I think I was going to talk about the flora and fauna in this post but I have much more interesting things to talk about.  Maybe I will come back to that topic later, but the short version is that there are plants growing wild along side the road and in people yards that you would not see in America. 

So what topic could be more fun than that?  Well I have two and I hope I have time to do them justice.  On Saturday we went into a city called Echmiadzin, it contains the holy seat of the Armenian Orthodox Church, their equivalent of the Vatican.  We were given a tour by a Holy Father who leads a church in Chicago but was called back here for a year.  The Armenian Orthodox church is small having lost about 90% of the priests in the genocide in 1915 and then having to survive under communism for 70 years but it seems to be coming back.  The tour was pretty incredible.  They have an amazing church and some beautiful artifacts.  Unfortunately most of the church and building are undergoing much needed renovation so we were not able to see everything.  We have been invited back in a few months to see the things we missed.  These include the Armenian alphabet made of gold and precious stones, the spear that killed Jesus (their claim), a piece of Noah’s Ark and many other treasures.  I will definitely have to make it back before leaving Armenia. 

On Sunday it was Jur Or (Water Day).  This is a religious holiday but got its start as a pagan holiday.  We were warned about it as the kids will soak anyone they see.  The morning started off mellow enough.  We had guest from Yerevan staying at our house over the weekend so I got up and went outside for coffee.  Ani, a university girl that speaks great English, came down to talk and translate for me.  We chatted a bit and I gave the kids some water balloons.  After coffee I went back to my room and I hear some small water fights.  I participated enough to toss water out of my window onto Ani and Lilo, my host sister-in-law, then went back to working on the computer.  Ani was kind enough to pour cold water down my back as I worked at my desk.  Of course I had to repay the debt and we ended up outside in a full scale war with the two of us, a couple boys (6 and 8), Ani’s older brother and s few helpful souls who would randomly pour buckets of water from the balcony.  My host brother stayed inside behind the door, only venturing out to toss an occasional bucket of water that had been warmed on the stove.  Given that the rest of us were using ice cold tap water, we were not to upset to get doused with the warm stuff.  

After a short but heated battle we tried a sneak attack on the neighbors but they caught us and dashed in their house.  I think a couple people pushed their way in and got a couple of them in the entry way but I don’t know for sure.  I headed back to our place and had some lunch.  Three friends from a nearby village walked to my place and were drenched by the roving bands of kids with buckets.  We all piled into my host brothers car and he drove us to another village where we were supposed to go to the hot springs with some other Peace Corps folks.  They ambushed us with lots of buckers and about 40 kids.  But the joke was on them as we all got attacked by the kids, two of us getting dragged away and put under a tap.  Needless to say we were all soaked to the bone by the time we got to the hot springs only to find it closed as they cleaned the building.  Now we had to venture back through the kids to get to Emily’s house.  What a nightmare, another soaking with cold dirty creek water.  Ugh.  Back at Emily’s we tried to dry out and play some card games.  I got a cab back with the other folks later that day.  It was an amazing day and I am really glad I ventured out.  Some other volunteers didn’t and I think they missed out on a real cultural experience, not to mention a good way to be part of the community. 

I am going to try to upload a few pictures including one of Ani and I fighting, another of my host family and the extended family from Yerevan and finally a few of the church at Echmiadzin, I hope you enjoy them.

Next week is going to be exciting for all of us.  We get to go into Yerevan and see the offices and a bit of the city, then we head out to visit the sites where we will be living for the next two years and we will meet and stay with our host families.  It is probably a bit more exciting for the others as I have been to my city many times ?  I am still looking forward to meeting my host family and the people in my NGO.  I wonder if they will make me walk to my town given that it is so near. 

As always I hope you enjoyed my random musings.  I enjoy writing them and I figure when I am old and senile I will have something to look back on and remember when….

Take care everyone!!!!

Brian


Water Day Fun


Host Family and extended family.