Shahumyan

So, we have both made it safely to Shahumyan. I was greeted with a warm welcome and great big hugs by our host family on the evening that Sam was ill and spent the night in the PC medical office in Yerevan. He joined us the following afternoon, and the family was equally happy to meet him. Our host mom is amazing, and has been cooking him a bland diet of boiled potatoes and eggs, which is exactly what he needs. 

The village of Shahumyan itself is small, centering around one central paved street (the rest of the streets are packed dirt/gravel or loose stones). Our host family's house is located just on the edge of town, and the village's only school is at the other end of the paved street. Each morning, we walk along the street to go to language class at the school, and see people going about their daily lives. 

Many people here have a two or three cows, and it's completely normal for folks to drive them along the street, trailing chains from around their necks, and once outside of town, use the chains to stake them in the brush along the side of the road. This system allows the cows to graze, and conveniently keeps the sides of the road clear of vegetation. It also has the unfortunately side effect of allowing the cows to poo both in the street and on the sidewalk, which keeps us (sometimes literally) on our toes while walking around town. 

We also see families walking to school, or sometimes to church. The towering Mount Ararat looms over the street in beautiful scenic views on clear days. Today was a good Ararat day, so I took a picture of Sam. Unfortunately, the mountain doesn't look nearly as large in the photo as it does in real life- I think it must be similar to the effect of a full moon, sitting low on the horizon: it always looks bigger in real life than in photos. 

So, that's it for now- we're safe, happy, and relatively healthy (Sam's been taking it easy, but has more and more energy each day). They're keeping us very busy, and internet is difficult to come by, but other than that, we don't have anything to complain about. Check back soon to see if I can rectify that situation. :)