Another year come and gone.

Grandma and her flowers from her garden... You wouldn't believe how hard I had to fight to get her into this picture...



The slow one...



Before the massive Chicken khorovats. About 13kg worth...



People at the Birthday Party. Complete awesome-ness



Michael, David, Kyle, Me, Grandma, Hector, Emily, Christa, Chris. Hector, your head looks huge... Goodbye Grandma.

This past Sunday was my birthday (Brandon, I expect a happy birthday email from you…). Another one which will certainly be memorable for years to come. I am fortunate to have memorable birthdays, such as my 16th when my parents threw me a surprise birthday party, or my 21st when the Dickersons’ and my family went to eat together at a restaurant, or last year’s when perfect strangers talked to me for three hours coming home from Yerevan and toasted me with candy due to the lack of vodka.

Friday, I went into Martuni to meet some other PCVs and to hang out a bit. Emily and Mike came in from out of town in addition to some other volunteers. Saturday, during the day, we stayed low, not doing much. We were going to climb the volcano but the weather had other plans. We instead got ready for the khorovats (BBQ) we were going to have. Around 5:00 we started preparing. Around 7:00, twenty volunteers showed up. They were not all there for my birthday, but I guess in a sense they were. It was really cool. These are volunteers from all around Armenia, some as far away as Goris, a 6-7 hour bus ride away. It was really great.

The BBQ came out really good as well. Brian and Chris made coleslaw and Emily made Apple Pie. No birthday cake, but honestly, when you have that many friends together with BBQ do you really need anything else… the answer is no. So, to all those who came out to Martuni, thank you. Also, thanks to all of you who posted on my facebook wall. It’s funny the people who come out of the woodwork to wish you a happy birthday, people I haven’t spoken to in years. Really cool.

Sunday morning, all the volunteers who stayed at our house, came to my village to wish my Grandma farewell. It was really nice of them to come out. Emily, Crista (Emily’s friend from the States), Kyle, Mike, Chris, David (even though he never stayed here) and Hector came over. I just wanted to drink coffee with Grandma, but she had different plans. She was running around making potato something and would not just sit down. Finally I got her to sit down. We took a group photo together. I was glad to hear that she was excited about going to Belarus. It has been great living with her, but I understand that when I have to go to Yerevan quite a bit for work its just lonely if you don’t have family around.

Monday and Tuesday of this week I was in Yerevan doing doctor school applications. It is not fun and rather draining. You know you have to individually type in all the classes you took in college. They want an official transcript too. I don’t understand why they don’t just look at the transcript to see your grades.

This week, thus far, has been rather weird. I just came back from school, and there are no more classes. It’s basically a teacher’s work day. Tomorrow there are some exams and then, that’s it.

Taking down photos off my wardrobe has been the hardest thing to do so far. Many of you may not quite understand this, but my room has been somewhat of a sanctuary for me. This is the one place where I feel comfortable all the time, where I get some of my strength back. The idea of this room and leaving it, is hard on its own. Definitely a mental thing, but nonetheless, something I will have to get over. Come this Friday, I will become a guest of the village, no longer a resident.

The upcoming challenges will not be easy, but I have applications, and jobs to search and my Description of Service to keep me busy. Peace Corps says that the transition back to the US is harder than the transition to the country you are serving. I’m starting to believe it. Things are starting to feel numb. Too many emotions and not enough strength to deal with them.

(I assure you that the remaining blogs will not all be reflective and nostalgic. This will be my toughest transition week. It will get better.)

Until next time…