It’s been a while since I’ve been able to write, but let me assure you that I’ve been very busy. Our three months of training are winding down and in just little over two weeks I will be sworn in along with my fellow trainees. Last week and for the next two weeks we are doing practica which means that we are actually teaching different health topics to students of various age groups in as much Armenian as we can and for the words we don’t know we have an interpreter. It has gone pretty well so far but it is tiring. And on Sunday we are hosting a health fair where I and the other six volunteers that live in Solak are sharing some helpful medical advice and practical broachers for the community to use as a resource.
Summer too or at least summer heat has finally begun and along with it has come hotter weather and a lack of water. Last week we did not have hardly any water to use for such luxuries as bathing and cloths washing. I happen to live on the top of a hill which makes it even worse because like I’ve said before the water we do get comes from city pipes not an actual faucet in the kitchen or bathroom. So as more people use it below the hill the water pressure decreases and less makes it to the top. Then the priority isn’t for ones own needs but instead for watering the gardens which every Armenian has and they grow delicious fruits and vegetables such as apricots, cherries, tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, potatoes, and apples which would rival any grocery store produce section. But once the garden has been suitably flooded then we can start gathering water for personal needs. Which I did and I’m now glad to say all my laundry has been cleaned although I did where my suit slacks and church shoes with no socks the other day much to the chagrin of my teacher. Its also worth recounting one event I witnessed. Because water is in such short supply people sort of go to extremes when it does come. And the pipes are all exposed above the ground so as I was walking to school I noticed this man cutting a pipe in half and diverting the water to his own yard. Of course that means it didn’t make it to the neighbors houses and the next day I happened to be present when the neighbors figured out why they didn’t have water and needless to say they were not happy! Along with the hot weather also comes long days of constant rain, for instance the other night we took the train from a nearby town to our village once the train arrived the rain began to pour and we were all soaked. But it continued to rain for the entire night and then the next night it did the same. Also, that second night I had a “sleep over” at my friend Danny’s house something we both found funny since the last time I had a sleep over I think I was in middle school.
The next two weeks will be busy with teaching, test taking and saying goodbye to not only my fellow trainees who will be dispersed throughout the country but also to our families who we have all grown rather close to over the past two months. For now this is all I can think of to say but stay tuned for more exciting tales.
(The picture is of my former host family)

Love, Michael