FOURTH OF JULY AT THE US EMBASSY

All Peace Corps volunteers in Armenia were invited to the United States embassy in Yerevan for a Fourth of July barbecue with embassy staff including the ambassador.  Maybe half of us went. We hadn't had an American salad with real American dressing, hamburger, fries, salad, watermelon and corn on the cob for over a year.  When we got there we heard American rock and roll blaring loud and everyone spoke English.  There were some sporting events and games for children of embassy staff. All in all it was a lovely time.

View of Gilmore Field at the Embassy.. Yerevan

and the Hrazdan River in the background..

 

Cheeseburger, fires, salad, corn on cob and watermelon..

I know it seems so mundane, but for us on this day

it was incredibly wonderful :-)

 

Under the big top...

 

Peace Corps volunteer table....

 

My best friend Susan Spano and me enjoying our

corn on cob..

 

 

Me showing off my incredibly American and most

wonderful meal since I arrived in Armenia :-)  It

was really such a treat!  Little things mean a lot when

one is far away from one's country...

 

 

 

 

 



BERLIN GERMANY WITH MY SON IAN

In late July I went to Berlin Germany to visit my son Ian. The last three spring/summers he has spent in Berlin and Eastern Europe working at music festivals.  This time I hadn't seen Ian since a year ago August when he met me in Vienna for a day - my Peace Corps layover stop from the US to Armenia. We had about eight days together in Berlin.  We did some sight seeing, went to a concentration camp north of Berlin, then spent two afternoons at two of the big beautiful parks in Berlin. We had some lovely meals together and had an all around most wonderful visit. I don't know where and when I will see him again. Maybe in India this winter.

Me and Ian first afternoon at his apartment in Berlin...

 

 

View from his fourth floor balcony.. His friend's cat

 named Porridge fell off the balcony  Saturday morning

while we were there. Had a broken leg, broken facial

bones and a pneumothorax but miraculously survived. 

but was OK.. .

 

Restaurant where we went for pizza one night in Berlin . . .

 

Nice outside bar we went to one afternoon...

 

Relaxing together on the couch :-)

 

 

 

Ian at our favorite restaurant near his apartment...

 

 

 

 

Alexanderplatz - main square in Berlin central...

 

We took a Segway tour of old Berlin...

 

Riding the Segways...

 

Brandenburg gate...

 

American Embassy in Berlin, just to the left of the

Brandenburg Gate...

 

Older buildings and sculpture not bombed by the war...

 

 

Some of the beautiful architecture...

 

Berlin Metro...

 

At Check Point Charlie... Place to cross from West to

East Berlin manned by US troops...

 

 

An afternoon relaxing in one of the big parks...

 

Café in the park.... great art work everywhere...

 

Guard tower by Berlin Wall on East Berlin side....

 

Jewish Memorial in Berlin....

 

Roof top outside bar where we went on afternoon . . .

 

View of Older Berlin from roof top bar...

 

East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall . . .

 

Me and Ian by the wall...

 

Ian's favorite spot by the wall...

 

"Free Syria" written on the wall....

 



Entrance to concentration camp - just north of Berlin.

Training camp for camp guards for all camps...

 

 

Camp perimeter walls and barb wire fences electrified..

 

Place where prisoners washed their feet... many were

drowned in these basins...

 

Place where prisoners were shot against this wall..

 

Remains of crematory... Russians took over this

camp for their prisoners and destroyed a lot of the

Nazis death camp remains...

 

Medical clinic where Nazi medical experiments took place..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WINTER TRIP TO VAYK AND NORAVANK

This is a very belated posting. Last December, 2014 my PC friend Susan Spano and I took a trip to southern Armenia to visit our other PC friend Carol, who is stationed in Vayk.  We took public transportation via a marshutni (a van that is loaded with 20 or more people) from Yerevan. It weas a four hour uncomfortable trip. We visited the town of Vayk where Carol (another 'senior' volunteer) lived and also went to see the beautiful monastery of Noravank way up in the mountains.  So, here is the journey in pictures. 

Me, Susan and Carol...

 

Our hotel on the hill in Vayk with a bee farm below.

The pipe across is the above ground gas line...

 

Another view of our hotel after a storm...

 

A view of Vayk from the hotel balcony. . .

 

Advertising in Vayk. . .

 

A local water fountain in Vayk . . .

 

How one dries their laundry in Armenia. It is

always hung outside as there are virtually no

indoor dryers in the homes.. even in Yerevan, laundry

hangs outside . . . all of it...

 

 

Now we head up into the mountains where the Noravank Monastary can be found. It is also an Important Bird Area in the world and here is some information about IBAs. 

 

 

 

IBA sign in Armenian language...

 

 

View from parking area. . .

 

First sighting of Noravank from the road driving up

into the mountains. . . built in 7th century AD 

 

Noravank Monastary

 

View from parking area . . .

 

 

Front of monastery - outside stairs leading to upper rooms . . .

View from behind the monastery . . .

Natural caves up there where the monks lived...

 

 

Sculpture in front over the stairs . . .

 

Inside  the monastery - the alter . . .

 

Khachkars

 

Information about Khachkars

 

On the way back stopped at an old dwelling where

there was a lavash oven... Lavash is unleavened

Armenian bread made in these ovens built into the ground.

It is still a staple food of every Armenian.. eaten with every meal.

 Still often made in the villages in this way - the bread is baked around the wall

of the oven. In cities it is  now made in commercial ovens.