So, the last couple weeks, I mostly alternated between the stores and the office, photographic and documenting objects in the stores, and confirming their identification or figuring it out in the office. I did spend about 6 hours one day sorting through buckets of tiny flints to lend for a mesolithic exhibit at another museum and installing an elephant from Kenya made of flip flops. It's name is
... Philippe Flip Flop...
Philippe Flop...
Oh my goodness guys, I laughed for like a whole minute! It's so cheesy, but it's great! One of my colleagues is posting about it on a blog, so when that comes out I'll link to it. :)

I'm working on a couple things to happen in the future, though. A facebook post for the museum's page, an entry for their blog, and a long-term research project.

The FB post is basically a paragraph with an image. I have an instrument called a pluriarc that I think could interesting, but its label says 'Caffir Banjo,' written when it was collected (I think 1922). That's a pretty offensive term, but it's written in big letters on the instrument. I might just show it so that the label is hidden and not mention that in the post, if they think it's a problem. Although I think it's of interest because it indicates the mentality of the collector- Western-centric and endemically bigoted (to name the instrument incorrectly after a Western instrument it resembles, although the actual instrument is a harp, and to apply a generic ethnically insensitive term to African instruments). At least, that's my line of thinking. We'll see.

The blog post was going to be about recreating ancient museum (Egyptian and Greco-Roman) with existing instruments that are very similar or even identical in modern day. For example, a West African instrument, the ngoni (a sort of ukelele-looking string instrument with hide covering the body and a few strings attached to a long smooth stick running through the body forming the neck) is virtually the same as an Egyptian instrument. I think that's really cool! But I found out that in the Newcastle University Classics department there is a researcher who recent reconstructed an instrument and played an ancient Greek song. My boss and I both thought it would be really interesting to maybe do a bigger research project on this topic, or something similar. I'm about to check out this researcher's most recent book and do some other research in journals to see what's out there and try to figure out what I might be able to do. I'm going to contact the Classics professor soon, but I want to have a better idea of what I'm thinking before I do. Otherwise, I'll just look like a babbling fool. I have all these ideas, but until I can do more research it comes out like gobbledegook.

No real news personally. I got a document for my visa that I've been waiting on for 6 weeks (6 weeks?!), which is good, because now I can try to get the other documents. I've got to get it done, and unfortunately that means missing some work. Banks are only 9-5, and the visa team with the university, through which I have to submit my application, have even shorter hours. And you have to go to the building to even make the appointment, so I miss time twice! It's not a time efficient system at all, but my visa runs out in January (although there's a short buffer, if for some reason it did lapse), but still, I've got to get it done ASAP.

What am I saying! Although anyone who reads this in Georgia probably already knows, I'M COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS! Flights booked and everything! I'm so excited! <3

I love you all so much and miss you so much! XOXO

Time to get ready for bed. Being a grown up is hard! Hehe :P

Whew! I'm so grateful for the weekend. This week wasn't exactly fast, but I never had downtime at all. I intended to update my blog, and call folks, etc. I was asleep and drooling on the sofa before before 8, and could barely drag myself to the bed when I briefly woke up.
Today was all about getting our groceries and meals sorted out for the week. There's so little time in the evenings that we can't shop and/or cook every night. I've started doing crock pot meals that we can eat on for days, but that means I have to plan out way ahead of time.
I've always got more than enough work to be constantly busy. 
I don't think I should post my entire weekly journals, because there's a lot of notes to myself and technical specific stuff. My last entry is more detailed on the interesting bits than my school journal is. I've got to write my weekly journal for this past week soon, and I'll post the good bits here. :) I wish I could show you guys my objects. They're beautiful! And it's so exciting! But there are rules about photographs of objects. 
I'd better get back to work, but I'll post again in the next couple days with more interesting things. Promise!
More soon! <3 xoxo

Also- I'm catching up on emails and everything as fast as I can. I love you all! <3

So I'm spending Sunday doing all the things I'm supposed to do before the next week starts. Which is really a lot of things! Working around the house, getting my stuff organised for work next week, etc. I've got to write up my weekly journal entry about what I did last week and how it relates to developing my skill sets.
On Thursday I was instructed on blog-writing for the museum (I'll be setting up my profile monday and hopefully figuring out a good first entry. I have an idea, and I'll tell y'all about it, but I'm not sure it's actually allowed. There are a few rules, some for PR and some for legal or safety reasons. I'll have to follow them here too, which is part of the reason I can't post all the pictures I take. Without permission, I can't depict other people, or museum objects not on display, or the location or value of specific objects or set up of the stores. But, I picked a few of my pictures that don't break any rules (just to be really careful) but can still show y'all a bit of what my work area looks like.

So you go through a whole series of doors, and it's like a maze down there! I still have to wander to find the bathrooms or the exit. In fact, I gave myself a little scare when I accidentally went out different doors than I went in and I became totally convinced I was lost. In my defense, it was dim and all the doors are the same colors.
But here's a sort of generic hallway view. The machines and tubes you see are environmental controls for the rooms (humidity, temperature, etc). 

This is the inside of the Ethnography room.

Behind the shelves is a little desk and a laptop which is hooked up to the database system so that I can look for objects or look up ones that I find. 

 Yet more paper catalogues, boxes, etc.

These are a couple of the aisles in the stores. I'll try to take some other pictures later, but these are pretty illustrative. Stuff. Stuff everywhere! In boxes, laying on shelves, in storage bags, wrapped in bubble wrap or acid-free paper... stuff!

That signs says "Caution Potential Poisons" and the arrows have padding and covers on their points. 

And you want to know the best part?.... I GET TO TOUCH STUFF! 

(Ok, so not ALL the things. Obviously there are the potentially poisoned arrows, and more delicate things which I wouldn't unnecessarily handle.)

There is one other big exception, which is also what I'm thinking about writing my first museum blog entry on. But it might be considered controversial. There are Australian Aboriginal bull roarers in the collection (I know from the database, not from seeing them), but they are only meant to be seen by males in Aboriginal culture. The box has a warning label, but there are no official rules about whether or not female researchers can see them, the label only encourages you to be aware of the issues surrounding this.
I've read about this issue, which is really all about respect for the culture from the artefacts originate. And I agree with that completely. But now I know from the database that there are instruments in that box, and I can't document them as part of my job at the museum, or conduct research on them for a potential project or paper if I can't observe them. So, the question is, what do I do? Am I as thorough as possible, and do the same work on those instruments as I would on any others, or do I respect that culture and refrain from observing those objects?
I'm thinking of writing a museum blog post about it summarizing the issues. The public can comment on the posts, so we're not allowed to post controversial subjects. I'm not sure if this would really be allowed for me to post, but I'm just thinking it out for now. I want my first post to be a good one.

I think that's just about all for now. I'd better get back to work. I still have to write my weekly journal, and finish with the chores to prep for Monday.
When I finish up my journal, I'll post it here as well, but it's almost dinner time, so that might not be done in time to post tonight.

I love you all! <3 XOXO

Work is hard! I mean, obviously, but I don't know how grown ups fit everything into their days! I feel like I barely manage to get ready for the next day by the time it's bedtime, and it's not even 8 hours before I'm awake again and just barely getting ready in time to go to work. How do you guys do bills and cooking and cleaning and shopping and emails and friends and work at home, and sleep?! And that's just the things I can think of right now. I'm certain I'm forgetting things because I don't have the time to actually think.
Tomorrow's FRIDAY though! And then I can post lots of stuff (including my weekly journal and some photos of the ethnography store where I work). I'll get better organised and hopefully next week I'll be able to email and facebook and call people. And relax. And then I've got to figure out what the next step is in this placement. One week in, 31 left. No wasting time. :)
I love you all <3 Hugs!

I said I would post, but I fell asleep before I could even finish any of my emails! I had an early day today, and tomorrow starts at 9, but that's easier than today.
Today I got a tour of the stores, and I took some pictures with my phone, which I'll post as soon as I get permission from my boss. I didn't realize at the time, but I found out after that I need permission to show the objects. I'll ask him at work tomorrow. But the stores were SO COOL! I want to play down there forever. And their coolness cannot be overrated, because it made me ignore the smell of both rotting whale (not kidding, not at all, there's a whale part rotting in the bone room) and napthalene (mothballs) which smells like almond-scented death. Although the mothballs smell made me feel faint when I walked in the bug room it was so pungent. I need to start keeping my daily journals so I'll start posting them here. I've still been getting into the swing of things, so I've only got handwritten notes on my first two days, and honestly they don't say much. I've got to sleep soon, but I will theoretically be able to start writing my journals as soon as I get home tomorrow.
I'm really sorry there's not more to tell. My first day I helped take down and pack away a temporary exhibit created by my peers in the archeology class while my social history class was working in Sunderland. It was hard work! Lots of squats, to pick up and put down heavy boxes and to pick up objects on the lower shelves. And today was boatloads of walking between Discovery museum (where the stores are) and the Great North Museum (where I work), Windsor Terrance (my department's building) and the hospital for an allerigst appointment at the end of the day. More than 8 miles of walking just in between buildings today (although partly because I got turned around trying to follow google maps)! I'm so tired now, I just want to sleep. So that's my plan, some ibuprofen and a nice sleep. And a hot water bottle. :) My eyes are droopy just writing about it.
I love you all and will post again tomorrow. <3 Hugs!
Goodnight xoxo

Blogger seems to be letting me post again. I'm sorry about the long gap, I kept trying to post for the last couple days and the website would crash every time I tried to publish. Sorry! I'll give an update on my first day tonight. <3 *hugs!*