Haghpat & Sanahin, my "Slumdog Millionaire"

In celebration of the warm weather sticking around this November, my closest sitemates and I rent out our buddy's taxi and head on a day roadtrip...

Haghpat

Haghpat is one of the most famous temples in Armenia, located in Lori Marz near Alaverdi. The area has produced artifacts from as old as the Paleolithic Era.

If you look hard, you can see what's left of the huge fresco painting of what I would consider a depiction of God on the topmost part under the arch.

We luckily came on a Sunday- heard and saw a bit of a mass!

These holes held all the precious items at the Temple.

At one time there was a concealing fake floor laid on top of them.

It is now a tradition to drop dram into the small safes, like wishing wells.

Sanahin

Sanahin is easy to miss, though you would not want to.

Lisa, Armen (the taxi driver who seems to know every past volunteer), and I lit candles next to eachother!

The flooring of Sanahin, or many monasteries and temples, must be made of gravestone markers. I don't know much about it, but these pictures show some very primitive depictions of humans. I've seen a lot of similar gravestone-like stones in many of the other places I've visited, but none like this. Maybe they were made later on, they are a little too well preserved to be as old as that style of drawing. Right?

Artifacts! Listening into a tour guide's speech (but in Armenian), I heard that the room held a great deal of precious cultural materials from various places (I caught Greek and Latin) as well as Armenian. They studied and preserved the artifacts at Sanahin.

My "slumdog millionaire"

If I really have to explain what happened, then you probably also don't get the movie reference. It hurt, but atleast the hole wasn't full of waste. I took the door and the whole floor a couple feet under with me, from trying to skip over the boards in front that looked weak. (The inside looked strong!! Kind of) Haha. It hadn't been used in a long, long time and a butterfly could have caused this. I don't know what I was thinking, I will have to remember to lay off the honey and that I don't weigh 10 pounds! :)

By the way, this kind of thing could probably only happen to me....

Kindergarten #1 goes to a Bridge of Hope Event

November 10th is "Action Day".

Today the Bridge of Hope used all those paper hands I've been cutting out for the last two weeks! Between the schools and community members of Noyemberyan, and by the help of an ambitious group of volunteering pre-teens, hundreds of these paper hands were hung on a banner in support of the handicapped. Wishes were written on the hands by all who came except those not old enough to write. The event took place in all the surrounding villages as well as in front of the park here, in Noyemberyan. A successful event, beautiful weather, music in the park... today was a good day.

Kindergarten #1 showed their support by participating! (How interesting it was to help move a group of 2-6 year olds down a path and across a street- it was terrifying actually.) Afterwards, our kindergarteners had a bit of time to relax in the park! At lunch, with our lentil soup, we were treated to some candy by the Bridge of Hope!

Today is one of those days I couldn't be happier to be where I am.

ww2 memorial hike

Change is... well... Change is change.

We could talk about change all day-

Our brains and voices pattering away.

Beautiful things like forested mountains are ignored

When our mouths are busier than our eyes and legs.

The Bridge of Hope

My Paper Crafts counterpart & my buddy Gohar

Nodar & Gohar helping gut the pumpkin

Nodar cutting the pumpkin

All the kindergarteners and teachers with "Mookey" and Donald Duck for a birthday party celebration at the Kindergarten.

I was forced to dance with Donald... HAHA. They actually took a video of it too...

The birthday boy, Nrek, 2 years old! His mother, a teacher at the kindergarten and his fantastic friends!

my room, my view, musical chairs, our hike

what i see looking off the balcony

half my room on the cleaniest of days...

Today was one of those days I feel it's a miracle I survived. quite literally.! My sitemates and I hiked a couple mountainous kilometers away in the forest to see an old monastery. If you know me, that just sounds ridiculously false, but it's true. I was told we planned this trip out weeks ago, but by the seat of my pants already hungry and tired, I met up with my friends after coming from town with absolutely nothing hiking related except my hiking shoes.

In exchange for a couple hours filled with anticipated peril of rolling down a gorge or having a lung collapse, I made it up a... what I will proudly call a pathless mountain... and I feel really satisfied and blessed with the result. Now things hurt on my body that I didn't know could hurt but I got to see something hidden and beautiful that very few people on this Earth will ever know. Of course, I was the excessively muddy one that had to stop a million times and got pissed when my sitemates tried to help me or hurry me along because it was getting late and starting to rain. I think all was forgiven when we got to the top of what one sitemate called "the fun part" HA-HA-HA.

I don't always in hindsight thank myself for the Art History minor, I remember lonnnngg classes where attendance was necessary and I had to write lonnngg structured papers all the time analyzing things that in my opinion, may not need to be analyzed (atleast not by me). Despite what my mind initially remembers, it's nice to have an eye for what's around me. Now that I'm in Armenia I often see old artworks, especially carvings and architecture. I appreciate that I am educated to appreciate and read into these types of things. The newer part of the monastery had an occulus, a lot of very interesting biblical carvings in profile, and little perfectly kept rooms for the monks. The older part was less preserved but had an altar and a couple nooks where we all lit candles. It's peace was well worth the grueling hike.

Taking a different way back, we had a grand ole mud-sliding dirty time. Again, quite literally. But... atleast it was funny! Here I am now, alive and dry and happy to have spent this time with my sitemates, to have seen the Tavush nature at it's best, and to have seen something that predates just about everything but JC himself. Next hike- Aragat... (um, no).

53 seconds at Kindergarten #1

Tatik Nellie's Birthday

This is how we do it!
Nellie and Armen

Gohar (host mother), Nellie (birthday girl), Armine (my tutor)

Me and my buddy Mehair... He has already learned the workbook I'm holding... which I am struggling through, haha.

Nodar and little guy

These are some pictures from last night at big Nellie's birthday party:) It was a fun time, despite my terrible dancing.
There are three Nellies in my Armenian family- Tatik Nellie, me, and little Nellie my tutor's daughter.

It gets confusing- sometimes they call me "Nelliek" (with the "eek" sound it implies little, like shoon=dog, shoonik= puppy).

Two weeks ago was little Nellie's birthday party and I told everyone I was changing my name to Hikanoosh (hi-kon-oosh), so I could have an Armenian name... even though Nellie seems to be quite a popular Armenian name as it is. Hikanoosh is truly the most Armenian name for a female, no joke it literally is the female version of "Hike", the one which the country is named after. (Hayastan) (Hike-a-kan refers to anything Armenian, similar to using American).
Craziness.! Anyway, everyday is an adventure. I think I really need to start journaling, because lately I have quite a bit to say and you guys are going to get sick of reading my blog everyday.

Today I went to 4 villages with the Bridge of Hope to meet the School Directors and the Mayors. It was quite interesting to see the computer labs, only 1 out of the 4 had internet, and I saw some computers that belong in museums! It was my first time since PST being in an actual school, so it was good to see what they look like around here. I'm thinking of making my TEFL sitemates bring me to class next week, so I can see what it's like and teach the kids all sorts of terrible slang.

Hope all of you over there are doing great!

a cpl pics, a video...

Me and Gohar posing for the paparazzi (Nodar, haha).

I told you the kindergarten's toys weren't great! j/k, this is a decoration!
But if it was at my college back home, I would think this would be a conceptual piece made because of the contradiction of burdock and teddy bears.



Enker (on-kerr) (Friend) Gohar, and Enker Arrevik preparing the younger group's room at the Kindergarten... and yes, my name is Enker Nellie


The older kindergarteners' room... I would want to be in this group if I were a little kid! They have a new bathroom, a whole separate room for their naptime beds, a puppet stage, and a real stage!! If only they had running water and heat!

This is another video from the Bridge of Hope 5 year celebration that I talked about before. This one above was pretty hilarious but I think the effect is kind of dulled out through a lens and shaky hands.