Please & Շնորհակալություն

             Giving Thanks – After almost three months of living in Armenia, I have a lot to be thankful for. First, I want to thank my parents, Ara & Shoghig, for all the support they’ve provided me. Thank you Loreeg, for continuing to be the best sister ever – though I presume you should be thanking me for leaving clothes behind in my closet which I’m sure are now on your floor. And Aram, for sending me ridiculous memes (I hope we’ll end up at UVA next year!) Also, I miss my parrot more than anything in the world. 

                This year we celebrated Thanksgiving at one of our fellow volunteer’s apartments. She was generous enough to host a majority of the American-Armenian BR community and pretty much threw the best home-away-from-home Thanksgiving party. I brought my friend Simon (Syria) along to experience his first Thanksgiving. I enjoyed all the skeptical looks he gave to new and strange foods. 

Thanksgiving 2012

The last two weeks have been very challenging for me emotionally.  I knew it was coming, but I didn’t think it would be this hard. Seto, the closest friend I made through Birthright Armenia finished his service and flew back to Syria. We became friends on day one, when he walked into the office and said “parev, yes gamavor em” assuming I was a staff member of BR. To his surprise, I answered “yes al gamavor em”.  The first evening after the orientation, we took the bus back together, realizing that we live pretty close to each other. Just a 15 minute walk over the Kievyan Gamoo—Most. ..

Seto was my Armenian language teacher (Western) and fellow comedian. We wrote two songs together, including the infamous Marshrutka song and Yerevani Rabizneri. He skyped with my grandparents, discovered that my mother’s mother was indeed born in Kesab, Syria. We were pretty much inseparable for the two and a half months he was here. Five of us accompanied him to the airport, and I had been dreading the last goodbye (not forever, but for a while).  Seto, I don’t think anyone can forget all the craziness we experienced including – singing in the marshrutka, speaking hayastanci without laughing, singing the marshrutka song in Calumet, the trips to Artsakh and Gyumri, and of course the goodbye party. Simon is also leaving Armenia in less than a week; Yerevan won’t be the same without my Syrian buddies!

Damascus can't compare to this!

On a more positive note, I am moving into an apartment! Bye bye Halabyan, hello Demirchyan! I hear that most of the long term volunteers end up in an apartment at some point or another. It is located very close to Gentron, which will cut travel time in half. I will be sharing a flat with a volunteer from Germany. Malte looks like your typical German – blond with blue eyes.  I introduced him to his first lahmajoon at Mer Taghe. The waiter who was serving us was of course confused by the German spoken between us, and then the Armenian I spoke with him. He asked “Is he your brother? You look similar.” After I said no (obviously, I have dark hair and dark skin), he said “Oh, you’re married.” Again, no. Malte didn’t understand this short conversation and after I explained it we laughed for several minutes. The three languages I speak have been put into a blender that doesn’t stop…Today I woke up thinking in German, I greeted the lady at the supermarket in Armenian blended with English (it was 7:30 AM), and worked with the kiddies at school in soviet English. 

Of my three volunteer placements, I enjoy working with my German students the most. They are very bright and help me with Armenian, although I refuse to learn Eastern ;-). Our latest project was to create a menu for a restaurant, using their Partizip II skills to describe the different kinds of food they are advertising. 

I bought a furry Russian hat over the weekend. The lady selling it didn’t have many teeth but was really funny and gave me a Soviet era pin to put on the hat. I also visited the crazy shooga by the stadium. There was so much Engrish (foreigner English) to be found, but I got yelled at for taking a picture…again. 

Current/Future projects: children’s acrobatic show with Evelina, Komitas piano & voice duet with Julieta, decorating the new apartment, and more trolling around Yerevan.