June 26, 2010
Saturday we ventured to Yerevan, the capital, as one big group of PSTers. It was basically a field trip but was awesome. For most of us this was the first time into Yerevan which is considered to be a different country than the rest of Armenia. It is still bustling with activity as it was not destroyed when the soviet era came to a close. It is highly developed and about 70% of the country inhabits the marz of Yerevan or the nearby areas. There are even legit subdivisions outside of the city. There is definitely a different culture in the capital and the modest society that we have become acquainted with is not apparent at all. Fashion in the capital is…interesting. They model western style but with stronger hints of the 80s thrown together with more gaudy attire and bling bling accessories. At least that is what teenage girls look like, and there is no discrimination on bare shoulders and ridiculously short shorts. Basically, anything goes in the capital. This was not entirely shocking to us as we have had hints of this fashion in the villages from our younger host sisters, or Armenians we have encountered who live or often travel to Yerevan but it was still bizarre to see flocks of these individuals walking the streets. Mostly I have encountered village working attire (obviously) and the very professional business attire our teachers and PC admins wear which seems very typical of the older population. Still, it was interesting.
Our “field trip” started out with a trip to the Peace Corps office in Yerevan which we had yet to see. It is a very nice, quaint office with an incredible library with loads of resources for our service and also novels that we are free to take whenever. Thank heavens! It was all ready proving to be a very hot day in Yerevan when we arrived at 10am and quickly after perusing the PC office and library we were shuttled into our un air conditioned marshutnis to be taken to our museum of choice. I had chosen to go to the Genocide memorial and museum which is on the outskirts of the city on a place which literally translates as the “mountain of swallows”. It was very fortunate for us to be going with some of our LCSTs so that as Americans we didn’t appear to be asses. They bought us white carnations and we walked the long route to show our understanding and recognition of the genocide. This also provided us with spectacular views of Mount Ararat and little Mount Ararat; however, the pictures do not do the magnificent mountain justice.


When arriving at the top of the memorial there was Armenian opera playing; a culturally satisfying addition to the solemn experience. The memorial is very simple and I think pays a respectful tribute to the lives lost during the atrocities in the early 1900s. The actual memorial is below ground (as is the museum) and has an eternal flame symbolizing Armenia’s strength and enduring fire to survive and is where we placed our carnations.








We then headed into the museum. The museum demonstrates the harshness of the massacres and gives a very good history of the situation leading up to the genocide. I was thoroughly impressed by the artifacts preserved and displayed but our time was cut short in the museum by the need to get back to the center of Yerevan to meet up with the rest of the PST group.
We were dropped off at Republic Square, a very soviet influenced square, that is beautiful. This is a main tourist attraction so there are many western style restaurants with prices jacked up to regular western prices. As I am still enjoying the food being prepared for me in Armenia very much I had brought my lunch and sat down on a park bench with some others to devour our lunches before heading out to explore, in close proximity, the city.






I was adventuring with two other trainees as we loosely looked for an electronics store where Chad bought a knock off ipod with the excellent addition of an FM radio. He now has told me that it doesn’t work at all to transfer his music files onto. I guess we live and learn. Ha. We continued moseying around, saw a Gaucho Restaurant


and across the street I noticed an old building with a beautifully sculpted exterior and then saw that inside it looked as if an open market was taking place. We decided to run across the street, not the smartest idea, and after dodging death we arrived at the front opening. And what a sight to behold! First was a dried fruit stand. It was simply incredible. With our limited hajaren we began talking to the vendor and asking about the products, commenting and they became intrigued by us. They started offering all sorts of samples to us, which of course I openly took to try. Dried apricot balls mixed with nuts, dried tomatoes that were sweet and then mixed with herbs and salty nuts, dried plums, dried peaches and fruit leather all with the option being mixed with nuts. They were scrumptious. And everything was beautifully presented.


Next up was a vegetable stand, while not as exciting as the dried fruit stand it was also beautifully presented with the ripest vegetables for sale and all with a garnish of sort for increased attractiveness. Next door to it was a fruit stand, same deal, beautiful, delicious and lots of samples coming our way. Most intriguing to me here were the green spiky balls which I inquired about and thankfully there was a man there who knew the English word for what was contained inside, “hazelnut”. Fresh and delicious.



Next up was my favorite stand. It should also be said that there were seriously only these four types of stands in this market. So lots of stands, but the variety was limited to these four. I did not have a problem with this though. So, next up, a spice vendor along with herbs and grains etc. This was simply amazing. I could have stood there and gawked at the variety and presentation for a long time. Each spice was in a large bowl about a foot in diameter and most had a small cup, like a shot glass, on top used for extracting the desired amount from the larger portion.




The spices and such were labeled and also had a number of other sauces and combos between the large bowls. I became enamored with this vendor and started chatting about the various spices. As I jabbered away in hajaren I heard from behind me Chad say, “Margaux, this man is holding my hand and taking me somewhere.” Sure enough, an old Armenian man had grasped Chad and was leading him to some unknown location. I laughed and replied, “oh, you will be fine” and turned back around to continue talking with my spice man. A few minutes passed and I realized I was the sole American around, I asked where my friends were and my new friend ushered me away from the main market and to a corner. Marisa popped out of the corner and laughingly welcomed me into the broom closet where she and Chad had been taken and were being offered shots. Mind you it was approximately 2pm now. Old Armenian man with his homemade alcohol in a tiny closet? Of course I jumped at this opportunity. Menu options? Apricot vodka and cognac. I would estimate from my soon to be buzz and what we had heard about homemade distilling that these were running at about 70-80% alcohol. Keep in mind that I have drank no hard alcohol since leaving America, and beer consumption has been tallied at a shocking 10 beers total in country. And that I thankfully attribute to world cup watching activities. Needless to say, there was no way I was walking out of there in the same mental capacity that I entered the broom closet. Yippee! Haha. Anywho, so I get in there, grab the vodka shot that was offered to me and after the customary long Armenian toast we consumed. Wow! It was soooo delicious.
After no thought whatsoever I asked how much a bottle was, and with a reasonable reply I decided that since I have barely spent any money in country so far I might as well purchase from this gem of a character to remember the experience. He became overly excited about my interest in his vodka and broke out a new bottle of cognac to celebrate with us. This was the goods, the 25 year aged cognac. And another toast for his American friends! Tasted like 151, from what I can remember at least, but was pretty tasty. He was attempting to have us drink more, which I abated by encouraging that I get my bottle of vodka so we could be on our way. He asked me if I wanted a large or small bottle. “um, a small one.” Of course I assumed that this would be a prepackaged bottle. My oh my were my assumptions wrong. He grabbed off his shelf an empty water bottle, placed a funnel in it and proceeded to pour from the large 5 gallon glass jug vodka to fill my bottle. We of course found this hilariously amazing and tried to capture the essence of the situation on film. Meh, we didn’t succeed entirely. However, he was excited by the camera and wanted to take more photos with me, which of course he thought was an excuse for a kiss and another toast, all in the spirit of Armenian hospitality. So I obliged him, minus this kiss part. He snuck one on the cheek. We high tailed it out of there with my water bottle of vodka (I felt 19 again) and decided that was the best experience in Armenia to date.

pouring shots, note the large glass bottles below his arm.

with the funnel pouring my bottle of vodka


oh, he insisted that we take the last drink in this linked-arm fashion. Thank you college for prepping me for this.
At 2:30 we were planning on meeting one of our teachers who was going to escort us to the outside arts and crafts market. With our adventure in the other market we missed departure time but luckily found another teacher to show us the way over there. At first it was not an arts and craft fair but rather a market of used goods. Any and all kinds of used goods. It was wild. These old men, and some women, sat in the drained fountains of a park with tables set up with their goods for sale. 100 varieties of tv remote controls on one card table; used saws and blades; an entire blanket littered with drill bits; another filled with washers, screws and drivers; motors of all shapes and sizes; kitchen goods; Turkish espresso pots, serving platters and a variety of serving utensils; and cameras and accessories from all eras.






And then all of a sudden it did turn into a legit craft fair with exquisite hand embroidered table cloths and hangings; wood carvings of everything; jewelry: Armenian and hokey and then some fantastic vintage; vegetable carvings; vintage maps; books and magazines an assortment of clothes and lastly a booth selling dominatrix-looking dog collars and leashes. At all of these booths pomegranates carved, or embroidered or welded are not lacking. Here they are obsessed with them. I cant remember exactly why but think that it is something having to do with breaking into four equal parts and resembling the cross (Christianity). Needless to say this market was not short of impressive craftsmanship, very sweet Armenians who wanted to offer you refreshments in the hothot heat as incentive to buy their goods and general awesomeness. I of course bought some jewelry to restart my collection of round the world jewelry. Maybe these will not be combustible?




The sweltering heat was exhausting but with 45 minutes left till our marshutnis departure back to our villages I grabbed two other trainees and we went looking for the church we had seen towering above the other surrounding buildings of the square. We found it through an amusement park/carnival and were shocked by how massive it was.


We entered through a side door after climbing up a dirt path (probably not the advisable entrance) and were pleasantly surprised by the cool temperature inside, the organ being played and the general grandioseness of the church. The chandelier was also very impressive.



We exited through the entrance and then were given the privilege of the spectacular view of the church, as I am sure it was intended to first be seen.



postcard material?


And then we saw Queen Burger.

Twas a great day in Yerevan!

Side note that I don’t think I have included yet. A few weeks ago when spelling out my name in hajaren Gor was shocked and screeched in his prepubescent voice. He pronounced my name and asked if it was actually my last name. Yes, of course Granat is my last name. Well, in Hajaren it apparently means grenade. Boom.

slow slow internet

This internet even at an internet cafe is not working very successfully for uploading pictures so I am looking into another way to share those with everyone and will get more up when I have the time. sorry!

Tuesday June 22, 2010

Any sickness that was trying to take over me has subsided thanks to my zinc tabs and I am back on track! I have been able to recruit some others to run with me from my village and nearby Karashamb. We meet at 7 and it has been gorgeous in the morning. It is much cooler in the morning making my sweating at a somewhat controllable level and of course the country side is absolutely gorgeous. This week it has been raining (and even hailing!) in the evening so everything looks lush and smells fresh in the morning. This also adds the fun of dodging puddles, trying to decipher between actual mud and cow piles (generally unsuccessfully), and hoping the vehicles that pass dangerously close slow down so they don’t spray water all over us. If any of you have Google earthed my location we usually run out of Teghenik and turn right running toward Karashamb, climb the gorge past Karashamb for a lovely view and then head back down running past the road to Teghenik and on to Arzakan and then back to Teghenik. This can alter drastically though depending on the runners/ walkers/ gossipers in tow.
This week was time for every family to cut their exceedingly tall grass and pile it high in haystacks. From the top of our village you can look out and see the fields of many of the homes and it looks surreal. The only thing I can relate it to in my life are images from puzzles of crops being harvested circa 1850. Just another delight of the simple subsistence farming lifestyle that most of my village and the surrounding areas embody that I get to soak in. My host family, being of higher class in the village did not cut their own grass but hired an adorable elderly woman to come scythe the land. Often when I am outside on the porch doing my language homework before lunch she is called in for the afternoon coffee (a staple in their diet) and I get to chat with her.
Thanks to the orchard being cleared though, we were able to get to the fruit trees much easier and Saturday evening we picked from the cherry tree. It was amazing climbing the tree into the branches and being surrounded by an abundance of cherries all ripe for the picking and delicious when popped directly into your mouth. It has been nice to relax by going into the orchard, picking a handful and staring out across the valley while eating these delectable cherries.

Our Community Project of weeding at the church went quite well. We had lots of local children show up to help us and after three hours of work, and very sore fingers we called it a day. There is still a lot of work to be done but we are continuing to work about three times a week to clear the entire courtyard masonry of any weeds. I have only cut three fingers with my knife so far. Go me!
Sunday I had quite the experience with my family. I gathered that my family was going to see Garnik, the brother who left for the army only three days prior, and welcomed me to come along. I thought this would be a nice treat to do something different and see some of the countryside so I went through proper PC protocol for a trip out of our village and we were on our way. Well, we were on our way only an hour after they had originally told me we would be leaving. Problem? Ch’ka. In Armenian. The first two hours we visited many stores, markets, and a gas station as we ran errands. We made it into Yeghvard and I was shown where my family lives during the school year, and where my host dad works. I had my trusty guide book with me (Thanks Kathy!!) and had read that the church here was a notable one, built in 1301 so I asked where it was. My family obliged to take me there which I was thrilled about and my host mom even bought me candles to light.

Armenians find it next to impossible to enter a church, no matter how short of a time they are there, and not light the 2 candles and place them in either sand, or sand covered with water. They create a beautiful flickering in the dark and dank churches built centuries ago.
We then drove in a few circles around the town, and found a house where a red-headed man got in the car. Excitement was building in me as I prepared to have another American with me who I would be able to carry a conversation with. However, this man proved to be of the .00001% of Armenians that are red-headed. Grrrr. Besides having phenomenal physical attributes as an Armenian, he also was apparently very important in the military world. Once we arrived at the military barracks a lean across the driver’s seat and a cheery Barev (Hello!) we were ushered past the civilian parking lot where all the other families were unloading. Once we parked and grabbed our picnic supplies we jumped the line of families waiting at the second gate and walked straight toward the barracks. He bounced inside while we waited outside (keep in mind I have no idea what is going on at all) and then he came back welcoming us into a private office. Literally no other families/civilians were inside this building but was littered with boys and men ranging from approximately 16-25 doing various activities. Garnik came and met us there and we proceeded to have a family reunion for two hours in these barracks. This involved Garnik getting to use a cell phone for the first time in three days and was on the phone a lot and getting numbers so he would be able to contact people once we left. Interesting indeed.


After that treat of probably being one of very few Americans who have been inside those barracks my family took me to the main attraction of Ejmiatsin, the spiritual center for Armenian’s since the 4th Century. The large church that stands now was rebuilt in the 480s.

The church is surrounded by beautiful gardens with many Khachkars (literally ‘stone cross’) from all over Armenia. The stone detail on the outside and the frescoes inside were quite breathtaking.



There was some sort of procession taking place, and of course we lit more candles. In typical Margaux-form as I was placing my second candle it tilted over and fell into the water extinguishing the flame. Thankfully my host mother was right there to grab it up and safely secure my candles so that I wouldn’t be such a shame. Ha. Another custom that needs to be observed in all churches here is exiting backwards through the door so as not to turn your back on god. Being respectful of the culture I almost tripped while exiting, again my host mother put her arm out to support and save me from being shameful. Or, some higher being is getting back at me for all those years of walking face forward through doorways!



Oh, the views of Mt. Ararat were quite spectacular from Ejmiatsin but it was still somewhat overcast so no photos as of yet are worthy of posting.
I did laundry for the first time today in country. It was an experience hand washing a considerable amount of laundry and had me exhausted when I was finished hanging all of it up. My mom and Gor were impressed with my skills and joked that I would be able to find an Armenian husband after all. My response: “Che Che Che!!!”
Language is progressing rapidly as we have now learned many of the tenses and practically all the small talk one could ever want to know in a foreign language. Next week is our mock language test; hopefully it will be a good indicator of how well we are doing so far. We head to Yerevan on Saturday as a large group of PSTs and will get to roam through the museums which I am looking forward to, especially the Art Gallery and the Genocide Museum. I also hope that we will be able to roam around on our own for awhile to explore the city, but we shall see. Hope all is well with everyone. Cheers!

Party Week in Armenia

Friday June 18, 2010

I just returned home from watching the USA team tie with Slovenia in their second world cup match. Go USA! So despite not having internet and living in a remote village I am not all that cut off from society. I can’t believe I have been gone for 3 weeks all ready. It has gone by so quickly, but at the same time, meeting in DC seems like 3 years ago all ready with the language, culture and friendships that I have acquired.
The last week has been interesting and a bit more on the party side at my house. My oldest host brother, Garnek, left for the Armenia Army yesterday and we had quite a few farewell events for him. Last Saturday we had a huge 60 person sit down dinner at our house with an abundance of food and beverages (read: vodka). It was also not short of Armenian men who wanted to know if I was married or not. Thank heavens I could understand this and knew how to say no, and that I was not looking to get married either. No Armenian proposals yet. Whew! The night was very fun but since my Armenian is so limited still I of course played with the younger crowd outside as they raced around and then helped in the kitchen to clean up before begging my host mom at midnight if I could go to sleep since the party was showing no signs of dying down anytime soon. She has gotten used to the fact that I go to bed early and shooed me off to bed.


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Sunday I awoke and met up with some volunteers in Karashamb for a run. I had high hopes of laundry and planned to help clean up the house. Little did I know we were having another large party for lunch. This one was with only 25ish guests at the table. We BBQ’d, my host dad weighed me on the livestock scale and thankfully I have no idea what the kilogram conversion is, and the men drank more and I took another nap. Who would ever have thought I would be so exhausted from partying? Well, factor in speaking in a different language/ trying to comprehend the language during all of this and the exhaustion adds up quickly.






From this partying I think the most important cultural aspect I learned was that once the men get drunk they really cant aim while going to the restroom. This makes for a rather unpleasant time for the females. One of the volunteers in my village has deemed the action: the hovercraft. At least my quads are getting stronger.
Tuesday our EE cohort went to Yerevan to meet with 3 NGOs. Two of them were awesome and we all became very motivated and revved up for our sites and assignments but don’t find out those details for about 2 weeks. The first NGO is SunChild started by the president of the large cell company, VivaCell, here and basically is an environmental group for teenage kids to get them to pledge a life that is in harmony with nature and also extend their Armenian culture. They are really big in media presentation and have been hugely successful in various regions outside of Yerevan. There is even a branch in Southern CA where a large population of western Armenians live to encourage their connection with nature and their Armenian culture. The other awesome NGO is a German company ZTG that has been involved with many of the Armenian NGOs supplying funds but also having a huge impact on water resource and conservation education in the country. They had lots of information, and swagger for us which clearly got us excited. Also, as we drove into Yerevan we got to see Mount Ararat for the first time! It was a bit overcast though so hopefully a better view of it will come soon and then some decent photos.

Wednesday my middle host brother, Garen, came home to wish the oldest brother a farewell into the army. This didn’t make entire sense to me because he is currently in the army and it seems they will be serving quite close to each other if not at the same site. Hmmm. Anything I don’t understand I contribute to my lack of language, NOT to my ever improving charade-playing. It was also my tatik’s birthday, so of course I came home from class to 20 people in my living room eating delicious food. And then more delicious food at night but with a manageable crowd of about 12. It was nice to meet the last brother though and we got a family photo!

After dinner there was a family event of shaving Garnek’s head. Apparently this has to be done before they show up for duty and my host dad was getting quite angry at Garnek as he joked around during it. My pictures can’t even begin to convey the hilarity of the situation but I have made some available for your viewing pleasure.
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Thursday afternoon our EE cohort began our laborious community project. After meeting with the mayor last weekend and discussing options for this brief project we decided that a “Church Beautification” would be something nice for our group to leave the village with. The church in Teghenik is quite new and a pretty popular spot for people to either drop in, congregate around, or get water as it is right off the main road. Between the stonework though there are lots of weeds shooting up so we have decided to weed the entire grounds. It went fairly well except for the grounds keeper who insisted on helping us but instead of actually pulling up the roots he just scraped the tops off with his shovel. We tried to convey to him the correct way but he would have none of it. So our project will undoubtedly be less sustainable then we had originally hoped for. Oh well, it will look nice for awhile! Saturday is our big event where we have invited members of the community to come work with us as we weed away and beautify the church. We have solidified about 8 school children to join us in exchange for a soccer match but who knows how many others will show up.
This exchange of game for labor took place Wednesday afternoon and was quite interesting. The soccer field we had heard about was a trek up the mountain at the top of the village and then of course was more of a weed patch than what you would imagine a field to look like. However, we volunteers did not let that deter our futbol skills. We jumped over the 3 ft tall grass, and slid into the stinging nettle only to get back up again and dominate these small children. We may have taken the game a bit too seriously which I blame on our recent obsession with the world cup. Alas, it was a very fun time for all of us and the game only stopped when it started raining. Of course we had to hike back home from the field in the rain, probably a contributor to my sore throat this week.
My youngest host brother got in a mound of trouble today for, I think, driving the car last night up the village road and hitting something of some other villager’s. It was difficult to detect the details through the Armenian screaming. However, he was back to his smiling trickster self tonight at dinner as we battled to see who could come up with the grossest food combo with what was left on our plate. He succeeded as he rolled everything into the lavash and then poured the remainder of his beer into it. Yes, he is 14 and was sharing the beer with us. I laughed at him and calmly drank the remainder of my beer while he awkwardly ate his questionably edible monstrosity. He is quite entertaining with his antics and voice that cracks often as he goes through puberty. All is well on the Armenian front!