Glimpses of a Typical Day

This is a scene I see everyday...old men playing backgammon under a tree, tent or umbrella. They move fast and they play game after game after game...

Below is my host mother Sylvie and her mother, who has since returned to Gyumri, where they are all from originally. We eat our meals at this table.

Apricots are in season, as are cherries, apples and mulberries. There's a type of apple here which is the size of a golf ball. Sylvie has canned at least a hundred jars over the past couple weeks. No fruits come winter time, so she's preparing for the entire family. Watermelon is on the way.

I miss Margarite, my host grandmother. She helped me a lot with my Armenian writing. We may go visit her soon. Her eldest daughter died in the earthquake. Her husband died of an illness.

My bedroom. The enclosed porch in the background gets really hot, so a pair of jeans dries in less than a day.

My view from the enclosed porch. Kids play until at least 11pm. It doesn't get dark til 10:30pm. They sleep late and rise late here.

A typical auto mechanic's shop.
I went with Heifer staff on a field monitoring trip, where we visited 5 families/beneficiaries in the Ararat region. We went also with a Habitat for Humanity staff because Heifer & HH do some joint projects, providing families not only with livestock but homes too.

The green tag on this Heifer's ear indicates it is gift from "Heifer International"(the term heifer refers to a female 'cow' 2-3 yrs old-- it has not given birth but is at the stage when it can become pregnant or is in its first pregnancy. After delivery it becomes a cow. An infant is a calf and a 1-2 year old is a yearling. Right, Angie?). This one passed the test-- healthy and well taken care of. Clean stall.
Ararat region is loaded with apricot trees. This family brought us a bucket full of fresh picked apricots. It's like going to the Bangs' farm for peaches near Fern Ridge Lake. Did you know that if you crack the seed of an apricot there's a soft seed/nut inside?? They're delicious, and supposedly very good for you.

Passing the time with Heifer staff while waiting for our kebabs and lavash. To the right is our staff veterinarian. I learned how to keep a cow still when trying to inject it with medicine. Grab a horn with one hand. Put your thumb in one nostril and 4 fingers in the other and clench. It hurts the poor cow badly so it won't move. Now, have someone stick the needle in the butt. We were preventing worms, which had already inflicted the mama's calf. Anyway, they other guy is our driver. Just when I would register in my brain what die said, he had already moved my pieces for me. It made me appreciate Papa's patience with my slow head!
96% of Armenians are literate. Used to be 99%. Used books in Russian, Armenian and various languages are for sale everywhere. I'm yet to see a nice new-book bookstore though.

All for now...