February 14, 2013: Valentine’s Day “սուրբ վալէնտինի օր”

Let me tell you, Valentine’s isn’t really a big deal here. I went to school and everyone said “barev” like it was a normal day, no hearts, no red or pink, no candy grams or secret Valentine’s, and not a single flower or teddy bear in sight! How strange! Definitely made me realize I wasn’t in America. Again, culture shock! It felt kind of good in a weird way, but it was also kind of sad … in a sad way, hah.

The night before I stayed up til 2am making heart antenna headbands for myself and my host brother and sister because I knew this holiday just wasn’t something Armenian’s really celebrated and I wanted to make it special for them in some way.

The next morning we took a few pictures and they went off to school. We decided to make a little romantic dinner for our family later that day, but by the time I came back from school and realized how “ordinary” the day was, I lost my “mmph” and just wanted to watch a lovey-dovey movie and curl up in my bed with my electric blanket. A good cry can never hurt, right?!

But then I get a call from my good friend Meghan and she tells me to make the most of it, know that I am loved, and to GO GET A BUNNY (which I’ve been wanting) haha. Great advice, no?

So I did those exact things…

I made the most of it à we wore our heart antenna headbands, cut-out a billion hearts, strung hearts from the ceiling, brought all our candles out to the table, bought chocolates, cut fruit, and brought out the wine yeayuhhh.  

We drank, we ate, we had a romantic family Valentine’s Day evening, and that was that! I was grateful and so was my host family. They’ve never done anything like it before… I was meant to share this day with them … it’s something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. Special things really don’t come that often in their village lives from beyond Armenia, so even this simple heart-decorated table and candle-lit atmosphere we had created was something real unique for them, when for me it was something I’ve done a million times before. I was selfish and didn’t realize this day had nothing to do with me and was more about integrating with my community and loving on my host family.

And what about the bunny you ask?

I slightly mentioned it to one of my English club classes the day before and one of my students said he would bring me one next week. YEEE! What a lucky girl I am and what a special Valentine’s Day it turned out to be.

This is the kind of bunny he promised me… I didn’t believe it cause all the bunnies I’ve seen in Armenia all looked the same, black or gray with long ears and not small, but BIG. We shall see what my new baby looks like next week! 

Happy Valentine's Day~!!