Postcard from Hazor

My cousin Annika kindly forwarded me this postcard from a budding archaeologist just out of high school and on his first dig. I translate:

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Hazor-Haglilit July 15th, 1990, 12:05 [Sunday]

Shalom!

Mainly I'm digging. At the same time we exchange some language teaching – my new Israeli acquaintances call each other “whitstevell” in passing [Sw. skitstövel, “shit boot”] (think about it and you'll get it...), and I've learned things like makush (hoe), makushon (small hoe), benga benga (work, work!), yalla (faster!), malofofon (cucumber), and ma-eem (water).

I've got today off, and I have the typical travel anxiety, “Gotta see as much as possible now that I'm here!”. But I can't be bothered. Not today, not with the heat. Instead I remain in the closed-for-summer Torah school where we are housed, washing (without visible result) my grimy clothes, writing a little, and I'm planning on finishing the book about Hazor I started reading yesterday (when I didn't have the stamina to travel around either).

Hope your version of July is equally pleasurable!

MR

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What I find striking about this is that my hand writing and thought processes are pretty much still the same after 22 years.