Well, hello everyone. You could say it has been awhile. You could also say that I’ve been busy. Where to begin… Took an 8 day vacation to Georgia with my then girlfriend, Erin. We wandered around for a few days, seeing the sights and taking in all Tbilisi and Batumi had to offer. We visited an ancient Roman fortress which (at the time) had a working water piping system. We climbed up to see Mother Georgia and another fortress in Tbilisi. We strolled in a newly constructed park. On the fourth day of our vacation, I asked Erin to marry me…and she said yes! I had an engagement ring brought over by another volunteer the previous month. Her and I had together spoke on this subject, so while the date and place was a surprise, she knew I had planned to ask. On the last day of our vacation, we treated ourselves to some fine desserts at a very swank restaurant featuring live music. And not just any music, a violin and piano accompaniment. We each ordered a fabulous dessert and shared. Both our selections were scrumptious! In Batumi, where it rained for a portion and was kind of cold, we walked through the botanical gardens. We sat along the Black Sea and rode the train a few times. So that is pretty much exciting! Aside from that, I’ve been putting together a project to incorporate some new computers and an interactive whiteboard for my school. It’s been quite something, but I think it’s getting pretty solid. We have our Mid Service Training conference beginning mid-June. There, we will work more with our counterparts and get to officially meet the new group arriving later this month! I can’t wait to meet the new groupies and share my stories of life in Armenia with them. So that’s pretty much it. Later peeps!

The Egyptian and American reunited after about one year in, of all places, the city of angels. The visit was too short but very much worth it. We went right from the airport to Farmers Market downtown and the sights … Continue reading →

I hate cover letters. I really, sincerely do not like cover letters and dont see the need for them. I also hate asking and re-asking for references, it feels like I am bothering people. I know linkedin is supposed to be the place where you can put your resume online and then get jobs based on that, but it doesnt quite work for the education field as well as it does for the business field. I am just so tired of applying to places. It also doesnt help that the job-getting process is a whole waiting game. Most schools dont know who they can hire until June so I wont know anything until probably July! Patience is a virtue that I am not that strong in. :)

However, I did get a permanent substitute position working at my Mom's school. It has been a lot of fun and re-affirmed that teaching is what I want to do for the foreseeable future. 7- and 8-year olds are ridiculous and tell the most random stories. They also make very honest and innocent mistakes like abbreviating assistant to ass without realizing what they did. Or writing "Im doing it in slow motion" as a sentence for their spelling word 'motion.' You know, completely innocent things like that, where as my adult-twisted mind transforms it into something hilarious.

It has been wonderful to work and back on to a schedule. I definitely had too much thinking time on my hands when I came back from traveling. Although, I feel as though I have aged 10 years being back to work in the classroom. I happily go to bed at 830 or 9 because I am so exhausted from working. I use my Sundays to lesson plan and prepare for the work week ahead. I mentally plan out my clothes because I have more than one pair of pants to choose from. I make leftovers or sandwiches for lunch and make sure to have my bag packed the night before. I drink coffee in the morning and not for the joy of coffee but because I am not sure how I would function without it. Yes, I have become that person. I am working now and as hesitant as I was to fall back in to a routine, I am liking the stability. I am also liking the paycheck and actually making money instead of just spending savings. But this will only last until the beginning of June and then I need to figure out my next paychecks.

I am still looking forward to my next adventure and my next step. I wish I knew when or where that was to but time will tell. I will find out soon enough. I have enjoyed living with my parents but I am ready to move on my own again. The next place I move will be where I start my own home, which is very weird to think about. Every time I have 'flown' from the nest, I always had a room/storage place at my parents house. I also knew that I would probably be back home, either as a layover or a place to regroup and go out again. Leaving for college, I knew I would be back before I went in to Peace Corps. After Peace Corps, I knew I would use home as a place to regroup before leaving again. Now, the next time I leave it will be because I have a job, a life to start and if I come home again it will be because something didnt work out. I wont use home as a base anymore, I will be making my base somewhere else. It is overwhelming, scary and intimidating. At the same time, it is exciting, challenging and I am ready for it!

I feel like most people do this at the age of 20 or so, but I am doing it at the wonderful age of 27 and I dont feel wrong about it. I dont feel old or like I am off the path. This is the way my life has worked out and I am happy to be where I am. :)

With that, I want to write a little about my amazing mother! It is Mother's Day after all! She is probably one of the only people that reads this thing anyways...

I want to thank you, Mom, for helping me, listening to me, comforting me, pushing me, challenging me, cooking with me, and above all consistently loving me for who I am even when I might not have deserved all of it! You are an inspiring role model and one of the most understanding and accepting people I know. If more people were like you, this world would be a lot better! Keep being amazing! Thanks for being the best friend anyone could ask for!

And to all those Mom-like figures out there, my Aunts, Grandmothers, Friends, and my friend's Moms, you all have done something amazing! You inspire, you support, you teach, and you unconditionally love those in your life. Thank you!

I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day and make sure you send your thanks to your own Mom and to those Moms in your life!

Love.

As part of an initiative to raise fitness & health awareness in Talin (and to try and mimic the Indianapolis Mini Marathon…ha), Talin Hope, a local Non-profit organization in Talin, hosted the first annual Talin 5K yesterday, May 12th, 2012 at noon. Please check out the results & photos at: www.talinruns.wordpress.com  

Extreme Affordability: Innovative Solutions for Surgical Care, Josh Wood, MPA

Joshua Wood, MPA Joshua Wood currently works as the Executive Director of IVUmed, a Salt Lake City-based nongovernmental organization dedicated to making quality urological care available to people worldwide. Mr. Wood began work with IVUmed in 2006. As Executive Director, he oversees IVUmed's programs and operations, including strategic planning and implementation, fundraising and development, staffing and operations, and global partner relations. He has a master's degree in international relations and public administration from the University of Utah and a bachelor's degree in geography and anthropology. He has presented research and program outcomes to divisions of the World Health Organization and a variety of medical and surgical associations, including the American Urological Association. He has served as a lecturer at the University of Utah and has consulted with a number of international surgical organizations, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to joining IVUmed, Josh ran a digital health program benefiting medically underserved populations in the United States. He has also served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Armenia focusing on education and community development. From: GlobalSurgery Views: 1 0 ratings Time: 14:58 More in Education

On Monday I experienced my first ever earthquake. It was just before 9 in the morning and I was getting ready to go to school. The ground started to shake and I thought it was just a large truck driving on the road above my house. Then, my house began to shake back and forth and I realized it was an earthquake. I ran outside, but by the time I finally got there it had stopped. I stood outside talking to my neighbors, all wearing their pajamas, and they kept asking me if I was afraid. To be honest earthquakes totally freak me out now. I wearily went back into my house, saw there was no damage, and finished getting ready. I started walking to school when suddenly 20 students rushed the street and yelled to me that school was cancelled because of the earthquake. There was no damage to the school, but they closed it in case of aftershocks (There actually was a strong aftershock later that afternoon). I think we were the only school in the region that was closed. The epicenter of the earthquake was in Azerbaijan and people as far as Yerevan could feel it.

I had a conversation the next day with an Armenian who asked if we had earthquakes in America. I said yes, but not usually in Florida. I then explained hurricanes to her. She said hurricanes sounded much more frightening because of the water and wind. I told her I was much more afraid of earthquakes because there is absolutely no warning before it strikes. I hope that was the only earthquake of my Peace Corps service… Oh well, at least I'll be earthquake-free Florida in 38 days! Sorry Washington DC (49 days!), your earthquake last year isn't going to win you any favors ;)

My host brother and his wife just had their first baby! Her name is Julietta, my host family could not be more excited to have a baby in their house. I have learned that it is thought to be bad luck to take pictures of a baby in the first 40days, after those 40 days they have a big BBQ to present the baby to their friends. So I dont have any pictures yet but she is adorable! Yerazik (the mother) asked me to make this blanket that she saw online and a hat to match it.

Levon and Yerazik- the proud new parents

So the last week has been super hectic!! Not only have I been preparing for our last 3 weeks of school, which means final tests, review games and just cherishing my final moments in the classroom, but I have also helped to organize a dance camp at the Spitak YMCA where Peace Corps volunteers taught a choreographed hip hop dance... and by helped I mean a little something like this: Hey Peace Corps dance camp volunteers you should come to the YMCA in Spitak and do the camp PCDC: oh really when?? Me: Hey YMCA we want to do a camp when should we?? YMCA: this week would be best ME: Hey PCDC come on these dates, this is how you get to spitak.... =) oh yeah and also I cheered and pointed out where people needed help and provided an encouraging smile! Also I cooked dinner for the volunteers one night, and it was pretty much amazing.

So anyways the camp was three days long and mostly kids from the YMCA attended but I also had two of my students go. 4 PCV's pretty much did everything on their own, teaching dance moves, B boy styles and a routine. Each day was about 3 hours long and on the last day the kids preformed for the YMCA.

Please follow this link to watch this amazing video that the Spitak YMCA prepared!!! You can catch a few glimpses of me on the sidelines!! =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhfg4NP3QRg&feature=share

Why should you help fund the Border to Border project? Let me paint a picture for you. Driving down the road, past Lake Sevan, the waterfront is lined with small bushes. The bushes are adorned with plastic bags of all … Continue reading →

Dance camp at Spitak YMCA

A dance camp held by Peace Corps Armenia in the Spitak YMCA for the TenSing group Peace Corps Volunteers: Alex, Maggie, Matt and Caroline From: YMCASpitak Views: 0 0 ratings Time: 07:01 More in Nonprofits & Activism

I just got back from a weeklong vacation in Portugal and had an amazing time. So amazing that I didn’t want to go back to Armenia. I did much better adjusting to Armenia this time around than I did after Istanbul. It helps that its warm and sunny now, and that I’ll be going to America in 42 days, not that I’m counting J More like desperately hoping the time flies by so I can see my family again. Portugal was a week to recharge my batteries and visit a beautiful country. I climbed castles, visited churches, and explored Lisbon until I couldn’t walk anymore. I also did many American things, like eat at Burger King, and watch an American movie in English. Hunger Games: Awesome. I started rereading the books on the airplane back to Armenia. Here are some pictures of Portugal:

I’m sad to be missing my brother’s wedding today. My entire family will be there, except me. My parents and all 14 brothers and sisters, plus in-laws, nieces, and nephews. I wish Martin and Ina all the best, as they … Continue reading →

Following a great day of practicing lesson plans, B2B 2012 participants Jack, Kellianne, Tamara, James and David went on a practice hike around Vanadzor. Joined by other volunteers and locals from Vanadzor, the group hiked about 7 km in the surrounding hills of Armenia’s third largest city.

B2B 2012 got off to a great start yesterday in Vanadzor with a trial run of some of the workshops that will be presented during our actual walk. With the help of B2B alum Michael Zier, walkers for this summer Jack, James, Tamara, Kellianne, and David reviewed and ran through several of the workshops with [...]

As I write this, a storm is brewing out my window. The sky is black with clouds and thunder is booming in the distance. A thin sprinkling of rain is just starting to fall. My host mother turns over one … Continue reading →

I'd like to turn your attention briefly away from my own blog to that of another Armenian PCV's. Here is a post about an upcoming project we're working on in Armenia - Border 2 Border. It's a very unique project that I am grateful and lucky to be a part of this summer. Often Peace Corps projects require a little extra funding to be executed. In this case, the team of organizers is fundraising both from Armenian sources and through the extended Peace Corps (that means you, and any American citizen!) Please, check out this blog post for more information and some details on how you can get involved!

http://tomhtravels.blogspot.com/2012/04/border-to-border.html

Here in Sisian we have an Art School with an attached art gallery. There they teach everything from drawing to rug making. There are some pretty impressive Artists that teach and attend the Sisisan Art school. I had them paint pictures of Armenia and their life to send to Washington DC. Some time in May we should get 25 new pieces of art from all around the world to display in the gallery.

Lilit with her painting of Noah's Ark on top of Mt. Ararat (which is currently in Turkey)

Grandmothers making Lavash

Kids throwing water at eachother on the water holiday Vrat Na Var

Living in a country smaller than the size of Maryland has its perks. Despite the predominately mountainous terrain that gives the country a wide range of climate zones and makes villages only kilometers away from each other actually close to a day's travel away, Armenia is still relatively speaking a compact place. This also means that walking across the country, from one border to the other, is not totally out of the question, insane prospect. So for three weeks this summer, myself and some fellow volunteers will be doing just that.

Border to Border is a project started up by some volunteers in Armenia last summer, and is now being continued for a second year running. Two teams of six volunteers, one from the Iranian border (that's my team) and one from the Georgian border will walk across Armenia for three weeks until we converge in the country's central town of Yeghegnadzor. Why, might you ask? Well, for some pretty good reasons as a matter of fact:

For these three weeks, we'll be walking for two very important causes in Armenia: children's health and environmental awareness. Lack of responsibility for one's health and for the local environment are two issues among Armenian youth (prevalent examples being garbage routinely dumped into local rivers and streams or the majority of young boys picking up smoking at age 15). And these issues we hope to help mitigate with a little leading by example, spreading of awareness, and teaching. Each team will stop in 9 to 10 Armenian towns and villages along the way, holding teaching sessions for each community at local schools and cultural centers. Armenians from different organizations such as FYCA (Federation of Youth Clubs in Armenia) and YMCA of Armenia will be teaming up with us along the way as well, teaching with us and even walking with us at times as well. At the end of the journey, we hope to have taught in upwards of 18 communities, passed through/had contact with countless other villages along the way, hiked nearly 600 K, and given valuable lessons and lasting impressions to a whole lot of children. Wish us luck. It's on!

Oh yeah, and we need donations too, so if you're in the position to do so, visit our donation portal here.

When I learned my first words in Armenian, I wanted to skip down the street, smiling, and shouting, “Barev dzez,” to everyone I saw. My blond hair, casual clothing, and dirty shoes did not stop me from wanting to stand … Continue reading →

In Armenia, folks like to Shnorhavor things.

This word, shnorhavor, roughly translates to “congratulations,” but, as with a lot of cases when trying to succinctly translate something, it doesn’t do the word justice (I suppose this goes especially for translations between two languages as disparate as English and Armenian). You hear “shnorhavor” in Armenia in a lot of the situations where you would also here the English “congratulations,” like during weddings, or when you’ve just moved into a new place. You also hear it in some contexts where someone perhaps could give you a “congrats” in English, but it would ring a bit odd, like during birthdays (I don’t think people say “congratulations on your birthday,” all too often), when somebody in the village gets new windows, or when a grandchild gets new shoes. And then there are the situations where the translation seems to definitely be off, like the first day you wear a tie to work or when the first of a certain local mountain plant this season have grown and are ready to eat. It seems to mean much more than what a simple “congratulations,” is used often and creatively, and is always meant sincerely and to express good will (you don’t hear a lot of sarcasm around here, if any). A few of my favorite Shnorhavors I’ve experienced in country so far are as follows.

Նոր Կացին Շնորիավոր - Nor Katsin Shnorhavor – Congrats on the new axe

To stave off the cold during the brutal Armenian winter, I chopped a pretty substantial amount of wood toward the end of last year for my wood burning stove. I used my landlord’s old axe that I found in his storage area at first, but it didn’t last long. I’m no expert lumberjack, my form is probably laughable (at least to Armenians) and I take wild swings sometimes that dig into knotty portions of the wood that dull the blade and weaken the shaft. After a few days of using it, I had broken my landlord’s axe, split the shaft right in two. My neighbors tried helping me fix it, but it was bound to break again, so I started looking for something a little stronger/safer. I headed to Meghri, the nearest town, bought myself a new shaft and blade for a total of 4,000 dram. I was then told that I should bring the parts to a man named Hamlet, who lived in my village and apparently was the local master craftsmen of sorts. I brought the two parts to his house, and his daughter told me that in a few days he’d have it all fixed up and ready for me. About three days later, as I was getting ready to leave work at the school, I was called into the teacher’s lounge. There, resting in the middle of the room on a table usually dedicated to class textbooks, notebooks of lesson plans, and cups of coffee was a shinning new axe. My schools art teacher had written “TOM” in blue sharpie on the shaft, so that it was perfectly clear exactly who this tool of destruction belonged to. Hamlet had not simply attached the axe head to the shaft for me. The blade was razor sharp, and behind the axe head he had installed a small iron plate, reinforced with bolts, to make it super secure and more or less indestructible. Walking out of the school with this deadly thing, I was immediately swarmed by the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade boys hanging out in the playground. They gathered in a circle around me, jumped up and down, tried to come up to touch it, and gave me many a sincere “shnorhavor” on my new acquisition. So, in Armenian villages anyway, it’s okay for teachers to walk out of schools with big, razor sharp axes.

Բոխի Շնորիավոր - Bokhi Shnorhavor – Congratulations to Bokhi (??)

The other day at work, my school’s principal, a white-haired, stout, severe but also mischievous kind of man, told me that I need not go to the third grade during the upcoming class period, because we had something important to do in his office. Per usual, he didn’t tell me what this was, but I obliged without any sort of complaint because, well, if the school head says I don’t have to teach next hour, then I’m not. I walked into his office to see the small table all set up with sausage, cheese, lavash, fruit, and a mysterious, green, limp, celery-looking vegetable on a platter in the center. “Tom, this is called Bokhi,” he explained to me. He said it was the first Bokhi of the spring, fresh from the mountains, and we had to celebrate a little. Two of the other male staff at the school, Karen and Aram, joined us, and we spent the next 45 minutes chowing down and sipping my director’s homemade vodka with many toasts of “Boki shnorhavor.”

Փողկապ Շնորիավոր - Poghkap Shnorhavor – Congratulations on the tie

Last Friday, the American Ambassador to Armenia paid a visit to my school. I’ll have more on that whole ordeal in another post, but overall it went great. Among many other preparations for the visit, I decided I’d put on a tie for the occasion, which is the first time I’ve worn one at the school (despite the fact that for some reason I packed about 5 of my favorite ties when I left America last summer). One of my 7th grade students, a boy named Roler, said to me when I walked in, “Mr. Tom you are wearing a tie!” I responded in the affirmative. “Shnorhavor,” he said to me sincerely.

Ձեր Տոնը Շնորիավոր - Dzer Tone Shnorhavor – Congratulations on your holiday

On pretty much any Armenian holiday, you’ll hear shnorhavoring going on all around the village. On Nor Tari (new year), everyone shnorhavor’s everyone, saying what would translate to “congrats on your holiday!” and then the response, “yours too!” On other holidays, people are shnorhavored who have a connection with the holiday, so for instance army veterans are shnorhavored on WWII victory day, which Armenian’s do in fact celebrate. One thing that’s confused me a bit though is that on just about every Armenian holiday, I’ve been told “your holiday shnorhavor” by my students, regardless of if I have a connection or not. I’ve of course been told “shnorhavor” on big holidays like Nor Tari, but I’ve also been told “congrats on your holiday” on holidays like Women’s Day, Armenian Army Day, and Russian Army Day, which is still celebrated widely since many Armenian men served in the Russian Army, and also sort of serves as an unofficial “Men’s Day,” here as well.

The newly married couple, Mary and Scott, dancing at the reception.

Arteni is a small village in western Armenia.

One of our fellow volunteers, Scott, was married in Armenia on April 12. He issued a general invitation to all of the A18 volunteers, and many of us attended. Scott teaches English in the small village of Arteni in western Armenia and fell in love with his counterpart, Mary, a very nice and attractive young Armenian lady who is the English teacher at Arteni school. Arteni is about 1.5 hours from Yerevan and the countryside is mostly dry grasslands on low, rolling and rocky hills.

I traveled from Verishen to Yerevan in a shared taxi early in the morning of April 12 and went straight to the bus station where we could catch a marshutni to Arteni. Earlier information suggested that there were plenty of marshutnis throughout the day but I arrived there to see a full marshutni leave, and that was the last one until late afternoon. We called the other volunteers in Yerevan and got them to come quickly to the bus station and, with everyone there, tried hiring a marshutni for the journey. We departed with a full van, 15 volunteers and a few opporunistic Armenians. That marshutni died after 5 km and they couldn't restart it. So a few volunteers went back to the bus station and returned with three taxis which took us uneventfully to Arteni. Our drivers were in good humor, as this was better money and easier driving than fighting Yerevan traffic. We gathered at the house where Scott lived and, after a short delay, three musicians showed up and we started dancing. As part of the dancing, women hold aloft and pass around three baskets, one holds the wedding dress, and another holds the bride's shoes. We were then driven to the bride's uncle's house where the wedding was to take place, and after more music and dancing with the baskets, the bride went inside to put on the wedding dress.

These village kids watched us as we assembled at Scott's place.

Dancing before the wedding with the bride's dress and shoes in the baskets.

This little girl was very cute and it was her task to sprinkle rose petals fromher basket on the grass in front of the bride. However, she got stage frightwhen she saw how many people there were - and they were all watching her.

These three musicians kept things lively before and immediately after the wedding.

The wedding was conducted by a fellow volunteer, who is ordained as a minister in the Universal Life Church. A legal marriage had already taken place in oder to start the visa application process for Mary. Most Armenian weddings take place in a church and the service and vows are standardized. However, Scott and Mary wrote their own marriage service and vows. The wedding was outside with apricot trees just starting to flower. After the service there was more dancing and then we headed off in a convoy of vehicles with horns blaring to the reception.

The bride being escorted by her father.

The wedding ceremony.

Dancing outside after the wedding ceremony. Lavash was draped over Scott's and Mary's shoulders as a symbol of life together, I think

The noisy procession of vehicles on the way to the reception.

There were about 70 or 80 people at the wedding and reception, equally divided between volunteers and Mary's relatives and family. Scott's parents, who live in Atlanta, attended the wedding and paid for the reception. At each table there was wine, cognac, vodka, Jermuk (mineral water) and juice as well as greens, salads, lavash, and cakes. Khorovats (barbecue) soon appeared and we ate and drank well. In another departure from a conventional Armenian wedding, there was no tamada or toastmaster. Often the toasts from the toastmaster can be long winded and very frequent. We were happy to do our own toasts at each table. We danced a lot at the reception. The musicians said there would be a mixture of Armenian and American music for dancing, but, as they weren't familiar with American music and played DVDs we quickly said we'd rather dance to their live music.

The eating, drinking, dancing, and toasting continued for some time. At around 10 pm a few of us with appointments the next day left for Yerevan in a shared taxi. The celebrations continued after we left with more dancing, khorovats, and eventually the wedding cake. Some volunteers caught transport to Yerevan later that night and the remainder stayed the night and returned the next morning. We all agreed it was a lot of fun and, as it was the first wedding in Armenia for many of us, we were all glad we went. As Scott and Mary will soon be moving to America we all contributed to a wedding fund that we hope will help them start married life in the U.S. It is not uncommon for volunteers to get engaged or married while in Armenia. In our group of A18 volunteers, one male volunteer is engaged to an A17 he met here and they will be marrying in the U.S. this summer, one female volunteer is engaged to an A19 volunteer, Scott married Mary, and a female A18 volunteer is engaged to an Armenian male; this last union is unusual.

Spring was well under way in Verishen when I got back after the wedding.

Yesterday marked another milestone in our service. We have 100 days until we are Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs). On August 3, 2012 we will be winging our way back to the U.S. for the next phase of our adventure. Details to follow as we know them.

In the meantime, our sincerest thanks to everyone for their love and support these past two years. You have made our lives more comfortable with your care packages, and your cards, letters and e-mail have kept our spirits up when we most needed it. So thank you, one and all.

On April 24, we traveled to Yerevan with some of our students to pay our respects at the Genocide Memorial. The museum and memorial serve as a reminder to all Armenians of the 1915 Genocide in Turkey. It was wonderful to see it through the eyes of our students, and to be part of the remembrance activities. After a 3 hour marshutni ride, we took a subway, walked a few kilometers, and then joined a 2 1/2 hour solemn march with a few hundred thousand people to the monument itself. Once there, we placed flowers on a flower wall surrounding the perpetual flame. By the end of the day, the bank of flowers was more than 4 feet high. This will give you an idea of what it looked like.

The night before we had participated in a candlelight march with our schools through the town to our local church. We did it last year, and it was a silent march. This year was a bit different--there were chants of "recognize" and the students carried signs and flags. We're so glad we could be a part of both of these events. We are constantly asked why America won't recognize the Genocide, and must always find a way to tactfully respond. In truth, it's a political issue on which we can have no opinion.

That's all for this post. It's way past spring here. The lilacs have come and gone, and it's already hot. Can't wait to see what real summer is going to be like!

We will be seeing you soon . . .

Today is Armenian Genocide Memorial Day. On Sunday, April 24, 1915, nearly 100 years ago today, the leaders of the Ottoman Empire (the modern day Turks) arrested approximately 250 Armenian intellectuals and leaders. This was the first step in a larger campaign of genocide, where through the use of mass burnings, biological and chemical warfare, rape, forced deportations and ensuing marches, between 600,000 and 1,500,000 Armenians were killed in a focused campaign to rid the Ottoman Empire of all Armenians.

The word "genocide" was coined in 1943 by Yale and Rutgers law professor Raphael Lemkin (who lost nearly 50 relatives in the holocaust). Upon coining the term, he said, "it happened so many times… First to the Armenians, then after the Armenians, Hitler took action." Hitler himself stated on August 22, 1939, as part of his argument for instituting the Final Solution, "Who after all speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"

There are tragedies atop of tragedies here. The first tragedy is the mass murder of upwards of 1.5 million people. This was cold blooded and premeditated: people were forced to leave their homes simply because of their ancestry and then forced to march, sometimes in circles, until they dropped or were murdered by their captors. They were deprived of their lives, their communities, their religion, and everything that made them human simply because they were Armenian. Armenians inhabited the area now known as Turkey since time immemorial, and now, due to this genocide and decisions made by the United States at the end of World War I, they are now deprived of not only their human history, but their cultural and geographical history as well. Mount Ararat, the holy mountain from the bible and the symbol of Armenia, sits within the borders of Turkey today. An Armenian friend of mine once told me that her family still has a key to their ancestral home in Van, which is now in Turkey. Years ago, her father returned there--and the house is gone. They keep the key as a memory of all the people and places they lost as a result of the attempt by the Ottomans to destroy them and their culture.

The second tragedy is the fact that the United States has never formally recognized the Armenian genocide. Each time we step up to the plate to recognize this historically irrefutable event, Turkey begins making noise and we back down. Although our government has used the word "genocide" to describe these events informally, when Congress attempts to formally recognize this event as genocide there are always dire warnings of losing an ally we need for our various wars in the Middle East. During the 2008 campaign, our president stated that, "[the] Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable. An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy. As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, and as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide." However, since being elected, he has avoided the use of the term "genocide" whenever speaking of this issue. It is preposterous to think that our country and our leaders are so fearful of Turkey's displeasure that they can turn a blind eye to calling the event that the term genocide was coined for as genocide.

The final tragedy is that Hitler was partially right: very few people remember the Armenian genocide. Before I became a Peace Corps Volunteer I had heard of it, but it didn't really register on my radar. In America we are deeply aware of the tragedy of the holocaust, and also grudgingly accept the crimes perpetrated by the United States government against the Native Americans. We've heard of Pol Pot, are aware of what happened in Bosnia, and have heard of many other crimes committed against humanity. But the Armenian genocide only barely registers in our consciousness.

Why is this? For one, it was long ago. This happened around World War I, a period of time that most of us really don't understand. It also happened very quietly, before mass media, and despite being the basis for the term genocide, was eclipsed by the horrible film and still images coming out of post-WWII Germany. There are no photos, no Night and Fog, no writings that put the occurrences in stark relief like Elie Wiesel did for the holocaust. There was no media coverage, as during the modern genocides. There is only the memory of the Armenians, looking out over Mount Ararat, remembering what was, what used to be, before their cultural heritage was ripped from them through rape and murder, when grandparents, great uncles, and great aunts were slaughtered in an attempt to snuff out this ancient group of people from the Earth.

I spent six months in Armenia. During that time I got to know many Armenians and had some conversations about the genocide. Never once did I hear any talk of reparations. Never once did I hear anyone wanting revenge against the Turks for the crimes of their forefathers. In fact the only question I ever heard was "why." Why doesn't America recognize this historical event? Why won't America call this as it is, call it genocide? I never could answer that question because we, as Peace Corps Volunteers, are not to get involved in talking about politics. But now I can say to all my Armenian friends and the rest of you: I don't know why. It makes no sense to me either. And I believe the fact that America hasn't recognized this genocide is a crime in itself, an ongoing affront to the dignity and history of the people of Armenia.

Before I wrote this blog post I got on the phone to each of my representatives in Congress. I explained to their receptionists that I used to be a Peace Corps Volunteer, lived in Armenia, and that I wanted to urge them to recognize the genocide. They kindly agreed to pass my message along to my representatives. One of the receptionists told me that she studied abroad in Turkey for a year. I asked her about Armenian genocide recognition from the perspective of the Turks, and she said that all the young people she knew in Turkey wanted their government to admit the genocide happened. So, maybe, someday, as younger people come to power and the old is washed away, we will see the world recognize this historical event.

Finally, I want to ask each of you to call your representatives today, tell them this is Genocide Memorial Day, educate them about this genocide, and urge them to recognize this historical event. PCVs, you get a pass on this because of that no-politics thing, but RPCVs, I totally see this as a Third Goal issue. The rest of you, well, I hope after reading this you will be moved to contact your representatives as well . This is an important issue, and it is time for our country to formally call this crime against humanity by the only word that can describe it: genocide.

With the warm, moist air in April we are seeing a lot of clouds

on the mountains. The flowering tree in the foreground is a plum.

April has beenwarm and sunny. After a dismal end to March with more snow, strongwinds, and low temperatures, we enjoyed a sudden change to warmerdays and cool nights in April. As the snow melted, people's gardens were ahive of activity as manure was spread, the soil was turned over, andbeds were prepared. Onions and spinach (and other greens) haveemerged and now potatoes are being planted. In villages throughoutArmenia, getting the garden preparation underway early is crucial.Verishen has a dry summer and it's vital to get things growing earlywhile the ground is still moist. School in Verishen now starts 30minutes earlier, at 8:30, so that children are available for moretime in the afternoon to help in the garden. A lot of firewood wasdelivered in Goris and Verishen in late March while there was stillsnow on the ground and people went from cutting, splitting, andstacking it to working in the garden. Spring flowers startedappearing in mid-April and buds on willows and poplars were swellingby then. The river is running high through Verishen with all the snowmelt from the mountains and there's smoke in the air in the eveningsas people burn off the winter debris in their gardens.

This is how the garden looked before we started planting ourpotatoes. Hrantic had already dug the garden and formed raisedfurrows. It's all done by hand and takes a lot of work.

For planting potatoes, Hrantic first prepares a furrow about half-way down the slope of the bed.

Zarik plants the potatoes in the furrows, I come behind her spreading manure over the potatoes, and Hrantic returns later to cover the potatoes.

On April 12, manyof us attended a wedding in Arteni, a small village west of Yerevan.One of our fellow volunteers ( male) married his (female) Armeniancounterpart. That was a fascinating experience and merits its ownpost which will follow shortly. After the wedding, I stayed on inYerevan to see the dentist one last time and to attend a balletperformance at the Opera House. On Saturday, I walked around Yerevanvisiting the Cascade and revisiting Vernissage, the open-air market.The Cascade is a large white staircase built into a hillside incentral Yerevan. There are fountains with water running down theslope and it is the site of numerous outdoor concerts and publicdancing in summer. There are many statues over the Cascade and workis proceeding (slowly) on a museum of contemporary art at the top ofthe stairs. The ballet was most enjoyable. The theme was spring andfeatured choreography to Pugni, Mozart, Vivaldi's Spring, and Ravel'sBolero. I'm encouraging other volunteers to attend the ballet,symphony, or opera when they are in Yerevan as the performances areexcellent and ticket prices are surprisingly cheap.

Looking up at the Cascade from the base.

The Opera House and beyond from the top of the Cascade.

It was hazy when I went to the Cascade and the top of Mt. Ararat was

barely visible. On clear days, the view can be magnificent.

There are numerous pieces of striking sculpture on the Cascade.

After only oneday in Verishen, which I spent helping to plant fruit trees and movebags of manure to the more distant garden, I left early for Yerevanand then Aghveran, which is in the mountains above Arzakan. All ofour volunteer group attended two days of meetings this week inAghveran dealing with the conclusion of our Peace Corps service. Wehave a lot to do over summer – returning heaters, fireextinguishers, and water filters; documenting what we did during ourtwo years here; scheduling physical exams and exit interviews; andsubmitting final reports for all funded projects – but it all looksreasonable and most of us don't expect any problems. We stayed at afairly fancy resort hotel, much nicer than most of us are used to. Ithink the Peace Corps got a big discount as it is the start of theseason at Aghveran; it's still cool there with a lot of snow. Themeetings went fairly well and some of the time at Aghveran wasdevoted to reviewing our accomplishments here and preparing for ourreturn to America. I hadn't thought about until then but each of usdiffers from the person who arrived here in May 2010. Some of thechanges are minor and won't persist – We and Armenians tend toreach across the table at meals rather than asking to have thingspassed; Armenians don't line up much and we are used to being crowdedinto marshutnis, so our “personal space” has contracted. Otherhabits, such as a more relaxed attitude to personal hygiene, awillingness to accept tardiness and less structure at work, and anappreciation of the merits of eating less meat, may last longer. Ihave started to write down the changes I think I have undergone tobetter prepare myself for returning in August.

The view of our hotel at Aghveran as we arrived in the bus.

The view from our hotel at Aghveran.

The A18 group at Aghveran. From the 58 who arrived, our numbers are now down to 46.Several left early to take up jobs, two were sent home for medical reasons, one was "earlyterminated" (expelled), and the remainder decided to leave, with most leaving early duringpre-service training.

In July 2010, after an enjoyable July 4 joint celebration with our hostfamilies, the 8 volunteers in Arzakan posed for this picture - along withone of Armenian teachers and her son.

As all 8 of us are still here, we decided to recreate that picture at.Aghveran. This is the result.

Armeniahas many memorials to the departed. Old memorials are in theform of "khachkars"or cross-stones which are a distinctivepart of Armenian culture. More recently headstones took the formof Armenian script carved into stone blocks and, for the last 30years, many gravestones have featured a picture of the deceased,usually based on a photograph provided by the family. Some of theseare very artistic and they are all done by hand. The “picturestone” is usually a thin veneer of stone which is laid over theheadstone. As Zarik explained it to me, the picture is prepared by anartisan tapping on the picture stone with hammer and chisel – alight tap registers as white, a medium tap appears grey, and black isproduced by a heavy tap. The result is then buffed to give a smoothfinish and mounted on the gravestone.

Verishen Cemetery. Gravestones from the early and mid-twentieth centuryfeaturing Armenian script.

I like this gravestone. The raised objects are unusual and give one the idea that Aghalo Miroiyan liked barbecue and a glass of wine.

This is one of my favorite headstones both for the detail and for what it tells us about the deceased.

Afterthe funeral, there is another commemoration 40 days after the deathand another on the one year anniversary.

Primulas (P.veris ?) are very common in the forest in April.

We have a lot of semi-wild plum trees on the hill west of the house. The fruit aren't great but this time of the year the blossoms are spectacular.

The operator of the Alaverdi-Sanahin cable-car has a slight memory problem.

[When was the ropeway built?] I ask him

[When was it built? What did you have for dinner last night?]

[I don't understand. I'm sorry, my Armenian isn't very good.]

[What did you eat for dinner last night? I'm 65 years old. I can't remember what I had for dinner last night. How can I remember how old the ropeway is?]

[But is it safe?]

[Of course it's safe. I remember how to drive it.]

Unlike the slick, newly opened cable-car in Tatev, the Alaverdi-Sanahin cable-car in Lori Marz is a daily commuter. Its windows are scratched and cloudy, its paint worn and the operator must step out at each stop to keep the car from swaying on its single carrying cable. But for a princely sum of 140 drams (~40 US cents) for a roundtrip, about 1/20th the price of the Tatev trip, the cable-car is an essential connection between the town of Sanahin, located on a clifftop overlooking the Debed River and the mining city of Alaverdi located in the valley floor.

The Alaverdi #2 Cable Car and the town's copper mine

After overflying the river and rising up along a vertical cliff face, the cable-car deposits commuters and tourists at the bottom of Sanahin. It's a 15-minute walk out to Sanahin's twin tourist attractions: the Mikoyan museum, dedicated to the life and careers of Artem Mikoyan, the legendary fighter jet designer and Anastas Mikoyan the Soviet apparatchik; and Sanahin monastery, a 10th-century monastic complex and UNESCO world heritage site.

Haykush Mikoyan and the MiG-21 I'm an airplane nut, so I couldn't help but visit the Mikoyan museum, where I had the pleasure of meeting Haykush Mikoyan, the museum's curator and niece of the Mikoyan brothers. The centerpiece of the museum’s collection is Artem Mikoyan’s most successful fighter, the MiG-21.This particular jet, Haykush explains, was built in Tbilisi, little more than an hour’s drive away. Appropriately, a family of wasps has taken up residence in the right aileron. The museum itself houses a collection of flight suits, books and aircraft models. The first floor also houses artifacts relating to life in Sanahin, including a medal presented by Soviet authorities to Mikoyan’s parents for having five children.

Artem’s brother Anastas Mikoyan occupies a corner of the museum. He had a storied career as an unusually long-lived Soviet apparatchik with a close relationship to Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev. Photos show Anastas cavorting with dignitaries and revolutionaries ranging from Latin American guerillas to Ford engineers. His official GaZ car is preserved in a glass case outside.

Tourists explore Haghpat After I've got my fill of aviation history, I head up the hill to Sanahin. Its archways, domed halls and grottoes are majestic in the light of the Spring day. From Sanahin, it is possible to see its sister monastery, Haghpat, across the gorge. Haghpat and Sanahin share majestic medieval Armenian architecture, blending secular and ecclesiastic styles and featuring intricate khachkars, the cross-stones that are a central feature of Armenian art. Although most travelers will choose to take a taxi or marshrutka down the hill, through Alaverdi and back up the gorge, intrepid travelers can choose to walk the 6-kilometer hiking trail between the two. I personally choose to ride the cable-car a second time and return to Alaverdi to catch a taxi. [It's a beautiful walk and it can be done in a few hours,] says my driver [but you're too fat.]

There are numerous milestones in the career as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Completing your Pre-Service Training, Swearing In, All-Volunteer Conferences, Mid-Service Conference, and finally . . . Close of Service (COS) Conference. We just completed the last official conference in our 27 months of service, our COS Conference. This is where we learn about all the paperwork we need to complete before we can leave Armenia. And there is a lot of it. We have a 5-page checklist of things that we have to do, all of which require sign-off by someone at Peace Corps. These include medical, administrative, safety and security, language, program manager and country director signatures. A daunting task to say the least.

As for the conference itself, it was a wonderful opportunity to see people we don't usually get to see, and some we probably won't get to see again. The geography in Armenia makes visiting some PCVs difficult at best--some are a 2-day trip away, assuming everything goes as planned. So we spent 2 days at Arthur's Aghveran Resort near Arzakan, Armenia. It was one of the nicest places we've been to, at least for a Peace Corps-sponsored conference. In addition to day-long meetings on various administrative procedures, we had a visit from the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern (and his wife Libby), learned how to apply for jobs, how to prepare resumes, and had time for an engagement party, karioke, swimming, and just hanging out. We will miss being with these people in ways that we can't yet begin to comprehend.

I have a countdown timer on my computer. Today it says 102. That is 102 days until we are able to head back to the U.S. We still have 5 weeks of school to finish, English language camps, and many, many goodbyes. Plus we'd like to see a little bit of the country before we head home. Fred has discovered a unique way to see the south--he's going to be part of the Border-to-Border walk this summer. His group will leave with the far south near Iran and walk around 300 km to Yeghegnadzor in the middle. Over the course of three weeks, he will go up and down numerous mountains, stop to camp, teach children about healthy lifestyles, and see some amazing sites. I did this last summer from the north, and it will be interesting to see what it's like from the south.

So as we near the end of our service, it has been interesting to reflect on our time here in Armenia. We are the 18th group of volunteers here. We started with 58 volunteers and now are down to 47. Some left during training, some have left for medical reasons, others more recently for new jobs. And now those of us who are left are saying goodbye to each other, to communities where we have lived for the past two years, to children we have taught, and to families we have become a part of. It is bitter-sweet for sure. It's exciting for us to listen to the plans of the younger (and older) volunteers too. Many will travel or go on to graduate school. One will be getting married in July. And all seem to have big plans for the future. We are excited for them!

What does the future hold for us? Right now, we have no idea. We have few possessions back in the U.S. and no real home. And currently, no jobs or job prospects (although we hope that will change soon). It's both exciting and a little unnerving at the same time. We do get a small amount of money from Peace Corps to "readjust" to our life back in the states, so hopefully we can make that last a little while as we figure out the next direction our lives will take.

Whatever happens, we have had an experience here that has changed our lives in ways we can't possible know right now. We look forward to sharing some of that with you when we get home. We'll try to keep it to 5 minutes or less when you ask us about what it was like to be in the Peace Corps.

In the meantime, here is a photo of our A-18 group at our COS conference.

See you all in 102 days . . .

…YOU Decide What “That” Is! Some days, there are a lot of things I want to tell you about, but can’t seem to pick one topic to focus on. So today, I’m going to throw out a few teasers of … Continue reading →

Hello Everyone!

I just got back from my close of service conference where I heard some alarming news. This year our GLOW camp, an amazing Peace Corps sponsored camp that teaches young women about career paths, leadership training, and gender development issues is in serious trouble due to lack of funding this year. If you remember last year I nominated three incredibly intelligent young women who attended this camp and came back with so many ideas that they have already put to action in Spitak. This program is really empowering for young Armenian women who often don't have many chances in an extremely male dominated culture. Among other things, Glow camp teaches AIDs education, in a country where aids is never discussed but raising in numbers... It teaches women how to protect themselves, how to ask their future husbands to be tested and how to talk to other about it.

Last year I discussed the impact that this camp had made on my students in this post

I have never solicited funding via my blog nor facebook, but I am making an exception this once because I truly believe in this camp, Armenian women and their futures... If you'd like to make a donation please please please, follow this link

I couldn't resist taking this picture of my 3rd grade boys yesterday in class! They just look so polished and grown up! It was also a sign that spring has finally begun. No more ugly winter cloths!!! The sad thing is it's my last spring in Armenia. Today I will head to my COS Conference which stands for close of service. Peace Corps is preparing us to leave the country and go back to our ordinary American lives... I can't even imagine what that will be like at this point.

I have about a month left to spend with my amazing students and then only summer remains before I come home. So one more round of Armenian Ice cream, lazy mornings, fresh amazing fruit and vegetables, a few summer camps, at least one more wedding, hopefully some last Armenian sightseeing trips and then I am out of here. Time goes by so faster that we can catch it and learn to cherish it.

I intended to post sooner but alas, my brain has turned into this weird mushy blob inside my head.

I just got back from a weekend trip to Chicago, a place I used to call home. My last visit there for at least 28 months. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit, spent with a very dear friend (or three). I cherished the moments, knowing that the next ones would not be for quite awhile. I visited my favorite restaurants and savored the sushi, Ethiopian, and vegan cuisines that I so adore and also had the opportunity to try and fall in love with Nepalese food as well. I saw a movie, did some dancing, saw a pretty darn good band play, met new people, visited some of my favorite secondhand stores, and spent some much-needed quality time with one of my very best friends.

It has been recommended to me to enjoy the time I have in America while I'm here, as that is the one thing that I will not be able to do in Armenia. I am doing just that. However, I've found that my mind is definitely not in America 100% of the time, as everything I do seems somehow relevant to my leaving or my future in Armenia. I find myself looking at coffee tables or wall art thinking: "What an inappropriate purchase that would be right now." I stop in the middle of the grocery store and look at the vast amounts of variety and selection and am immediately aware that no matter what time of year, all of this will always be available here in my little American town. I wonder what my grocery shopping experiences will be like two months from now or ten months from now, I wonder who I am going to be conversing with, I wonder how I am going to be conversing and in what degree of accuracy and understanding.

The days are inching closer, and I'm consciously trying to maintain a moderate-to-low stress level. What I am experiencing is akin to being in the eye of a storm. The feelings of joy, excitement, impatience, melancholy, and about a zillion others are rushing through me at any given moment. I'm thankful that I am mindful enough to allow these feelings flow through me rather than try to hold them and find myself overwhelmed. And also thankful that I am mindful enough to remember why I have chosen this path: peace peace peace.

Om shanti shanti shanti

What started as an awful week eventually turned into a week full of small, wonderful moments.

A boy from my 7th form class brought me a bouquet of tulips from his mother’s garden “so I would be happy again.”

I had 6 students compete in the Koghb Poetry Competition with Susan and Fred, volunteers from Noyemberyan, as judges. Each student who participated received an English book (Thanks mom and Andy for getting those to Armenia!)

I brought 4 of my students to the Noyemberyan Regional Competition. They didn’t place, but they are excited to try again next year now that they know what the judges are looking for. Also, I am freakishly tall in Armenia.

We found asparagus in Noyemberyan, I don’t have a picture of the delicious food, but I do have a picture of us volunteers smiling because we found it haha.

I taught an awesome lesson on past tense irregular verbs today with my counterpart. For the first time since I have been here she complimented me on the lesson plan and said that the children learned a lot today. So things are definitely starting to look up in my village again. I leave for Portugal in one week and I promise to come back with lots of pictures J

We do a lot of improvising in Armenia, like the time my host mom made a “chocolate” cake without cocoa because she didn’t have any. Or the time we cleaned out computers at the college with a hairdryer because we … Continue reading →

Welcome to Border to Border 2012, It’s been a long Armenian winter….and now we’re getting geared up and are all quite excited to announce this year’s walk. Check out our official project page and information on how to donate here. This year’s initiative will once again be a “marathon for Armenian youth,” during which we [...]

So as I said in my previous post, yesterday I travelled to the tiny little village of Arteni, to go to a wedding. This was no ordinary wedding; this was the wedding of a Peace Corps volunteer to a Host Country National, or HCN as we say. Not just any HCN either, this was the wedding of my friend Scott to his counterpart Mary!! That is right; he married the person chose at random to be his lifeline in Armenia, kind of makes us question how much is really ever random!! No Peace Corps volunteer ever comes to country thinking that they will find the person that will find their true love. Most of us don’t even think we will find anyone to date while we are in an isolated part of the world. During training the doctors explain to us that no one ever thinks they will fall in love here and most take a vow of celibacy but that statistics show that in fact most of us will actually find some sort of love and that many of us will marry the person that we find. I can remember hearing this and laughing with my friends as we all said yeah right, and I believe my friend Scott was one of those people.

So that Scott fell in love with his counterpart is an unexpected course of events, unless you were around on the day that all the TEFL volunteers met their counterparts that is… On that day, Scott fell in love at first sight, and since that day there has never been anything else on his mind other than making Mary his wife. In November of 2010 we had a counterpart conference with all the English teachers and their colleagues. We were sitting around having some beers when Scott announced that he wanted to marry his Mary! At the time I thought he was absolutely out of his mind, at that time I had still not adjusted to the culture and couldn’t see how any American could have a serious relationship with a HCN… let’s just say my views have changed since then…

So as you can see the love story of Scott and Mary is one that is described with one word: DESTINY!! Really, I haven’t been this excited to witness a marriage in a long time and I was so glad to be able to take part in such a beautiful mixture of American and Armenian culture.

When I first arrived to Arteni with my boyfriend, neither of us really knew what to expect, as this wedding was neither Armenian nor American but instead a hybrid of the two. When we arrived we were greeted by a large number of Peace Corps volunteers who all came to support Scott, but what was most exciting was seeing his parents standing around anxiously not really knowing what to expect. I tried to imagine what they must be feeling, this being their first time in Armenia, not speaking the language and never having witnessed an Armenian wedding. I thought back to the first Armenian wedding that I attended almost two years ago, and remembered how confused I was but also how interesting it all was to me. I guess what made is so amazing to me, is that they were brought to Arteni of all places, a place that even my Armenian boyfriend commented about the poverty there. I can’t imagine what they thought seeing for the first time where their son has lived for the past two years and where their new daughter grew up. I also thought how amazingly lucky Scott is to have two parents that were willing to make such a long journey to share this day with their son. What’s more, they actively participated in every step of the way, from dancing with the Armenians (more of just clapping their hands), to placing the levash over the bride and grooms shoulders after the vows were said, to taking toasts with a group of Armenian men, when they really had no idea what was being said.

I have to say that I loved every moment of the wedding but my favorite part was when all the Peace Corps young women were invited in to watch the bride get dressed. An Armenian woman belted out a beautiful song about the brides dress and her wedding day as loud as she could, as this is usually the job of the groom’s family, but being that only Scott’s mother was there, and she doesn’t speak Armenian, and the rest of us girls don’t know the song, she went at it alone as the bride was tied into her dress and pearls were put around her neck and on her ears. Scott’s mom explained to us that the earrings had come from her mother in law, which made it so much more special, and a fantastic sweet blending of cultures. The Armenian woman, red in the face and no longer able to carry the weight of being the sole singer asked us to sing. We all looked around for a moment and then out of nowhere someone began singing Going to the chapel… I can’t tell you how beautiful and sweet it was… possibly all the more beautiful because we really have some girls who can sing. The Armenians sat around us staring and smiling and the end gave us a huge round of applause…

Really it was such a magical day, and because there was a huge amount of Americans who had no idea how to Armenian dance, I even had a great time dancing with my boyfriend, though mostly he laughed at us all. And for the first time, I tried, and learned to dance the traditional Armenian folk dance that I have seen at every single wedding but have always been afraid to take part. So congrats Scott and Mary, really I think that the two of you were destined to be together and wish you all the happiness in the world!!

I spent most of my day yesterday driving throughout the Western most parts of Armenia with my boyfriend, traveling to a wedding in Arteni, a village so small and obscure most Armenians have never even heard of it. Over the course of 3 hours we saw many different small villages that we had never heard of before and of course we experienced Talin and Arteni first hand. I have to say, I am used to villages and small towns here but man did this experience open my eyes to how poor some parts of Armenia still are. It is very easy for me to live in Spitak which is a relatively big town and to forget what it used to be like living in Alapars where we had no running water and had to go to the stream to collect it a few buckets at a time. So anyways being in Arteni has made me appreciate my Spitak much more and I thought I'd share with you a video of my beautiful little spitak which I have grown to love and sometimes hate with love. By the way for you A-20ers, Spitak will become home to two or three of you in August!! I just hope you guys learn to love it as much as I do!!

And also I added a Sophie picture because really she is just so cute!

When I first moved into my house there was a dog, Jeana, living on my porch. Every day I gave her food and water and she would follow me wherever I went. I tried not to become attached, but soon everyone in the village called her my dog and I looked forward to seeing her when I came home from work.

Today is the one day of the week that I go to school late. I slept in, went to the post office, and made my way to school at around 11. When I got to school Manik, my friend and an English teacher, said that my dog had been hit by a car and that the children who live near me were looking for me for help. The children left class to show me where Jeana was. She was lying on the side of the road in front of our school with broken legs and blood everywhere. I started crying in front of everyone: students, teachers, soldiers and even my school director. Each student who saw me said, “Ms. Ashley, don’t cry, it will be ok, we will get you another dog.” Most families do not have pets in Armenia so they thought it was strange for me to be crying over a dog.All of my students in the 7th form were trying to come up with ideas to help move Jeana back to my house. No taxis would take her and most of the boys were afraid to even touch her. I walked to the art school with a few children and thankfully found Ara. He is an amazing painter and speaks a little English. I told him what had happened and he walked with us to Jeana. Boys from the 12th form came outside and painstakingly tried to move Jeana into a box so that they could carry her. It was heartbreaking to watch because she wasn’t able to move at all, and there was too much blood for the boys to move her with their hands. They searched a nearby trash dump and came back with a rusty car door that they managed to slide under Jeana. They carried her all the way to the art school. They placed her on the grass and covered her with a blanket. The people at the art school began calling doctors to see if anyone who come look at her, but they were either too busy or said there was nothing they could do. I stayed at the art school for several hours and they eventually told me to go home because I was exhausted and kind of a wreck. Two hours later my neighbor came over with a box of chocolates and told me that Jeana died at the art school. Manik called right after and said that they had buried the dog next to the school. This has definitely been my saddest day in Peace Corps service. My school and the art school did everything they could to help Jeana and she still died. At least she was able to die peacefully on the green grass near the art school instead of on broken glass on a street corner. I am so thankful for my community for their help, especially since the culture in Armenia is not hospitable to animals. RIP Jeana.

Posting on this blog has been sparse, to say the least, and the majority of posts in the last year have been Peace Corps and/or travel-related. But I felt that a recent story in the New Yorker by Seymour Hersh was so incredible that it was worth taking time out of my busy schedule (not) to [...]

I got some pretty good questions about Peace Corps from folks on reddit. Here are their questions and some of my responses:

[–] from c------------- sent 9 days agoHey! I just found out I'm going to Armenia in May. I'm really excited, but obviously I have a lot of questions. Do you know if most of the volunteers are in cities or remote villages? I'm hoping to go to a decently sized city. Also, how did you get an apartment? I told my recruiter I would prefer living alone, but I wasn't sure if there's any breakdown on how many people live in apartments vs with host families? Do you know if they prefer people to live with host families, and if so, do you have to argue your case at all to get an apartment?Also, is there anything you wish you'd packed but you didn't? Not so much clothes, I think I'm okay there, but like comfort things? I'm going to buy a Kindle before I leave, and some adapters for my computer/camera, but then is there anything else you wouldn't have thought of packing, but just randomly want? Like Woolite?How much longer are you there? I feel like I'm stressing so much now trying to get everything together, so I'm really excited to just get on my way. Any answers you can give me/other advice you think would be useful would help a lot. Thanks!permalink report block user mark unread reply [–] to c--------------- sent 9 days agoCongrats on getting your nomination. I'm an A18 TEFL leaving in August, so I may or may not get the chance to meet you.Some volunteers are in cities, some are in villages. It's about 50/50. At some point during PST you'll have an interview with your program manager. Tell them then that you would prefer a city to a village. If you're CYD pretty much all the placements are in cities. Regardless, you'll have to live with a host family for 3 months during PST, then for 2-3 months at site. Yerevan is the only real city in Armenia, and no volunteers are assigned there. Gyumri, the 2nd biggest, is about 100,000 people but is really just a giant village. At least it has a park, good supermarkets, some outdoor cafes and pizza delivery though. The volunteers there also live in nice apartments. That said, there are some villages that are very beautiful with good housing options.The real division ends up between the South and the North (somehow it always comes to that). Getting to Yerevan from Syunik Marz takes 5-8 hours of uncomfortable marshutka travel on mountain roads. If you're assigned to the South, don't expect to see people in the North and vice-versa. But the Southerners tend to have a good time partying it up with each other, while Northerners are more likely to go to Yerevan and do their own thing when they need some R&R.Everything is going to be very intense for the first few weeks of PST, then the first few weeks at site. Your highs will be higher than normal, your lows will be rock-bottom. Peace Corps tells you to exercise or do yoga or something for this. Other volunteers get together in groups to have a few drinks and blow off steam. I think there's not really anything you can do except keep calm and carry on, but it just helps to know that things will even out over time. The first 12 months, you're basically running a mental and emotional marathon. It took me until December to start to feel competent in Armenia and Armenian, and then until July to feel like I really knew what I was doing. The second year is much more calm.

[–] from m-------- sent 11 days agoHi! I am very interested in joining the peacecorps and I saw your reply to someone's post about your experience. I was just wondering if you had any incite on the application process as well as any pitfalls you noticed during your experience. I am a junior in college, have farming experience, am fluent in spanish, and have been grooming myself for a the last couple years to gain experience for this kind of thing. I would love any advice or wisdom you might have gained along the way.Thanks! m---------permalink report block user mark unread reply [–] to mannyrabbit sent 10 days agoHi M----------,It's pretty hard to condense two years of work and personal life, struggles, failures and successes into a reddit reply. The best thing I've learned is recognize when I need to do something myself because Host Country Nationals (HCNs) will not be able to, and when I need to find an HCN to do it, because they can do it in 2 minutes, when it would take me 2 hours of frustrated yelling and screaming. A few months ago I wrote a blogpost on "what I've learned" after 1.5 years http://www.heyamerikatsi.com/2011/12/what-i-have-learned.htmlpermalink reply [–] from m----------- sent 10 days agothanks a lot! You're blog had some good incite. However I am curious about your placement. Were you placed there by yourself or with other volunteers? Also, is the work you do for PC something that was outlined explicitly in your training, or were you left to use your discretion in finding out what help was needed in your assigned area? I haven't really heard a lot about that aspect so far. thanks for taking the time to get back to me.permalink report block user mark unread reply [–] to m----------- sent 10 days agoI was placed in a village, in a school as a Health Education volunteer. The other school in the village got a TEFL (Teaching of English as a Foreign Language) volunteer. It turned out that what my school also really wanted a TEFL, so I switched to doing TEFL. After a year, I moved to the village just north of mine, which didn't have any volunteers, and spend my time spread between them. I also got the village just south of mine to apply for a volunteer, so now there's a little cluster of three of us, spread out over three villages. Some PCVs live in cities or regions where they're in walking distance of each other. I live about 2 hours from the capital, which is full of foreigners, and about 2 hours from the country's second city, which has about 100,000 people and 5 PCVs. The country I'm in (Armenia) is about the size of Massachusetts, so you're never that far from another American. But PCVs in Mongolia or the Philippines might be a day's travel from another Westerner.Also, you mean to say "insight." To "incite" is to agitate people, e.g. "the unjust killings incited a riot."permalink reply [–] to m---------- sent 10 days agosorry to grammarnazi you, it was just getting to me.

[–] from c---- sent 11 days agoI am actually very interested in this idea and wanted some "first hand experience" kind of feed back. I just spent a few years being homeless on the street and on people people's floors/couches and what not,; I realize this is nothing compared but I have a new understanding and urge to help and I'd like to know more. Firstly, do you sign a "contract" making it so that you have no choice once you decide to join? Secondly, How do you provide for yourself once you get to the location? Thirdly, is there any choice in where you end up going? Lastly... do they drug test? ( I feel ashamed for asking but I cannot deny my past.) Anyways I was just wondering and am genuinely interested in helping people and traveling and experienceing other cultures and locations. Thank you for your time.permalink report block user mark unread reply [–] to c----- sent 10 days agoHi C-----,You're free to leave the PC at any time. If you decide to leave, you'll be on a plane back to the states within 72 hours. PC gives you a monthly living stipend for the country you're in. Mine is roughly equivalent to what my school's principal makes. If you stay at your site and eat local food, it lasts you pretty well. If you go to the capital and go to bars, clubs and restaurants, you can blow through it in a weekend. You can't pick the country you want to go, but you can indicate which region you prefer. You'll probably get sent somewhere else though. One of the first tests of PC is seeing if you're flexible enough to go anywhere in the world. They do a basic background check, and ask you if you've used drugs in the past. If you've got felony convictions or a pattern of misdemeanors, you're not likely to be accepted. If it's truly in the past, they'll likely accept you. A PC recruiter would know more. permalink reply [–] from c----- sent 10 days agoThank you so much for responding! Honestly, I would go anywhere, I love traveling. No felonies, yes drug drenched past but that is behind me; What kind of work do you do in the field? Are you feeding people or building things or what? I just want to make a positive impact on this planet while I can.permalink report block user mark unread reply [–] to c------ sent 10 days agoMy primary project is Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). I work in a village school teaching 3-12 grade, working with the local English teachers. I've brought a bunch of books and computers to my school through donations so the kids have more resources, and worked with an NGO to get a grant to hire teachers who actually speak English to work afterschool with motivated kids in the region. Last summer, I worked at a bunch of camps (Environmental, Boys Leadership, English Language). This summer I'm helping my former host family start a homestay on their organic farm so they can make some money and get free labor while their son is doing his military service.permalink reply [–] from c------ sent 10 days agoThat is amazing, props for your effort in making this a better place for people to live. Do you need a degree of any sort to teach english to people? Or do you just have to speak english? Also, what other things do people in the PC do?permalink report block user mark unread reply [–] to c------ sent 10 days agoYou need at least a bachelors, preferably with experience teaching. I was assigned as a health volunteer, but my site really wanted an English teacher instead. I sortof learned it as I go along. Since, unlike the local teachers, I speak English [as a native], know how to use a computer and have access to English language books, it's a big improvement to the school's English language teaching. Check out the PC website for all the different programs.permalink reply [–] from c----- sent 10 days agoThat is fascinating! Thank you so much for talking to me.

[–] from i-------- sent 11 days agoHey, I'm pretty interested in the Peace Corps. Rough conditions don't bother me much as I was preparing the join the Marine Corps for a year and 3 months till I had a revelation in life and couldn't see myself killing, or being part of it; which led to my resignation two weeks ago. I'm not sure what I want to do yet but Peace Corps came up a few times. I was wondering if you could shed some light on to how I could go about signing up. what are requirements and what to maybe expect.permalink report block user mark unread reply

[–] from L-------- sent 11 days agoCan you pick where you want to go? Where were you sent? What language(s) did you pick up? What're the conditions of where you are now?permalink report block user mark unread reply [–] to L-------- sent 10 days agoHi L---------,You can't pick the country you want to go, but you can indicate which region you prefer. You'll probably get sent somewhere else though. One of the first tests of PC is seeing if you're flexible enough to go anywhere in the world.I applied right out of college, because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I wanted to travel and get some experience working outside the US. I said I was happy to work anywhere in the world, as was assigned to Armenia as a Health Education Volunteer. When I got to my site, it was pretty obvious they really wanted an English teacher, so I switched to TEFL. I speak Armenian pretty fluently and so now I'm switching to Russian, which is more useful [outside of Armenia]. Two years of work and personal life is pretty hard to sum up in a single message. If you're interested, my blog is at www.heyamerikatsi.com.permalink reply [–] from L-------- sent 3 days agoWow, that's pretty damn awesome. I tip my hat to you sir. What happens at the end of your, uh, rotation? Are you given the choice to stay/go home? Do most people go home, or stay? Oh! How were you taught the language, how long did it take for you to pick up the language, and what did you do until you had? I'm 18 and a senior in high school, and I've taken 5 years of Spanish and French each, and 2 years of Russian on top of that. I speak French fluently, I'm from Quebec (French Canada) and being pretty gifted at languages, a big part of going on a Peace Corps trip would be picking up another language, so thanks for any answers :)permalink report block user mark unread reply [–] to L--------- sent 2 days agoAfter about 1.5 years, if your projects are going well, you can extend for up to two years. Of our group of 50 volunteers, about 5 have decided to do so (most for one year). After PC, many volunteers go to grad school (there are some PC/gradschool programs out there) and some enter the job market. Many use it as a way to jumpstart their careers in international development or domestic non-profits.I started learning Armenian in June, was given 10 weeks of intensive tutoring in-country, then was sent to site in August. By December, I had a breakthough moment where I realized I spoke the language well enough to take care of myself and solve problems on my own. It involved a taxi ride from Yerevan-Tbilisi and a forgotten library book with $80 US tucked between the page. The solution involved patiently but aggressively munching on a pomegranate. By next June, I was totally comfortable with any and all daily situations. Last December, I gave an interview to a TV station and embarrassed myself miserably tripping up on the word for "Environmentalism." It's Bnapahpahanakan, fyi. And the trick to pronouncing it correctly is to say it so slowly that it takes a full 45 seconds. Last week I gave a 5-minute talk to a group of young professionals, and did quite well using very simple vocabulary and wordplay.Ultimately, if you're already tri- or quad-lingual, learning another language becomes much easier due to physiological changes in the brain, even if the language is Swahili, Geogian or an indigenous Mayan tongue. Did I mention you have to be prepared to learn a language that's spoken by only a few hundred thousand or few million speakers, who only exist in a small, landlocked country? Because you do.So if that hasn't scared you off/or has gotten you incredibly excited, I have to ask a question that may burst your bubble: Do you have US citizenship? You don't need to be a native, there's a swede and an aussie in our group, but you do need to be a citizen. You sound like a great candidate so I hope you are. If not, the Canada International Development Agency (CIDA. Very Canadian name, BTW) is very highly respected worldwide and I recommend you check out http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/ACDI-CIDA.nsf/eng/NIC-5492333-HQE

Our near and dear friend, Gayane, showed us how to make both meat and "Pasuts" (lent/vegetarian) dolma. The meat dolma is pictured above on the left and made with ground beef and rice, wrapped in grape leaves. The vegetarian dolma on the right is made with an assortment of beans and grains and is wrapped in cabbage. It is a tedious process but not difficult. Dolma is a traditional Armenian dish served at large gatherings such as New Years. Find a recipe here or just wait a few more months and we can make it together!

Our Marz (Region) had it's first gathering together for St. Patrick's Day. We combined the traditional corn beef and cabbage, Irish Soda Bread, green beer with a unique twist....psychic abilities. Each of us had to bring a perfected psychic ability to the party and then we mingled and introduced them to each other. It was an odd idea that turned out really fun! Aura reading anyone?

This was going to be an encouraging post about goals, and how I’ve been meeting mine these past three months. But for some reason, that’s not what wants to be written. Instead I want to talk about how masterpieces are … Continue reading →

One of my 3rd grade students invited me to his birthday party!! It was actually really sweet, I sat at the table with 12 9-year-olds in their mini chairs and ate cake with a mini fork... I felt a little bit awkward being the only adult sitting with the little kids, but to be honest it was really fun and all my students stared at me the whole time like woah she really came!! And when it comes down to it, I realize that I get along better with children and animals anyways so I might as well accept it and start sitting at the children's table more often!!!

I just had one of the most productive weeks in my Peace Corps Service. Volunteers will tell you that the first year of service is an adjustment year and that the second year is when you start making a difference. I’ve already been here 10 months and I’m only now beginning to feel good about my work here. Every lesson I had in my classes and clubs this week went great. The director and I began working on a grant to repair the floor of our gymnasium. I tutored students at my house who wanted to study for the poetry competition. My old host mother even came over for tea, which meant I cleaned and decorated my house until it looked perfect. It may not sound like a lot, but village life is SLOW so this was quite a lot to fit into one week.Winter was really, really hard and the thought of warmer weather is definitely motivating me to be more productive. Soon we might even have vegetables other than potatoes and carrots. I’ve started studying for the GRE and it already shows that I haven’t taken a math class since high school. Has anyone taken the new GRE yet? Any advice would be great J I hope you all have a great Easter!

I took a few pictures of my friend Becca's son, Everett, last weekend and tried to get him to pose for me from the inside of the house while I stood outside. I like the look of the glass, how it frames a face, and how it distills the light. I tried hard to shoot the little guy while he was really busy running around, and eventually the dogs got in on the action and made for a nice moment.

These horses belong to a family that lives on the side of a pretty busy highway. They were casually grazing in the front yard, near the basketball hoop. It was a nice unexpected sight.

Just when you thought spring had arrived… boom. Winter came again. It’s the end of March, and there were a few days I was convinced that we were done with the snow, slush, and cold. I even walked to the next village in sandals one afternoon. Then it snowed about a foot. Well, I’m now [...]

I used my remaining vacation days to visit Italy for a couple weeks. I took about a thousand pictures, but here are some of the better ones. Get ready for a lot of pictures of sculptures.

You can't help but notice this imposing building, Il Vittoriano. It was built to honor Victor Emmanual, the first king of unified Italy. Construction started in 1911 and completed in 1935. Romans refer to it derogatorily as "the typewriter" because of the shape.

I was lucky enough to stay in an apartment in this amazing neighborhood located in the Jewish Ghetto. Rome's Jewish neighborhood is one of the oldest in Europe.

I went on a bike tour along the Appian Way. The Appian Way is an ancient Roman road that connected Rome with Brindisi in the south. After the defeat of Spartacus in 71 BCE, the Romans crucified the 6,000 survivors along the 200km section from Rome to Capua.

Wholesale wine store along the Appian Way. 1.5 liters for €1.70. My only regret was that I did not have a bigger backpack.

The Flavian Amphitheater (Colosseum) is just as impressive as I thought it would be.

My buddy Gage and I attended a gladiator school where we learned the training and fighting techniques of gladiators.

The Pantheon was much more impressive than I imagined it to be.

Even though Italian wine is phenomenal, I had to have an Italian beer every once in a while.

The Capitoline Wolf. This sculpture depicts Romulus and Remus being nursed by a she-wolf. The wolf probably dates back to the 5th century BCE and Romulus and Remus probably date to the 15th century CE. According to legend, Romulus and Remus were the sons of the king of Alba Longa. Their father was deposed and they were thrown into the Tiber River to die. They were raised by a wolf and then some shepherds. When told of their true identities, they formed an army and retook their father's throne and decided to found the city that would become Rome.

This is a sculpture depicting the Emperor Commodus as Hercules from 192 CE. You may remember Commodus from the movie Gladiator. The plot is not accurate at all, but he really did fight in gladiator matches.

The Capuchin Crypt is one of the weirdest places that I have ever seen. It is located in tiny chapels beneath the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini. It contains the skeletal remains of 4,000 bodies believed to be Capuchin friars arranged in intricate patterns.

On the Ides of March, I visited the place where Caesar was probably murdered.

I was not expecting to get fantastic micro-brewed beer, but I found Open Baladin. By far the best beer and burgers that I have had in a long time.

This is Michelangelo's famous sculpture, Pieta. It is located within St. Peter's Basilica.

View from the top of St. Peter's Basilica.

No matter where I go I always seem to find something Armenian. This a statue of St. Gregory the Illuminator. He was instrumental in converting Armenia to Christianity. In 301 CE, Armenia became the first nation to make Christianity the official state religion.

The Sistine Chapel was awe-inspiring. It interested me so much that I started reading about it and doing some research. A new theory suggests that hidden illustrations of anatomy can be found throughout the paintings in the chapel. It is suggested that the image where God is reaching out to Adam is actually a cross-section of the human brain. "God" only knows what the best Ninja Turtle's (Michelangelo's) message was. You can read more about this theory here.

Tebowed Tebow to the Jets.

The Trevi Fountain. It is said that if a visitor throws a coin into the fountain, they are bound to return to Rome. It's estimated that 3,000 Euros are thrown into the fountain daily.

I found Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by accident. I was just wandering around and saw a small church that looked interesting. I went inside and discovered the sculpture.

Roman Aquaduct

After Rome, I traveled by train to Naples. I didn't take any good pictures of Naples, but Pompeii is nearby. This is the forum of Pompeii with Mt. Vesuvius in the background.

I had to sneak into the area where I took this picture.

At Pompeii, with Vesuvius in the background

This juice box wine was the worst/cheapest wine I had in Italy, but it was still far superior than anything that is produced in Armenia. I decided not to buy it again after I saw a homeless guy passed out on a bench with about 20 of these boxes strewn beside him.

Typical lunch in Naples. Margherita pizza and Peroni beer.

The catacombs of San Gennaro. San Gennaro is the patron saint of Naples. The catacombs are enormous.

This is a mosaic from Pompeii. It depicts Alexander the Great's victory over the Persians.

The Farnese Bull is a large sculpture that was unearthed in Rome in 1546 CE. It is thought to date from the 2nd century BCE. It is located in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.

This was carved out of marble! Veiled Christ, by Giueppe Sanmartino, is by far the most stunning sculpture that I have ever seen. Veins can be seen, as well as the wounds on his hands and feet.

Woke up; read for a bitAte a lovely and hearty mushroom and sausage eggs made by MargauxDid a whole bunch of dishes and prepared dinner - Wild rice cakes with a port sauce, served with cauliflower and greensWent for a hike near Empire Mine State ParkWent to Nevada city and had a delectable flat bread pizza Headed up to Grass Valley for some more wine tasting and trufflesSped home to a dinner party; met some of Margaux's family's friends; ate dinner; ate amazing raspberry cheesecakeWatched 'Face Off'

Woke up and had more banana-pecan-blueberry pancakesWent wine tasting with Margaux and her parents; hit up no less than SEVEN wineriesCame home exhausted

On March 8th, Armenia celebrates “International Women’s Day,” along with many other countries around the globe (I think some people observe it in the U.S. but I don’t remember ever hearing about it until I got here). Armenian takes the holiday seriously, and folks take off work and toast to the women in their lives. Here the day also sort of marks the focal point of March, which is “Women’s Month.” The day before the holiday arrived, excited third-graders at the school exclaimed “dzer ton shnorhavor” to me, which is a standard Armenian phrase said on special days that basically means “congratulations on your holiday.” Why they wanted to congratulate me on Women’s Day I’m not so sure, but either they weren’t thinking that hard or they thought it was funny. My students have also congratulated me on Teacher’s Day, Armenian Army Day, Russian Army Day, and just about every other holiday that has come, so I guess they just like saying it.

To commemorate the day and enjoy the time off, Arevik — a woman of 22 from the village, the school’s art teacher, and a good friend of mine — her three friends Hakob, Victoria and Satenik, and myself went for a hike in the mountains surrounding the village. Arevik and her crew showed up in front of my house in Hakob’s old Lada at about 11am, we drove out to a dirt road that led into the mountains slightly until reaching a steep valley, got out where the road ended, and began our quest. The goal of the hike was to find an old abandoned church (Armenian’s have a serious penchant for visiting the old, abandoned Christian churches of their ancestors). Only one of us, Hakob, had been to this particular old church before though, and he hadn’t been there since he was thirteen years old, so he was a bit fuzzy on the exact location somewhere in this vast space of rocky slopes, valleys, brambles and pine. Also in tow we had skewers, raw chicken, goat cheese, coffee, lavash, potatoes, pickled vegetables and a beat up Russian history book for starting a fire, so a traditional Armenian Khorovats (basically barbeque) was in order at some point in the day as well. I wasn’t at all aware at the time, but we wouldn’t be coming back down to the village until some 8 hours later.

We set out from Hakob’s Lada and Victoria, or “Veek” as everyone was calling her, immediately started showing off her prowess in mountaineering, shooting up the slopes in incredibly fast spurts and then waiting for the rest of us patiently at intervals as we summited behind her at a more reasonable, out-of-shape person's pace. I tried my best to keep up, every now and then coming around a bend or getting over a boulder to see her sitting back propped up against a tree waiting for us to reach her so that she could continue. Before getting up to run ahead and disappear again, she a couple times paused to hand me some sort of herb that she had picked while waiting and told me to eat it. It was green, looked like grass and tasted sort of sour, but not bitter. I figured I could use whatever amount of energy it held inside and ate it up.

As we reached the top of the first slope, Hakob, who had been staying behind with the other girls so far, now began showing off a bit too. He passed me up, disappeared as he started descending into the next valley, and what seemed like only 5 minutes later when I looked up I saw him already a kilometer or so out ahead and climbing up another slope. I was stunned by how fluidly a person could move through these mountains and also a bit put out that we still had to hike at least as far as he was. After catching up to Hakob and descending down into another valley, we came upon the stone foundation of an old barn. Maybe the church was nearby. People had lived here at some point anyway. Hakob seemed unsure. We followed a stream into a very shady and still partially snow-covered area for a little while longer before deciding that we’d have to eat before going on any further. We gathered wood and twigs, tore apart the old Russian history book and got a fire roaring. We skewered the meet, laid out the cheese and lavash, and got the khorovats roasting over the open coals. The potatoes were cooked simply by burying them under excess ash and hot coals, which I had never seen before but worked fine. Within a half hour we had a feast on our hands, and I sat amazed at Armenians’ ability to do a good khorovats literally anywhere. During the meal I felt great, not only because grubbing out after a long hike is really satisfying, but also because I was actually having a great time with Arev and her friends. I was understanding their Armenian almost perfectly, exchanging stories and jibes with them, and for one of the first times actually feeling connected with people my age in the country that are not just other Americans.

After eating we decided to call it quits on the church hunt and just head back to the village. It would take awhile as it was. We cleaned up, burned our garbage (better than just throwing it in the creek, which actually is the more common method of picnic disposal here), and then put out our fire.

Filled up on goat cheese, grilled chicken and potatoes, we took a steeper but more direct route back home. About halfway up, I looked back and spotted our elusive goal. Over one peak, across another valley and halfway up another lay a small, rectangular stone building that must have undoubtedly been the old abandoned church Hakob had been to when he was thirteen. I pointed it out to him and he confirmed it. Rather than let down, we were excited that we now knew where it was and could venture out to see it another time. It did make a very mysterious and almost taunting sight out there in the middle of nowhere, and we agreed make it out there soon.

A few hours later we were back in the village and exhausted. I got a free meal at Larisa’s (Arevik’s mother) of borscht, bread and cheese, strolled home, at more food there, and then let my tired bones hit the bed. I was asleep in seconds.