May 31, 2012

I was walking to school, which is only a 3-4 minute walk, but my brother happened to be driving out so he drove me to the front of school where we were all meeting, I come out and all my peers say “whoa, little miss princess rolling up in a Benz” haha we have a Mercedes tehehe J Now I’m picked on for being the “princess.” The End.

May 30, 2012

My parents own a market (“hanoot”) down the street and our class had a homework assignment to find market items and ask how much they are so I brought all my peers to the market and my mom was more than happy to help us. She kissed me goodbye when we were done and ONLY me so I felt super special ^^

My new friends and I started to take 30 minute walks in the morning just to get some fresh air and some English in our systems haha it gets stressful being silent and unable to have conversations for a whole day! The first morning we went to the “left” of town and saw just endless fields of green and lots of cow poop on the streets. The next morning we went to the “right” of town and found this graveyard with an old grandpa guarding it. He came up to us and asked if we’re the Americans, we said yes, he looked at me and said “chae Americatsi” meaning I’m not American, so I said “yes Koreatsi-em” à “I am Korean” and he looked so much more satisfied HAHA then he kept saying I was Buddhist, but I assured him I was Christian and even gestured a cross… he was insisting I was Buddhist even after all my words and gestures… apparently Asians have to be Buddhist? HAHA it’s cool~!

We get a lot of “what-the-heck-are-these-girls-doing” looks when we take our walks cause Armenians don’t really “exercise” or “take walks,” but these walks have really helped us bond and get our morning “health” walks in before our long language classes so we have decided to make them a daily thing J

This is what I see five minutes from my house! BEAUTY. pure beauty.

May 29, 2012

I WAS WRONG. We don’t have a dog, a cat, and a rabbit… we have a dog, a cat, about TEN rabbits including two GIGANTIC mama & papa rabbits, two grown pigs, two piglets, two doves, and a bunch of chickens/hens. SUPER AWESOME! (*cough* Dasom be jealous! *cough*) I even got to get our morning eggs from the hens right from the nests (do you call them nest? I’m not sure haha)!

Trevor and the kid rabbits. Big papa rabbit on bottom left (HE'S HUGE). baby piglets on top right. and Gucci on bottom right!  love that dog. I miss my Romeo! 

                                  

I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M LEARNING ANOTHER LANGUAGE. It’s been fun but frustrating feeling like I can’t speak with my family or have deep conversations with my sister. Gestures and one-word answers just don’t get you far! I must say dinners have been quiet… But this is me complaining when I have NO RIGHT to whine! I really have the best of situations and OF COURSE language is going to be tough! Who was I kidding?! Like my new mom keeps telling me, “one month, you will be good.” I want to believe her! I just can’t wait to get there…

Papa told me today he wants me to eat a lot so I can tell my real papa back home that I am being well-fed haha isn’t that the sweetest?! He came back home later with a handful of yellow and purple flowers for me… took out a knife from his pocket, cut the bottom of the bouquet, and put them in a glass of water so I could put them in my room. I really feel like the princess J He went to the mountains with my uncle and aunt to pick these special herbs and greens for food and tea and said he thought of me when he saw the flowers. Papa is hardly at home cause he’s always at work, but when I see him every morning before I wash-up he says “Balee-louise” and “Vonts-aek?”… “Good Morning! How are you/sleep well?” Our conversations have been short, but he tries so hard to have conversations, jokes with me, and stuffs me up with lots of food!

Flowers on my drawers from my papa :) 

My sister and I did our nails together while listening to Rihanna and Eminem on my laptop today haha apparently Armenians are really into Eminem and Tupac haha. Anyways, as I was doing her nails, I realized all her fingers were callused and her hands worn… she is only 22 and the youngest of 3 and yet has to do all the household chores… culture shock?!? I think YES. The girls in an Armenian family are responsible for most or all household chores: cooking, cleaning, laundry, sewing, serving, guests, etc etc. The boys of the family work outside but when they’re home they have no responsibilities. If they need their socks from their room they’ll ask the girl to go get them. Things like that are somewhat similar to the American culture where little siblings are bossed around to do things by older siblings, but it is so much more intense here and in a very different perspective.

First day in my village. My mama and sister took me to this small church thing on top of the mountain. 

I still can’t believe I’m here! And I still can’t believe I can shower tomorrow morning! Who knew I would be so lucky as to shower whenever I want?! I even brought dry shampoo thinking I would be in desperate need of my hair looking somewhat decent haha but like I said… this is an easy transition. My situation won’t nearly be as nice after my training haha