The New Year! 2013. Wow. I've never started the new year in a different country other than America. First time for everything I guess right? 

ANYWAYS... 

So I went on this amazing journey for winter vacation… 3 countries in just 10 days. THREE COUNTRIES IN TEN DAYS! Sounds fantastic already, right?!

Eh, amazing isn’t really the word for it… it definitely was an experience I never thought I’d have and each stop had its own unique beautiful perk and history and food, etc. I won’t ever forget, but THREE countries in TEN days AND on a budget??

Here is what I saw, tasted, heard, and experienced on this trip plus some notes I took on my phone while we were away… things I wanted to be sure not to forget or just caught my eye or even taste buds.

Stop #1: Tbilisi, Georgia.

My two volunteer friends, Kate & Debra, and I took a marshutni (van) ride from a village up north of Armenia all the way to Tbilisi, Georgia. What was supposed to be a 3-4 hour ride turned out to be about 6-7 hours because one, we had to take a longer route to Georgia to avoid the massive amount of snow that had fallen the night before, and two, once we got to the border the van apparently had to have chains on its tires before we could cross and… well… let me tell you, whatever those things were that they were trying to put on our tires were NOT chains… it was like a bundle of wire and rope, some chain, I even saw some duct tape. All the men in the van of course get out to try and help while all the women stayed in watching them put this thing on our tires. At one point we thought we had it, started to drive over the borderline, and SNAP! one falls off and the others are just making a terrible noise. The border control takes one finger, points it back towards the other side, and we start to back-up the van back to Armenia. A few more times of this and we made it through!

iPhone Note #1 = Going through the border control… get to the passport guy, he gives me back my passport and says “Ohio…” I say “No no. I’m from San Francisco. Thank you. Bye.” I walked away confused and later figured maybe that’s how they say “hello” or “thank you” in Georgia or maybe he just had a relative or friend in Ohio and thought I might know the person. I get back to my girls, tell them what happened, and we figured out that maybe he was trying to say “hello” to me in JAPANESE!! Haha oops. 

iPhone Note #2 =

Question = If the marshutni (van) stops in the middle of the street… who or what do you think is crossing the street?

Answer? = PIGS! A family of PIGS! J

So we finally make it to Tbilisi, get out of the van, and realize, these people aren’t speaking English OR Armenian to us…. What?! We got so used to being able to communicate with our new language abilities that we totally forgot what it was like to be so hopeless in communication again. This old man comes up to us asking if we need a taxi and instead of speaking to him in English, which is what should be my first instinct, I speak to him in Armenian and didn’t even realize it! He understands me, looks shocked, but understands me, tells me he is also Armenian, and we get into his taxi haha how useful! We get to our hostel (Envoy Hostel), which by the way is the best hostel I’ve ever been to, both in Armenia and Georgia, got ourselves comfortable and headed out.

iPhone Note #3 = We find out “mama” is “father” in Georgian. It’s the only language that has it switched. How confusing right?! I can’t tell you what “mother” is in Georgian, but look it up if you’re curious haha.

iPhone Note #4 = So I found out how to say “hello” here… it’s NOT “ohio,” but rather “gamajouba.” Haha felt like an idiot when I sincerely thought that maybe “ohio” was a word in their language and not a man trying to say “hello” to me because I’m apparently “Japanese.” Haha “GAMAJOUBA!” “HELLO!”

her favorite statue on the walking tour and my new boyfriend! 

Our hostel had a free walking tour for all of its guests… cool right?! I sure thought it was J Our tour guide was this girl from Armenia so she gave us a lot of Georgian history and related it to Armenian history as well, which made it that much more exciting AND in fluent English!  

tiny hidden waterfall behind our hostel our new Armenian friend took us to 

iPhone Note #5 = They have “transparent police stations” made of glass to say that the police are transparent and don’t hide anything or do secret stuff behind the Georgians.

iPhone Note #6 = Portrait of Jesus in the churches… they say that if you are true faithful person then Jesus will look at you and if you’re not, he will look away … but really I think it depends on where you stand…

There is always a chair for the priest guy in the middle of the church in order to say he is available to everyone? something like that. And then their cross is interesting... comes from an old story about a man who tried to make the first cross out of a tree but the branches he tied were slightly wimpy so bent downwards as such. Am I right? I might totally be screwing that up. Let me know if I'm wrong! 

iPhone Note #7 = I don’t know why they do, but they do à they have a “George W. Bush Street” that goes to the airport. Every taxi driver we talked to that found out we were American would say, “Do you know we have a George W. Bush Street?”

iPhone Note #8 = Foods we ate in Georgia! Khinkali (which you have to eat with your hands if you want to eat it properly in Georgia), imeruli, khachapuri, aljabpuni salad, lobiyani… and there was much more I forgot to write down.

Last but not least we went to the sulfur baths. No wait, we went to The King’s Bath like they call it. We met up with two other volunteers who happened to be dropping by Georgia as well and had an hour to ourselves in a private sulfur bathhouse. The water turned all my silver rings an odd brown color, which apparently rubs off later from natural hand oils. Overall it was nice and relaxing and made our skin feel super smooth and silky !!

The King's Bath. Sulfur baths!

Stop #2: Istanbul, Turkey

One taxi ride straight to the airport and we were on our way to Turkey.

iPhone Note #1 = “Welcome to paradise!” It was written EVERYWHERE around Turkey, in the airport, on billboards, any tourist area or restaurant, etc… have you all heard of this being a “Turkey thing” before? I sure haven’t and I still don’t really understand it, but I guess Turkey = Paradise. Haha.

Again another nice hostel, The Orient International Hostel in Turkey, was in the middle of all the sites we wanted to hit during our TWO-DAY stay in Turkey.

iPhone Note #2 = Hagia Sofia.

iPhone Note #3 = Blue Mosque à prime minister came and there was a crowd of police like no other. Prayer is out loud so everyone on the streets can listen, stop, and pray together. Everyone stands OUTSIDE the church. Not inside. It’s a “Call and Answer.”

1. All the police lining up for this dude. 2. Outside Blue Mosque. 3. The fountains where they have to wash their feet in the freezing cold before they enter. 

We explored everything by foot and map, and let me tell you, we walked MILES. I swear it. We’ve also had to make so many stops because the people there really try to bring you in any way possible: pulling your arm, cheap deals, speaking English, speaking Korean, and most of all, FLIRTING.

iPhone Note #4 = Pick-Up Lines!

Pick-up Line #1: “The prettiest girl I’ve ever seen is here to my right.”

Pick-up Line #2: “Hey lady, look up at me. I’m so handsome. … Really.”

Pick-up Line #3: “Hey cutie, right over here. Darling? No? Princess. Princess.”

Pick-up Line #4: Best one was towards Debra who is older than Kate and me à “Lady I know you can afford this carpet. I can tell.”

SPICE MARKET. Bought all my teas and spices for friends here :) 

We made a friend in the Spice Market. He was real kind, spoke to us in English because he apparently lived in New York City for a while. Was all excited to see Americans haha 

iPhone Note #5 = I thought I was reading “Faith” everywhere and thought “wow, that’s kinda cool” haha oops it was “Fatih” which means “Turkey.”

mmmmmmm... YUMMM.... best baklava ever. super oily but for a once in a lifetime thing it was DELISH.

Went to the Bizarre and bought myself some handmade candles, beautiful scarves for myself and my mom, various teas, etc. By the way they have gorgeous candles/lights everywhere in various shapes, colors, and designs in masses on the ceiling, along the walls, EVERYWHERE. So eye-catching and calming to look at. Decided that I would definitely have a room like it once I get my own house. Can’t wait!

place where I bought my candles and fish restaurant we ate at for lunch where they showed us the platter of seafood we can choose from fresh from the Black Sea.

iPhone Note #6 = Palm trees. Why are there so many?! And how in the world do they survive this cold weather?! There’s snow and ice … hmm .

Last thing on our list before we left for our third country? TURKISH BATH. For about twenty dollars we got soaped, washed, soaped & “bubbled,” then scrubbed til we were completely red, washed again, then massaged, streeeeeetched, and then rinsed. All of that was done on this big warm round marble platform by these big women in bikinis! After all that we sat in the sauna for as long as we could, dunked ourselves in cold water, rinsed again, and it was all over. What an experience! And I must say a great way to end our two days in Turkey.

Our sketchy alleyway looking bathhouse. Really wasn't though. I would love to have another Turkish Bath. 

Stop #3: Athens, Greece

A few more hours and GREECE! That’s all I could about from the taxi ride to the airport and in the plane… Greece was always one of my dream places to visit, especially after Mama Mia and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants J

We arrived in Greece, took the metro for an hour, walked outside all excited to see our first real glimpse of Athens and… GHETTO. The only correct word I could think of to describe what I saw. This was supposed to be GREECE! But man was it ghetto. I felt like I was in a San Francisco or Oakland alleyway! And do you want to know what my iPhone Note was for Greece?? I only wrote one. ONE. Here it is:

iPhone Note #1 = ghetto Christmas tree.

We went to the center of Athens because everyone said there would be some decorations and festivities for Christmas and most of all, the main Christmas tree. You know what we saw?? A regular big tree with some lights thrown on it. THROWN. Not even nicely placed with ornaments or anything, but just a regular tree, not even in the middle of the square, with lights thrown on it. GHETTO. Haha.

Street performances. Street food. Street graffiti. Things like that. 

There was graffiti everywhere, trash, stray cats and dogs, smelly alleyways, old buildings and even churches meshed in with new high-rises in the city. I think I may have expected too much and just didn’t realize that the Greek Islands were something completely different from Athens and the rest of Greece.

We get to our hostel, which looked fairly nice and comfortable online, and … can you guess? GHETTO. Our room was cold with no heater so they hand us this tiny little one-person heater to plug in our room but the light from it is so bright we could hardly sleep comfortably. I ask for three extra blankets so we can all have two to sleep with and they don’t have enough. We end up sleeping cold and uncomfortable, and right the next morning we walked out of there looking for a new hostel.

We get a hotel, which was the same price as the hostel, closer to the center of Athens, with our own bathtub, TV, and HEATER. We all took a long bath cause it’s not easily accessible for us back in Armenia and man was it great. Just wonderful.

4 days in Greece. Four days including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I admit, it was pretty tough... no family, none of my best friends, none of my traditional foods and Christmas festivities... it was tough but we made it through together, the three of us.  

The day after Christmas we got on the metro, got on a boat, and made it to Aegina, the closest island to Athens. It was no Santorini or Mykonos, but it was better than nothing. I guess once I get married I'll have to make my husband take me to Santorini just like Lina found her boo in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants hehehe :) :) 

Aegina Island. There were at least some white houses with blue windows. Nothing like the real islands but I took a picture with all the ones that were similar! :p 

Our last view of Greece before heading back to Armenia. Not too bad, right? I would say it was a great way to end our ten day three countries trip during our Peace Corps service. 

August something to something… I’ve lost track of time.

Here are some pictures and explanations of things that have been going on so far!!

My family took me to a fish farm for lunch one day as a treat... they had TONS of fish.. take a look at the next pic!

These are tiny things but it was cool to watch. They had a billion other types of fish there.

Our cows are sick… one ate too much and is a little fat and the other is too skinny. The fat one we gave this mixture of alcohol, baking soda, warm water, and oil…? What?! I don’t know but they force-fed the cow the mixture and said she’ll be better soon. The other cow had to get shots to make her eat more...

Not our cow but I got to feed one of my relatives calf. He was strong! Ate all the carrots I picked from the garden right out of my hand! haha

I got to help herd the lambs tonight! They whack the lambs who don’t follow or who are slow so I ended up chasing after them or stomping right behind them so they keep going otherwise they would get hit, and I did not want that HAHA the sheep herders thought it was hilarious, but I had my little cousin do it with me so it wasn’t as “embarrassing.” But I’ll be doing this every night with my papa from here on out!

This is the view I get almost every single night I go to herd the sheep! Isn't that a cool sight?! And all the lamb in the street... I love it haha all the people along the way know me now and think it's hilarious that this foreigner goes to bring the sheep back home from the fields hah :)

August 9, 2012 (Thursday)

My new host sister’s 16^th birthday!

And kids kids kids! Dear goodness so many kids! HAHAHA 

Sister's 16th birthday and her beautiful butterfly cake! And a bunch of our cousins

We danced during the day... we danced during the night. We danced and danced... like at every other Armenian party I've ever been to... or when we decide to just hang out. They LOVE to dance here! I've got some learning to do... my dancing skills aren't quite ... hah ya you know if you know me :)

Birthday girl Araqsya and our grandpa... let me tell you... he definitely has a character! hah

Like I said... Kids Kids Kids! hah during the day and during the night. We went on a tiny hike up the mountain and ate sunflower seeds outside when it was cooler later that night.

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August 8, 2012 (Wednesday)

Last day of PST. First day in my permanent site. So many tears were shed it was ridiculous. My luggage was also a RIDICULOUS amount as well haha I don’t know how I collected so much in only two months!

Here are some pictures of my first home! I will miss it SO SO much!

The garden I've been eating from for the past 2 months. Our garage area....

 

Our main road that JUST got lined with white paint. And the Marshutini we always take! :) 

My store! The little green thing on the right in front of the huge tree.... But we got everything! :D

The road that always led my to school and of course... my school! Where I learned all my Armenian! They're remodeling it now but it still was a pretty nice school!

I will miss my village so much. It was so comfortable and everyone knew me. Off to a new start!

August 7, 2012 (Tuesday)

Swearing-in Day!

We made it through training! All 41 of us! CONGRATS!!!

August 3, 2012 (Friday)

Got a package today thinking it was from my parents… but NOPE! It was from one of my students in Taiwan! Isn’t that crazy cool?! He sent me postcards from his university and a little note. So sweet, no?! I just think it’s so amazing that we can keep in contact with people from all over the world so easily even years later.

I yelled at some kids for hitting and torturing a donkey today in Armenian and they were so confused. Told them…

1.     Stop. Please don’t do that. The donkey is hurting.

2.     I am sad when you do that.

3.     You don’t like donkeys? I really love donkeys.

4.     Here, do this to the donkey instead (started petting him).

5.     Watch me. Like this.

After my totally embarrassing attempt at model behaving how to treat animals, they kind of stopped and I walked away. I then started calling all my friends I knew would be coming my way and told them that if they saw the kids with the donkey to say how much they love donkeys and to pet the donkey if they can HAHAHA this was my little attempt at trying to change this terrible habit of children... and actually most of the people here in Armenia. Many of us volunteers try to model behave how we (well, most Americans ><) treat animals back in the states just by saying simple things like I did and being nice to animals, but that’s about all we can really do for the most part.

August 2, 2012 (Thursday)

Had my exam today! Received an Intermediate Mid. That’s pretty darn good for two months I think! That’s like something I never received even after three years of French in high school hahaha

I’m telling you, studying every day for HOURS and having to speak the language at home for everything was not easy and there were times that I really needed to just take a breather on my own, but couldn’t…. it was all worth it! It really was. I never imagined to have a full conversation in a new language within two months. It seemed like a ridiculous goal! But now my main goal is to become completely fluent within the next year and NEVER forget it even when I go back to America. But like I said, the only problem I have with learning a new language is that I’m forgetting everything else haha Korean is completely failing and English is slowly leaving me HAHAHA oh man.

August 1, 2012 (Wednesday)

BEST DAY EVERRRR!! Got THE most awesomest fantasmic package today and it seriously made my day… my week! I’ve been having it so rough lately and I’ve been so tired… the package seriously came at THE perfect time. Gave me so much more energy that I didn’t know I had haha

Annie, Ester, and Dasom sent me some treats! Way more than I ever expected plus some really expensive Pringles HAHA adding on the price of shipping these Pringles were ridiculously expensive! HAHA but take a look at what I got!

The big dog bone for my dog Gucci was WAY too crazy and my dog was super scared haha I don’t think he knew what to do with it. I don’t think dogs here in Armenia are quite the same as in America… he didn’t think the bone was cool at all HAHA but that’s probably because he gets real bones all the time from various animals haha eeww but it’s okay! It’s the thought that counts!

The cat toy that they got for my cat Kooka was real sweet as well but she didn’t know what to do with it! She just kept staring at it … plus she just had three kids so she had no time to play. Wrong timing hahaha :p

July 30, 2012 (Monday)

My last teaching day! THANK GOODNESS. It has been SO stressful lately and I haven’t had any time to myself. But it’s okay, this is all a part of the training process and we are all suffering together haha

Since we had a class full of girls we decided to do a lesson on fashion and have them describe different clothes while modeling them on the “walkway.” BUT the tricky part was that they had to dress-up in the random items we gave them HAHA just like this!

 

All the kids got awards today after class to show that they participated in our little program. They were all so excited and us, as teachers, had to award the children with their certificates, but let me tell you it was not easy haha Armenian names can be really hard to pronounce! We tried our best and if it wasn’t correct the kids would just correct us anyways LOL

July 29, 2012 (Sunday)

Went to my THIRD wedding today…. man these people only think about getting married and having a family! Ahahaha JUST KIDDING. But three weddings is a bit much isn’t it?! HAHA this time we just went to the dinner part and it really was no big deal cause I was SO used to it haha

Anyways, going to three weddings and recently finding out that three of my friends have gotten engaged back at home has been making me think WAY too much about my future and kids and etc etc! CREEPY but I’m telling you the honest truth and it’s SCARING THE POOP OUT OF ME! Everyone here is in love with kids and marriage is such a big deal… just all these things put together makes my head hurt!! Haha

July 28, 2012 (Saturday)

Went to Lake Sevan today… the only bit of water they have in the whole country haha but it was nice! They’re so proud of their lake and it’s such a prize for the people here to be able to go to the lake. It’s like one of their “vacation spots” you know? Anyways, Peace Corps took us to the lake, a church on the lake, then another location known for it’s famous wishing tree, also next to this beautiful church.

TAKE A LOOK! 

 

 

 

 

 

July 27, 2012 (Friday)

So every year the capital city, Yerevan, has a big dance session at one of the central monuments/points in Yerevan and all the volunteers are told to go and experience some Armenian dancing. My sister, of course knowing this happens every year, asked me if she can come and if she can bring her boyfriend… secretly of course.. haha she had the whole thing planned out already! We would go separately and meet him there, then she would be able to hang out with him while I chaperoned, of course haha. It’s crazy all the measures they have to go through just to spend some time together… it’s really kind of sad. It was like the first time she got to hang out with him for more than 20 minutes in like 6 months or something. And they’ve been going out for more than 5 years now!!

ANYWAYS, we got to dance Armenian style with like a billion other people in the middle of the capital city and it was just a lot of fun. The beautiful Cascade, which is where the place is called, was lit and everyone was sweating and dancing and getting to know these Americans who can speak a little Armenian! J  We had a great time.

This is the view from the top of the Cascade. Beautiful right?! And look at all the people down below. They're all dancing! Armenians truly love their dancing and music and arts. SO PERFECT FOR ME, RIGHT!??!?!

Me and my sis. That's probably the most "scandalous" I've ever seen her dress haha BUT that's because we were in Yerevan, and everything "goes" in Yerevan cause "Yerevan is nothing like the rest of the country."

July 26, 2012 (Thursday)

My cat is officially a mama today!

THREE LITTLE ONES!

I woke up this morning, got my toiletries, walked over to the bathroom, and said good morning to my family, “balee louise,” like I do every morning, but this time my papa stopped me and said, “you know Kooka is a mom?” and I said “ya, I’ve known, she’s getting fatter,” and he says “no, she’s a mom now!” I was so excited and shocked cause I swore she was only pregnant for like a month! My sister took me to her room and there in a box were 3 little squirming things. CRAZY! First time I’ve ever seen a baby animal on it’s first day on earth!

It's funny cause just the night before Kooka was acting funny and making all kinds of noises. She kept trying to hide behind my back and look at the crevices in the house but no one ever imagined it was cause she was about to give birth!! She wasn't even THAT big yet! haha

July 25, 2012 (Wednesday)

A group of us are practicing an Armenian song for our Peace Corps “Swearing In” day, which is where all the volunteers who have made it through the training session become official Peace Corps Volunteers. There’s an official ceremony, we sign our names, and get the official Peace Corps pin! It’s the day we commit and start our TWO YEARS OF SERVICE!

Oh right, when is this special day? In exactly 2 weeks! After 2 weeks, we are done with our training, we start our 2 years service, we move to our new and permanent site/village, and… AHH it’s all happening. I’m really here. I really know Armenian. I’m really IN the Peace Corps. Has this hit any of you yet? It’s still such a dream to me…

July 24, 2012 (Tuesday)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REAL MOM! I’m sorry I can’t be there to make you breakfast, give you a massage, and a big long hug! BUT I did send you your favorite flowers … with dad’s money HEHE love you mom! You will always be my first mom and THE BEST mom! Haha Sorry I keep calling everyone my mama here… it’s just easier to say than “host mom” and I feel uncomfortable calling them by their names! J

Yeayuhhh my mom is all tech-savvy now and knows how to send pictures! haha proud of you mom :)

I helped bag grain for flour today. My dad went to the field with this big tractor and brought home a truckload of grain. We raked and bagged them so that we can dry bag by bag and eventually make it into flour… somehow. I’m not sure how that works, but I’m sure I’ll be able to watch that soon.

My grandma and papa. Look at our pile of grain! Apparently it's not as much as last year though... oh well.

After some hard work my sister and I decided to have some fun with watermelon! It was a hot day and big slices of “smiley-face” watermelon sounded perfect… so we went at it! It was messy and refreshing and just the best picture moment.

I think we're cute. Gosh it was so hot that day...

July 22, 2012 (Sunday)

So this is how a wedding goes. You go to the girl or man’s house, depending on what side you are related/friends with, then you watch the bride or groom get prepared and have this big ceremonial thing there. I was on the bride’s side this time so we went to her house, watched her brother put her shoes on for her (traditional), then her gloves, and then her veil. Then the man has to come to her house to “pick her up” and we have this big ceremonial “meeting” for them. A couple shots of alcohol here and there, lots of talking, etc. and then we dance her out of her house and head back over to the man’s house with a brand new suitcase for the bride for her first night at the man’s house. We scope around the man’s house and have another little party there, then we finally dance back out and head over to the church for a short ceremony. It’s usually not private and there are other weddings or other people just walking around… kind of odd to me, but that’s how it’s done. Finally after the ceremony with the priest and everything, we head over to the restaurant for HOURS of dancing and HOURS of eating. Dinner usually starts around 5 or 6pm and goes until midnight. The bride and groom usually do a little dance for the crowd, then there’s a dance for the “horovauts,” which is basically the BBQ’d meat that they serve at every single wedding, then like I said, it’s DANCING, EATING, DRINKING, DANCING, and more EATING and DRINKING for 6 hours!

Both the boy and the girls house has this kind of extravagant setting with pretty foods and flowers on a table with LOTS of alcohol on the side for the "pre-party" ...

The girls on the left. My Armenian parents on the right! We went to this beautiful park in Yerevan for the new couple to take some pictures together.

The famous pretty church in Yerevan where the couple got married. There were like 3 other weddings going on at the same  time. It was ridiculous. They really have no privacy in their weddings... it's really kind of strange.

The priest person does all this ceremonial stuff for a bit, then we all kiss and congratulate the now official couple and then we head out to the restaurant!

We had these cute little paper packets with rose petals in them... good idea! Maybe for my wedding .... someday way later.

Dancing… there’s a lot of it… and it’s not the typical type of dancing we all know. It’s ARMENIAN dancing… which is a lot of hand movement and face-paced feet skipping/tapping ? haha Don’t get me wrong, it’s WAY easier to do than how we dance back in the States, but no matter how I dance, I get a lot of stares, awes, questions, and CAMERAS. So many cameras and video recorders. The wedding video man actually took his video recorder and taped me from head to toe while I danced because he was so “intrigued” by the way I danced… I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or bad thing and if I was dancing well or badly, but either way, he was not ashamed to get right up in my face and record me… then of course the “Macarena” song comes up and I get so excited cause they were playing a song in English and I get ALL the attention cause I was actually dancing to it properly and everyone wanted to “follow the American.” Ha Ha. I really wish I could dance better so I don’t represent American’s poorly haha L 

July 21, 2012 (Saturday)

Have you ever had curlers in your hair to sleep with before?! I can officially say I have and… it was the worst sleep of my life. LIFE. Dear goodness gracious it was so uncomfortable and I can’t believe people would do this to themselves for the sake of beauty! My hair wasn’t even that great afterwards… such a disappointment HAHA anyways, my second wedding tomorrow! I’m not sure if I’m excited or tired or… haha not sure what I’m feeling, but it’s my second and guess what… it’s not my last! I have another one to go to in a week! “Ai kaez baun!” = Oh My Gosh!