Home Sweet Home
It's been a while since I last posted, but that's only since I've been so busy packing up, saying goodbyes, and COMING HOME! The last week in Yerevan was quite a whirlwind, but it was so nice to come back to the States. I've been back about 4 days now and have really enjoyed getting back into my normal life.
Since I last posted I finished up my last 3 days at David Hotson (where I work). The people there were so nice all summer - I really appreciated this opportunity! I really could not have asked for a better internship anywhere on the planet. The people in the office were really friendly and helpful, and hopefully I will keep in touch with them. On my last day they threw me a party!!! They brought in champagne, nice desserts, fruit, etc. and we had a small party in the kitchen at the office. They toasted me (genats!) and wished me a good journey home. It was so nice for them to do that for me!
In addition to finishing up work we tried to do all of our favorite things in Yerevan one last time. We went to Jazzve for ice cream and dessert, went to Chez Garo for manti and sou boereg, and sat around and ate watermelon in the apartment (ok, that was one of MY favorite things). Also, I took Thursday afternoon off so I could go see the National Gallery on Republic Square. It was so great! The Armenian paintings are really interesting. The only thing was that Thursday afternoon was the hottest one yet - about 45-7 degrees celsius which I think translates to about 107F. YUCK. I can't believe that the National Gallery doesn't have temperature/moisture control, either. The windows were all open in all the gallerys and it was over 100F. Unbelievable. Anyways, I found a few new favorite artists and picked up a book on Vartges Sourenyants from the bookstore on the square. He does really fascinating work.
After the National Gallery I did some shopping on the Square and picked up some books and some fun sneakers. Armenian shoes (at least for women) are not well made and not that stylish. BUT, Armenia does have pretty cool knock-off sneakers. I picked up some fun yellow and blue ones for football. YAY - football season is almost here! I also ran into Pifer at a cafe talking to a professor who specializes in Varoujhan - the poet he's studying for his thesis. Luckily Justin and French Alex had also passed by a few minutes earlier, and Justin sat down to help Pifer translate. So, we had some fun sitting around together and visiting - yet it was a pretty dumb idea to sit around at chat outside when it was 107F. Oh well. We then had our last Armenian lesson at BR - which was both sad and happy since we really did have such a fun time with our Armenian teacher and classmates!
Friday we went to a Havak co-led by Shant on professional opportunities in Armenia then I headed home for a bit to start packing. Then, streams of people came in and out of our apartment to watch movies and hang out. I didn't feel well and was exhausted, so I only made it through the first one - Eddie Murphy's Delirious. Pretty darn funny.
Saturday - our last day in the country - was really laid back and relaxed. I went with the Stephanies, Anoush, Pifer, and Alex to Water World one last time. This place never really gets old. It was fun to be able to cool off a bit, swim around, and work on my tan for a bit until it got too hot to be outside. We went to Square One one last time for lunch - yay for fries and a milkshake!!! The rest of the day was spent relaxing and packing.
Saturday night was the big party - going away party for me, Pifer, Aleek, and others and a birthday party for Stephanie. We went to Raffi's Kebab and had a great time eating and dancing (they brought the DJ just for us!). It was a fun last night in Yerevan - I even finally got to represent home and lead a line of Michigan Hop. Awesome! :)
That night we didn't end up going to sleep since we had to leave for the airport at 3am. Of course Pifer hadn't started packing yet as of about 12:30am, so it was quite a trip trying to get him packed up. I have pictures of the boys' room and my room side by side with suitcases lined up in my room and the explosion of belongings in the boys' room. I think we had just thrown the last bit of stuff into Pifers' bags around 2:50am. OY! The trip home was really long - about 30 hours from leaving our apartment to getting our bags in Detroit. I was actually able to sleep for chunks of the trip, which was great until the last leg of the flight home when I absolutely couldn't keep my eyes open.
It's been so nice to be home! Of course I've done all the very American things I've been missing all this time - we had McDonald's within about 20 minutes of arriving in Newark. It was soooo good (I know, kind of pathetic), but about 15 minutes after eating Pifer, Aleek, and I were all feeling pretty gross. Maybe we should have eased into that one. ALSO, I saw PRINCE at Newark. Pretty awesome - the real thing, not a lookalike either!
This summer was really wonderful, and even though I'm glad to be home I still really enjoyed my time in Armenia! It'll be fun to go back next summer and see all my favorite things again as well as all the things I missed while I was there this time. I think I have a lot to think about over the next few months while I digest this trip, and it'll be interesting to see what kind of conclusions I will make once that digestion has happened. But, til then, TSDESOOTIUN HAYASDAN! :)
Since I last posted I finished up my last 3 days at David Hotson (where I work). The people there were so nice all summer - I really appreciated this opportunity! I really could not have asked for a better internship anywhere on the planet. The people in the office were really friendly and helpful, and hopefully I will keep in touch with them. On my last day they threw me a party!!! They brought in champagne, nice desserts, fruit, etc. and we had a small party in the kitchen at the office. They toasted me (genats!) and wished me a good journey home. It was so nice for them to do that for me!
In addition to finishing up work we tried to do all of our favorite things in Yerevan one last time. We went to Jazzve for ice cream and dessert, went to Chez Garo for manti and sou boereg, and sat around and ate watermelon in the apartment (ok, that was one of MY favorite things). Also, I took Thursday afternoon off so I could go see the National Gallery on Republic Square. It was so great! The Armenian paintings are really interesting. The only thing was that Thursday afternoon was the hottest one yet - about 45-7 degrees celsius which I think translates to about 107F. YUCK. I can't believe that the National Gallery doesn't have temperature/moisture control, either. The windows were all open in all the gallerys and it was over 100F. Unbelievable. Anyways, I found a few new favorite artists and picked up a book on Vartges Sourenyants from the bookstore on the square. He does really fascinating work.
After the National Gallery I did some shopping on the Square and picked up some books and some fun sneakers. Armenian shoes (at least for women) are not well made and not that stylish. BUT, Armenia does have pretty cool knock-off sneakers. I picked up some fun yellow and blue ones for football. YAY - football season is almost here! I also ran into Pifer at a cafe talking to a professor who specializes in Varoujhan - the poet he's studying for his thesis. Luckily Justin and French Alex had also passed by a few minutes earlier, and Justin sat down to help Pifer translate. So, we had some fun sitting around together and visiting - yet it was a pretty dumb idea to sit around at chat outside when it was 107F. Oh well. We then had our last Armenian lesson at BR - which was both sad and happy since we really did have such a fun time with our Armenian teacher and classmates!
Friday we went to a Havak co-led by Shant on professional opportunities in Armenia then I headed home for a bit to start packing. Then, streams of people came in and out of our apartment to watch movies and hang out. I didn't feel well and was exhausted, so I only made it through the first one - Eddie Murphy's Delirious. Pretty darn funny.
Saturday - our last day in the country - was really laid back and relaxed. I went with the Stephanies, Anoush, Pifer, and Alex to Water World one last time. This place never really gets old. It was fun to be able to cool off a bit, swim around, and work on my tan for a bit until it got too hot to be outside. We went to Square One one last time for lunch - yay for fries and a milkshake!!! The rest of the day was spent relaxing and packing.
Saturday night was the big party - going away party for me, Pifer, Aleek, and others and a birthday party for Stephanie. We went to Raffi's Kebab and had a great time eating and dancing (they brought the DJ just for us!). It was a fun last night in Yerevan - I even finally got to represent home and lead a line of Michigan Hop. Awesome! :)
That night we didn't end up going to sleep since we had to leave for the airport at 3am. Of course Pifer hadn't started packing yet as of about 12:30am, so it was quite a trip trying to get him packed up. I have pictures of the boys' room and my room side by side with suitcases lined up in my room and the explosion of belongings in the boys' room. I think we had just thrown the last bit of stuff into Pifers' bags around 2:50am. OY! The trip home was really long - about 30 hours from leaving our apartment to getting our bags in Detroit. I was actually able to sleep for chunks of the trip, which was great until the last leg of the flight home when I absolutely couldn't keep my eyes open.
It's been so nice to be home! Of course I've done all the very American things I've been missing all this time - we had McDonald's within about 20 minutes of arriving in Newark. It was soooo good (I know, kind of pathetic), but about 15 minutes after eating Pifer, Aleek, and I were all feeling pretty gross. Maybe we should have eased into that one. ALSO, I saw PRINCE at Newark. Pretty awesome - the real thing, not a lookalike either!
This summer was really wonderful, and even though I'm glad to be home I still really enjoyed my time in Armenia! It'll be fun to go back next summer and see all my favorite things again as well as all the things I missed while I was there this time. I think I have a lot to think about over the next few months while I digest this trip, and it'll be interesting to see what kind of conclusions I will make once that digestion has happened. But, til then, TSDESOOTIUN HAYASDAN! :)