Agora Dig: day 3-- Byzantine wells and RIOT!

Today was the day of the general strike. On the way to the excavation, we saw the riot police setting up barricades to parts of the city, where the protestors may go. The whole walk was eerie, as part of the city where the protesters were had been blocked off to general traffic. I couldn't take a lot of pictures, because I didn't want my camera seized, but I did get a few:

Police buses parked on street.
They were cordoning off parts of neighborhoods

Blocking more streets, in preparation of strike.

Approaching Syntagma Square, the city turned into a ghost town.

So, after the unusual longer walk, today we had more clean-up in BH. Among things that people throw into the excavation: Batteries, beer bottles, keys (the result of an argument?), cans, and overall general trash. I wish people would realize that there will be others in here on their hands and knees, and that things they throw in here actually can hurt someone.

I was cleaning the plants from the top edge around the site.

Broken bottles everywhere, I had to always check before I put my hand down

BH is starting to look pretty clean.

After we were done, another person in our group, Mike, was the first to go down into the Byzantine well, which needs to be excavated. After a few hours, I got a shot! It was awesome to be able to go down into a couple feet of water and start pulling things off of the floor. Typically, ancient wells are used until they run dry or lose their use, and then used as convenient garbage dumps. This was anything but dry: water kept seeping in, so I would always be standing in a foot or two of brown water.  So you may find bones, coins, pottery sherds, and other items of interest in an old well.  We did find some of that. There was only about 3 feet of moving space down there, so you had to get real close to the ground and pull whatever you could. Time flies by when you are doing interesting stuff like that.

Me securing myself in the harness.

Myself being lowered into the well.

After cleaning up (there is a long line everyday to wash), my roommate Dave and I starting walking home. We found out the train was still running everywhere but our stop, so we decided to just take the train back. Well, as luck would have it, I didn't have my pass. So instead of taking the train to Syntagma, and walking home, we would have to hoof it the whole way. For once my forgetfulness played into my favor.

As we approached Syntagma, I noticed that some of the people had gas masks and handkerchiefs around their necks. Some also had their faces painted white (which at first I thought someone had too much sunscreen on, until I saw others with it). It turns out that these people had wiped Maalox on their faces, as it helps ease the sting of tear gas--and these are the people that you should stay away from, for they will be right in the middle of the action. As we got about a block away from the Square, we started to hear whistles blowing and loud "BANG" sounds. People started running towards the Square. Up ahead we could see the police in riot gear walking through the crowd. Protesters were yelling at them, and things were being thrown at them. It was incredibly surreal. I wanted to take a few pix, but Dave convinced me not to, as it looked like it was getting out of hand. I later learned that the loud bang sounds were tear gas canisters.

Police walking towards us.

So we walked around the square again and circumvented the action. From where we could stand, we saw an OCEAN of protesters in the square. It was like an outdoor concert, but with a definite flavor of chaos. As we walked around, there were a bunch of riot police walking with shields and putting on their gas masks.

Riot police: once again, quick pictures so my camera doesn't get taken away.
You can see the man on the left start to put on his gas mask.

As they passed us, people were yelling at them. I figured they were about to tear gas... and they did. See the links below for all the action that happened.

BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13773148

CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/06/15/greece.protests/index.html?hpt=hp_t1