Notes from the Underground

So I'm officially in Armenia and officially have lost all confidence in my Armenian language abilities. But more and more is coming back to me, and I bought an Armenian dictionary today at the flea market, so there's one problem solved.

On my almost 10 hour flight to Moscow from JFK, we took a flight path in which the sun never actually went down. It touched the horizon and then rose again. When I arrived in Yerevan yesterday I immediately slept 6 or so hours and then slept a full 8 hours that night. So needless to say, I didn't really get out to see much. But luckily, I went on my first "excursion" with some other Birthright Volunteers. The first place we visited was a little village with a lot of history. I stood inside a still operational church that dated back to the 11th century, which is so crazy to think of when any city in the states that predates the constitution is considered old.


While we were exploring some ruins in the village we walked by pallets of manure bricks that someone explained would be burned come winter for warmth. It's so interesting to have studied this practice in Global Health class just weeks ago and now to visit a place where it's actually practiced.

After lunch (which affirms my belief in the perfection of the Armenian cuisine), we went to "Levon's Divine Underground" which is an absolutely incredible series of tunnels and rooms all carved out by this one man with a mallet and iron nail. He passed away last year but his wife gave us a tour and explained how it was all done, how the man only slept 3 hours a night and worked for 23 years straight carrying out what he understood as God's instruction. The amount that this man was able to complete in 23 years is astonishing. It truly speaks to the power of God in the heart of a believer.

The other volunteers I met today are inspiring in and of themselves. Any ideas I had of the diaspora from my limited experience are completely rewritten after the time I spent with them today. My previous interactions with diasporans always left me thinking that, for the most part, we were a pretty homogeneous bunch. But after spending time exploring rural Armenia with volunteers from France, Jordan, Argentina, Jerusalem, and Canada, each with their own interests and attitude toward this country, I realize how ignorant and incorrect that thought was. Which I am really happy about. Any doubts I had about being able to last these coming 10 weeks were significantly lessened by meeting the people I would get to interact with.

On Monday I will head to my permanent homestay in Gyumri where I will meet my host family. Many of the volunteers I met today are already in Gyumri so I am excited to be living in the same city as them. My host family right now is very nice and is always offering tea, which is all well and good, but in 94 degree weather, hot tea is one of the last things I'm looking for.

More to come.
9:10 PM (because blogger doesn't get what time it is here)