End of the Year Update

Hi everyone. Thanks for reading our blog! It's hard to believe that we have been here for 7 months now. The time has gone very quickly, at least most of the time. We spent Christmas with 27 other Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) in a town near Lake Sevan. We were spread around the 4 apartments of the PCVs who live there, sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags. It couldn't have been more fun! We ate incredibly good food (home-made egg rolls, meatballs, cheese, fruit, chicken with dressing, beet salad, and yummy desserts), went for walks, slept late and really enjoyed our time. For some of us, it was the first time to be away from our families. It was just so nice being with other Americans to celebrate this very special holiday. The weather was quite cold (well below freezing), which made it feel very much like Christmas.



We came home for two days and then set out for a small vacation in Tbilisi, Georgia. It's only 70 km from here, but not the easiest place to get to. Our neighbor was kind enough to give us a ride, but we had to wait in a long line of cars for more than 2 hours because the computers were down and couldn't read any passports. Very frustrating to say the least. There are 4 different checkpoints, 2 on the Armenian side (to check passports and visas) and 2 on the Georgian side (to check visas and passports). And both sides stamp your passports. Finally, we made it to Tbilisi. It has the feel of a big European city, but is very easy to get around in. We stayed at a "homestay" (people rent out rooms in their homes), and they advertised 24-hour hot water and heated rooms. Well, not exactly. There was indeed hot water for showers, but the bathroom was around 40 degrees. We passed. And our room, while quite large, was impossible to heat. We slept with our clothes on and barely managed to stay warm. But that was the only downside.



We absolutely loved Tbilisi. It is a very walkable city, but also had a good subway system. Our homestay was very near a subway stop, so it cost about a quarter to get downtown to the sites. There is a beautiful old town, with cobblestone streets and unique architecture that makes it look somewhat like the French Quarter in New Orleans.






And the Georgian cuisine is fantastic. We ate grilled eggplant and roasted tomatoes, an excellent beef soup, and several different kinds of dumplings (called khingali). Although there was a McDonalds's, we avoided the golden arches. Some of the PCVs we met lived there, but we ate local food where we could. We also found some excellent cafes with good tea and coffee. Not to mention the local hachipuri (sort of an inside out pizza with yummy cheese on the inside).

As far as sights, there is a beautiful fortress on the hill that offers incredible views of Tbilisi. We climbed up there one day, and wandered through the botanical gardens too. We spent much of our time wandering around the old town, and went to the sulfur baths where for $20 we got a private room with a dressing room (complete with couches, sink, and bathroom) and a bathing room with a very hot sunken tub, a marble slab to cool off on, and a shower. We haven't been that relaxed in quite a while.








Our second night there we ran into 10 other PCVs from Armenia. That was a lot of fun and we all ate dinner together at a pretty good Thai place. Best we've had so far. We also met two volunteers who are serving in Azerbaijan. It was really interesting talking to them about how their host country nationals view Armenia, and vice versa. As you can imagine, both countries see the same events quite differently. At our homestay, we also met a guy from Turkey. Again, it was really interesting to talk about how his country sees Armenia, and some of the issues faced by both countries.



There are lots of amazing things about Tbilisi, but perhaps the best thing we saw is the Christmas decorations. Truly beautiful and over-the-top lights everywhere. There is one main street (Rustavelli) with lights both overhead and on all the buildings. Every square also was decorated. We never saw Yerevan when it was all decked out, but it's hard to imagine how anything could be better than Tbilisi. Too bad we couldn't stay for New Years! But maybe next year.

We are now getting ready for New Year's here--Nor Tari. It it the biggest holiday so far, and people spend days cooking sweets, salads, dolmas, and a variety of other things. We will go to Fred's counterpart's home at 11:30 tonight to ring in the new year. Our neighbor just brought us a chicken to eat (freshly killed and plucked, thank you very much), and I was over there watching her make dolmas. Now I will go upstairs to see what our other neighbors are making, and then it's time to do a little cooking of our own. I will attempt to make some sort of blonde brownie thing that requires baking powder. Alas, there is no baking powder anywhere within 200 km of our town. So, it will be another experiment. Hopefully this one will turn out ok!

The Nor Tari tradition is still a bit of a mystery. It seems that today and this evening is for family, and starting tomorrow and for the next week (thru January 6) is a full scale party where everyone visits everyone else. We will report back in our next blog.

This has been a year full of changes and adjustments and more changes. We look forward with much anticipation to what the next year will bring. Until the next blog, we wish everyone a very happy New Year.