So I guess a lot has happened since Thursday when I wrote last. Thursday I called over fifty of the volunteers and asked if they were having an problems with the HIV/AIDS poster contest and if they wanted a T-shirt. All but 4 of the 50+ wanted a T-shirt. So, it was a success. However, that night when I went to bed, my throat was a little scratchy and my voice was a bit weak. Overall, I was really happy with the volunteers participation in buying a shirt to wear for the flashmob in about 5 weeks.
That night I went to bed watching a little bit of Eddie Izzard. I woke up the next morning. I guess you never talk until you run into someone to talk to. I did the usually. Got out of bed. Stood there blankly for a while. Made my bed, moved my computer back to my desk, got my washing supplies and towel and headed to the bathroom. Everyday, on the way to the bathroom, I see Grandma in the kitchen making breakfast. Every morning I say “Dobrum Utrum” or “Good Morning” in Russian. But not that day. The sound that spilled out of my mouth was a combination of a whisper and squeaks. I had lost my voice. It was gone. Completely. I will never forget my Grandma’s face because she just froze and looked at me and asked if I was sick or feeling bad. I started laughing. I said “no.” Then she mocked me and then made fun of me. I went to the bathroom and did my usual bathroom things, put my things back in my room and went to breakfast. Grandma asked me some questions. I kept forgetting that I didn’t have a voice and I tried to answer. Grandma really got a kick out of that. Yeah...
That day didn’t go over so well. I went to school on Friday momentarily and then got on the bus and headed into Yerevan again to go to some meetings. I got into Martuni and met Hector there and we went together to the tailors because the zipper on his bag broke and needed a new one put on. So I went with him and then went to the bus stop and got on a bus to Yerevan. It was a quick ride and I got there around 12:30. I went straight to the Peace Corps office and met with Nick about the flashmob we want to do December 1st. So far, there are no problems. I was afraid of some of the red tape we might run into but so far nothing has gotten in our way. After that meeting, I went with Kevin, a new volunteer and introduced him to American Councils. We met with the Alumni Coordinator there and got them to join us for the flashmob and buy T-shirts. There are going to be a lot of people there and it should be pretty fun. Hopefully at least.
After that we got some lunch with some other volunteers and then I went to the hostel to give Gevorg his wedding present. He wasn’t there so I just hung out there for about an hour before going to meet a friend. We talked for a while and then went to the opera to see a concert. It wasn’t as good as the last one I saw, but there were some guest performers, a cellist from England and a pianist from Italy. Both really good. You know, I enjoyed the encores more than the actual performances. I really like the cello played by itself and I really like the piano played by itself. The Italian guy was really good. They played Dvorak and Tchaikovsky. Pretty good.
Afterwards, I walked back to the hostel to get my bags and then headed over to Gevorg’s house. Since he just got married, he moved in with his wife and wanted to show me his new place. It was really nice. I had a great time there and we talked for about 3 hours, until about 1:30. He is a really interesting guy and his wife is really nice. She didn’t talk too much but Gevorg had a lot of interesting things to say about life and about how life works. Another one of those people that really have an impact by the things they say.
I left there and got in a taxi to take me to Jason and Elvira’s place. The taxi driver was awesome. He was just a really nice guy and we talked the whole way to the apartment. He didn’t want to even take my money but I forced it upon him. It was one of those really good taxi experiences, and yes, good taxi experiences are amazing. I got his phone number just in case I needed a taxi one day. His name was Ando.
I got to Jason and Elvira’s house and snuck in. They usually just leave the door open for me, so I snuck in and just passed out for 5 hours. I woke up at 7:00 to get ready to go to the Embassy. The Embassy was having its annual auction and since my neighbors computer broke, I told him about this auction and said they sold computers there. My neighbor, Varton didn’t come but sent his son-in-law out there. A nice guy. We met there for the first time and then headed in. They had all sorts of things there from pretty nice furniture to cars, to computers. The computers weren’t that good so I didn’t get anything for him. It was funny though because the son-in-law fell in love with some lawn furniture and kept asking me about it. I mean, what do I know about lawn furniture, but this guy was all about it. Well, he didn’t want to wait until the auction for that particular item started so we eventually left. He gave me a ride to the bus stop and I got on the bus and waited for about twenty minutes and then left. I was the only guy on the bus besides the bus driver. Interesting.
I got off at the village exit and just walked home. I just wanted to get home. The previous night I didn’t sleep much either and after running around and going to meetings and hanging out and this and that, I just wanted to sleep. No one was home on Saturday when I got home so I just passed out. I woke up and it was 6. I fell asleep at 2. I woke up and Grandma said that Varton was looking for me so I went over to his house and he and his extended family was having a get together. They were roasting potatoes, so I stuck around for a while and had some potatoes and a crapload of vodka. Actually, it wasn’t that much. I came home and hung out with Grandma and then went to bed.
I slept through the night and my voice was pretty much back. A little weak but overall not too bad. You can understand me now.
Early this morning, Grandma and I went to the market to sell some beans. Its funny here because as soon as you get off the bus, there are people wanting to buy beans and other things to take to Yerevan to sell. So, not more than 15 minutes later, Grandma had already sold her beans. I needed some meat so I got some meat from the meat people or butchers, I guess. The cow was probably moo-ing 6 hours prior... The meat was fresh.
I came home on the next bus and Grandma stayed at the market because she needed to buy some clothes. I came home and started making some food for my guests Gayane and Mane(t). I always make fun of them because people from Yerevan rarely leave the capital. So, I told them to come to my village and I would educate them about Armenia. Ha ha. Well, apparently I didn’t do the best job giving them directions because instead of telling them to go right, I told them to go left and they got lost. We made a bet that they couldn’t find the house, but they did, even with wrong directions. They were just an hour late. But, it was my fault. They came and met Grandma. It was funny though because in Armenia there are very laid out gender roles and I broke about every one of them. All the ladies were sitting down, and I was cooking, cleaning, taking their dishes, making coffee and tea. Grandma said that I would make a great wife... Thank you.
So it was time for Gayane and Mane(t) to leave. We started walking to the intersection and I called Vincent. Vincent got to the bus station and said that the bus that was just about full was about to leave. I started trying to figure out what we could do. I saw a truck coming and stopped it and asked if the two young men could take the two young girls to the intersection to meet the bus that was leaving Martuni. I called Gayane every 5 minutes to make sure that the guys didn’t kill the girls. They didn’t. Mane(t) and Gayane stood at the road for about ten minutes, saw the bus pass them and got in a taxi and just went back to Yerevan. They paid only 300 dram more (about 80 cents) more than they would have if they were in a bus. So, in the end everything worked out. I was really glad they got a chance to come out and see where I live. It is common for people from Yerevan to never leave Yerevan and see the outer regions. This accounts for the great disconnect between the development in Yerevan and the regions.
It was funny how many people, as I was walking home, asked me who the two girls I was walking with were. I just explained that I worked with them over the summer and we had some work to do and they had to come out.
Ok, I have to post this post because there is a lot more for me to write. I forgot about this post until now, the 29th but I need to start a new blog.
Until next time... (although you probably already read the latest blog by now...)
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