This past weekend I was in Yerevan. What else is new? Back during training every week we had the opportunity to earn Lee Bucks (our directors name is Lee) and with them at the end of training we could use them to bid on things at an auction. Well, I bid on a dinner at one of the staff members houses. So this weekend I and my buddy Dave had the dinner that we bought. We ate pizza and played games and I had a brownie for the first time since leaving the states back in May. It was delicious, in fact all of the food was really good. Our hosts were former Peace Corps Volunteers in Benin, Africa just under a decade ago. Over dinner we all talked about our experiences in Peace Corps and them having been in Africa just ten years ago is completely different then my being in Armenia now. For one thing they were in Africa a completely different continent but what I thought was interesting was the differences in communication. For example I call my family once a week and spend about $1.50 doing it. They on the other hand had to first make a reservation to make a phone call then hope that the people they were calling would be home to answer. After what was probably a fuzzy line with a multiple second delay they were given a steep bill. Obviously it couldn’t have been done on a very regular basis. My friend Roni who’s mom was in Peace Corps told me that when her mom did her service she only got to call once a year on Christmas and that was it! I also can go to the internet everyday if I wanted to and I could even get internet put in my room. But I choose to be a little withdrawn from the modern world so I try to go only once or twice a week.
Today at my school the kids put on a play about the fall season and all its bounty. To dress up the stage they had a large fruit basket with a bottle of wine poking out. Can you imagine a play at elementary school with the set decorations consisting of wine bottles? Different cultures different ways of thinking I guess. Also today I was making myself a cup of coffee when I realized that the warmer I usually use was missing so I took it to the cafeteria to warm up. While there I met the cafeteria ladies for the first time and they were nice. Tomorrow I’m helping make lunch for the kids. Also while I was there one of the ladies read my fortune through cards they weren’t tarot cards I don’t know what they were but I had a good fortune for the most part. I even tried my hand at reading theirs. The funniest part came when one of the ladies said through a heavy but still understandable accent f**k you! A little taken aback I asked what she had said, she explained that she hears it on TV all the time but what does it mean she asked. I said it isn’t nice. I guess if you don’t know what it means then there is no reason to edit it on the TV. In fact in a lot of my travels I’ve heard such head wrenching words. What came to my mind was when I was in Russia on a mission trip and we put together a dance for the kids. As a Methodist missions group I’m not sure how the words would have been taken had they been translated into Russian, but that event still to this day makes me laugh.
