My new hobby is village popping. I show up in a village that's never been visited by anyone from outside of Armenia, start talking to people, play with the kids, tell them I'm from America, show them pictures of New York on my cell phone, practice my Armenian, get invited to spend the night, get introduced to the daughters, marry, settle down, have a flock of kids in a 250-person town in the middle of the Caucasus, become a patriarch of the town, die and get buried in the local cemetery while everyone gets drunk at my funeral.
Well, the first half of that, anyway. Today I stopped by a little village on the outskirts of my small town that had a fast-moving cement irrigation ditch in it that the kids liked to jump into. No one has bathing suits, so the boys just strip down to their skivvies. Whenever a woman walks by, they hide behind the bridge. Here's a picture of my site-mate Scott taking the plunge.
And here's one of my host-dad doing some beekeeping
Your blog is awesome. I look forward to following your exploits.
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ReplyDeleteHi Sam,
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog VERY randomly on the internet and am in love with this post. You could not have described Armenia any better!
I am an Armenian-Lebanese student studying in California, but am looking into serving in the Peace Corps in Armenia.
It is so interesting to read about an American's perspective on life in Armenia. I have been there a few times myself and love the country. I hope you're getting used to it! btw your language skills for such a hard language are amazing! Abris!
Sincerely
Nanor