Arriving on Capri

          After a quick layover in London, I caught a flight to Naples and arrived shortly after lunch.  Of course, my body is telling me it’s the middle of the night, but what does it know?  Apparently there is some urgency attached to this dig – I was greeted by an Italian army officer, who helped me grab my luggage, and then walked me over to a military helicopter!  The ride out to Capri was very short, and in a matter of one hour I met all four of the archeologists I will be working with for the near future.  They are a very interesting crew!

            Duncan MacDonald is a very famous manuscript specialist, and a priest of the Roman Catholic Church.  His text on preserving and stabilizing papyrus and parchment documents was required reading in two of my grad courses.  He’s about fifty or so, I guess, maybe a bit older, with salt-and-pepper grey hair, a short, neatly trimmed beard, and a Scottish burr that makes his voice a pleasure to listen to.  He’s a genuine raconteur, with a steady supply of jokes and witty comments – but at the same time, a brilliant scholar and theologian.  I am looking forward to getting to know him

            Dr. Simone Apriceno is a short, stout woman – “built like a fire plug,” as Dad used to say – and is our resident paleo-botanist.  Her specialty is pollens, and I have seen her name on a number of site reports and journal articles.  She is famous for debunking a number of “holy relics” by dating the pollen samples they have accumulated.  She seems good-natured but very serious about her work.  The entire excavation will be put on hold until she has collected pollen samples from every portion of the chamber.

            Giuseppe Rossini is the on-site curator of the ruins of the Villa Jovis – the ancient palace, here on Capri, where the Emperor Tiberius Caesar lived for most of his reign.  The earthquake that struck here Sunday did some damage to the ruins, and while surveying them it was Giuseppe who found the tiny chamber we'll be excavating, buried beneath a massive staircase, that had been torn open by the quake.  He’s in his early sixties, with hair nearly white and a heavy accent.  Apparently he suffered a nasty fracture on a dig a number of years ago, and walks with a noticeable limp.  He seems wise and fairly friendly, although I catch him looking at me oddly – as if he does not trust me for some reason.  I hope to get to know him better, and find out what it is about me that bothers him.

            As for the leader of our expedition – Dr. Isabella Sforza was the first person to greet me when I stepped off the chopper, but I waited to write about her last.  I’m not good with beautiful women, OK?  My college classmates used to joke about “Josh the Perpetual Virgin,” but I don’t think there is anything wrong with saving yourself for marriage – it’s the Scriptural road to intimacy, for goodness’ sake!  But I never have found anyone, and so I simply buried myself in my work, my swimming and karate practice, and figured at some point that God would send the right person into my life.  So is Isabella this person?  I have no idea – all I know is that I can’t think clearly when I am looking at her.  She is, purely and simply, the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.  And she’s my supervisor on this dig.  I am going to have to get over this, or I am facing a very awkward few weeks!