Bringing Armenia Home

Although we are not in Armenia right now, I, Kalem, continue to incorporate Armenian village life into our "county island" city life.  We have increased our chickens from 10 before Armenia to about 20 now.  Recently, we got a mother sheep with two baby girl lambs that were born on Easter.  This was in exchange for butchering services (of which I learned in Armenia) of this same mother's offspring from last year.  Actually, the son impregnated both the mother and the sister!  Our son Frank when explaining how we have a mother and babies with out a father, he gladly offers, "we ate the dad!"  This mother will probably also fall under my knife in about a month or two, once the lambs are properly weaned (let me know if anyone is interested in watching).  

There are a few of the older and fatter chicken that I think I would like to kill as well.  One especially the alpha hen of the group, manages to get into the neighbors yard but can't get back into ours.  Pretty much the list for being slaughter ready on our egg farm is as follows: 1. turning out to be a rooster (12 chickens died this way that we raised from chicks, in addition to the two quail we had), 2. segregation, not mixing with the other hens (2 this way) 3. being of age and not producing eggs. (same two) 4. Having some disease (3 this way, but we didn't eat these), and 5. For causing general problems in the chicken coup, having a bad attitude, or escaping regularly (the alpha chicken will die for this).  

We have also started composting with worms.  We take food garbage, minus meat and fat, plus napkins and paper towels, and mix it with shredded newspaper, and yard waste like straw leaves or grass clippings, and bury it.  I take a hand full of worms, from the established area (I mail ordered them originally from the worm dude), and mix the worms in with the compost, add a thin layer of dirt on top to keep the flies away, and then I put an old window screen on top to keep the chickens out, and I have a sprinkler that keeps the area moist.  The castings, dark, rich, fertilizer is then great natural organic fertilizer for our garden, lawn, trees and other plants.  The worm population will double every 2 to 3 months in ideal conditions, the worms also become a protein treat for the chickens. 

When we want to get rid of harmful bugs or do some light tilling around the garden plants we let the chickens in for natural pest control.  It is an age old cycle that we are glad to be incorporating into our lives.  Some times the animals get out and cause more harm than good, but we are learning to deal with this.  

Attitude of Gratitude Video

The "Kazarian's In Armenia 2008 - Attitude of Gratitude" video is now
available for viewing via YouTube. video.kazarian.net or you can go
direct at http://www.youtube.com/user/kazarianfamily, or the link to
the side of the page about the kids video.

SLIDESHOW TIME

Join us for light snacks and a video presentation of our trip to Armenia, including our special guest Gohar Palyan direct from Armenia. She will share about her work with Armenian Habitat, and the Fuller Center. We will have a question and answer time following the presentation. We hope you can make it, to our house, Sunday, December 7, 3:30PM evite invitation: http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=CYIBLIIZNASMXOIBOWCN#

Back in Our House

We have moved back into our home in Fresno, Kalem is looking for a
permanent job, while filling in with construction projects, and
Jonelle is continuing to homeschool the kids, and unpack boxes. We
missed our home, and are glad to be back. We continue to process the
experiences we had while in Armenia. Please continue to pray for us
as God puts it on your heart, some of the most difficult work
associated with this trip is being done right now, as we talk and pray
as a couple and seek Gods healing, provision, and direction. We will
announce a date for a dinner slideshow at Lilly's restaurant soon, for
now we are beginning to take invitations for dinner at your house to
share about the trip.

Back Home

We are back! Some highlights from the return trip: We left Armenia
on schedule, and enjoyed movies on British Airways flight operated by
BMI. In London, we made it to the proper terminal and gate with
plenty of time and settled into our seats on the plane, when after
about an hour of sweating in "the back of the bus" they unloaded all
of the passengers, to continue working on a faulty part of the
electrical system for the lighting and air conditioning. They fixed
the part and then it broke again, this is when they handed out $10
food vouchers to each passenger, so we ate and waited. Once on board
four hours later the kids fell asleep immediately, we ate dinner and
watched movies and slept, and 11 hours later we were in LA. Going
through customs one of Kalem's favorite parts is when the officer
says, "Welcome home." On the baggage belt things were going good
until the last bag could not be found. An employee said some bags
were left in London, but then the next morning we got a call from
another passenger that they mistakenly took our bag. Several hours
were wasted trying to connect directly with this family and ultimately
we just left, so now we are waiting for British Airlines to ship our
bag to us. We were quite surprised how neither customs nor the rental
car company, took very much interest in checking for illegal items,
and damages respectively. All that behind us we are extremely glad to
be home and are now fighting jet lag as we settle in. The kids are
actually kind of funny as they wake up in the middle of the night and
say that they are hungry.

Coming Home

We have begun our return trip home already, with a short transition in
Yerevan at a relatives house, for a couple of days, and then we will
travel home via British Airways through London. We have many stories
to tell and will continue to update the blog with some of our past
experiences, as well as some thoughts as we transition back to
American culture. We plan to lay low for a couple of weeks, as we
process the experience. We are trying to put together a book
compiling our past blogs, with some new an never posted blogs, to give
a fuller picture of our experiences in Armenia. More details to come.

Internet

Irony of all ironies is this, we have been living in this village for
four months now, without even the hope of an internet connection, and
two days before we are to leave our neighbor announced that they got
their internet to work! You know I tried everything that I could do
to get a connection for us, but some times it helps to know someone.
It took our neighbor's cousin who works at the phone company to
personally take their phone back, reprogram it and personally come set
it up. Today I was one of the first people to surf the net from this
village. Now this may not seem very impressive to you, but if you
think about the donkey "Eeawing" in the background, the burning dung,
the horse drawn cart, the dirt roads, and the mountains on every side
of this village, it is very impressive. As our neighbors put it "it's
a pity we didn't get the internet sooner," we do feel blessed to have
been here and to see God answer yet another one of our prayer
request. Although it is not always the way we would want or in our
timing, He is faithful.
On a side note just as I was coming into Gyumri to send this email,
and print the last batch of photos to leave in the village, I noticed
they had begun fixing the road entering Gyumri coming from
Lusaghbyur. This road is really a night mare, for about 1/2 a mile
and has been like that as long as I can remember. Add that to the
irony that as we are leaving the road that we use most is finally
getting fixed. Lusaghbyur is slowly becoming a more comfortable place
to live, especially for the four families that have remodeled homes
this year!

Mommy's 1st Day of School

See this smile? This is the smile of good old American
remedies...Imodium!!! One sick day was all I could handle...I really
wanted to get to school. Kalem, Peter and Frank joined Judi and I
walked together to our class sporting our new Barbie backpacks. And,
as usual, we attracted a crowd. All the kids from my summer school
mobbed us and asked if I was REALLY going to school. There was a
mixture of shock and admiration as they joined our parade to Dabrotz.
Soon the Teacher, Unger (literally Friend) Khachadouryan walked in and
Judi and I jumped up to get our picture taken with her. (One thing I
lamented when I began homeschooling was that my children would NOT get
a picture with their new teacher each year on the first day of
school...I have great peace now since every year when they take their
school picture with me, I can look back and see how different I look
each year!!!) Unger Khachadouryan was very nice to me when I met her
this summer and was very excited that I would be joining her class in
the Fall. Today, though, she seemed pretty cold and aloof. Perhaps I
was being too giddy, I have been known to be just a tad silly ; )
sometimes. She took her picture with us and then assigned our seats.
Of course Judi and I were separated and I was moved to the back of the
class. Each of the tables had two seats welded to the frame and metal
partitions were set between the two individual seats (this would prove
to be VERY important with two 6 year olds sitting at the same table/
desk.) Vaneegk got put in the desk in front of mine but in the
opposite seat. I will tell you more about Vaneegk and all the
students later but just suffice it to say that Vaneegk would be
classed ADHD in the States and be heavily medicated. He was told to
turn around and sit straight about 10 times that day. And I made a
bet, with myself, that he would be the first to get smacked! After we
were all settled Judi, who was caddy corner to me across the isle,
turned and said, "Mommy, look we are so close." Unger Khachadouryan
swooped in and said, "Lesee Judeet, eem tasoom meeine Hyeren chosoom
ek, yev YES KO MAMAN ice degh!" (Listen Judi, in my class we only
speak Armenian, and here, I AM YOUR MOM!) I could see this was going
to be a learning experience for me, much bigger than I originally
thought. And so went my first day of school...maybe staying in bed
one more day would have been good, even though I am 38 and by far the
TALLEST kid in the first grade...I was scared!

When Mommy is Sick!!!

Now you might be wondering WHY ON EARTH would I, Jonelle, let that absolutely HORRID picture of my sick self be sent out for all of cyberspace to view...well, I guess I can only liken it to having a baby!  I am an extremely modest person, BUT when in the throws of labor it seems that little matters in the area of modesty.  Let me expl

ain what I mean.  I was on my death bed as you recall and Kalem was working at the neighbors house.  I was trying to do homeschool with Judi, Peter & Frankie, on our King-Size mattress (praise GOD for the container FINALLY arriving!!) whilst under the covers laying flat on my back.  It was actually working...for an hour or so but then it got to be lunch time.  I sent Judi into the kitchen with these instructions, "Jude, get the peanut butter, honey, and bread and make sandwiches for you and the boys."  Seemed simple and straightforward enough...A few minutes later Judi came into our bedroom announcing, "Mommy, Tsoeegk is here and she wants to ask you something."  Again giving seemingly simple instructions, I replied, "Oh, Jude can you please tell her Mommy is sick and see if you or Daddy can answer her question."  APPARENTLY NOT!  Within moments Tsoeegk was standing at the foot of my bed, BUT NOT ONLY TSOEEGK...NO it was Tsoeegk, Aysa, Shoosh

anigk, Nellie, Vart, and two or three smaller size children all standing around my bed, staring at me!  Oh, the horror!!  I don't even want to look at me when I am sick let alone all these village women!  I wanted to die from stomach pain before but now I wanted to die of sheer and utter mortification.  There they were hashing over the story of why I was sick and all chiming in on what THEY thought the REAL reason was and what remedies I should pursue forthwith.  I was trying to explain to them that in America mostly we just want to be left alone when we aren't feeling well.  They assured me THAT WAS NOT how they were.  (So I had to put the picture in...I wish I had one of THEM looking at me...NOW THAT would have been priceless.)  They wanted to"HELP" (The 70's Alan Alda & Margo Thomas' LP FREE TO BE YOU AND ME popped into my mind "Some kind of help is the kind of he

lp that helpings all about, and some kind of help is the kind of help WE ALL CAN DO WITHOUT!)  Just then Judi came in the room and I asked why on earth she let "these women" in my room (You know that is the BEST thing about people here NOT knowing English...I can say whatever I want and not have to sensor...but I digress), Judi just laughed which made the women laugh and I laughed but only out of embarrassment.  "It's not the watermelon!  said Aysa, "Gegham brought us the rest of your melon and told us you got sick eating it...we laughed the whole time we ate the rest!"  Oh, please I thought, but I replied, "Zer stomachneren oojhegh en, eemnas tweel eh." (your stomaches are strong and mine is weak.)  Next came the in home remedies (mind you EVERYONE is a DOCTOR HERE...or so they act)  I had already  tried the one method Kalem tired; the spoonful of fresh espresso ground coffee...I felt like I was suffocating...ever try to swallow a spoonful of powder?  

Try it...IT'S ABSOLUTELY AWEFUL (that's funny, like when you smell spoiled milk that is just horrendous, but then you want others to smell it too...) I was about 10 minutes past that attempt when the peanut gallery arrived.  The women fought among themselves as to whose concoction was the soundest, but since Aysa and her two daughters-in-law out numbered the rest they "won".  They insisted that I needed to take LEEMON TUTSEE...now I could figure out the lemon part but it was the TUTSEE I was afraid of.  A few more minutes which seemed like hours past and the whole crew marched off to get the mysterious wonder drug.  I was left with the lingering smell of cow in my room, which I might add is NOT helpful for a sour stomach.  Shooshanigk returned with a folded envelope of newsprint and presented Leemon Tutsee to me...it looked like large granulated sugar but it tasted like lemon flavored ACID.  I downed a spoonful and gagged on some water...she said I should be back to normal "quickly" but if in an hour I wasn't better to take another spoonful.  I don't 

know if the coffee grounds and the acid didn't agree with each other or if the LEEMON was doing the WATUTSEE in my stomach...all I knew is that helpful visit from the women of Lusahgbyur made me want to die...in EVERY sense and there was NO WAY I was going to have one more spoonful of ANYTHING from those DOCTORS.  And as I lay in my bed reeling from the day's events my sweet angels made their lunch..alas it was NOT PB & J, not it was GRATED CARROTS WITH SUGAR POURED ON TOP (on top of the carrots, the table, the floor.  But my mommy says, "Some days are like this, even in ARMENIA."  Jonelle ;)

Sevan Cruz

Every year our family takes a few days off and enjoys what some call
the Armenian Riviera, or Santa Cruz. Up to our ears with village live
we decided to take a few days off and enjoy the real Armenian Riviera,
Lake Sevan. Now we have visited the popular an convenient West shore,
but we were told about the more secluded East shore. We packed up the
Niva and headed away from the village. Two hours later we reached the
far side of the lake and found the "resort" that we were told about.
We were shown to our "domik" (like a double wide trailer, with two
bedrooms, bathroom, living room and entry. All newly built within the
last three years. Our contact was the closest thing to an Armenian
Beach Bum that we have ever seen, laid back, tan, and always close to
the water. Motored raft rides, horse rides, all part of the $50 a
night domik fee. We enjoyed our rest and returned somewhat refreshed
and very burned.

Dying

Just found out today that our neighbor here in Armenia, Satanik, a 82
year old widow, had already prepared her grave. Her husband died
a couple years after they married, she has been living in a domik
(metal shipping container since the earthquake, 20 years ago. The
domik is extremely hot in the summer, leaks when it rains, and is
freezing cold in the winter. She has a relatively decent disposition
about life, but at this point it seems she is just waiting to die.
She will be buried next to her only brother who was killed in the
second world war. The basalt headstone has a picture of her brother
and already a picture of her. With no children or other close relatives to
look after her, she has taken the final preparations upon herself. It
is just a reality here, and I have not really experienced this before,
just thought I would share.

Twas The Night Before 1st Grade...

The night before my first day at Bullard High School, I threw up and
was sick the whole next day. Chalk it up to 9th grade jitters or bad
Chinese food. The night before my first day of 10th grade THE SAME
THING HAPPENED! What are the likelihoods of that? So I missed the
1st day of school two times as a teenager possibly from food but most
likely from nerves. The night before I was to start my matriculation
at Kyoogh Tduhbrotz No. 1 I was FINE. I was so excited to go.
FINALLY I, JONELLE, had a REAL class all to my self, for me to learn
the Armenian language PROPERLY with a teacher, books, homework and
all. I told EVERYONE. I had my clothes all laid out, my pencils
sharpened and a brand new notebook crisp and ready...but like a three-
peat of my high school career, I awoke Monday, 1 September with the
sourest stomach I have ever had in Armenia. I have not had a problem
with my bowels in my homeland and so I have told, nay, boasted to
all. "Kalem just has a weak stomach." I would say. But that morning,
even if I tried to swallow those words they wouldn't have stayed in
me! I know I was excited but could I possibly be scared of THE FIRST
GRADE? Maybe so but I contest it was the WATERMELON!!!! Kalem can
confirm this as we have done personal and costly (to our innards)
experiments with said fruit. Locals say that if the melons are left
in the hot sun all day, day after day they turn to "POISON". Of
course I did not believe this at first and had quite a few delicious
sumerook since I have been in Hyeastan, which I took to mean that I
had a cast iron stomach or that I was truly a deghatzee (Local)! It
actually begs the question, "How would one know if a melon had sat in
the sun all day, day after day?" This melon in question was purchased
from a traveling market (these are guys in vans or better yet cars
with boxes of produce stacked to the gills. Sometimes the whole of
the car is filled, back windows and all to the headliner of the moving
Khanoot.) and our neighbor even asked, "Are these things poison?" Now
I know I am not the best business person, but what produce peddler
(especially an Armenian one....) is going to say, "Yes, actually all
of my melons are terrible and you would do yourself and your whole
family a great disservice by purchasing one of my black-seeded TIME
BOMBS!" Whatever the culprit, the nerves or the melons one thing is
for sure, I AM NOT EATING ANOTHER SUMEROOK UNTIL I GET BACK TO THE
USA!!! And Lord willing tomorrow I will see if I can stomach the 1st
grade! Weakly yours, Jonelle ; {

First Day of School

September 1st is the first day of school for the whole country of
Armenia. Everyone was scurrying about on Sunday, 31 August to make
sure they had their fresh notebooks, sharpened pencils, rulers, and of
course new clothes. In the Village school, the children in grades 1-4
have clothing requirements. The girls must wear black skirts, white
shirts and white socks (shoes are left to preference). The boys are
clad in brand-new 2 and 3 piece suits with newly quafted hair-dos.
The rest of the Tduhbrotz (school) wears what they like, but what they
like is THEIR BEST CLOTHES. I must say I DO NOT MISS the nasty,
scankie, and sloppy dress of American students, and the population in
general. It is refreshing to see kids who want to look their best.
That is not all...the students are taught to stand when an elder walks
into the room and greet them with a hearty "Barev Stez". Disrespect
and foolishness are NOT allowed by the teachers and the parents know
(and it seems, LOVE that the teacher is the one disciplining their
children!). While I was doing my School/VBS/Babysitting/English
Teaching/Refereeing this Summer, I was told by parents that if their
children misbehaved that it was MY JOB to smack them! Of course I
explained to them that is WAS NOT my job but THEIR JOB the other 22
hours they were NOT with me. Alas, this is the way they roll. Each
of the 1st graders received not one but two brand new backpacks; girls
got BARBIE, of course and the boys either a dragon motif or
SPIDERMAN. The packs were stocked with colored pencils, a ruler,
three pens, an eraser, one pencil sharpener, 9 small "blue books" in
the US but here they are light green. Four of them are for
Mateematicas with a grid pattern for paper and the other 5 are lined
for letters and writing. There was also one 8 1/2 x 11 pack of white
drawing paper, and one "packet" of colored paper (don't go picturing
the thick, pulpy American grade...No this is paper is a blend of say a
tissue paper and the transfer paper tailors use to mark white lines on
fabric. Oh and the color is only on ONE side of the paper, the other
side is white.) The first day started with all sorts of Pomp and
Circumstance Village style with a weak rendition of Mer Hyedeneek,
bouquets of flowers for each student (except Jude of course because we
are the newbies and NOBODY tells us what we need to do until AFTER the
fact : )!!!, and a general welcome to all the new and returning
ahshagertner (students). Of course I am writing this only second hand
because this 1st day of school did NOT turn out to be MY first day
along with Judi...No my first day of school was spent in an ENTIRELY
DIFFERENT way! More to come, more than you know....Jonelle; )

The accident

A couple of weeks ago a few minutes after I had learned about the
benzine crisis I was driving around in Gyumri with the kids after
church (Jonelle was home with a bad headache), I had a long list of
things to pick up from town and was trying to make sense of the
situation, when I saw the calling card I was looking for in the window
of a street side stand. I had just entered a wide round about and was
maybe in the middle when I darted over the right to stop. The car
behind me honked and then they pulled over in front of me. I jumped
out to get the calling card while the angry driver was coming towards
me. I had seen plenty of accidents in Armenia and knew that a large
argument usually follows, but I didn't know it happened for near
misses. As I got my card the man tore into me, "why aren't you
looking where you are going, we almost had a bad accident." My reply
was you are right, it was my fault, I am sorry. This is a very
uncommon response here and not knowing how to handle it he tore into
me again. I explained the situation, apologized again and admitted
that it was my error. With sevral more warnings the man left me and
we were back about our business. The funny thing about this story is
that two weeks later I had stopped into a store in Vananadzor (East of
our village, 60 miles from Gyumri) for an ice cream bar and it just so
happened that the store owner was the same man who I nearly ran into.
We rehashed the same conversation, he again gave me more warnings, but
a least this time he asked what I was doing in Armenia and we had a
little nicer conversation. Armenia is a small country, but in the
seven months we have been here I have only recognized four people
while I have been out and about, this was a very strange meeting.
Fast forward to yesterday, I was in Yerevan to take care of a few
things and was headed to say hi to my relatives before I headed back
to the village. I was in a standard bumper to bumper traffic jamb in
the city when all of the cars in front of me slammed on their brakes.
I did to and nearly missed the car in front of me by inches, and as I
listened for the car behind me to stop also, I heard very little
breaks and and then a crash! Jolted nearly into the car in front of
me, I held my spot and then pulled over to the side to hash out the
situation. Again angry driver yelling at me, we argued about the
situation, and he claimed my break lights didn't work, and that we
should go right then to a body shop and get the car fixed. Although
they in fact did work but were weak from a low battery and bad
alternator. I know that the law is the same in Armenia, as in the US,
the person who hits from behind is as fault, usually for not keeping
enough distance. I called my cousin and he came over to help, but the
man continued to insist that I pay for the damages, then he called the
police over to help settle the situation. This took about half an
hour to get a police officer to the scene (where are they when you
need them?), and we went through the whole thing one more time. The
man continued to insist he was right so the road police called an
expert to measure skid marks and determine who was at fault.
While we were waiting my cousin left to take care of his business,
and the other guys off duty police officer friend also came to the
scene. Left alone in an unbalanced situation, but pretty sure I was
not at fault I waited to see what the expert would say. After a few
words with the man that I was not privileged to hear, I heard
something about him having to pay at least 20,000 drams ($65) to even
have the guy measure the scene. Finally, understanding the situation,
the man backed off, the expert officer asked if I had any problems, I
said "no" even though my cousin wanted me to have them get a new rear
bumper for the Niva (that showed little to no signs of an accident).
So after over an hour of waiting and arguing, I was finally able to
leave in peace, glad that the law prevailed despite what connections
one might have. In conjunction with many other experiences here this
is not a country where one admits their fault very easily.

Ga

With all of the comments and emails about the last blog (Ch Ga II), I
thought I would update the situation with what we do have (Ga). We
now have gasoline, and at decent prices. We have been able to leave
the village for church and rest. We worked very diligently at trying
to resolve the situation with our neighbors, and an understandable
stalemate resulted. Although it was not the best outcome all sides
were heard and rules were created for their kids not to be
unsupervised in our yard.
The power still goes off frequently and actually last week, the
"PG&E" guy changed the wires on our pole, that had melted and then
they melted again. Some uninsulated wires had touched and were
causing a short, he fixed the short and changed them again. For half
a day of work and 100 feet of thick wire I traded a 90 pounds bag of
cement about $10.
So now we have power most of time, we sort of have friends, and are
continuing to make new ones. We have benzine and our health most of
the time. But most of all we have hope, that God will provide for us,
though out all of these situations. As we also have many
opportunities to share our faith with many of the people who are
interested in us. Finally, we have all of you that are praying for us
and supporting us, thank you.

Ch Ga part II

When we were in Yerevan I wrote what I thought was a pretty extensive
list of things that were not available. Things like the gas being
turned off, the water being rationed a few hours each day, internet
not working sometimes, and the electricity being shut off for unknown
periods of time. After three months in the village my understanding
of "ch ga" (don't have) has greatly increased. Not only are the above
mentioned things periodically turned off, but there is a whole host of
other things that now not available.
This particular blog was inspired by the current absence of gasoline,
in the whole country! This is something particularly difficult to
fathom after living in America our whole lives. Sunday after church
in Gyumri I pulled into a gas station to fill up one gallon (4 liters)
to make it back to the village, and was surprised that they didn't
have any. Why you ask only one gallon? Our car was broken into after
only one month in the village and with the front seat headrests, the
radio and speakers, one windshield wiper blade, and $30 worth of fuel
was stolen. This lead me to buy a locking gas cap, but then when the
thievery continued three more times by breaking the lock on the gas
cap, I resolved to keep the car as empty as possible to prevent future
loss. I would keep about an old juice bottle full of benzine
(gasoline), in case the empty gas tank didn't get us to our next
destination. So I had used up the bottled benzine to get to church
thinking for sure I could just fill up both the car and the bottle and
return home. When the second gas station in Gyumri was also out of
benzine, I began to worry. At the third gas station, I just had to
ask what happened and where I could get gas.
The attendant explained that there was no gas in the whole town,
(Armenia's second largest town), this blew my mind, as I have never
experienced this before in my life. Next we decided to pray, as for
sure we didn't have enough fuel to even get home. In faith we decided
to try and see in what way God would provide. So just before leaving
the city limits, I spotted a sign in Russian that said "Benzine" not
that I read Russian, but after 6 months I've learned to recognize it.
There was a stack of gas canisters (not American red, but Russian
green), and God answered our prayer with us buying the last gallon of
gas that the old man had, for $6! I was more than happy to pay the
inflated rate just to get home. Asking again what happened to all the
gas, he explained that the rail line coming to Armenia from Russia
through Georgia, was blown up. Workers fixed the line in a few days
and then it was blown up once again.
Now we are "stuck" in the village, with just enough benzine to make
it back to the city to refill once the trains make it in. Not only is
Gyumri out of gas, so is Yerevan the capital city of this small
country, and every other city. The only cars on the road are the ones
that are fueled by natural gas. This has brought about a whole host
of other problems.
Since it is nearing the end of the month, the cash I withdrew for
this month is nearing it's end, and it's not like we can just hit the
"village ATM" to get some more cash, or use our Visa card at the
village store to buy food. So add to the list "pogh ch ga" (don't
have money). Jonelle can't go to Gyumri to teach her bible study
class, or shop for the items that just are not available in the
village. We don't have a T.V. or satellite dish like many other
people, no news paper either, so we don't have any idea what is going
on in the world.
Just recently our closest friends in the village turned their back on
us, after their mother slapped two children that she thought hurt her
grandchildren in our daily summer school at our house. Refusing to
apologize to us or the children who she slapped, we have had to ban
her grandchildren from our house. Needless to say this has negatively
affected our fellowship with our believing neighbors. So add to the
list "ungerner ch ga" (don't have friends). There are other people in
the village we know but by far we have invested the most time with
this family. This has also lead to unstable mental health as we
ponder these issues, and a general lack of freedom as we are stuck
here with neighbors that apparently don't want anything to do with us.
As you may also know, we were never able to get internet in the
village so by the time you read this the benzine situation should be
resolved, but remember it is Armenia so you never know.
Please pray for us that we finish our last month here in Armenia
well, that we continue to be living examples of Christ's love, as he
continues to streach us and teach us more about complete dependence on
him.

Gegham Hopar

"Barev Gegham Hopar!" is the cheerful greeting I receive from dozens
of children everyday. It brings the biggest smile to my face every
time I hear those words, for several reasons. First the children are
respectful and greet their elders properly. Second, they have learned
and use the authentic Armenian version of my name Gegham. Third they
call me "Hopar" which is short for "Horut Aghper," which is "fathers
brother," literally "uncle." Fourth since Mr. & Mrs. are generally
not used and everyone becomes uncle and aunt I have been loved and
accepted with the greeting "Hello uncle Kalem."
Finally, my smile doubles with joy as my own children have even begun
to refer to me as Gegham Hopar. Not only is it funny, but I just love
the sound of it so much, and coming from my own children it is that
much sweeter, (as improper as it is to call your father Uncle and use
his first name). I love this name so much I changed "Simon Says" to
"Gegham Hopar Aseys," as I lead the 20 or so kids that come to our
house daily for "school." For those two hours, and when ever they are
around we are able to love them as our own family, as they call to us,
"Barev Gegham Hopar, Barev Joawna Tota."

Hyestan Hotties

This is my 1st blog since entering the Kuyoogh. Of course we don't
have ready access to internet and today is the first day I was given
1) The Car, 2) Time, 3) Knowledge about how do hook up at the internet
cafe 30 minutes away. I have missed you all TERRIBLY!!! So, Lena
Eritzian, Nar Yergat and Jonelle are sitting on a lovely bench at the
Hocktonakee Igee (that's Victory Park) in Yerevan to enjoy a few hours
of Fresno fellowship and play for our kiddos. Of course, by the photo
you can tell that Nar and Lena are....well...they are just HOT!!! I
would aspire to be them someday in the reverse (Fresno to Armenia
transplant) but THEY are the original and reigning HYESTAN HOTTIES!!!
As we sat in the small space of shade to shelter us from the
smoldering Yerevan heat we noticed three Vosdeegans (police officers)
coming our way. As is typical Hyegagan Sev (Armenian Style) the three
were staring unashamedly in our direction. But it was oh, so much
more than they typical stare-down of the Armenian Male...they circled
back around THREE times and couldn't stop drooling...I know because I
was staring them down and they WERE NOT LOOKING AT ME!!!! This is the
problem...if you are beautiful and without a male in toe you will be
stared at, BUT NEVER in my entire 7 months here have I seen the
determination of the vosdeegans that day. I was please to be in such
company but even more to share those few hours with such wonderful
women as Lena and Nar. They brought a piece of Fresno to me, they let
me speak English and they are indeed beautiful...INSIDE and OUT!!
Miss you all Jonelle ; )

Where did the pounds go?

Moving to Armenia has taken its toll on us physically, first of all
traveling here with our whole family suffering a winter flu, then
Winter snow, rain and cold that seemed to last through Spring,
coupled with the kids bring back colds from kindergarden, seemed to
keep us generally immobilized, with at least one of us sick. This is
when we tried such remedies as Vodka and Garlic, rubbing snorting,
eating and drinking, we tried Russian versions of cold medicines, on
of which sent me (Kalem) into an Anti-falactic reaction, which
required more medicine to fix.
From previous trips to Armenia, I was warned not to drink the water
due to bacteria, so this time I bought four test kits and checked all
of the main water locations we would generally be drinking from. The
test was negative for bacteria, but only showed very hard water not
surprising for non galvanized pipe. So we drank the water with ease;
but still something else caused stomach problems, mostly for me, but
we were pretty certain it was not the water. A note in Armenia we
also found ourselves walking quite a bit which also added to the loss
of extra weight.
After a while I tried eliminating coffee which had cause different
problems in the past for me, but again to no major consistency. About
this time we moved to the village, which brought a whole new set of
problems. Our newly remodeled house was extremely humid from all of
the water based wall treatments, earthen plaster, drywall plaster,
paint etc. There was and still is stinging nettle everywhere around
the house and the village for that matter, the kids and I would
frequently run inside for the anti-itch cream. We all fell ill again
that first couple of weeks, and our neighbors attributed it to
"changing air."
One night I awoke in agonizing pain and found myself between the bed
and the bathroom the rest of the night, not knowing in which direction
to approach the toilet. That actually lasted into the next day, and
the cause was left unknown. Once that bought was over I noticed that
I had run out of holes in my belt. I had already moved in two, about
two inches, and my pants were still loose. Although I know I didn't
loose it all in one night I was curious to see how much weight I had
lost after being in Armenia for five months. Ten pounds was lost in
all, and so I started to try and replace the weight.
I had often skipped lunch for work, but now I would try to eat at
least one lunch if not two. I switched back to beer for toasts,
instead of Vodka, whenever possible, and tried to limit my stress.
Just when I was gaining weight and had eaten one of the most
satisfying meals of my time in Armenia, (lamb, pork, and chicken!),
and was completely full, I continued the feasting with cold
watermelon. To my dismay found myself in the bathroom again the whole
next day.
My most recent theory is the warning we were given about not eating
watermelon that has been out in the sun. Almost everyone buys
watermelon from street markets, almost all of the watermelon is left
in the sun, and so I am beginning my fast from watermelon. My Imodium
supply is running very low, but I do think they sell a Russian version
here. I also tried the village remedy of eating a spoon full of
unused coffee grounds. Which seemed to work but has kept me up late
into the night writing this blog.
As for those who think this to be "too much information" this is very
much apart of most peoples experience with Armenia and is important to
be noted. It is hard not to think and long for the processed fried
food of America at a time like this.

Animals living with us

Although we live in a "remodeled" house, complete with European
windows, and door, there are quite a few uninvited guest in our home,
and this time I don't mean our neighbors. I am not sure where they
are coming from but we have an ample supply of flies everyday,
literally I spend about 20 minutes every morning with the fly
swatter. Then there are the spiders which I generally leave alone, as
long as they stay out of the way, to help control the ever increasing
fly population of course. With all of the fresh fruit this time of
year there are also quite a few gnats, and besides getting rid of the
fruit we don't have a way to control them. The moths are pretty easy
to kill with the fly swatter, but they still seem to be gaining in
numbers. There are ants, usually in the bathroom, Raid (produced in
Russia) takes care of that problem, for a couple of days at a time.
The real interesting thing is the black beetles that we find in the
shower, not so easy to squash but not to fast either. With all of
these insects if the kids ever leave the door open the neighbors
chickens find their way inside also, but at least that is one animal
that we can eat!