This weekend started out pretty fantastically. On Saturday, a friend of mine came to visit and cooked an Italian dinner for my family. We made baked ziti and garlic bread, from scratch(ish). Thanks Mum for the inspiration! It was a hit, and that is putting it pretty mildly. Not only did the entire family go for seconds, but that included my brother, Samson. He is not big on trying new foods, and he doesn't eat very much. When I saw him scoop a second heaping spoonful of ziti onto his plate, I really almost cried. I also knew that the meal was a big success because no normal hatz (bread) was placed on the table. Bread is on the table at every meal, every single meal...and this is the first time they haven't added it! Everyone was satisfied with the garlic bread that we had made. We had left over wine and vodka from Samson's party as well, so we had an amazing time eating, toasting, and talking (mostly in Armenian) to one another.
That night, after dinner, we played another round of Old Maid. While that might sound a bit mundane, or boring, what you don't know is that when someone loses, another player gets to draw on their face with eye liner. That right there ups the ante. We had only played a couple of hands (I had yet to be drawn on, but that didn't last) when some family friends came, and ended up sitting down and playing with us. Everyone was in an extremely good mood, and there was for sure some serious cheating (ooops..I mean hinting) going on! We put on some music, relaxed, and I don't think we stopped playing until one in the morning, when it was decided that it was time for bed!
The next day was just as fun. We went for a little walk and found the Rotunda in Dilijan. It is an old columned structure that they used in the soviet times for hosting parties. It is really, really run down now, but it was fun to walk around in the ruins. We came home to find a 'young people' party going on at the house for Samson. All of the neighborhood kids (when I say kids, I mean 16 to 23 year olds) and some of the cousins were here. We danced for a little, said a couple of toasts, and then the games started.
The first game we played was musical chairs, I know, sounds boring, but it was hilarious. After, we played a short lived game of duck, duck, goose that got a little out of hand in a very small space. I was then inspired to try and do a group sit. Turned out to be not such a great idea. While we had a great time falling on our behinds 5 or 6 times, we never did quite get the point. Oh well. My two favorite games came next.
The game involved 2 back to back chairs. A person sits and covers their eyes, while another points to different people in the room. The person sitting says 'yes' or 'no' to a person, and when they say yes..the picked person sits. The third person claps..and both people must turn their head. If they both face the same direction, you need to kiss each other on the cheek. Different directions, you slap one another. There was for sure some scheming and plotting going on during that one!
The second game was kind of like Marco Polo but without all the required talking. You basically blindfolded a person and they had to find and grab someone else in the room, then say who they thought it was. We were climbing on furniture, throwing pillows, and tackling each other to the floor. At one point I even crawled under a table.
While most of these games sound childish and corny, I actually had an amazing time playing them. It made me sad to realize that most people who have hit my age have stopped running around and playing stupid games (I lucked out as a counselor and ropes course facilitator!). The people that I was playing with were great, and despite the language barrier, that still does exist, I felt like just horsing around with my brother and sister brought us closer together.
When the kid's party was finished, some of my extended host family began to arrive to help us set up for Samson's last dinner at home before leaving for the army. Despite the event surrounding the dinner, everyone really was staying positive and having a good time. My host mum made dolma (mmm!)and there were leftover pastries for dessert. I must admit, I imbibed quite a bit during this dinner. I took advantage of the fact that I was American to skip the wine that the rest of the ladies were drinking (not a fan) and opted instead for the vodka that all the manly men were drinking! While I am pretty sure some of the older women there (read: I heard one lady mention to my host mother that I was drinking..dum dum dum)thought my drinking was a little amot (shameful) everyone else got a kick out of it. The men thought it was hilarious that I was drinking the vodka with them, and when things died down I had a great time drinking with Samson, Lilit, and my friend. There were lots of laughs going on throughout the entire dinner. At one point, two of my Armenian cousins said they were coming to America with me, and I think everyone was pretty impressed when I asked if they would be coming in my bag! Following Armenian protocol, we had to say a toast for every drink that we took. We toasted Samson, his health, and his time in the Army, but near the end we were running out of options. We ended up toast for the world, the vodka, and finally just 'us'. It was fantastic.
Unfortunately though, all of this celebration was in honor of an event that no one was looking forward to. This morning at 9am, we brought Samson to the main area of the town to meet with other young men that would be joining the Army today. Around 11, after lots of kisses and hugs, 8 young men got into a marshutney and drove away. They will serve in the Army for 2 years, with one 10 day vacation after 8 months in. I think I am done talking about it here though, volunteer blogs here are monitored by not only news agencies, but also the US embassy. I have lots to say, but my mother's empathy for others and my father's crazy temper mean that what I really think wouldn't go over to well. Ask me about it when you see me while I'm home.
Oh, 3 days...
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