IFR: Macedonia Field Schools - Stobi, Sozopol & more

They offered experience with photogrammetry, total station, architectural sketching, and of course field experience. The instructors there are the best and love to teach you. You may get a little intimidated sometimes because some, especially the ones in the field, like to be precise. However, you will thank them later and appreciate that they want you to improve.

I also loved the part of seeing rest of the country. Part of the program enabled us to visit Bitola, Skopje, and my personal favorite, Ohrid. We also went to see the so-called Tomb of Philip's grave in Greece. I am so thankful that I picked this field school. It was just a fantastic experience. I still carry many of the memories with me and appreciate learning so much about a culture that is hardly ever if ever in the American news. But above all, I am thankful that I had the chance to meet so many great people from the country, especially at the dig site. You really get a taste of the country itself.

As an archaeology student, the IFR field school at Stobi was a great experience for me because it gave me an opportunity to learn field skills, such as excavation and lab techniques, photogrammetry and surveying, field drawing, and proper documentation in a hands-on way. It was very gratifying to see the progress we had made in our field site over the four weeks that we worked there. It was definitely tough work! But the researchers and staff at Stobi are extremely knowledgeable, eager to help you, and fun. In addition to the research and skills aspect of the program, there are opportunities to explore Macedonia—a country I had never visited before—and to learn about both the region's ancient and modern history. If you're ready to work hard, sweat a lot, and learn a lot, this is a great program. I am very grateful I had the chance to participate in it both for the knowledge I gained but also for the relationships I made with my fellow students and the Stobi staff.

This was my first experience with an archaeology dig, with no archaeology background. I remember the first few days digging I was thinking "what did I get myself into". It got easier, and I kept pestering my dig supervisor about concepts until I understood them, and he persisted until we both knew I understood what was going on. I learned a lot about what it is to be an archaeologist, and I learned a lot about myself too. There was a variety of people on the trip, I wish we had more time to have fun, but I was pretty tired most of the time. BUT I will NEVER forget my last night in Macedonia.