New friends and old

Zaynik and her family live in a little domik just off the road to Spitakavor. When my dad and UBDJ were here we stopped off here for some hyurasirutyun and a nice conversation. While recently hiking on the same road with my new site mates Meag, Sebastian and Greg we stopped by again to say hello and for some more hospitality. Coincidentally, just as we arrived Zaynik was just cutting in to the new block of cheese she had made. Meag and I have been experimenting with a little cheese making, so it was quite a treat to taste some made by a master.


We took a break from the blazing sun under the umbrella they had set up. We talked again about their life in the mountains with their animals. They will be leaving their site in late October to return to the village and will again set up camp in the mountains in May. They remembered my dad and UBDJ visiting and asked about them. We finished up our coffees and plates of cheese, again kindly refused the offer to vodka shots and were on our way to the monastery.


After the last stretch of road to Spitakavor, we took a break under the newly constructed shelter to a small meal of cheese and tomatoes that our friends had just sent along with us. As we were about to leave, a Niva showed up and our friends exuberantly hopped out and invited us to join them on their Khorovats. We kindly obliged, ate, drank and sang. We then again said our goodbyes and headed down the canyon, a bit tipsy, on our way home.

Sona

This is Sona Vanyan, a woman who was included in the Women's Month stories. This is a photo from June that I recently came across while backing up my photos. She is preparing her large plot just on the edge of Getap for planting tomatoes. I liked the contrast of what our bursting gardens look like now. I can't get enough of the sun-warmed, perfectly ripe red tomatoes. Juicy red and green peppers, roasted over a fire, lightly salted and rolled in lavash - these are some things I will always remember from Armenia.

Getting ready for the winter

I have been canning like crazy lately. As the tomatoes, corn, eggplant and peppers in my garden have so beautifully been growing for the last several months, I have been plotting their fate in cute little glass jars with super tasty recipes. I've canned salsa, roasted red peppers, roasted eggplant and enough fresh tomatoes to keep away from an only potato diet this winter. My one free little cabinet is quickly filling up and its quite a challenge for me to not already open some of these delicious little jars!

Home!

The other day, a bunch of volunteers from the new group came to Yeghegnadzor. We spent a hilarious and wild night camping down by the pointy bridge. After bragging to all the newbies that it NEVER rains in Vayots Dzor, I was awoken before the sun had rose by some very threatening thunder and lightning. I woke up to see what was the matter and was pleasantly surprised by the show Mamma Nature was putting on. Like I said, no rain in Vayots Dzor, but she sure is pretty!

Samvel

Samvel is my landlord, and may as well be my father in Armenia. He calls me his daughter and even expects the same things from me he would his own daughter. Though I tried to explain in the beginning, and struggle to do so still, I am just your renter and you don't need to treat me like a daughter. Its up and down all the time. Sometimes we are arguing about something for days at a time and then for another period of time we get along like twins.

Samvel has quite the sense of humor, a bit harsh, but also playful. Sometimes I'm not sure if he is joking and other times I am joking right back at him. Though our relationship is hard to deal with at times, I really appreciate how this family has accepted me and looks after me. I feel very fortunate to share their "hayat."

Samvel is hard at work until nightfall every day building three new rooms for students. You can see at the bottom of the patio my little two bedroom grape vine covered home. I love living here!

Gone fishing

The other day for my friend Karine's birthday I went to my neighbor's to buy some ishkhan, or trout. They have a series of large ponds that are fed by the river with varying sizes of fish. He dipped the net into the larger pond and in one fail swoop grabbed the six fish we later cooked for dinner. Although this time we just baked them with olive oil, fish khorovats is just about my favorite meal here.

Dartsel em tatik!

I was cleaning some newly dropped walnuts to make pesto. I've seen tatiks all over Armenia with fingers just like these, and knew it was from walnuts. Thought I'd try it on for size. I kinda like it.

Oh, and you can see, barely, my garden in the background.

Miss Meag

Its great to have a new site mate here in Yeghegnadzor. Its especially nice that Meag likes sangria and cooking just as much as I do!

We made our own mozzarella cheese the other day and one of the best garlicy thin crust margarita pizzas I have ever had!

She also is a killer guitar player and is trying to teach my little neighbor Geretsik how to play. Maybe a futile effort as the little one is opposed to learning chords, but none the less we've been having a great time singing along!

Yeghegnadzor Media Center

I wanted to say thank you to all of you who donated to my PCPP grant to buy equipment for the Yeghegnadzor Media Center! The grant was fully funded a few weeks ago and the money was just released, so I will be purchasing a computer, cameras, video camera and audio recording equipment soon!

Also, my counterpart and I have been meeting with the new governor of our region and we are fairly certain we will be getting a furnished room in the marzpet building with internet access and a budget to travel around to the villages to gather news. We have also been trying to secure money to hire a journalist from Yerevan to come to teach regular lessons.

The next step is to make an announcement and call for applicants. We are hoping to start with 10 - 15 people and then expand to our surrounding communities after the initial trainings.

Thank you again to all of you who have donated and made this project possible, I can't wait to get started!!

Sue Fullam

Ms. Sue Fullam, Peace Corps Volunteer in Vachagan, Armenia, a small village just up the mountain from Kapan. Vachagan is a village of about 500 people and Sue teaches English there at the school. The school itself holds about 35 students. Vachagan is one of the last villages on the way up the slopes of Mount Khustup, the second tallest mountain in Armenia. The village landscape is so steep most houses are comfortable nested into the hillsides and there are shared garden spaces located in smaller, flatter ravines.

So, dad tried to get me a Niva

Myrtle Beach Sun News
Aug 22 2010

Dodgy car should stay put in Armenia

Dear Tom and Ray: I just returned from visiting my daughter, who is a Peace Corps volunteer, in Yeghegnadzor, Armenia. Now, my daughter is an adventuresome gal, and she's become infatuated with the Lada Niva. It's a very small but particularly utilitarian 4-wheel-drive SUV. She's decided that to reward her for her service to humanity, I should procure one for her upon her return to the U.S. She's scheduled to come home about a year from now, which gives me some time to research this and find a viable reason for telling her it can't be done.

She would like for me to make contact with one of her Armenian friends, have him find and buy the vehicle on her behalf and ship it to the U.S. My alternative plan is for her to purchase the auto in Armenia, drive it across Europe and ship it across the pond once she reaches the Atlantic. Here's my question: What would I need to do to the Niva to have it pass U.S. import standards? Please help me out, guys. I'll have hell to pay if she's not greeted with the car, or at
least a convincing reason for my not having been successful. - Chuck

TOM: Well, your daughter obviously has bonded with the people of Armenia. That's wonderful. And she clearly wants to take a piece of her experience there home with her - she wants a keepsake.

RAY: But it would be easier, and cheaper, if she just married an Armenian and brought him home, Chuck. Because there's no way you're ever going to get a Lada approved for road use in the United States.

TOM: If a vehicle doesn't meet U.S. safety and environmental standards (and trust us, Chuck, this one doesn't), the U.S. Department of Transportation requires you to either upgrade it and make it comply, or destroy it. Guess which you're going to be forced to pick?

RAY: Unless you're the kind of guy who makes nuclear reactors out of balsawood in his spare time on weekends, you're not going to be able to upgrade this thing to meet U.S. code. Even car companies have a hard time doing it. For an individual, it's almost impossible.

TOM: Trust us, a wedding's going to be cheaper, Chuck.

Car Talk is a national column distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc. Got a question about cars? Ask at the Car Talk website at www.cartalk.com or write to Car Talk Plaza, Box 3500 Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA 02238.

http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/08/22/1644435/dodgy-car-should-stay-put-in-armenia.html

Daily routine

This scene happens every day just as the sun is tucking itself to sleep behind the mountain in Yeghegnadzor. The cows that have spent the day up in the mountains or down in the river valley grazing for the day then head back home to be milked. I was amazed seeing this process for the first time. Families hire the shepard to take the cows out in the morning and tend to them all day. As the cows are headed home, they know exactly where their homes are located and turn down their respective driveways.

Charentsavan

I ended up by myself the other night in the apartments that Peace Corps rented for volunteers helping out with sessions during Pre Service Training. I was to help with the bird watching trip to Lake Sevan the next day, and all the other volunteers were asked to leave the apartments as our Mid Service Conference would start the next day.

Of course, assuming there would be other people there, I brought no book, my Ipod had died on the drive there and I had run out of money on my phone.

Needless to say, I had to find some way to occupy myself, so I took some photos from the balcony of the apartment, bought a bottle of wine, Viva Cell card and called America.

Aragats Adventure

Yar she blows. The south summit of Mt. Aragats, 4095 meters. The wide angle does her no justice.

Our little jeep track to the top was lined with wonderful purple and yellow flowers.

And alpine forget-me-nots!

Janet gets a little refreshment from the water that was 10 minutes ago an icefield just up the path.

Beautiful mountain stream!

So, I was totally unprepared for this climb. I had been away from site for a week and had only brought my chacos with me, and decided to do the hike anyway.

My good friend Nico.

Me and the ladies, enjoying the view.

And the sun finally came out to greet us!

Aragats is a large, wide and tall, extinct volcano. From every angle there are huge valleys running down the flanks of the mountain.

The rock lined path we followed along the way was at times hard to find, but lead us up a very mystical and beautiful path!

Chacos in the snow...


There were several boulder fields to cross. You could hear water running under the rocks and little rodents similar to Pika were daring out from under the rocks.

Almost to the top!!

And the clouds cleared just as we got to the summit.

There was a huge rock face right at the summit.

Here we are!

Chacos at the top!

Don't get too close!


Damn, were tough!

Gregory

Here is Gregory, the new (and temporary) addition to the family. He was purchased as an addition to the table of my landlord's son's birthday celebration. However, his life was spared, maybe he needs to be fattened up more. So for now, we exchange baa's from across the yard.

Dad and Uncle Big Dave Jr. Do Armenia

My dad and Uncle Big Dave Jr. came to visit me during the most beautiful season in Armenia. Just as the time was approaching for them to arrive, the green grass and colorful wildflowers were just at their peak. We had rain showers most evenings, but it made for nice clear air and great views. It had been one year since I had seen anyone in my family, so I was VERY excited for them to arrive.

They arrived in Yerevan at 5 a.m. and were ready to see the city as soon as possible. I took them for a little tour up the city, including the cascade and my favorite American style breakfast place where you can get lattes and bacon.

Then we took a taxi to Garni and Geghart. An ancient Roman temple and one of my most favorite churches in the country. The taxi ride was pleasant and of course, we had to run out of gas on the way back to the city.

The Geghart church was carved out of a cliff wall.

Dad and UBDj light their first of many candles in a church here.



The next day we took a masrutka to my site and we had to make the obligatory trip to Noravank, a church just 15 minutes away from Yeghegnadzor.



They both climbed the very steep steps up into the 2nd floor of the church.

The next day we went for a long hike up into the mountains surrounding Yeghegnadzor to Spitakavor, a monastery. There are several shepard settlements along the way, and when I was up there before (in the fall) they were uninhibited. Fortunately this time the families has just moved in a few days prior. This is Hayko, Vardges and Takuhi. They keep cows and bees just off the road to Spitakavor.

Just like you would expect from any incredibly hospitable Armenian, they laid out a whole table just for us. Fresh honey and yogurt, lavash, cucumbers and tomatos and offered us up some shots of vodka. We kindly munched on the treats, declined the vodka and continued along the way.

My favorite way to hike is to go up along the vehicle trail and to descend through the gorge. However, last time I was there the river was much lower and crossing it was no trouble. With the incessant rains and snowmelt, the river was a challenge to cross.

There are some really incredible wildflowers in bloom up there.

Dad and UBDJ brought some great gifts for my families and my neighbor kids had a great time learning how to throw the frisbee.

My landlords/next door neighbors gladly made a khorovats for their guests. UBDJ was fascinated by the tonir, a pit in the ground usually used to make lavash, and has decided to construct one at his home in Idaho. Samvel was happy to bring out his homemade grape vodka for us to "sample" and even gave Dave and Dad some to take back home.

Us at a small memorial in the gorge along the road to Tatev.

Dad checking out some of the engravings on the Khatchkars in Noratus along the shore of Lake Sevan.

Dad decided to buy some hand made hats from some of the very pushy tatiks. As soon as he brought out his wallet the ladies started yelling louder and pushing more of their crafts on him.

Lake Sevan

Dad up at Surpkhatch, a church just above Yeghegnadzor.

Samvel, my landlord and our chauffeur.

Our lovely Lada.

The typical traffic jam in these parts.

We went to visit my first host family in Karenis.

And then we took the midnight train to Georgia. The train crosses the border at about 3 a.m. so they wake you up in the middle of you less-than-pleasant sleep on the train to check you passport.

Georgian wine and cuisine is not so much different that Armenian, but a pleasant change. Needless to say, we indulged.

In Gori, the birthplace of Stalin.

In Uplistsikhe, (yeah, try pronouncing THAT!) an ancient cave city just outside of Gori.

We had a pretty spectacular weather display while we were there.

We returned from Georgia, spent one more night in Yerevan and then I sent the pair on their was back home. It was so nice to be able to share my life with them and to introduce them to my new home, friends and family.