First Impressions. Contact Information.

Dear All,
I have arrived safely in Armenia and am loving it. Calls and letters are very welcome. Here’s how you can reach me:
Sophia Malkasian
c/o Linda Yepoyan
Birthright/Depi Hayk Office
9 Tpagrichneri St.
Yerevan 375010
Armenia

Phone: 011 (374) 10 57 38 67 (Usually I’m available at home 8am-9:30am and 9:30pm-11:00pm) Here’s one option for a calling card: http://stiphonecard.com.

It’s more beautiful here than I ever imagined. Within only two days of arriving in Hyastan (the Armenian, patriotic term for Armenia), I was fortunate enough to see Mt. Ararat from the closest vista within the Armenian border. In fact the Turkish border is visible in the picture-- the road in the foreground. If you look carefully you can see the watchtower.

I am here for at least one year, to begin with, as a volunteer with Armenian Volunteer Corps (AVC). I am sponsored by Birthright Armenia, a new organization formed to enable diasporan Armenians to come back to the Homeland, provide help where needed, and hopefully serve as advocates for the country. Birthright pays my airfare, and in exchange, I volunteer with one of the organizations they sponsor (in this case AVC), and I participate in 8 weeks of language courses, lectures/forums and optional Saturday excursions throughout Armenia’s 11 provinces. The birthright obligations require me to live in Yerevan for the first 8 weeks, after which I’ll move to a village. I’m staying with a nice host family- the Galstyan’s.

To begin with, I’m volunteering for Heifer International (http://www.heifer.org/). For those who don’t know, heifer means pregnant cow. I’ll explain in a minute. The Caucasus regional office is located in Yerevan and run by a sharp Armenian woman, from whom I figured I could learn a lot because she has substantial experience and she’s a great manager. Heifer does sustainable economic/community development in villages. It’s signature project is to give a family or individual a pregnant cow in addition to regular training on how to take care of it and breed it. The deal is, the beneficiary must give the offspring (once it becomes pregnant) to another family in need. It’s “the gift that keeps on giving.” The monitoring staff continually check on the families and condition of the cows, providing guidance and veterinary services when needed. Heifer also does a youth development program as well as other civic education programs. It’s a good outfit.

Meanwhile I’m doing “informational interviews” with all sorts of other organizations to learn about what’s being done in Armenia for development purposes and where I might be able to help. There’s a lot going on, and a lot to be done.

Yerevan is a pretty pleasant city. The performing arts culture is vibrant and impressive. A Greek friend of mine said the Armenians have a very evolved taste in music. Concerts occur EVERY day. I’ve been to 5-6 in only a couple weeks. There are outdoor/ open air cafes everywhere. My first impression was that Armenians really know how to chill. Indeed, life here rolls at a comfortable pace and I’m enjoying the stress free feel. I’m very busy, but it’s a good busy.

As in most non-American cultures, men walk hand-in-hand with men and likewise for women. The guys have no inhibitions about staring at women in a very non-discrete manner. Likewise, the women look each other up and down to check out each other's 'look', with envy, judgement or admiration in their eyes. Women do not leave the house unadorned. 90% of the finger and toenails I've seen are painted. They dress in tight pants, high heels and tight sparkly shirts, almost all wearing their hair down. I expected dress to be more conservative than it is. Luckily I didn't even bring my Birkenstocks-- I would surely get the judgement stares.

Within my first three days, I was able to see three of the 11 regions in Armenia. Each region has its own landscape and feel. I was awestruck by the diversity. Khor Virap, below, is one of Armenia's famous monasteries from where we viewed Mt. Ararat.

My long lost cousin, perhaps?? :-)

"$1.00- See fly. Good picture. No come back." (Note the ancient graveyard in the background, from the 5th century).

Tourism is not that big in Armenia yet. This is so refreshing after being in Indonesia where tourists are practically attacked by dozens of vendors in the country's most popular destinations (ask Uncle Ken!). The little boy above was not insistent at all. The tightrope walker and his band which you can't hear right now were very friendly and laid back. I learned lots of new words from them.

On the way to another region, near the Iranian border, the views were astounding...

We ascended and ascended, on our way to Noravank, one of Armenia's oldest churches/monasteries.

Churches are often in high places. It was believed that this made the believer closer to GOD/Heaven and the trek to get to the church was a ritual in and of itself-- important for facilitating focus and leaving distractions behind (or below).

I felt great here. The connection to the past is tangible. The air was so crisp and clean.

On the way back to Yerevan we stopped at a wine factory, which is not pictured. But across the street these kids were selling home-brewed wine for a fraction of the cost.

Our lunch was amazing. Wasn't what you see below. We had khoravatz- bbq lamb, bbq pork, lavash, haatz, cucumber-tomato-cilantro-dill salad, cheeses, olives, and more.