All is well as of July 31st, but post is for July 27th

Preamble to our blog: While we were in Yerevan Gary wrote the blog pages but I had difficulty getting the internet to upload them. Friday's work day will come as will Saturday's. Then we traveled to Yeghegnadzor where we arrive to no power. It is Monday morning and the power just came on at bedtime last night. No guarentees if we will have internet tonight, but will work harder to get updates from Yerevan even if Shirak still has issues. All are well and safe, we've just been powerless, experiencing something a bit normal in Armenia for the rural regions.

Blog, day 2, Thursday 27jul12 by Gary Gostanian

We arise each morning to a view of majestic Mt Ararat from our hotel room. Breakfast at the Shirak Hotel is always a wonderful daily surprise of fruits, vegetables, breads, meats and mystery foods.

Another beautiful day in Armenia with tempature in the high 90’s. We arrived at our worksite and our family was hard at work with us. Their 10 year old daughter, Hasmik, is a delightful addition to our team.

Our assignment was to continue to plaster the walls. We have almost completed two bedrooms and the hallway. Work on the living room is about ½ ways completed.

Our work day was short today but topped off by another home cooked Armenian lunch, the highlight of which was the local watermelon and the end of season apricots.


On return to Yerevan we were treated to, after a short shower break, we were treated to a 2 hour walking tour of the city. Our guide as young woman born at the end of the Soviet era, who lived her early days during the war years on the Azerbaijan border and later spent a year as an exchange student in the US, returning to Armenia to complete university studies in history and political science. It is amazing to imagine what she has experienced in her short years.

Dinner was at an underground restaurant, The Club, beautifully served, delicious food and entertainment by a pianist and baritone singing Italian songs.

Day 1 Orientation and work

My apologies for the lack of postings. Evidently the Hotel Shirak was having internet connectivity issues. It seems that the floor lobbies near the elevators will get internet but not in the lobby. The good news is that pictures seem to be working now! So we will go from here!

Blog, day 1, Thursday 26jul12  by Gary Gostanian

By Wednesday evening all the team had arrived in Yerevan, tired but ready for our experience. As our plane flew into Yerevan snow capped Mt Ararat arose majestically welcoming us to Armenia. The latest arrivals were treated to a late dinner of lamajoon before being dropped off at the Shirak Hotel.

The team members met in the morning for orientation – Susan, our group leader, Gohar, our Fuller coordinator and team members, Bill, Lauren, Tamar, Kristyna, Jirka, Gary, Judy Molly and Jill, prior to our 1 ½ hour bumpy bus ride to our home, driven by the trusty Malik, who drives, as well as is a job site supervisor.

As we arrived we were greeted by our host family given directions for our job of the day. We were instructed on sanding and plastering the walls of the home.

At about 1PM the main table was cleared and delicious Armenian meal was served. Then back to work.

The originally shy 10 year old daughter of the family, Hasmik, gradually joined in with the work of plastering – it was quickly apparent that this was not the first time she had helped with the work. She proved to be as hard working as any of the grown-ups.

We pastered throughout the afternoon and taking a late break for coffee and cookies. The work was new for most of us to those of us who had never plastered before but we quickly caught on to the job.

The end of the afternoon was cleaning up – a job which took longer than we expected, washing up in a 50 gallon and a stream running across the property. Malik added comic relief to the job by tossing little sticky purple thistles at the working team – before long the ‘kids’ joined in.

A tired crew headed home for showers and a delicious dinner.

The day was fun, hard work, gratifying as the walls slowly showed the effects of our efforts. The gradual getting acquainted with the team members, sharing smiles, bits of stories, plaster and sharing of a purpose.

Notes between teams

Notes between teams
On our last team evening together, after dancing and eating a final meal of Lahmajoon we returned to say goodbye to 8 of our team mates at 2 am. Hugs were shared all around with many "Thank you's" and "Keep in touch" sentiments spoken. And the group shrank as they left for the airport.
The next 2 were departing a mere 1 1/2 hours later. In the morning Peter left for Georgia to extend his travels, and we were only 5. As Leo and Sona had the day booked we made arrangements for dinner at my apartment with Matt and Tony our last evening and an excursion to follow.
I picked up the first 2 team mates for my trip, Bill Chattin and Lauren Jones at 2pm. Nice to have a mid day arrival! I settled Bill into Hotel Shirak and Lauren into my apartment until the team arrived.
We had a small dinner for 5 at my apartment with 2 former team mates and 2 future mates. It was definately much quieter than the raucous crowd of 16 I had entertained  a few nights earlier.
As Bill and Lauren were game the 5 of us decided to meet up a bit later and head up the Cascades. The boys had done this several times previously but only in the mornings so this was a new experience for them to see Yerevan from the top of the Cascades at night. It was beautiful!
Then we crossed to Victory Park, which was surprisingly quiet, and walked through to see Mother Armenia. After many pictures were taken, we took a cab back to the hotel. They departed by cab around 2:45 am. Sona and Leo were also leaving in the wee hours of the morning at 3:15am. It seemed like a good idea at the time to accompany them as it was time to pick up my next 2 team mates, Kristyna and Jirka from the Czeck Republic who were due in at 3:20am. Unfortunately they were much delayed and it was around 4:45 that they finally exited the baggage claim area.
After checking them into Hotel Shirak around 5am I got to bed around 5:30am. Lauren, fortunately was sound asleep when I turned in, so I didn't disturb her. But my contacts were screaming obscenities at me by then! 9:30 am came too early but the sunlight woke me anyway.
It turned out to be a more leisurely day which was exactly what I needed! Bill Lauren and I wandered around a bit, visiting some shops and checking out the Blue Mosque. In the afternoon, Bill had some errands to run, Kristyna and Jirka decided to rest and spend the day on their own, so Lauren and I went shopping at the big bazaar and wandered around town for a bit.
Bill had met up with a former exchange student that had lived with his family a few years ago named Hasmik. She had invited he and Lauren to dinner that night. Jirka had lit up at the suggestion of pizza for dinner so we went to MamaMia restaurant. We ordered light for starters with salad and a thin pizza. Then we had a second round of pizza before filling up. It was an early night for a change for which I was VERY thankful. Final team mates were due the next day and I needed to be ready to get the show on the road.
I think I have lost track of the days but that happens when you are on a great vacation! Wednesday we had another leisurely day but I can't remember whether it is the day partly described already or another day.... Anywho....
The 5 of us had dinner at Tashir pizza Wednesday night which was different from MamaMia, as this was a thick Pizza. 1 salad and 2 thick pizzas were enough for this group as well. Then at 8pm I headed out to the airport to pick up the remaining 5 team mates. Fortunately they were wearing their red Fuller Center T-shirts. It was very easy to spot them!
They had not enjoyed their airplane fare and were starving, so we stopped for Armenian fast food~PIZZA~ AKA Lahmajoon! Which they thoroughly enjoyed! THEN, we went to the hotel to get them checked in and settled for the night. After all tomorrow is our first work day! A good night's rest is in order!

Manuelian Trip Finale

Trip Finale
Though it's still hard to believe, our trip to Armenia has come to an end. Surely everyone was sad to see each other leave so FCHA planned for us a fun filled day to ease the pain. First, Melik took the band to Holy Edjmiatsin and it was certainly a great sight to see. From the first step into the cathedral I became overwhelmed with the site's history. Just the thought of how 1700 years ago, St Gregory the Illuminator had built the beautiful church and it had survived to this date was tough to grasp. It comforts me to know that through all the adversity that Armenians have went through as a people, the Church is still standing and standing as strong as ever. Luckily, we were also able to catch a glimpse of the Рatriarch as he entered the church as the last person in a long precession. After visiting Ejmiatsin, we were taken to a nice small restaurant in Yerevan where the cheese fries had everyone's mouth watering before the first bite, (okay, maybe only me).

After the restaurant, we were taken to Khor Virap where we were absorbed with even more history. At the monastery we were able to to go down the pit where St. Gregory the Illuminator was jailed for 13 years. How Gregory managed to remain sane after more than a decade in a pit is mind boggling. I gave myself about 5 minutes before the combination of heat and claustrophobia started to drive me crazy. At Khor Virap we got a close view of Mount Ararat and the border with Turkey. Although we lost Mount Ararat to the Turks, I was instilled with a sense of pride that they weren't able to take Khor Virap and that brought me satisfaction.


Our farewell dinner



Leo and Sona dancing
 at the restaurant

After returning to the Shirak to rest for a little, we were taken to a distance away from the hot city to a nice place alongside the Kazhak river where we were able to dine, dance, and watch the animals. We might have even cause a bear fight with a few morsels of lavash tossed into the cage. The food was good but I believe the highlight of the dinner was the emotional toasts made by a few members of the FCHA office and our group. It was great to hear the appreciation that FCHA members had for us, and it surely was a mutual feeling.

After heading back to the Shirak, the group headed to the Stoyka Pub where we danced the night away and boy, it was a blast. As the morning approached, the time came for us to say goodbye and personally, it was a tough moment. I'll never forget the friendships I made on this trip; from the young, rambunctious David Talanian to the older, wiser Peter Manuelian, we all bonded on this adventure and no matter what, our bond will remain unbroken.

As I reflect on this trip from the Shirak Hotel cafe as one of the last members in Armenia, I'd like to say that this was the best experience of my life, (believe me, I've had some fun times.) As a group, we filled a hole in the world and that will forever be something that I will cherish. Seeing my native country and the city of Yerevan were definitely highlights of the trip, but nothing compares to seeing the joy and happiness on the faces of those we helped. There's no greater gift than the gift of giving and I still have a lot of giving left in me. I leave Armenia honored to have had the chance to help those in need; it is an unmatched feeling and I look forward to coming back to continue this mission. Hayastan, its been real.
Till the next time,
                         Matt Ishkhan



Leo Manuelian's Team~ Over and Out!

Photo album for the Leo Manuelian trip

So here is a link to a combined photo album for Leo's team trip to build houses in Armenia. Much was accomplished and lots of fun was had as well! :-)

https://picasaweb.google.com/smiley25b/LeoS2012Team?authkey=Gv1sRgCISq8uGh6tGn_AE#

Souvenir shopping at Vernissage

Vernissage and Thank you dinner by Susan Bosovich

It was a good day to have MUCH less structure! After staying up and Dancing Friday night after a full day's work, I was in need of a sleep in day.

Our original plan was to go to the history museum at Republic Square at 10 am. My daughter, Alicia, and I had gone to see this museum in 2009 so I was not planning to attend. Evidently that was a thought in alot of minds.

Our other plan for the day was shopping at a flea market style place called Vernissage. You could get just about ANYTHING, except the kitchen sink there!. That had been on the calendar earlier in the trip but we had run out of time, much to the dismay of our serious shoppers. (Another reason to skip the museum and go staight to shopping) We met for lunch at Square one(a more americanized menu) and continued shopping!!!!
Note: In the past we have bargained with the sellers and been able to get lower prices. This year, however there were signs up in Armenian at many of the booths. Some added Russian as well. It was when we were almost done that we saw a sign in English that said, "Do not try to bargain." Now we understood why no one would come down in price.

Everyone seemed to find something interesting to purchase. Rug purses, Duduks, Nardi boards, magents, bookmarks,jewelry, etc,... so we were happy with the game plan. In the end Leo and his brother, Peter, were the only ones who went to the museum after lunch while we went back to Vernissage.

Personally, I slept in, meandered through making and eating breakfast as I am in an apartment instead of the hotel (which includes breakfast). I took a mini nap before actually getting dressed and ready to go. Then, I went to the hotel for internet to upload to the blog, check email and FB and such before meeting up with Tony for the walk to Square one for lunch. He had taken the opportunity to go to the internet cafe to upload grades for school. We have several teachers in our midst but he's the only one who actually had to do school related work on vacation!

We met at 6 pm to go to a thank you dinner with the family who's home we had worked on last year. Fortunately it wasn't a 70 minute drive to get to this house. It was wonderful to see the family in their completed home, smiles on their faces and exclamations of,"Shnorhakalutyun!" (Thank you!)

We had a delicious dinner of Khorovatz ("Grilled" over a small, hot stick fire)Lamb, chicken, tomatoes, mild peppers and eggplant, with vegetable salads, delicious fresh fruit varieties, breads, olives, and wine. It was followed up with a variety of Honeycomb (yum!), watermelon, sweet cakes for dessert with Armenian coffee. Way too much to eat AGAIN, but so hard not to try a little of everything. {I hope that my next team comes with a very big appetite!}

On the way back we saw fireworks going off but did not know what the event was, we just enjoyed them. Some of us went out to a local cafe under the trees near Republic Square where we could hear the music accompanying the water show. They really play an unusual mix of music! I called it an early night and the rest of the gang hung out for a second drink before calling it a night.


 The kids had decided to go our for ice cream instead. Evidently they met up with some of the youth from KPMG group and so they hung out for quite a while. When the adults returned they were a bit surprised but handled it well. Everyone had enjoyed the evening in their own way. Only one more day together and then we must say goodbye. (Can we start planning a reunion already???LOL!)

Our Last Day of Work with the Manuelian team

Heather
Susan
Sona

 Today was the last day of work. Half of the crew were up in the attic and half of us were on the ground, passing buckets of gravel down the line and up the pulley, to the roof.

After a good long work session, we say down for lunch. The family wanted to make us a lamb barbecue for lunch as a way of showing us how grateful they were of the work we had done. The grandfather and grandmother had been cooking it at their house and then brought it over to us. It was very satisfyingly delicious. I was trying to savor every moment of this lunch, knowing it would be our last.

After lunch had been served, a series of toasts were given by Leo, The father, and grandfather. It was so touching to see how thankful the family really was. After we had scarfed down our food and our tummys were full, it was time to bear our gifts to the family. The little girl, Hasmik who is 10 years old, had been taken with Rachel and I (both of us are 17) throughout the previous work days. She had let us know earlier in the week that she loved babies. So we thought what better gift could we get her.


Our family- Tigran and Salvi
Hasmik and the twins, Sasun and Sarkis

We called her over and handed her both of the dolls. Her eyes were at bright and happy as they could be. We also gave her a jump rope, some hair accessories and clothes. She was so overwhelmed with the attention and gifts, she wasn't quite sure what to think. The two twin little boys, who are about 3, received two large special ordered Teddie bears with their names on them from Leo and Sona. Plus, they inherited two big water guns.(Remember Vartavar?)

 Their giggles when they got to shoot their grandfather and anyone else, were priceless. It was so enjoyable to play with and watch them. After we played with the family and their new toys for about an hour, it was time for us to say our last goodbyes. Hasmik stood and waved goodbye to the bus until it was out of her eyesight. And even then I bet she still stood and waved. It was very heart wrenching to say goodbye but also leaves hope for the future that I can come back and see the family again, living comfortably in their fully finished house.

We came back to the hotel and got all cleaned up and ready for our subway trip to a restaurant called Paplavok. Me, being from Missouri the subway was a new and exciting experience. We walked down big stairs that went underground. The wind was blowing like crazy once we got down there. Leo handed us our coins and we walked into the entrance. On the subway I got laughed at by locals that probably take the subway everyday. I was showing my excitement very loudly and clearly. It was a fun ride to say the least.


Dinner at Paplavok

 The restaurant we went to was out on a pond. The food was actually very delicious. We had bread(of course), salads, and chicken with mushrooms. They had a live band playing jazz music. All in all it was a great way to end the bittersweet day.


The pond behind Paplavok

                              
  
                                      By Hannah Reynolds

Concrete work

Making Concrete Thursday, July 19th By Mike Campisi

 On Thursday, we were all refreshed and ready to work after having another travel
day.  After passing buckets of stones (for both the porch and roof) and having the
enjoyment of plastering, we were now in for a treat as we were going to be creating
concrete to fill in the wrap-around porch.

After the ride in and our good mornings with the family, we were given our assignments as those who would shovel stones, fill the buckets with concrete, and
pass them along.  It was a messy job, but we were able to get through it, and by the end, saw a good portion of the smooth new porch. 

Of course, we stopped for some water breaks,another delicious lunch and some random fun (including another game of keep it up with the soccer ball.)

 
One of the highlights for many came when the cousin, Mkhur, was handing out "nick-

Mkhur, the very
 enthusiastic cousin!

names" to a few individuals in English.  He may not have known what he was saying, but did his best to make it as clear as possible.  Mkhur also joined in the line to pass the concrete and showed great enthusiasm as he stated "bucket" when it was time to pass it along, as well as "let's go!" and "incoming!"  Common phrases being said by the individuals from Fuller Center.

One of my not so highlights (just kidding)...after the idea was thrown around to do sixteen sets of sixteen pushups for David's sixteenth birthday, Tony actually did them and I felt it necessary to also do them.  The grandfather, Samwell, noticed
this and dropped down to knockout a few one handed pushups.  Then, before revealing to me that he was trained in the Russian military, demonstrated some self-defense techniques, not for me, but on me.  I could have gone without that!

David held the bucket for less than a minute.
Papik Samvell help it for more like 7 minutes!

At night, we gathered in the lobby and started our long journy to Liban (a Lebanese restaurant) for dinner.  We had some items that we have had before (including French Fries) and were treated to a main course that was a meat in a sour cherry sauce (that is the technical term!).  A few of us shared a bottle of Sicilian wine (which is always the best...sorry, the Sicilian in me.)  At this dinner, we found out why we were given mineral water instead of plain bottled water at many restaurants (the restaurants feel that foreigners would like to try something new) and, while at the restaurant, we were watching some local Armenian television, before being interuppted by MTV and Eminem when the waiter thought we would prefer American TV.  It was changed back shortly at our request. 

After ice cream, Natalie and Hannah
took advantage of the kiddie room.

When dinner was over, a few people went back to the hotel while others continued to
explore the city of Yeravan by visiting a gift shop and getting ice cream.
I myself, as well as Matt headed back out a little bit later on. I did hear that an
awesome "internet club" had openned on the fourth floor of the Shirak hotel.
Another productive, fun day in Armenia!

Genocide memoial, ATP, Lake Sevan

After getting the chance to sleep in slightly more than usual, we all piled into the bus for what we knew was going to be a draining experience. We arrived at the Genocide Museum and Memorial after an anxious bus ride and explored the grounds a bit before entering. Each team member placed a flower at the eternal flame and paid their respects. The museum itself was horrific and beautiful and powerful all at the same time. I know that I speak for everybody when I say that this was an experience none of us will ever forget.

Taking a few minutes on the bus to collect ourselves, we headed out to the Armenian Tree Project headquarters to have a tour of the facilities and learn what they do since they coordinate with the Fuller Center frequently. We tasted fruit picked right from the trees and learned a lot about their charitable work throughout the country.

Because it was such a beautiful day, we then trekked out to Lake Seven - a mere two hour drive on a smelly bus :-) but it was totally worth it. We climbed up what seemed like hundreds of steps to Sevanank, a monastery with a gorgeous view of the lake and mountains. Lunch was served at a seaside restaurant and we then spent some time dipping our feet into the water and skipping stones. It wasn't as cold we we thought it would be! After some shopping where some duduks were purchased, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. A quick stop along the highway to collect some obsidian was a necessity as well.

Dinner was an adventure. Part of the group went to Susan's apartment to prepare a delicious meal of chicken (cooked lovingly by a vegetarian), rice pilaf, left-overs stolen from the previous night's restaurant, salads, bread, green beans, and of course - wine! :-) We ate too much, laughed a lot, watched Susan and Mike belly dance for us, and had a really great time! In honor of young David's birthday, we had a Gata cake and sang for him. After dinner a few people went out for some drinks and another beautiful day in Armenia came to an end.
 
By: Natalie Canamucio

July 17th Plastering

We started off the day on our favorite bus and headed to our favorite unfinished
house.  A couple of good laughs and some more pictures of Ararat along the way and
we arrived at the site.

We shuffled off of the bus and Leo kept David occupied by engaging him in some very "interesting" conversation about the local soccer teams.  This was just a ploy, as inside there was a birthday cake and a suprise waiting for David T.  Although his birthday was not until Wednesday, we wanted to suprise him and celebrate with the people on the site.  "Happy Birthday" was sung and Tigran, the father, gave David a nice gift of an eagle statuette.  Leo gave an excellent speech about being able and willing to celebrate your 16th birthday in another country, doing great work for great people.

After some delicious chocolate cake, it was back to work.  Today we were tackling the jobs inside the house.  We started off "scraping" the sandstone walls inside the house.  The walls are rough to the touch and need to be smoothed out a little before the plaster is applied.  The team got to work and we were done and dusty in no time.

After the scraping, the plaster was mixed and the team started applying it to the walls.  I think there was a bit of a learning curve, but we soon found our groove and became fairly efficient applying the plaster smoothly,quickly and efficiently.

After a delicious lunch (kebabs, potatoes, salad, gata and leftover birthday cake), the group played a unique game of soccer/volley ball to clear out our dusty lungs.  The evening before Matt had purchased a soccer ball for the local boys and we were able to break it in for hopefully a big game later in the week.

 After building up a little sweat, we returned inside and continued to apply our plaster.  By the end of the day, we had completed one bedroom and covered most of the other walls in the rooms and hallway with only the main sitting area left untouched. Towards the end of the day, we were lucky to be visited by Tigran and Sylvie's daughter, ten year old daughter Hasmik.  She had not been able to visit us thus far and this was our first chance to sit and chat with her.  Everyone fell in love with her and she fell in love with Hannah and Rachel.  Nuneh was helpful in translating and we were able to hear about local life for a ten year old girl.

After some more work we took several minutes to clean our supplies and head back to
the bus for the drive home.  No rest for the weary as we only had an hour after we
got home to shower up and get ready for dinner. Or at least the weary had to rest fast and on the trip back!

Dinner was at a local restaurant (Chardash) which Leo had forgotten that he had been to before.  This was evident because we took a very circuitous route and
asking many locals for directions.  After a long walk, we finally found the place and settled in for more food.  After some appetizers, we were treated to our first taste of dolma in Armenia (actually, little 'sarmas' or meat wrapped in grapeleaves).  This was the highlight of the meal although we had some beef as well.

After dinner we were ready for our long walk back as we exited the building.  Leo
and  many in the group were so confused by our walk to get there, that when we cut through an alley right outside the restaurant, we discovered we were only half a block from Republic Square.  A short walk home and we're ready to rest for our sightseeing day off tomorrow.

 By David Sayian 

Toof to the Roof

    Toof to the roof


We started our third work day with a tour of the Paros Lighthouse, a shelter that serves abused pregnant women and mothers.  Seta Ghazarian, our guide, showed us the
rooms where the residents stayed, the playroom for the kids, and the shower rooms.  The team was touched by the stories of what brought the residents in.  We met some

of the mothers and their children.  Seta also showed us where the women are trained in sewing, cooking, and computer skills.

Once we arrived at the work site, we began installing insulation in the attic.  Installing insulation requires pouring a lightweight natural volcanic rock/gravel
above the ceiling through the attic.  The work involved a few members of the team
on the ground filling buckets with gravel while others formed a bucket line in the
attic passing the gravel from the window entry all the way to the end of the attic.  The buckets were lifted up via a pulley system.  A group of 7 or 8 were stationed in the attic where it was very hot and dusty.  While working up there, we had to
keep our knees bent while passing buckets in order to avoid the low beams and exposed nails.  Every one of us hit our heads on the beams several times.  The hard hats were priceless.

We had a traditional Armenian lunch which included, as always, a tomato and
cucumber salad and bread.  Armenian coffee was served during our afternoon break. 

The team worked another shift in the afternoon when the sun had come out making it even hotter in the attic. Several team mates switched out to get a break from the bent position passing buckets. Tho we worked very hard without many rest breaks, the insulation work was not even half done when it was time to go.

We got back to the hotel at 6:30 and went to the Toboule restaurant at 8:00 where
we had Hummos, Baba Ghanoug, fatoosh, cheese-and-spinach borega , and for our main course a sheet of lavash with grilled chicken chunks, tomatoes, onions and fries with 8 crisp lavash toast pieces on top. It was very good. 

After dinner, part of the team went back home while others went out for drinks and to explore the city. We are now getting more familiar with the close part of the city center as we walk to dinner every night and don't feel the need to stick to each other like glue. There is a very active nightlife here with much to see and many places to stop for a drink and conversation without stopping at the same place .


twice.  By Tony Gumushian

Geghard and Garni Sightseeing

I will apologize now for the fact that there are not photos attached to this blog. Evidently the internet  connection here is giving me trouble uploading. I will post photos to Facebook at a future date.  It has now become a future date! :-)


This morning we planned to go sightseeing and have a picnic for lunch. First stop was the grocery store to buy our picnic items. Some chose to go in and see the store. Fortunately not all as we would have overwhelmed the staff. They really like to keep a close eye on people in the store. They will follow you around watching what you are looking at.

Supplies purchased and loaded,  and we were ready to head off to Geghard. It is officially Vartavar day now too. As we are traveling through the smaller villages on our way we are watching for gatherings of wet people with buckets and water bottles along the way. Occasionally we take on a little water
but are pretty good about getting the windows shut in time.

We scope out a new picnicing spot along the way and put in our reservations to come back. We arrive at Geghard which is a monastery originally carved out of a single, huge rock. As it is Sunday it is very crowded. There is a group watching the mountain across the way. As we look up we see someone is climbing the mountain and as they arrive at the top they wave an Armenian flag and the group claps and cheers.

We move in to the Monastic enclosure and begin exploring. In the topmost carved out room we sing, relishing in the amzingly perfect accoustical surrounding. I sing "Amazing Grace"  and "Sanctuary," taking turns with Leo who sings several songs in Armenian. We listen as the sounds echo in a truly lovely way.

As we finish and head back to the bus we stop to buy Gata, Walnut Soujuk and Fruit Lavash from several of the many vendors there to add to our picnic lunch. As we begin our journey back to the picnic spot we reserved, we notice dark clouds coming in.
Large drops of rain hit the windshield as we arrive at our destination. God had decided to join in on Vartavar! There was one pavilion unoccupied, which was ours. No table or chairs, but now they would bring them. We quickly moved into the pavillion with many bags of food as the table and chairs arrived. Jashsaran!
There was some salami type meat, very salty string cheese, tabboule/eech, lavash, fruit, olives, halva, walnut soujuk, fruit lavash, GATA (YUM) and chocolates for dessert! We were too full to consider carving the watermelon so that will go for tomorrows lunch at the worksite. We ate huddled around the table listening to the storm around us and hoping not to get wet. It was finally letting up as we finished. Perfect timing!

VARTAVAR in full swing!

We went on to Garni, which is the oldest remaining Pagan Temple in Armenia. It was reconstructed in 70AD. Unfortunately,...it is still Vartavar, and we have three generations of very beautiful blond women in our group, Voncille, Heather and Hannah, who attract alot of water to them. There was a group of youth who set themselves up to wait for us to depart off the van. Melik yelled at them to leave us alone, but in the end it was too tempting and Hannah, the youngest, was drenched!

Vendors outside of Gari

They then ran ahead or us looking for more opportunities to get this new group of dry people soaked. Fortunately we didn't get into too much trouble and were not too wet to get in the bus before any more drenching.

Armenian National Music Association's
Music and Dance ensemble

We were too late to make a stop at Vernisage so it was straight to the hotel to get ready to walk to see the Armenian National Music Association's Music and Dance Ensemble. They performed songs and dance from different regions hout Armenia. It was a wonderful show and very enjoyable to see.
Afterwards we went to a Lahmajoon place for a fast food Armenian dinner. Then we took a stroll to the Opera House area and indulged in "Melody" for dessert. I will not elucidate as  my team mates for my next team will be reading this and I don't want to spoil the surprise!


The infamous "Melody" dessert!

6 of us headed back to the hotel and the rest of us, looking for a good time, found a jazz bar thanks to a chance meeting with some airport friends of several from our group. We enjoyed ourself immensely. When we asked for the bill we had an unexpected surprise in that there was a $5 per person cover charge. Oops!