Fall in the Noy

The last grapes of the season are the sweetest. This vine I found climbing up a tree outside Lisa's house in a nearby village when all seven of us Peace Corps volunteers in the region got together last weekend.

Click on the pictures to see larger versions.

After almost two months of school, we're now enjoying a week off. I thought it would be good to fill in some gaps in what we've shown of our life here and update with more pictures than before. So let's jump back two months in time to "first bell," the opening ceremony of the school year.

The mayor (suit), the school director (white shirt), teachers (in the distance), parents (in the foreground), all hail the first-graders! The kids won't look this good again for a year.

Kids with mothers.

Kids, no mothers. Fifth grade. Still in their "first bell" clothes.

Boys of the fourth grade, five days into the school year.

In late September, Susan I went to the village of Dsegh to meet with a few other volunteers.

Susan in the ruins of Surb Grigor, an old church that collapsed in the Spitak earthquake.

Greg, Amy, Susan, Mary and Martha at Surb Grigor.

Amy, me, Greg and Martha doing what comes naturally when Peace Corps volunteers gather.

Scenic Alaverdi, the heart of the Debed Canyon. Copper mining and processing.

Every fall, my whole school goes on a hike up in the hills above town, into these fields. There's a lonely farmhouse up there, but other than that it's just the cows and us - and the shepherd in this picture, driving his sheep and goats further up.

Hanging with Mher, Artyom and the rest of the ninth grade during our school's excursion day. They can be difficult, but they're also wonderful and I love them.

Artyom borrowed my camera and this is the result.

Some of my school's teachers on Teachers' Day.

Some of Noyemberyan: our building is the third from the left, but we live on the other side. Beyond the hills lies Azerbaijan and somewhere in the distance, visible only on clearer days than this, are some Georgian and Russian peaks of the Caucasus Range.

Two women praying at Haghartzin, which Lonely Planet calls "one of Armenia's masterpieces of medieval architecture."

Thord at Haghartzin. A good friend since 1966.

Makaravank: the oldest building is from the tenth century, but the main church was built in 1205.

Makaravank: Armenian Rococo?

The village of Gosh in early October. We - Susan, Thord, Marci and I - visited Goshavank, the monastery where Armenian law was first codified.

Mother Armenia outside Ijevan.

Somewhere near the village of Dsegh.

Susan and I with Marci and Thord at Haghpat, much of which was built in the 11th century.

So I went on a little hike up the local hill a couple of weeks ago, and as I was leaving the last houses behind, these kids, including a couple of my third-graders, spotted me and decided to find out where I was going. I couldn't have asked for better company.

Danelle in Lisa's so-called kitchen one Sunday ago, when Lisa had invited us all to a wonderful little party.

Mexican food: Lisa in the distance, a blurry Barb, Trent on a mission, Susan reaching for some tomato.

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