Oh look!

my oh my, another crazy day.

tuesday we all went to the manuscript museum and had a hardcore study sesh for the impending midterm...

wednesday we all packed up and made our way to echmiazin- the home of the Armenian Church. Following that, we all went to Sardanabad- one of the 3 major battles for 1918 Armenian independence. There was a museum of Armenian history at Sardanabad containing artifacts from thousands of years ago, and oddly enough the things were right out in the open and people could touch them- very different from American Museums. we had a hilarious encounter with a side-of-the-road watermelon salesman on the way back and after being out all day we finally got home.

A couple of us got a call from the bookie saying he wanted to meet at the park and hang out. We spent time with the bookie and my new love Nerses when all of a sudden the best thing in the world happend.

As we sat under the gazebo in the park, the bookie yells out and says "look an Armenian Gay!" and there, clear as day across the park i could see the hair gel sparkling in the distance. his name is Noy, and hes totally fabulous, and we quickly became best friends.

time to get ready for a rockin weekend.

-G

Always an adventure....

Saturday night was peppered with leopard print at opera bar, where we, of course, brought the party. Due to the wild night, sunday was naturally our day of rest. Sunday night however we had the romantic idea of going out to republic square to catch the sound and light show atop a roof cafe. Sounds great? well it was, especially after the impromptu thunderstorm that drenched us and our food- of course, being "americatsi" and all, we were too stubborn to leave the patio- chanting "USA" as we finally made our way inside...

Today was particularly educational as we met with former Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian at his think tank "civilitas foundation." We got a chance to pick the brain of him and his director, Salpi, about Armenian Foreign and Domestic policy.

Of course this endeavor was followed by Armenian Ice cream....some of the best in the world!

in other news- shout outs to Michael DeRamo for being my favorite number one, Rose Thornton for her looming 21st birthday, and Emma O'Leary, for keeping the fun alive in MA.

-G!

khor virab

ahh the first weekend in Armenia....of course we had club night friday night, and saturday we spent the day at khor virab, the monastery/former prison where the king of armenia officially converted to christianity in 301 ad. you could see the turkish border!

A fashion pioneer...

a couple days before, we were all about to leave the house when the sound of the heavens falling down hit us and we looked outside to see golfball sized hail falling down. naturally, pictures followed, including this one!

So a brief recap- since being in armenia i've already got lost twice, caught in a massive hailstorm, crashed a birthday party, befriended a bookie...and its not even the weekend yet!!!!!!! Yesterday was a particularly interesting day as after class and an art museum, a couple of us went home to shower. alas, the water pressure was broken, but luckily we have a dungeon pit of a pool that we hosed down in, ice cold style. after, we went out to get a bite to eat, and ended up sitting in on some kids birthday, and proceeded to have armenian-american dancefest 2009. we went out to republic square to catch a daily sound and light show, but it was not dark enough so we spent some time at a hookah bar up the street. afterwards we walked by the light show again which is incredible! we made our way back home and ended up hanging by a playground near our place, only to encounter "valee" the local bookie who wishes to improve upon his english. after discussing all the curse words in armenian, he proceeded to show us his betting area, which will surely become the new party pad. needless to say, sleep was well deserved that night.

love, peace and elbow grease

The Eagle has Landed

so thus far, after a wild and long plane ride over here, i have been able to wake up every morning to see mount ararat from the balcony of the sweet house that we are all in. 14 of us, one house, with a sauna, barbeque pit and garden in the back.....oh ya, AND they had the fridge fully stocked for us when we got there...i could get used to this. ..

Billy Mays revisited

So in light of current events, I would like to address one of my former blog posts about Billy Mays. He may have been as annoying as fuck, but he was an innovator in informercial sales. his talents are unrivaled, and he will be missed......or at least....noticeably absent from my cable box.

Armenia

So its summer 2009...i've already almost been arrested...twice...have bruises all over my legs, and have almost switched races due to my tan.....so far its been a great summer. As of tomorrow however, i will not be summering here in the US. Yes, its a time in every womans life where she must up and leave to the most random place she can think of...Armenia. Here i will post adventures and thoughts while i am in said country, so keep tabs! I'll miss yall already, but ill be back soon enough, so PEACE!

ps- dont text me or call me cuz it just simply will not work.