Well...my first Thanksgiving here in Armenia was fantastic. While we were in Yerevan, a group of eager volunteers used the hotel kitchen to prepare a huge feast for everyone. They cooked 7 turkeys, lots of stuffing, and some fantastic pies. It was delicious. There was even home-made cranberry sauce. It was also great to eat and relax with all of the other volunteers. I think everyone was getting a little bummed about not being home for the holiday, and just being with everyone and seeing all the decorations (complete with placemats to color and turkey hats for everyone) and sharing the great food pushed everyone into the holiday spirit. It was funny. All of the food was set on this large, round table..and the vegetarians went first (less selection for them) and then less then 2 minutes later all of the non-vegetarian volunteers swarmed the table for a taste of traditional American food. After we were all stuffed and unable to move, they brought out some fantastic home-made pies. Pumpkin, Lemon, and chocolate mousse. We all found room to fit one or two pieces in. The variety show started after that. It was hilarious. I must say, I think my favorite act was when two of the male volunteers broke out "hit me baby, one more time" on thier guitars. They serenaded with such enthusiasm that I laughed until I cried. Another group of boys broke out in a rap, equally hilarious. When it was all over, everyone scattered. Either to go up to their rooms and fall into a 'turkey coma' or head out for a last night in Yerevan. A group of us though stayed and listened while some of the boys played songs on their guitars. The whole night really made me realize how many other people are here in Armenia. A lot of the time I feel pretty isolated, but there are over 80 volunteers in a country roughly the size of Maryland. It was nice to see that, and to feel like a part of something larger rather then just one crazy American thousands of miles away from home.
The next morning, I went with a few people to get some French Toast with REAL maple syrup and bacon. It was amazing. I was in a rush though, had to get back to site to teach for 3, so my friend David and I caught the marshutney at 12 back to Dilijan. I was very excited to get back home. I had missed my family, and really wanted to sleep in my own bed (despite the fact that it sags, it has become mine). The marshutney ride was beautiful. It has been pretty cold outside of Yerevan for the past week or so, and there was snow on all of the mountains as we drove by. For once I didn't fall asleep instantly on the marshutney, which I think my travel companion was happy about. Got back into Dilijan and grabbed a quick shwarma (meat wrap) before heading home. My host mum had cleaned my room while I was gone, and I felt pretty bad when we dumped all our bags in the middle of the floor and rushed out to go to my work.
Got there and found out official Sunchild classes had begun in my absence, which made me kind of sad. I did get to meet the Biologist I would be teaching with though, which was nice. Unfortunately, he speaks no English. Someone really wants me to master Armenian. I am excited to start working with him though. Still don't have the schedule down, but I am going to meet with my tutor and director soon, and hopefully work it out. I would really like a set schedule, it would make my life 100x less stressful.
Now to the good part, my Thanksgiving meal. My host mum successfully found a nice turkey for us to prepare. Sadly, here in Armenia turkeys are always boiled. Always. I had been warned in advance that my host mum would want to boil the turkey, would try her best to convince me to boil the turkey. Would tell me that the turkey wouldn't cook right, unless it was boiled. I was also told to stay strong and not boil it, despite the pressure. Letting the turkey be boiled, in fact, would be a HUGE mistake. Well...I held my ground. My host mum had asked neighbors, friends, and the women at the store. It had to be boiled or else it would be beand (tough) and we wouldn't be able to eat it. I held my ground. What if we just boiled it for an 2 hours or an even just an hour? It needed to be boiled. I held my ground (but boy, was it getting tough). Finally...I was told it was my problem. Ahh, sigh of relief. I had prevailed. So thanks Dad, for the stubbornness gene. It was put to the test, and passed. Not quite with flying colors though. To be honest, if a certain someone wasn't there, I probably would have given in the 3rd round in. Man, Armenian women are very convincing.
We finally decided to soak the turkey in water overnight. A cup of salt, a cup of sugar, and some spices went into the water. I was terrified deep down inside that my first ever turkey would come out tough, and then I would just die. The next morning David woke me up at 10, and the cooking began. There were lists, at least 3, and lots of planning to do. They don't have microwaves here, so things have to be planned carefully. What can be rewarmed in the oven? what needs to be cooked before the turkey? after? What can wait until last minute? We eventually decided to make the apple cobbler first. It was the most time consuming. Peeling and paring 12 cups of apples was not very fun, but it could sit all day and then be rewarmed.
Next was rubbing down the turkey. I left it to my friend to rub the outside, but somehow he skipped out to the hanut for tin foil and I was left with the inside. I even tried guilting him into doing it. We argued adamantly. All the time amusing my host mum and brother. Especially when my friend ordered me to "go inside the turkey" in Armenian. My mum told him that I wouldn't fit. Ridiculous. I lost anyway. We cooked the turkey for 3 1/2 hours. We were like anxious parents, checking up on our child. Every 30 minutes we would carefully remove it from the oven, baste it, add water as needed, and get it back in the oven as quickly as possible. The rest of our time here, possibly our lives, rested on this turkey. We had gone against all advice, not boiling it, and it NEEDED to be delicous.
While it was cooking, we made biscuits, steamed carrots, mashed potatoes, and stuffing.
We were ecstatic when the turkey was done. It smelled amazing. And was crazy moist, no tough bits to be found. My site mate 'carved' the turkey with his hands. It was literally 'falling off the bone' and the knife wasn't sharp enough. The table was set, and the gravy (after 2 attempts) made.
I loved it. My family loved it (I think) and they were proud. Nothing was said about the way we cooked it, and the majority of it was eaten. The stuffing went as well. The biscuits were a little disappointing, but the boys liked them. The carrots were a no go. Only David and I ate them. And the other American only ate them because I told him I would be cranky if he didn't. OH well.
Overall, a big success. I loved the cooking, and the time with my family and friends.
Well...my fingers are freezing and losing mobility. Off I go. Miss and love you tons and tons!
26 days and counting...and I am already starting to listen to Christmas music!
Friday, November 27, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
City Life
Well, I have been in Yerevan for five days now, God only knows how much I will have to budget for the next month to make up for the expenses, but man, it has been worth it.
The first couple of days I was here to participate with some other EE PCVs and all of the Health PCVs in a 'Team Teaching Conference". I came with a teacher from the art school, but it was a very interesting experience for me since I have not been team teaching at all. The facilitator's knew this, and did an amazing job including me and I am hoping that some of the practices and benefits of team teaching that she will bring back to the other teachers will encourage them to do some teaching with me later on. I would feel much better having a host country national in the classroom with me, even if it is just in the Art classrooms, and not with Sunchild. I also enjoyed being around a smaller group of PCVs. I got to hang around with some PCVs I didn't really know all that well, and that was a good time. Of course, we did go out dancing...which was one of the hilights!
Yesterday and today were a little rough, I am on my fourth day of 'conferencing' and hate sitting down all day long. All of the A-16s are participating in our Early Service Training...which is some resiliancy and language workshops. Everyone was a little bit spacey on that first day (we were out late the night before) and it didn't help that we all got our flu vaccinations that day. Since I am under the age of 24, I am considered in the 'high risk' group for Swine Flue, and had to get that vaccination along with the seasonal flu shot. Not pleasent. I am not a big fan of needles and the Swine Flu needle was HUGE. It made things hazy for a few hours, but everything is ok now. Today was our language camp. Some of our old language teachers came back and had different workshops running all day. We could pick the ones that we wanted to go to, and it was pretty helpful. Since I have been teaching English, I jumped in on a TEFL workshope and learned some new classroom commands (be quite, finish the sentence, etc) which I know will be incredibly helpful when I get back to site. I also learned some new EE words, and practiced my Armenian small talk.
Tonight a group of went over to our Country Director's house for some Tex Mex. There were some bomb enchiladas..and tacos..and nacho cheese..and brownies. It was great, and it was a fun time just relaxing with some other PCVs while eating such amazing (and missed..) food. Since we are on our own every night for dinner, I have also experienced some amazing Thai food, and after a lot of walking with sketchy directions to a new resturant...some Italian food that was for sure on par with Olive Garden. I am hopeing that these few meals here, and whatever I eat when I am home in 32 DAYS (let's pause for a second to take that in...WOW) will get me through a winter filled with potatoes, and lacking any type of fresh fruit or vegetable. That is going to be tough.
Well...I am going to go and have another bath, had one last night too, but tubs are tough to find in Armenia!
Looking forward to a variety show tommorrow, and Thanksgiving dinner the night after. Then off to site to cook my first ever turkey (wish me luck!). Oh, and FYI, you can't just go and buy a turkey at the store here...we are getting it from a neighbor, my tateak is cleaning it (I made it very clear I was not up for that) and then I will cook it in the oven that has no temperature control. Hopefully it will be good!
Miss you all and love you tons!!
and in case you missed it before 32 DAYS!!!
The first couple of days I was here to participate with some other EE PCVs and all of the Health PCVs in a 'Team Teaching Conference". I came with a teacher from the art school, but it was a very interesting experience for me since I have not been team teaching at all. The facilitator's knew this, and did an amazing job including me and I am hoping that some of the practices and benefits of team teaching that she will bring back to the other teachers will encourage them to do some teaching with me later on. I would feel much better having a host country national in the classroom with me, even if it is just in the Art classrooms, and not with Sunchild. I also enjoyed being around a smaller group of PCVs. I got to hang around with some PCVs I didn't really know all that well, and that was a good time. Of course, we did go out dancing...which was one of the hilights!
Yesterday and today were a little rough, I am on my fourth day of 'conferencing' and hate sitting down all day long. All of the A-16s are participating in our Early Service Training...which is some resiliancy and language workshops. Everyone was a little bit spacey on that first day (we were out late the night before) and it didn't help that we all got our flu vaccinations that day. Since I am under the age of 24, I am considered in the 'high risk' group for Swine Flue, and had to get that vaccination along with the seasonal flu shot. Not pleasent. I am not a big fan of needles and the Swine Flu needle was HUGE. It made things hazy for a few hours, but everything is ok now. Today was our language camp. Some of our old language teachers came back and had different workshops running all day. We could pick the ones that we wanted to go to, and it was pretty helpful. Since I have been teaching English, I jumped in on a TEFL workshope and learned some new classroom commands (be quite, finish the sentence, etc) which I know will be incredibly helpful when I get back to site. I also learned some new EE words, and practiced my Armenian small talk.
Tonight a group of went over to our Country Director's house for some Tex Mex. There were some bomb enchiladas..and tacos..and nacho cheese..and brownies. It was great, and it was a fun time just relaxing with some other PCVs while eating such amazing (and missed..) food. Since we are on our own every night for dinner, I have also experienced some amazing Thai food, and after a lot of walking with sketchy directions to a new resturant...some Italian food that was for sure on par with Olive Garden. I am hopeing that these few meals here, and whatever I eat when I am home in 32 DAYS (let's pause for a second to take that in...WOW) will get me through a winter filled with potatoes, and lacking any type of fresh fruit or vegetable. That is going to be tough.
Well...I am going to go and have another bath, had one last night too, but tubs are tough to find in Armenia!
Looking forward to a variety show tommorrow, and Thanksgiving dinner the night after. Then off to site to cook my first ever turkey (wish me luck!). Oh, and FYI, you can't just go and buy a turkey at the store here...we are getting it from a neighbor, my tateak is cleaning it (I made it very clear I was not up for that) and then I will cook it in the oven that has no temperature control. Hopefully it will be good!
Miss you all and love you tons!!
and in case you missed it before 32 DAYS!!!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
34 days and counting....
That is right, just 34 short days until I get to visit home and see everyone again!! Very exciting stuff, I know. Well...a few things to share with you since the last time:
I started the wood stove all by myself the other day. I have a new appreciation for my tateak that can do it in like 5 seconds. I can start a fire in the open, no problem, but when you have to cram all the wood nicely in the little box and start it with no kindling and a match...it is frustrating. But I was cold and home a lone...It needed to happen.
I made banana bread for the first time!! Actually, I baked for the first time in Armenia. It was delicious if I do say so myself, and was pretty fun to cook. There is no Vanilla extract here, you use little packets of powder vanilla flavor stuff instead. It was still tasty though!
I not only got a FREE ride from Dilijan to Yerevan, but then my timing worked out and I got a separate FREE ride from the PC office to the hotel...amazing. Unfortunately, that was probably my luck for the next year, I guess we will see.
My conference is going pretty well. I am having fun in Yerevan (and staying at a hotel!!). Last night I showered and almost cried over the amazing water pressure that we had. You forget about things like that until you experience it again...It was fantastic!
I have also had some great food..we go out for dinner every night (don't worry mum-we get reimbursed by the PC) and I had some great Thai food last night. Then, we tried out a new Italian place tonight. Unfortunately, they didn't have a meatball sub, but they did have a chicken alfredo on par with Olive Garden.
Since I went out last night dancing, tonight is going to be a night in for relaxing and some reading. Mabye a movie.
Love you all!!
I started the wood stove all by myself the other day. I have a new appreciation for my tateak that can do it in like 5 seconds. I can start a fire in the open, no problem, but when you have to cram all the wood nicely in the little box and start it with no kindling and a match...it is frustrating. But I was cold and home a lone...It needed to happen.
I made banana bread for the first time!! Actually, I baked for the first time in Armenia. It was delicious if I do say so myself, and was pretty fun to cook. There is no Vanilla extract here, you use little packets of powder vanilla flavor stuff instead. It was still tasty though!
I not only got a FREE ride from Dilijan to Yerevan, but then my timing worked out and I got a separate FREE ride from the PC office to the hotel...amazing. Unfortunately, that was probably my luck for the next year, I guess we will see.
My conference is going pretty well. I am having fun in Yerevan (and staying at a hotel!!). Last night I showered and almost cried over the amazing water pressure that we had. You forget about things like that until you experience it again...It was fantastic!
I have also had some great food..we go out for dinner every night (don't worry mum-we get reimbursed by the PC) and I had some great Thai food last night. Then, we tried out a new Italian place tonight. Unfortunately, they didn't have a meatball sub, but they did have a chicken alfredo on par with Olive Garden.
Since I went out last night dancing, tonight is going to be a night in for relaxing and some reading. Mabye a movie.
Love you all!!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
thank you mem and gramp!
I got 3 of your letters today, they made me very happy on a not so good day. I appreciate it and wanted you to know!
I love and miss you tons and tons!
Off to class now, my second English class..we are learning colors, numbers, and telling time...plus 10 new verbs in the present tense. It will be a good time!
37 days ladies and gentlemen, 37 days!
I love and miss you tons and tons!
Off to class now, my second English class..we are learning colors, numbers, and telling time...plus 10 new verbs in the present tense. It will be a good time!
37 days ladies and gentlemen, 37 days!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
quickly
well...today I am teaching my first English class for Sunchild. We are going to cover greetings, personal pronouns, and the present tense of 'to be'. Hopefully, it will be a review for most of the kids, but I want to start with the basics because while they may have the vocab, they can not really speak what they know. Interesting stuff. I have a lot of visuals and games for them, well, because that is how I learn the easiest. We will see how it goes. I was supposed to have to groups, one at 1 and one at 3, only two kids showed at 1, so we are all waiting around until 3 for the other kids to show up. From now on, only one group at 3.
Things are going pretty well, except for the fact that it is very cold. We have the wood stove going pretty continuously, I am wearing long johns on a daily basis, and today I even felt the need for mittens and a scarf. Honestly, if it is going to be this cold, I want it to snow. A lot of my Snowflake training is coming in pretty useful to. For example, I defiantly sleep with my clothes for the next day in bed, so they are nice and warm the next morning. I already hate getting up in the cold, nevermind if I had to put on frozen clothes. I am a bit worried about some of my medicines though, I hope that they don't freeze in the cupboards!!
Well..I left two very curious Armenian children in the room playing games on my laptop so I could come and type this up real quick, better go make sure they haven't screwed with it at all. Oh, and I am going to try and start some computer classes as well!!
Love you all and miss you tons...only 40 days!!!! I can not wait!!!!
Sarah- your kool aid reminder made my day, really...
Taylor- Happy Birthday, sorry for being late with it, the service here has been sketchy lately
Aunt Mary- size 11, and mum is picking up a bunch of thinner, every day ones..I think some thick ones for winter under the boots would be nice!
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!
Things are going pretty well, except for the fact that it is very cold. We have the wood stove going pretty continuously, I am wearing long johns on a daily basis, and today I even felt the need for mittens and a scarf. Honestly, if it is going to be this cold, I want it to snow. A lot of my Snowflake training is coming in pretty useful to. For example, I defiantly sleep with my clothes for the next day in bed, so they are nice and warm the next morning. I already hate getting up in the cold, nevermind if I had to put on frozen clothes. I am a bit worried about some of my medicines though, I hope that they don't freeze in the cupboards!!
Well..I left two very curious Armenian children in the room playing games on my laptop so I could come and type this up real quick, better go make sure they haven't screwed with it at all. Oh, and I am going to try and start some computer classes as well!!
Love you all and miss you tons...only 40 days!!!! I can not wait!!!!
Sarah- your kool aid reminder made my day, really...
Taylor- Happy Birthday, sorry for being late with it, the service here has been sketchy lately
Aunt Mary- size 11, and mum is picking up a bunch of thinner, every day ones..I think some thick ones for winter under the boots would be nice!
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
I apologize...
I know it has been awhile, but things here have been a little bit crazy. Good, but crazy. I have been busy working on upcoming English lessons, and planning for a big end of the year party that we will be hosting at the school. The party includes two contests that we are trying to announce and organize now. One is a Thanksgiving essay contest. It is open to all the school children in Dilijan, and they have to write an essay telling what they are thankful for. and yes, it is based on the American Thanksgiving, which I am excited to bring here. We are also having an 'Art from Trash' contest open to the Art School and Sunchild children. They are going to work in groups to take everyday trash (Vivacell cards, plastic bags, soda bottles, egg cartons, etc) and make a piece of art out of it. All of the art will be displayed at the party, and the essay winners will read their essays for everyone that attends. We are also planning on having the Sunchild children use recycled paper to write their 'thanks' and display that as well at the party...I am pretty excited for the whole shindig!!
On the downside, found out that my brother here is leaving on December 21st for his mandatory 2 year stint in the Armenian army. It is very sad, my Mum is not very happy. He is in the middle of his studies at the University in Yerevan, and we are all going to be sad to see him leave right before Christmas. I am planning on giving him a huge package of socks before he leaves.
Well...I am off to observe one of art classes...I am going to start teaching a little bit in the art classes, about the ocean and stuff.
I love and miss you tons!!!
44 days and counting...
On the downside, found out that my brother here is leaving on December 21st for his mandatory 2 year stint in the Armenian army. It is very sad, my Mum is not very happy. He is in the middle of his studies at the University in Yerevan, and we are all going to be sad to see him leave right before Christmas. I am planning on giving him a huge package of socks before he leaves.
Well...I am off to observe one of art classes...I am going to start teaching a little bit in the art classes, about the ocean and stuff.
I love and miss you tons!!!
44 days and counting...
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Halloween Happenings
Friday morning I was escorted to the appropriate corner to wait for the marshutney to Berd. It was a good thing I was had company to, because it would have been a close call for me to read (in Armenian) the destinations of the passing marshutney as it flew by, in enough time for me to flag it down and pick me up.
I will be honest. The ride was pretty horrible. It took 2 1/2 hours, and 2 children got sick on the floor. It was a very, very twisty ride, as we were going up and down and around a whole lot of mountains. I did meet a nice Armenian boy though, we even had a conversation. It is a little on the shameful side here, but I am American and can get away with it a bit. OH, then I fell off of the marshutney as I was getting off. Made a great impression. The nice boy did catch me though, and then helped me to find a taxi.
When got to Artsvaberd in enough time to catch the last couple hours of the Green Camp that a few volunteers had been running for a week. It was great. The kids did a trash clean up, made masks for Halloween (which isn't celebrated here) and then spent a couple of hours playing games. It was a great time, even though it was freezing.
Friday night was spent just relaxing and hanging out at a PCVs house. It was interesting to see. She had no gas or running water, and had a squatty potty outhouse as a bathroom. She lived in one room of the house, and used a wood stove to heat it. The town had no paved roads, just dirt, which were slippery hills of mud since it had rained. It made me feel incredibly spoiled to be living where I am.
On Saturday we all just hung around relaxing for the first part of the day. It was great to spend time with other PCVs. Around 4 we all changed into our costume, and shortly after all sorts of people began arriving. It was amazing. I loved seeing everyone again, and considering we can't run to iParty, there were some great costumes. I went 80s. Also present were David Bowie, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, a dog show enthusiast and her groomer, a Bride-to-Be, and a couple of not so scary looking bank robbers. Halloween candy had been compiled, and the spider rings my mum sent were a big hit!
The next day we took a very squished, long, and bumpy bus ride to catch our respective marshutneys home. I went up to Noyembriyan with my friend David. I slept for the majority of the ride, and when we got there it was decided that we would go hiking. We ended up going over a couple of mountains to see an old monastary. It was a great hike, despite the large amounts of mud. We got to right below the monastary, and it was a pretty steep and rocky hike up. I sat out since I wasn't wearing boots and didn't want to leave Armenia with a snapped ankle. David went though, and we are going to try and go again, a little more prepared.
The hike had some amazing views, we could actually see Azerbaijan from the mountains. Oh, and we also found this great little horavats (BBQ) place/ picnic area in between the mountains. It was great, and we are going to try and plan a winter BBQ/camping trip there.
We got back to his house around dark, and made an amazing dinner. It was garlic stir fry on top of rice, and included the best ground hamburger I have ever had in Armenia. Between David, his host mom, and I, a 1/2 kilo of meat was polished off. In our defense, we had a pretty good hike, and did not eat much that day.
Also learned to play chess, again, that night. I am not very good at it, but held my own. Mostly because my moves were so random and made so little sense, that David had a hard time planning any strategy. He ranted for a solid 10 minutes about it, it was hilarious. It was an early night though, we were tired, and the next morning I was on my home to Dilijan for work.
The weeks are absolutly flying now that I am pretty busy every day. Only 51 days until I visit home, and there are tons of things going on before that. I am going to start teaching on the 15th (for real this time), and for the next few days someone from Yerevan is coming up to help my Sunchild group work on a video about water. It will be a great time. Money is pretty tight right now, but I am going to try and get more pictures up this week. Miss you all!
thanks Aunt Mary for the card!
I will be honest. The ride was pretty horrible. It took 2 1/2 hours, and 2 children got sick on the floor. It was a very, very twisty ride, as we were going up and down and around a whole lot of mountains. I did meet a nice Armenian boy though, we even had a conversation. It is a little on the shameful side here, but I am American and can get away with it a bit. OH, then I fell off of the marshutney as I was getting off. Made a great impression. The nice boy did catch me though, and then helped me to find a taxi.
When got to Artsvaberd in enough time to catch the last couple hours of the Green Camp that a few volunteers had been running for a week. It was great. The kids did a trash clean up, made masks for Halloween (which isn't celebrated here) and then spent a couple of hours playing games. It was a great time, even though it was freezing.
Friday night was spent just relaxing and hanging out at a PCVs house. It was interesting to see. She had no gas or running water, and had a squatty potty outhouse as a bathroom. She lived in one room of the house, and used a wood stove to heat it. The town had no paved roads, just dirt, which were slippery hills of mud since it had rained. It made me feel incredibly spoiled to be living where I am.
On Saturday we all just hung around relaxing for the first part of the day. It was great to spend time with other PCVs. Around 4 we all changed into our costume, and shortly after all sorts of people began arriving. It was amazing. I loved seeing everyone again, and considering we can't run to iParty, there were some great costumes. I went 80s. Also present were David Bowie, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, a dog show enthusiast and her groomer, a Bride-to-Be, and a couple of not so scary looking bank robbers. Halloween candy had been compiled, and the spider rings my mum sent were a big hit!
The next day we took a very squished, long, and bumpy bus ride to catch our respective marshutneys home. I went up to Noyembriyan with my friend David. I slept for the majority of the ride, and when we got there it was decided that we would go hiking. We ended up going over a couple of mountains to see an old monastary. It was a great hike, despite the large amounts of mud. We got to right below the monastary, and it was a pretty steep and rocky hike up. I sat out since I wasn't wearing boots and didn't want to leave Armenia with a snapped ankle. David went though, and we are going to try and go again, a little more prepared.
The hike had some amazing views, we could actually see Azerbaijan from the mountains. Oh, and we also found this great little horavats (BBQ) place/ picnic area in between the mountains. It was great, and we are going to try and plan a winter BBQ/camping trip there.
We got back to his house around dark, and made an amazing dinner. It was garlic stir fry on top of rice, and included the best ground hamburger I have ever had in Armenia. Between David, his host mom, and I, a 1/2 kilo of meat was polished off. In our defense, we had a pretty good hike, and did not eat much that day.
Also learned to play chess, again, that night. I am not very good at it, but held my own. Mostly because my moves were so random and made so little sense, that David had a hard time planning any strategy. He ranted for a solid 10 minutes about it, it was hilarious. It was an early night though, we were tired, and the next morning I was on my home to Dilijan for work.
The weeks are absolutly flying now that I am pretty busy every day. Only 51 days until I visit home, and there are tons of things going on before that. I am going to start teaching on the 15th (for real this time), and for the next few days someone from Yerevan is coming up to help my Sunchild group work on a video about water. It will be a great time. Money is pretty tight right now, but I am going to try and get more pictures up this week. Miss you all!
thanks Aunt Mary for the card!
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