I'm an early riser now.

While I'm living in this liminal space as a PCV, I've decided to try to instill some good habits in myself. So, this morning I got up early and went for a run. Here's what the outskirts of Sisian look like at 5:30 in the morning.

My Husband Loves Me

Sam had to go to Yerevan a few days ago, and I stayed behind with the dogs. When this happens, we make it a habit to call each other each evening to catch up on the day and say goodnight. On this particular trip, one of these conversations turned to the subject of Things Molly Was Missing, a list that started with "Sam" and ranged all the way from "Not Being Viewed as a Source of Income by Almost Everyone You Meet" to "Socially Acceptable Daytime Drinking at Brunch". Somewhere in there, I also mentioned avocados- the White Whale of produce here in Armenia.

A  day and a half later, Sam's home, and with him he's brought 4 avocados. So we make guacamole. It's delicious. Sometimes you just have to treat yourself (or your  significant other) to a really indulgent meal to get over that culture shock-y feeling that comes with living abroad.

Getting Ready for School

Well, summer's officially coming to a close here in Sisian. As students are getting ready to return to classes, parents (okay, moms) are working to clean the school up and get it ready for the First Bell Ceremony on September 1st. 

One interesting thing I learned during this process is that most of the classroom improvements are not financed by some sort of school-wide maintenance fund, but rather from contributions of individual parents for students who will have that classroom as their homeroom. Thus, today, in my school, some teachers were excitedly talking about the new wealthy student they have in their homeroom, and the improvements that such a student's family would mean for that teacher's working environment. One of the classrooms, which will be homeroom to a local military leader's child, had young soldiers making repairs to the floors and walls today. 

I found this whole system very strange. It seems especially odd that, in a country which still espouses so many communist social values, improvements to the school would be made in such a small, nepotistic fashion. On the other hand, when there aren't enough resources to go around, I suppose it's only natural to want to make sure that *your* offspring get as much as you can give them, even if it means that improvements aren't distributed equally among the classrooms, or even in some sort of triage-based system where the worst equipped classrooms get the improvements they need most. 

I tried asking my counterpart and the mothers who were working in her classroom today about this, but they didn't seems to understand why I was asking- to them, this seemed like a very logical system, and challenging it was frowned upon. So I didn't push. But it still doesn't sit well with me...

Armenian Honey

A quick an easy way to get into the good graces of any tatik (grandmother) you meet here is to extol the virtues of any traditional Armenian good or service- but in particular the Armenian food. Lavash? Best bread in the world. Dolma? Food of the Gods. Horovats? To die for. But please believe me when I say that I'm not trying to curry anyone's favor when I say that Armenian honey is perhaps one of the most delicious substances to ever bless this Earth. Maybe it's this mountain thyme that all the bees are feasting on, I don't know. Whatever it is, it's raised the bar on honey for me. I'm never going to be able to be content with those squeezy-bears from the supermarket again.

The Track to Zorats Qarer

Today, two of our fellow PCVs visited Sisian, and wanted to go out to see Zorats Qarer. Unfortunately, the Old Road out of town which leads to Zorats Qarer is being repaved- making it a really unpleasant walk (hot tar smoke, anyone?). However, Sam and I had a work around. Since we moved here, we've heard rumors of a trail leading from the town cemetery to Zorats Qarer. And during out walks outside of town with Muppet, we were pretty sure that we had stumbled on the beginning of this path. So, we decided to take a leap and strike out across the fields in search of Zorats Qarer together. While we took a wrong turn once or twice, we did make it in the end- and it was a really great walk, too. 

Walks with Muppet

Now that Muppet's healthy enough to play for hours at a time with Hazel, we've decided he's healthy enough to go on walks. It's not easy to teach a dog who's never been restrained before to politely walk on a leash- especially when he goes into fight-or-flight mode at the drop of a hat (or the appearance of another dog). But we're making slow and steady progress. When we get out of town, where there aren't cars, people, other dogs, etc to trip Muppet's fear-aggression responses, we get to see a whole different side of him- one that's relaxed and calm. I think that with work, we can get him to a place where he can always be like this.

World Food/World Peace - Day 2

Day 2 of our August "World Food/World Peace" event with Lisa was a study in the typical Armenian Khorovats party! It was an amazing day, tons of fun, and plenty tiring! It was also a day of gender divisions. The men are in charge of meat and fire. And the women... everything else.

Armenian Khorovats is also a very simple style of food. It relies on quality ingredients, good flavorful wood fire coals, and a bit of salt.

First things that goes on the coals are the veggies. Fresh summer tomatoes are in the picture, but we also had bell peppers and eggplant. No marinade, no spices. Just fresh veggies.

Next the ladies prep the veggies by removing the charred skins. Everything is still hot, so we're all burning our fingers a bit!

While the ladies finish prepping the veggies, salads, setting the table, etc, the pork goes on the grill. Martin insisted he and Molly pose like he's teaching her how to barbecue :)

Meat! It's bone-in loin chops and some nearby cuts. Before going over the coals, it's prepped simply with "the good salt" (sea salt). 

The traditional Armenian table is always set with bread, cheese, and a plate of greens (usually scallions, cilantro, parsley, and red basil). Bottles of water, soda, wine, vodka, or brandy are also common. In the summer, you always get the "summer salad" (bottom right), which is raw tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, with a little oil, salt, cilantro and/or basil, and sometimes raw onion. 

Besides meat, the only cooked dish is the roasted veggies. The mushy insides of eggplant, pepper and tomato are mixed together with a little bit of raw chopped onion and some cilantro.

The meat is done!

We had a really fun time preparing the meal with Martin and his family. Everything was delicious. And it was amazing to see Lisa teach English and Armenian songs to the kids - her energy and attitude are inspiring! All together, a very successful second day of "World Food/World Peace".