Border to Border, Day 1: Meghri

Border to Border , Day 0: Packing

Okay- phew- I made it through the last week and a half, and I'm packed and ready to go. Tomorrow a van will pick us up and bring us and the rest of our Walking Crew down to southerly town of Meghri, where we'll have our first day teaching, first night camping, and the day after that, our first day of hiking. I'm not bringing my laptop on this trek, and I hate typing on my phone, so from here on out, it'll be only photo posts until the end of the trek. Wish me (& my gear) luck!

April Showers Bring...

Right before we head out for Border to Border and Sisian explodes with wildflowers. I guess the good news is that we can spend next June here at site and enjoy the season for all it's worth then.

Yerevan

So, and unexpected trip to Yerevan turned into the Yerevan Trip Part Forever when a last minute meeting scheduled for Saturday got pushed to today got pushed to Thursday. So, I'll be here for a solid week before running back home in time to pack for Border to Border which starts in just SEVEN DAYS! Aaaand: I'm sick. :( So, let's see if I can make it through the madness that is the last week of May...

Djengelov Hats

Ahh! I totally forgot to put these photos up back when I took them- after we went on the hike to Uyts with Arus, Tyler and Andrea, Andrea and I, along with Arus's mom and sister Meline, cooked Djengelov Hats, which is just about the most awesome cooking experience to date. It was awesome. I am totally in love with Arus's family. They're super amazing- I'm so glad that Andrea introduced us.

Hiking Adventures

More Border to Border Prep!

Hot Spring

The village next door has a hot spring! Okay, really it's more of a luke-warm spring, and it's super dirty because they use it to bathe the sheep before shearing them, but still, hot spring!

No More Indoor Camping!

Since we moved into our independent housing in mid-March, Sam and I have been sleeping in our tent that we pitched in the living room.

This weekend, that was finally over as the man who had a saw capable of cutting the plywood we needed to fix our bed was back in Sisian and had some free time. We got the pieces cut, carried them back to the house (well, Sam carried them back, I was relieved of that duty by two of my students who spotted us from across the road and wouldn't be happy until I let them carry the wood for me):

And finally, we fixed our bed:

It'll be nice to sleep in a real bed tonight with real sheets. :)

Milk

Since I've been in and out of the yard all afternoon every day moving piles of poo from the front of the house back into the garden, the neighbors have started to take notice of us. Mostly, they've taken notice to the effect of asking me "Where's your husband? Why isn't he doing that?" instead of answering "good question" (just a joke, Sam, just a joke...) I take it as an opportunity to tell them that I'm strong, that it's good exercise, and I don't need his help to move the large pile of earth. They think I'm crazy. One woman took pity on me and gave us a large container of milk. I don't know what we'll do with it, but it was really sweet nonetheless.

Some mornings are glorious

No words needed. 

Garden Progress

Talking with Arus and her father about my gardening envy turned out to be a great move! They helped us connect with some folks who were selling manure, and so we got a great big truck load of sheep poo unloaded at our house this morning. I've never been so happy to have someone dump a great big pile of poop at my door! 

Green House

Today we visited the family of the couple (Arus and Tyler) that we went walking to Uyts with Andrea a little while back. Arus's father is growing tomatoes and cucumbers to sell at market later in the summer. He's got a really impressive green house set up in their backyard. I'm suuuper jealous.

ABC Party

Today the 3rd graders, who spend the year learning the Latin alphabet and how to read English had their culminating school event: the ABC Party. The students have spend the last several months rehearsing their parts for the performance in class, and learning songs that they sang for their parents and teachers today. Overall, I think they liked the event very much, and had a good time on stage.

Uyts

A nearby PCV, Andrea, introduced us to some new friends in Sisian today. Together we walked out to the neighboring village of Uyts (called by the old pre-Soviet name "Ooz" by those who live there), and picked wild greens which we'll later use to make a delicious local bread called "Djengelov Hats" (literally: 'Bread with Greens' in the local dialect). It was really great to meet this young couple living in Sisian and spend some time with Andrea. I hope we can do something like this again soon. In the mean time, here are some photos from the walk:

Rainy Days

Although the weather in Sisian is overwhelmingly sunny and dry, every once and a while we'll get a storm which tears through the town like a hot knife through butter. It takes approximately 10 minutes to walk from the center of town to our house, and when I left town square, it was bright and sunny. But a mountain squall came barreling through the pass as I walked home, and by the time I got to our house, this is what the weather looked like:

Sheep

As we take more frequent and longer walks in preparation for Border to Border, we run into more and more of the locals. Here are a few of the most numerous inhabitants of Sisian & surrounding villages enjoying a mid-afternoon snack.

Garden Beds

It's a lot of work, reclaming garden space from the wild grasses that have taken up residence in our back yard, but we're starting to make some progress:

Countryside Walks

Sam and I are trying to get ready for our month-long Border to Border hike coming up in June, so we're taking longer walks around Sisian. Here are a few shots from the surrounding countryside.

Lizard

I have always associated lizards with hot, arid regions: Arizona, New Mexico, deserts and desert islands, etc. That we have them here in our cold mountain town of Sisian is always a surprise for me. Today, this gentleman was sunning himself on the edge of a cement patio of sorts, and was kind enough to let me take his picture.

What a difference a month makes

A month ago, the top picture was what I was looking at when I walked out our front door. Today, I look out and see the bottom photo. Again, I'm shocked at what a difference one month makes.

It's incredible to me that 30 days can transform a place so completely. And when you're experiencing the transformation for the very first time, it's even more powerful.

How was I to know, back when we signed the rental agreement in cold and blustery March, that a handful of weeks later our front door would be surrounded by blossoms, awash with  fragrance, and positively alive with the buzzing and humming of bees? It sounds as if an entire swarm has taken up residence just above our laundry lines. I love it.

The bees are my new best friends. We work cordially alongside each other: I hang my laundry or work in the garden and they gather their nectar- pollinating my pears in the process. It's almost like having someone keep you company while you work outside.

They've even done me the solid of letting me know when it's about to rain. This time of year in Sisian is characterized by dry, pleasant days which are sporadically interrupted by sudden, violent downpours. I don't know where these storms come from- one minute it's beautiful out, and the next you're getting soaked to the bone as rain lashes down on you. Fortunately, my buzzing little friends always know when one of these sudden mountain squalls are coming, and so if I'm attentive enough, the sudden silence from the pear tree which was thrumming and buzzing a moment before usually gives me enough time to get the laundry in off the line before the short but torrential downpour wastes a morning's worth of drying time.