's been on and off but I'm not complaining. I want to say goodbye to 100+ days and I think everybody in DC and the surrounding area would AGREE with me. You step outside your door and completely lose all will to go anywhere. Probably why I didn't really do many cool things during my work break. I'm hoping for a good storm maybe. I like thunderstorms =]

First post in July! I know I'm three days late, but it was the weekend!
This week I only had to work today and yesterday because tomorrow is the Fourth of July! It's my first time being in D.C. for Independence Day and I'm pretty excited. My roommate is in the parade in the morning, so I'll be watching that, and then there are fireworks at night! I'm thinking about going down to the Mall, but hesitant because let's face it, EVERYONE IS GOING TO BE ON THE MALL.
This week I really started getting into the Underwater Archaeology work. I'm creating a powerpoint about underwater excavation that will be used to educate kids. I have to talk about techniques and processes and some of the advantages and disadvantages of underwater excavation, as well as some alternatives. I also have to research some case studies, specific excavations done by the Naval Underwater Archaeology Branch, and include them. Which means as of Thursday, I will be in the Library of Congress. I've heard they have everything. We'll put that to the test!
And yes, I did get my reader's card. It took a LONG TIME. There were only two people in the office and for some reason there was a sudden influx of people who wanted to do research at the Library of Congress. This one guy was a professor in front of me in line and he kept worrying over as sign that said something like "This card is for RESEARCHERS ONLY". Well a researcher is anyone who needs to do...you know...RESEARCH. But he thought he had to have documentation from a university saying that he was an academic, blah, blah, blah. In the end, this guy threw down a neat little stack of papers and cards. The office lady plucked his driver's license off the top of the pile and told him he didn't need the rest of it. Haha! The guy actually looked a bit disappointed!
After filling out paperwork, I waited in line to get my picture taken. But it was a LONG LINE and there was only one desk open, so more waiting. By the time I finally got up there, I was just so tired that I kind of missed the whole "1, 2, 3, Smile!" So my photo is pretty bad. No I'm not putting it up here!
Today one of the volunteers who lives on base brought her dog into the office in the afternoon. Polly is a two year-old yellow lab and SO CUTE!! And she's a therapy dog working with veterans in the hospital. How nice is that? Polly has quite the personality. She was trained as a search-and-rescue dog. But when it came time to take her test, Polly decided she didn't want to do anything she was trained for...so she failed. She doesn't seem all that sad about it either. She likes playing with her tennis ball and can do a forward somersault, if she puts her mind to it. She's trained so that if someone says "Hello" to her, she lifts her paw and gives them a shake. Nifty!
This week I'll probably go to a few museums. I haven't been to the Holocaust Museum yet, though everyone I talk to tells me I should go. I'm kind of uncertain though, not because I don't think it would be interesting, but because I've been in a fairly good mood recently. I definitely want to go to the Museum of Natural History, and a visit to Air and Space might be in order, just because it's been AGES since I last went. I doesn't seem like I'll have any trouble filling my days off.