Country Article / Postcards

Explore Pre-history on a Beautiful Island

Date: 01/09/2007

International Living Postcards-- your daily escape

Thursday, Jan. 11, 2007
Mallorca, Spain

I visited the balmy island village of Deia when Bill Waldren was still alive. He is a man of legend in Mallorca for his work in excavating the ruins of an ancient civilization. Thirty-one years after he began, and despite his death in 2003, Waldren's research project is still underway.

Travelers like me are welcome to join in--sifting through dirt, discovering pottery shards and ancient tools, sipping sangrias with an international crowd and snorkeling along the sky blue beaches. During my visit I even learned how to make pottery vessels the way people did thousands of years ago! Becoming an archeologist for two weeks gave me the opportunity to make friends from around the world, do meaningful work, and enjoy one of the most beautiful places I've seen.

I went to the Deia as an Earthwatch volunteer. This program sends people around the world to assist in conservation and education projects. There is no better way to become an instant "insider" in a foreign country than to be a part of a work program. Earthwatch has scholarships available for educators, students, and community members. But whether you receive a scholarship, or pay the costs for being there, it is an unforgettable experience, to be immersed in a different culture.

Mallorca is one of Spain’s Balearic Islands, located on the blue Mediterranean. Many poets and artists from around the world have settled here. Two years ago Deia held its first literary festival to celebrate its connection with the arts. Perhaps it is the ghosts of ancient peoples who inspire them. Or perhaps it is the winding cobblestone streets and ancient stone houses built along a hillside above an ocean inlet. Deia, and the Archeological Museum and Research Center begun by Bill Waldren, will beckon to anyone who seeks inspiration.

Judith Costello
For International Living

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P.S. To find out more about the opportunities offered by Earthwatch (they have research projects in over 50 countries) see their website at http://www.earthwatch.org.