This chapter presents a fragmented yet deeply personal narrative of an exiled archaeologist who reconstructs her identity through garbology. The author intertwines memories of academic suppression, political persecution and displacement with the study of discarded objects. Her journey begins with the realization that landfills, much like historical ruins, contain stories of marginalized lives. Through an encounter with a former colleague who had been imprisoned for political reasons, she finds validation in garbology as a means of documenting poverty and resistance. The chapter navigates between personal recollections—childhood in Paris, living in Iran, dismissal from academia and eventual descent into the periphery of society—and the author’s attempt to repurpose her skills in archaeology to examine contemporary inequality. By studying garbage in Tehran’s poorest districts, she exposes the invisible realities of impoverished communities, sex workers and Afghan refugees. Through introspective storytelling, the author reflects on exile, identity and the ethics of observing subaltern lives. In the end, garbology becomes a metaphor for self-exploration: the excavation of discarded memories, broken dreams and overlooked narratives, all pieced together to form a new sense of belonging.