Thanksgiving in Armenia

Thanks to the hard work of a number of fellow volunteers, we had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner in Yerevan last week. All the volunteers got together for meetings and socializing, and Monday night we celebrated Thanksgiving together. Added bonus was staying in a hotel with hot, running water and a view of Mt. Ararat (smog permitting).

[Fred's photo caption: one view from our hotel room; in the other direction we overlooked the presidential residence and the Hrazdan River Gorge.]

I got to be on the pie committee, and we made 25 pies in just over 4 hours--apple, lemon meringue, pumpkin and walnut (excellent substitute for pecan by the way). Other volunteers brined the turkeys, cut up bread for stuffing, boiled sweet potatoes, carrots and potatoes, and all the rest that made up our yummy dinner. Dinner was turkey, gravy, dressing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin souffle, roasted sweet potatoes with brown sugar glaze, and green been casserole. We also had "sweet" butter for the bread that was made with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.

[Fred's photo caption: volunteers eating turkey, or as it's called here, Indian chicken.]

[Fred: More volunteers - the other side of the room.]

The evening was capped off with a volunteer talent show, and some of our PCVs are pretty darned talented. I particularly liked Joel's Brittany Spears sing-along! Evenings were full of optional activities like knitting, photography, media sharing, movie night and games. Lots of fun just sitting around with other volunteers talking about what they've been doing and what they're planning. So while things are difficult in many areas of our lives, this was one chance for PCVs to be very thankful for what we have--our families back home, and our Peace Corps family here in Armenia.

Being in Yerevan allowed us the opportunity to go shopping for things we can't get here, including an amazing nut, dried fruit and spice shukah (market) where things are sold by the kilogram (nuts and fruit), or glass (large or small). We were able to buy some good curry powder, ground ginger and flax seed, none of which we can get locally. We also found soy sauce (Russian for around $2 v. the Kikkoman at $15 for a small bottle) and a few other goodies. Still searching for Q-tips instead of generics. And we also got flue shots, and had dental appointments and the like.

[Fred's photo caption: Plastic Christmas trees for sale outside Rossia, a big market and bus station in Yerevan. Most Christmas decorations we saw for sale in Yerevan were, fortunately, at the other extreme of the tacky-vs-sophisticated spectrum.]

But it's nice to be home after being gone for a week. We arrived around 5:30 last night, and neighbors came out of their doors to welcome us home, invite us for dinner and tea. There's a lot to be said for our community here. We're back at school tomorrow, and it will be good to be back in our regular routines. Still not terribly cold here, although it's pretty drizzly and gray. Our trip back on the minibus (marshutni) yesterday was through pea-soup fog at just about the same time as the herds of sheep, cows and goats were heading home. Very interesting how our driver didn't brake much and still managed to miss every single animal.

Speaking of animals, winter is particularly difficult for all the homeless dogs and cats. How I wish there was a local shelter, but there just isn't. It's heartbreaking at times to see the animals and how they have to live. Some will make it through the winter, others will not. Unfortunately we don't have the resources to address the issue. With unemployment at over 50% (or so it seems), there are more important things to do here. Like teach English! So for tonight, I will start working on lessons for tomorrow.