The good news is that our 6 final team mates arrived safely with oly a 2 hour delay. which still gave them the opportunity to get a fair amount of rest before beginning the day. We met in the lobby of the Shirak Hotel where the previous team, led by Suzy Daghlian were also meeting to prepare for their final day's excursion.
Side note- Suzy is our team leader, Leo's, cousin. We had met on a visit Dan and I had made to New Jersey last year so we had a happy greeting for each other. They were going to the Holy city, Echmiadzin.
Fuller Center had to rent a bus for us that day as our usual driver, Melik, was driving Suzy's team in the new, big bus and the old small bus was not big enough for our team of 16. We went to the office for our informational orientation about Fuller Center and the need in Armenia. The bus driver took the bus to go get a tire changed as there was an issue. By Susan Bosovich
After watching a short film and learning about all the accomplishments of the Fuller Center around the world and in Armenia, each of our team members received a Fuller Center t-shirt and we set off for the first time to our job site in the remote village of Irind in the Aragotsn province.
Driving in a rented van with a substitute driver, we made several u-turns in order to get ourselves out of downtown Yerevan and onto the main road towards Irind. The ride to Irind took us through the dramatic Armenian countryside. We drove by luxurious homes, typical Armenian country homes, and many half-built homes, most waiting decades to be completed. After asking for directions, we found the village of Irind; however, there was no sign. We asked the local villagers where the Haratounyan family resides and were directed to follow the road up the hill. We finally arrived at our job site and were greeted by our host family, Tigran and Salvi and two of their four children.
The house is nearly completed on the inside. All the walls are up in their 4 bedroom house, complete with a modern bathroom, fortunately for us. After a brief tour of the house, we set right to work on filling in what will be the front porch with rocks, which were in no short supply. The Armenian terrain is covered with rocks. Our team made a couple of lines and passed buckets of rocks; others used wheelbarrows to gather and haul the rocks to the porch.
We took our first lunch break at 2pm since we got a late start. We feasted on bread and cheese, delicious beef-steak with thick sliced golden potatoes, and of course, sweet red tomatoes. We returned to work for another hour or so and then had a coffee break of Armenian surj and various local cakes. A few coffee cups were read and there were several predictions of dancing in the near future.
Our tired but envigorated team boarded the bus for the return to Yerevan. We came to a fork in the road, first went right, then decided to go left. Our driver found the main road and was very impatient to get home. He kept passing cars on the two-lane highway when, finally, he was pulled over by the police. After waiting 15 minutes in the hot van, our driver was given a fine, and we continued on our
return home to The Shirak Hotel.
We all met up for dinner at the Color of Pomegranate. We were a large group of about as were joined by the previous team headed by Suzanne Daghlian. We enjoyed another delicious meal of Imam Bayaldi stuffed with meat. There was also roast chicken and fries. And of course, tomatoes and cucumbers. Desert was tea or armenian coffee with gata. We had alot of great conversation, some reconnecting with old friends and making new friends. A perfect end to the day.
Written by Alexis Lowe
Side note- Suzy is our team leader, Leo's, cousin. We had met on a visit Dan and I had made to New Jersey last year so we had a happy greeting for each other. They were going to the Holy city, Echmiadzin.
Fuller Center had to rent a bus for us that day as our usual driver, Melik, was driving Suzy's team in the new, big bus and the old small bus was not big enough for our team of 16. We went to the office for our informational orientation about Fuller Center and the need in Armenia. The bus driver took the bus to go get a tire changed as there was an issue. By Susan Bosovich
After watching a short film and learning about all the accomplishments of the Fuller Center around the world and in Armenia, each of our team members received a Fuller Center t-shirt and we set off for the first time to our job site in the remote village of Irind in the Aragotsn province.
Driving in a rented van with a substitute driver, we made several u-turns in order to get ourselves out of downtown Yerevan and onto the main road towards Irind. The ride to Irind took us through the dramatic Armenian countryside. We drove by luxurious homes, typical Armenian country homes, and many half-built homes, most waiting decades to be completed. After asking for directions, we found the village of Irind; however, there was no sign. We asked the local villagers where the Haratounyan family resides and were directed to follow the road up the hill. We finally arrived at our job site and were greeted by our host family, Tigran and Salvi and two of their four children.
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| Tigran, the father with 1 of the twins |
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| Gohar and Salvi the mother, with 1 of the twins |
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| Papik, Tatik and the 3 year old twins, Sarkis and Sason |
The house is nearly completed on the inside. All the walls are up in their 4 bedroom house, complete with a modern bathroom, fortunately for us. After a brief tour of the house, we set right to work on filling in what will be the front porch with rocks, which were in no short supply. The Armenian terrain is covered with rocks. Our team made a couple of lines and passed buckets of rocks; others used wheelbarrows to gather and haul the rocks to the porch.
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| Lunch (Jasharan) in their kitchen |
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| The bus ride back |
return home to The Shirak Hotel.
We all met up for dinner at the Color of Pomegranate. We were a large group of about as were joined by the previous team headed by Suzanne Daghlian. We enjoyed another delicious meal of Imam Bayaldi stuffed with meat. There was also roast chicken and fries. And of course, tomatoes and cucumbers. Desert was tea or armenian coffee with gata. We had alot of great conversation, some reconnecting with old friends and making new friends. A perfect end to the day.
Written by Alexis Lowe
Thank you Alex and Susan for the update. Sounds like you are having a great time
ReplyDelete- Carol Talanian (David Sayian's brother, and Rachel and David's Mom)