Now I need to describe this past weekend, a series of delightful experiences. Friday, a group of vols gathered at the one place where we have outdoor space and had a breakfast for dinner party. Everyone brought appropriate dishes like pancakes, eggs, cinnamon rolls. I made ham biscuits and fruit smoothies. A fun dining experience. I highly recommend it.
Saturday, one of my fellow vols came to Gyumri to conduct interviews of local teens for a two week international camp led by Peace Corps volunteers. I joined her for the interviews that afternoon - a great opportunity to glimpse Armenian teenage thoughts and opinions. Ate lunch at a local Georgian restaurant (lots of melted cheese) with the vols who were interviewing as well as two Armenians who are working with the camp. I continue to be impressed at how well the Armenians who speak English do it.
Afterwards, a nice walk to the shooka for some fresh veggies (strawberries are in season now and lovely - eggplants are here as well as fresh lettuce and assorted herbs), a quick visit to the park and then home to cook up a few things for dinner. My visiting friend and I had a pleasant quiet evening working a hard jigsaw puzzle. I have to remember that just because I love VanGogh's paintings doesnt mean that it will be a joy to assemble a puzzle of a VanGogh. I would have appreciated more straight lines and clear colors. Maybe Mondrian.
Sunday, I went on an "art tour" sponsored by a local hotel and a woman from Yerevan. The other tourists were an older couple visiting their daughter and her friend. The daughter is a fullbright scholar studying in Armenia and her friend is doing some graduate research here. Two local Gyumritzis guided us. One of them took us on a walking tour in the old district. While I was quite familiar with the streets, I heard several good stories about the history behind some of the beautiful buildings. Gyumri was a well known center for the arts from the late 1800s until the earthquake in 1988 which destroyed the city and the heart of the art scene.
This pic illustrates a classic jerry-rigged electrical system. (Some of the pics here are going to be out of order as rearranging things is quite a challenge with this particular software).
Then we visited a local sculptor at his studio. The piece he is showing here is his effort to show the beauty he sees in women who are not considered classic beauties (read: thin). The other pic shows some of the instruments in his studio.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2g1HN7KDhpm4YtAQsAwVunrrpfvMmkvblI9nWCsfHeRD2UrKoHoS_IktCw8JB4aRs8ReHQmUQWI-2vGLkdQlZ6qmtTf0jsj67Ts3aO-9ybQeGxk4d8F10-e_BjOXfUtBhFFLMIGyH9s/s1600-h/P5242306.jpg (This might show you a pic of one of the buildings on the tour - or not).
Another pic of the artist with one of his pieces. The artist was very generous with his time and answered all our questions about his process. In addition to his conversation about passing on the beauty of ordinary women, he talked about another series of pieces that are parts of armour - without a knight inside. The idea is that the trappings may be there, but there are no more knights. Alluding to the loss of virtue and civility in modern days.
Then we went to one of my favorite places for lunch, the fish farm. As you can see, the setting is bucolic and the day was perfect for outdoor dining.
The pools are where the fish are raised, fed by flowing natural springs on the property. They have sturgeon (good caviar), rainbow and golden trouts (my favorite). They grill the fish and serve with traditional Armenian side dishes. Lots of fresh herbs now that spring is here and lavash they make in their own ovens.
After lunch we watched the horse and colt as some locals tried to interest their children on getting on top of the horse. A couple of them did and they were taken on short walks around the property, fathers close by. The path you see in the background leads to my apartment. I'm only about a 10 minute walk from the fish farm.
The pic below is looking down at the fish farm from the walk to my place. The scary dog is on a chain. He lunges at everyone who passes. Thank heavens the chain holds.
This out of order picture shows some of the knights I mentioned earlier.
I took many more pics on Sunday than I can show here. Go to the dropshots site to see more.
The new volunteers arrive in a few days. Its getting exciting to think about meeting them. Its nice being on this side of the learning curve. They will be the ones asking all the dumb questions for us to answer.
The spring weather, while rainy on several days, has been great. Several shirtsleeve days. Long periods of daylight - nearly 10 pm before it gets dark.
