I feel like I�ve been neglecting all of you and want to start out by apologizing to everyone that have been waiting for me to log something for the last couple of weeks. For those of you that were not waiting for me to apologize, I apologize for unnecessarily apologizing to you and you can disregard the above. Okay, now that I�ve got that out of the way, let�s move on.
The last couple of weeks have been quite busy. I don�t even know where to start, so I�ll just post a few of my quick notes that I write down as things happen so you can get an idea as to what I�ve been up to.
July 4th: Take mini-van to Yerevan. Meet Raffi and friends and Arsineh�s and her interns at Chinese restaurant for dinner and a celebration of our independence from America.
July 5th: Met up with Raffi to go look at a house my cousin is selling. With Raffi went to visit Aram Hajian and had lunch at his office.
July 7th (Vartavar): Brunch with Raffi, Zabel, Lena and Jack at Artbridge. Had to avoid Pagan demon children and their buckets of water. Kept dry by waiting for them to attack an innocent passerby and after doing so, quickly passed as they were refilling. Listened to Zabel�s horror story of how she was attacked by said demons on her way to brunch. Went to Lena�s house to watch and make copy of video of our big Artsakh adventure that Jack shot. Very entertaining and reminded me of the old Bob Hope road-trip movies, including the music. Raffi, Zabel and I excused ourselves and went to their house to watch tennis separate from Lena and Jack in fear of violent out lashes against us from the fanatical Aussies. During the game we were in phone contact. Lena let me in on a secret that when Hewitt puts his fist up in the air and says �COME ON!!!� then he really starts to play. When he did this, Lena called us to tell us that it had happened but the strange thing was that he started to loose. So next call we got, Raffi asked her if he does that �COME ON!!!� thing more than once, because it didn�t seem to be working. After the game, watched a couple of American sit-coms. I realized that I was not missing much of anything. Went home in the dark and didn�t encounter any water on the way.
July 9th: Met Shooshig�s fellow students in front of the university dorms to take them on a tour of Artsakh. Very nice group and their leader Digin M, I knew from the states. First stop was Noravank, followed by a number of sites on the way to Shushi. Stayed at the Shushi hotel.
July 10th: After breakfast, walked to the church and there ran into one of my favorite Der Hyer�s who lead us in a prayer for Shooshig. Digin M told me that she was very happy that we started the day with a prayer. Drove to Ganzasar and enjoyed a smooth ride on part of the new North/South road. I can�t wait for Martuni to one day have a nice road like that. Back to Stepanagert for a pizza lunch. Ran into Arsineh and the interns and invited them to join us at the disco tonight. Back to the hotel for dinner. Those that were interested joined us at the disco. A few of Arsineh�s interns came by the disco and invited us to the house they were renting. We dove up and hung out a bit and planned the following day we would spend together as one big group. Back to the hotel.
July 11th: Drive to Martuni via Ningi. Very beautiful and still very green. Arrived at my house and while we were waiting for Arsineh and her interns to show up, our bus was taken to a local mechanic for repairs on the front leaf-springs which had broken on our bad road. Fortunately, my neighbor had replacement springs, so it only cost 4,000 dram (about $8) for the repairs. Arsineh and interns showed up and we sent their van off to get a Ram, which we sacrificed. While dinner was being prepared, we went touring. Avo (Monte Melkonian) spring for a light lunch of bread and cheese. Amaras Vank, the place that the first Armenian school was formed and Gregory the Illuminator�s grandson�s grave is. Visit to Avo�s statue in the center of Martuni. Back to my place for a feast at my neighbor�s house (the contactor). Not that money should be important, but for those of you looking for a deal, it cost a total of $150 for our feast that fed 40+ people. Ate, drank, danced, listened to one of Arsineh�s interns sing Gomidas, one of Digin M�s students (Areni) recite, another of Arsineh�s male interns help clear the table and wash dishes to the disapproval of the local women, who later told us that if only their men were that helpful, life would be much better. They added that Adam could get married if he wanted and I think they were considering their daughter Anoush as a possible candidate. Arsineh�s group headed back to Stepanagert and Shooshig�s group occupied every single sleeping space in my house with the overflow sleeping at my neighbor�s house.
July 12th: Sent off Shooshig�s group to Yerevan at 7:30 AM. Light house cleaning (will finish later with the real dirt). Slept for a couple of hours. Checked e-mail. Wrote this log.
The last couple of weeks have been quite busy. I don�t even know where to start, so I�ll just post a few of my quick notes that I write down as things happen so you can get an idea as to what I�ve been up to.
July 4th: Take mini-van to Yerevan. Meet Raffi and friends and Arsineh�s and her interns at Chinese restaurant for dinner and a celebration of our independence from America.
July 5th: Met up with Raffi to go look at a house my cousin is selling. With Raffi went to visit Aram Hajian and had lunch at his office.
July 7th (Vartavar): Brunch with Raffi, Zabel, Lena and Jack at Artbridge. Had to avoid Pagan demon children and their buckets of water. Kept dry by waiting for them to attack an innocent passerby and after doing so, quickly passed as they were refilling. Listened to Zabel�s horror story of how she was attacked by said demons on her way to brunch. Went to Lena�s house to watch and make copy of video of our big Artsakh adventure that Jack shot. Very entertaining and reminded me of the old Bob Hope road-trip movies, including the music. Raffi, Zabel and I excused ourselves and went to their house to watch tennis separate from Lena and Jack in fear of violent out lashes against us from the fanatical Aussies. During the game we were in phone contact. Lena let me in on a secret that when Hewitt puts his fist up in the air and says �COME ON!!!� then he really starts to play. When he did this, Lena called us to tell us that it had happened but the strange thing was that he started to loose. So next call we got, Raffi asked her if he does that �COME ON!!!� thing more than once, because it didn�t seem to be working. After the game, watched a couple of American sit-coms. I realized that I was not missing much of anything. Went home in the dark and didn�t encounter any water on the way.
July 9th: Met Shooshig�s fellow students in front of the university dorms to take them on a tour of Artsakh. Very nice group and their leader Digin M, I knew from the states. First stop was Noravank, followed by a number of sites on the way to Shushi. Stayed at the Shushi hotel.
July 10th: After breakfast, walked to the church and there ran into one of my favorite Der Hyer�s who lead us in a prayer for Shooshig. Digin M told me that she was very happy that we started the day with a prayer. Drove to Ganzasar and enjoyed a smooth ride on part of the new North/South road. I can�t wait for Martuni to one day have a nice road like that. Back to Stepanagert for a pizza lunch. Ran into Arsineh and the interns and invited them to join us at the disco tonight. Back to the hotel for dinner. Those that were interested joined us at the disco. A few of Arsineh�s interns came by the disco and invited us to the house they were renting. We dove up and hung out a bit and planned the following day we would spend together as one big group. Back to the hotel.
July 11th: Drive to Martuni via Ningi. Very beautiful and still very green. Arrived at my house and while we were waiting for Arsineh and her interns to show up, our bus was taken to a local mechanic for repairs on the front leaf-springs which had broken on our bad road. Fortunately, my neighbor had replacement springs, so it only cost 4,000 dram (about $8) for the repairs. Arsineh and interns showed up and we sent their van off to get a Ram, which we sacrificed. While dinner was being prepared, we went touring. Avo (Monte Melkonian) spring for a light lunch of bread and cheese. Amaras Vank, the place that the first Armenian school was formed and Gregory the Illuminator�s grandson�s grave is. Visit to Avo�s statue in the center of Martuni. Back to my place for a feast at my neighbor�s house (the contactor). Not that money should be important, but for those of you looking for a deal, it cost a total of $150 for our feast that fed 40+ people. Ate, drank, danced, listened to one of Arsineh�s interns sing Gomidas, one of Digin M�s students (Areni) recite, another of Arsineh�s male interns help clear the table and wash dishes to the disapproval of the local women, who later told us that if only their men were that helpful, life would be much better. They added that Adam could get married if he wanted and I think they were considering their daughter Anoush as a possible candidate. Arsineh�s group headed back to Stepanagert and Shooshig�s group occupied every single sleeping space in my house with the overflow sleeping at my neighbor�s house.
July 12th: Sent off Shooshig�s group to Yerevan at 7:30 AM. Light house cleaning (will finish later with the real dirt). Slept for a couple of hours. Checked e-mail. Wrote this log.
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