Last weekend I got to join my Host Father's brother as he took his son back from a home visit to the army base for his second year of service. We stopped for some fresh produce for the meal that was coming up at the end of our journey. I could not resist the photo of the laundry hanging across the Main Street when we stopped. In the small villages everybody knows everybody's business anyhow, so I guess having a rip in your BVD's is not a big deal...........for it is public information on the clothes line!! About halfway into our journey, we saw a horse tethered along the highway so we joined him for a group photo. The country was beautiful, verdant hills and clouds dotting the background. Two days later I found out this is the area, Dilijan, that I will be assigned to after August 15th for my 2 years of service. I felt like I was at the location for the "Sound of Music" although something tells me my perception might change when we are into our 5th month of winter!! (Will find out if my REI purchases live up to their pricing.)

We are putting on a 4th of July party for our Host Families ( no cooking for them for a change...) and then we visit our future sites from July 9th through the 14th. Dilijan is known as a tourist site for visitors from neighboring countries and I will be working in the Dillnet Business Promotion Center that works to expand the influx of the tourist dollar. This is not an industry I have any experience in so I hope I can make a contribution in some way. I am looking to my upcoming visit to the area and seeing the forests and nature preserve they are known for.

Hope your 4th of July......is filled with light and joy.

The best part of our 2 hour trip to the army base was sharing in the close knit family bonds. When we got to the base we picked up the nephew who was still on base and brought him over to another relative's home for the favorite event on the Armenian social calendar: Hooravats......the barbeque. The fact that it was raining did not dampen the spirits at all as we found cover ......and the cooking began!! Before we left from the family home, the "papeek" from upstairs came down to say hello and invited me up to his flat. I enjoyed the traditional cup of coffee and the joy that radiated from his 5 grandchildren. The fact that he had lost full use of one leg and he had use his crutch up the two flights seemed to matter little compared to the joy of sharing his family and providing a guest the favorite gift in Armenia: "hospitality."

Room With a View

Today we just returned from a quick trip to the capital, Yeravan, the only city with over 1M people. We have a city of 30,000 (Cherentsavan) that we come to once a week to meet with the other Volunteers who are in the other 5 villages besides ours. I took this picture of another village across the ravine from my bedroom window. Our village, Karenis, has 1130 people.......well, really 1138 since we came to town. Wonderful folks and a very "life-friendly" pace of life. The only time I saw anyone hurrying was my House Mom trying to get the pigs back in the pen. Armenia has survived centuries of oppression and the family bonds and cultural pride are the backbone of the country. When my struggles with the language start to shrink my world, a couple minutes of looking out my window put things back in perspective quickly. I am soaking up all this wonderful scenery and weather as we have all heard the stories of 6 months of winter that are in our future.

Pied Piper in Armenia

Although life is very traditional, it is still full of spontaneous events. I went for a walk the other day down the street and saw a 3rd grade boy I knew carrying his soccer ball. I asked him in my faltering Armenian whether "he was any good." The ball is being kicked my way a minute later. Then another boy appeared, the another, slowly some of the young girls also joined our rather impromptu event. When the numbers good too crowded for soccer, we formed a circle and switched to volleyball passing......how long can we keep it going. When someone goofed and the ball rolled a couple blocks down the street, we all chanted "Esh".....and laughed!! Donkey is Armenian is "esh" but it was all good-natured teasing. I returned a couple days later......and we re-created our game. I think the local kids don't know what to do with a "papeek" playing game in the streets. Since I don't have my garden to work in anymore, they better get used to it!! I need the exercise and thoroughly enjoy the kids' energy.

This is the rest of my very wonderful Host Family that I will live with until August 15th when we get our 2 year assignment. Like my family of origin in Indiana....... cousins, aunts/uncles, and grandparents abound. The extended family is central. This photo shows the younger daughter, Emma, who is 20 working with her "tateek" (grandma) sorting greens for dinner which are on the table for every meal. The youngest member of the family, Vache ( probably mispelled it) is 18 and attends University an hour away in the capital (Yeravan). He is my English interpreter when I get stuck....more often than I would like. The mother, Gohars, is here holding one of the cousins that came to visit. Children immediately become the center of attention.

Last week 3 of us stopped by to visit another PCV at her host family. This is the father of the home. We learned something about Armenian hospitality that day as our 15 minute visit became several hours as the bread, cheese, yogurt, chicken, and beverages magically kept appearing on the table in front of us. It can cause some "cultural challenges" for keeping time commitments as I discovered two days later. My "mother" expect me home in 15 minutes when we passed by this home again. They invited us to come in again. The obvious fact that there is no "short visit" as a guest to an Armenian home forced me to politely say "No." It felt rather rude not to go in...........after their generous hospitality a couple days earlier. But I decided it was better than having my "Mom" shake her finger at me (again) with the words "A Mot"........or "shame on you." But even the scoldings feel like love.

The Peace Corps volunteers will be working in different "sectors" of the country when we begin our 2 year assignment on August 14th (after we pass our language exams). The four sectors are: Health, Environment, English Language, and CBD or "Community and Business Development." My fellow PCV's (an acronym I will probably succumb to using like everyone else......) in this photo are all "CBD." We will all be assigned to different cities in Armenia in August. Hopefully the bonds over the next couple months will allow us to support each other as we "discover the our limits" in helping the business community in our various cities. It will be great to be only a local call away from someone who is facing similar challenges. I imagine we will also make monthly visits as needed to each other's villages.

We first met our language teachers for our village during the time at the conference center. Lucine and Mari came with us to our village of Karins as well to live for the next 10 weeks. Each of the Peace Corps members in our village live with a host family that is no more than a 10 minute walk to the school where we have our lessons from 9am to 1:30pm from Monday through Saturday. It has been a real interesting experience at age 62 to have my "mother" upset with me if I am not "home from school" by 2pm!! ......very sweet.....they feel very responsible for our safety. The rest of the Peace Corps volunteers are in 5 other villages nearby so we can all get together once a week for "Central Days."

Before we moved in with our "Host Family," all 50 of the Peace corps volunteers to Armenia, were taken to a conference center on a hilltop where we had classes on the culture, health and other practical issues. It was also a good time to create stronger friendships with our group. One morning before our classes started, I saw one of the staff at the center "cutting the grass." So I had him pose in front of the view from our location. The country is rugged and sweet all at once. I now have a whole new world of wildflowers to learn about.............*;o). The poppy flower that I picked had a seed pod as big as a cherry. I now understand how they use these for "commercial uses" in Afghanastan.

This is my host father celebrating his 45th birthday by dancing with his daughter, Anna............who doubles as my language coach. She has graduated from University and is planning to look for work in the capitol, Yeravan, and likes the chance to improve her English. I told her when I leave their home in 10 weeks, I know her English is going to be much more fluent than my Armenian. My host family has been very generous with their time in many areas.

Greetings.........it is June 1st and our first trip to the Internet world.

The last two days of traveling were about what one would expect.......in both the joys and sorrows...............the tedious movement through baggage claim in Paris was the low point as officiousness totally replaced efficiency..........and the high point was surely waking up this morning on a tree-covered hilltop looking out over the mountains and breathing the fresh air of the Armenia countryside. We will be there for the next couple days of training and then move in with a local family. I have already forgot the name of the village I will be in but it is about 25 minute shuttle ride from the House of Culture where our language lab work will be until mid-August.

Came to Charentsavan today to meet the Peace Corps volunteers from the previous two years still working in the country. Our group is referred to as A-16 while they are the A-15 and A-14's, linking us with the A-1's who were the first group serving this country 16 years ago. Nice to have those who have planted the seeds for our efforts and will hopefully do the same for those to follow.

Our group is getting back on the bus............so more later!!