More Winter in Armenia and Happy Valentine's Day

Yesterday we went on a really tough hike to an abandoned church (Mschkavank) that was built in the 10th century. We had a general idea of how to get there, but decided to try a different route. After a few stops and starts, and getting some advice from some locals--who all said it was "shat heroo" (very far)--we went up a cow path into the mountains. The pictures in this entry are some of the things we saw along the way. I wish we had a photo that shows how incredibly steep the hike was in some parts. Trust me--you had to lean into the hill to keep from falling over backwards! The hike took us more than 4 hours from start to finish, and we got pretty well lost and almost gave up. Actually, we did give up because after more than 2 hours we couldn't find the darn church. We arrived at an intersection and decided to go home, and about 15 minutes later the road led us to the church. There must be a lesson here about letting go and getting the answer.

So the pictures in this post are of the views along the trail, Mschkavank, and some early spring flowers. The first is a typical view of our village in winter with the smoke from the wood stove. There is a nice photo of the Northern Caucusus mountains, which are about 100 km away from us. The last photo was taken from the marshutni (mini van) on the way home to Noyemberyan from Ijevan. We pass through a stretch of road where there is a burned out village from the 1992 war with Azerbaijan. It's always rather sad to see these houses and know that people used to live there. This land is protected by both armies and we can usually see them in their bunkers as we pass by. A constant reminder that we are never far from a potential incident.

Happy Valentine's Day to all who are reading our blog. It is celebrated here by jumping over a fire. More because it is traditionally 40 days since the birth of Christ (in the Armenian calendar). We haven't seen any fires in our village, but other PCVs have written about them. You are supposed to think about all your wishes for the new year as you jump over the fire. Might be a good idea, but I fear my jumping skills aren't what they used to be.

We are both busy with school and English clubs and we just finished a Project Design Mangement course. I am happy to report that the team I worked on got best in show. Our proposed project was a greenhouse at the school that is heated with waste heat from the school's boiler. The greenhouse would be part of the "hands on" learning curriculum for science classes, and would also teach the kids about economics and marketing. Vegetables and flowers grown in the greenhouse would be sold in the community and profits would go to maintain the greenhouse and provide school supplies for underprivileged kids. Pretty cool idea, and my farm manager sister had lots of helpful suggestions too. Now, to write a grant and get funding for the project! But first, we plan to put in an English language resource center that can be used by the school kids and the community too. Lots to do.

Winter in Noyemberyan

Northern Caucusus Mountains

Front of Mschkavank

Mschkavank

Views from the Hike

Views from the Hike

Early Spring on the Mountain

Mschkavank

Armenia-Azerbaijan Border Road

We have now been at our site for more than 6 months. Hard to believe. The group that started a year before us is already making plans for what they will do when they leave in July and August. Very exciting for them. And a new group of around 45 volunteers will be coming here at the end of May. Very exciting for us. So, we have about 18 months left to go. Some days we count every one of them.

Sending you all love and many thanks for the wonderful care packages that you send. Those cards, letters, e-mails and packages keep us going. Until the next time . . .