Prince Mountain

Shahumyan may have had Mount Ararat, but Sisian has a mountain of it's own to be proud of. Called Ishkhan Sar, or "Prince Mountain", I first saw him when Sasha and Andrea took us to see Zorats Qarer.

At that time, I didn't realize you could see him from Sisian proper, but today I took a slightly different way to work. I rounded a corner, and suddenly there he was- taking up practically teh entire horizon. It took my breath away.

I found them!!

I finally found them! I knew there were farm animals in Sisian! Today, my long search yielded results: 3 calves were staked to a post right off the town's main square! Boom. Cows.

More Evidence

I'm still looking for the farm animals I know live in Sisian. Apart from the donkey-cart I saw in our first week here, I haven't seen a single one- but I know they're here. Today, I found even more evidence to this fact: a giant pile of horse poop hiding amongst the fallen leaves. I have no idea how it go there, since this particular pile is located on a somewhat isolated patio, used as an outdoor sitting space for a seasonal cafe in the center of town... but it's there, and that's a fact. I'll find whoever left it eventually, I just need to keep my eyes open...

Thanksgiving, Pt 2

After cooking and cleaning up after breakfast, the rest of the day was spent preparing for the Main Event that evening. I made 17 apple turnovers, and Sam made a roasted root vegetable  dish seasoned with maple syrup and rosemary. People came and left Ina's apartment where we were cooking, fetching other dishes that had already been prepared and stored in her fridge, and carrying them the 20 minute walk from her apartment to the hotel where we had rented an event hall for the dinner. We scrambled to get our dishes finished in time, and finally- carrying dishes and plates precariously stacked with food- caught a taxi to join the others at the hotel.

We  were the last ones to arrive at the dinner. The table was laid and everyone was going around, sharing the things they were thankful for. We were immediately ushered to our seats, poured wine (in true Armenian style) and asked to share what we were thankful for. My choice this year was Sasha and Andrea, our site-mate and next nearest site-made. The memory of their warm welcome to us was fresh in my mind, and without Sasha to so the legwork of getting a taxi, I'm not certain that we would have attended the Goris Thanksgiving party at all.

Once the Thanksgiving toasts were finished, we all dug in. The real highlight of the evening for me was that someone's parents had sent them a can of cranberry sauce, and they were kind enough to share it with everyone at the dinner. Another volunteer had somehow gotten her hands on some sweet potatoes (I'm not sure how, but I think some international customs regulations may have been- bent?- in their procurement...) And another volunteer made some of the best pumpkin pie I've ever had.

After dinner, the group trouped back to Ina's house, where the party continued. At this point, it transformed from a dinner party to something more at home in an undergrad frat house, and I went to bed. That kind of party has never been my scene, and it turns out that I find them even less enjoyable now than I did in college.

The next morning, Sunday, we woke up to find that the previous night's revelries had blown the apartment's only fuse, and furthermore (because he locks the fuse box) the landlord would have t obe called in order to get the electricity turned back on. The issue with this was that the apartment was a little bit trashed in the aftermath of the party, and Ina didn't want to call her landlord until it was cleaned up.

Without heat or hot water, the apartment was a chilly place to spend the morning. Most of the volunteers went to a local restaurant for brunch (there were rumors that this place serves actual bacon!). Sam and I spend the morning cleaning the apartment, doing the dishes, and in general tidying up the place so that once every one had left, Ina would be able to get her pwer turned back on. We finished just in time to join folks at the restaurant and grab a bite to eat before catching the once  daily bus back to Sisian.

Thanksgiving, Pt 1

For our first Thanksgiving away from the States, Sam and I traveled from our town of Sisian to the closest real city: Goris. Goris is a 45 minute taxi ride from Sisian, through beautiful hilly country. We didn't pass through a single town or village for the entire trip. We left Sisian on Friday afternoon and stayed in Ina, an A22 volunteer living in Goris, on Friday night. The Grand Thanksgiving Dinner was planned for Saturday evening.

Because we were only minorly contributing to the dinner itself, we decided to prepare breakfast for the group of early birds congregating in Ina's apartment on Saturday morning.

 We had all the ingredients to make buttermilk pancakes- even some real maple syrup!

So, away we went! Well, truthfully, away Sam went. 

I just helped by making an apple compote to help stretch the precious maple syrup.

In the end, breakfast was delicious, and earned up the title of Pancake Masters. 

To be continued...

On my walk to work

We get a solid layer of frost everyday now, although things usually thaw in the afternoon. It makes for some very pretty pictures on the walk to work in the morning.

The spines of ice and the spines of the thistle leaves blended together, and the bright colors of the turning leaf caught my eye as I passed this little plant today. 

And just a block up the street, the little stream that  flows by the side of the road had splashed up and coated the grass that grows bu the side, encasing it in a crystal case of ice while the stream babbled by. 

I take a few pictures every day, when I see  something that catches my eye as I walk around town. It reminds me of the pictures I used to take around Providence when I would walk Scuppers every afternoon. There, spring and summer were my favorite seasons for taking photographs: the small front gardens people kept in Providence made for some wonderful flower pictures there. But here I wonder if autumn and winter might not be best for interesting photographs? I guess we'll find out in the spring. 

Birthdays

Today was Thanksgiving in the US, but here it was our little host sister's birthday. Birthdays in Armenia are great parties: friends and family come together to eat an enormous meal, there is cake, laughing, & music- preferably preformed by party guest. Families break out their homemade cognac, and many- many- toasts are made to the person whose birthday it is, to their parents, grandparents, to parents and grandparents in general, to children in general, to the children that Sam and I haven't had yet, and to generally whatever pops into any of the men's heads. The main course of horovats meat and dolma is followed by fruit and coffee, after which the cake is cut and served. The celebrations generally last well into the night. All in all, it wasn't a bad way to spend our first Thanksgiving in Armenia.