Zoya and Haykoosh are two Armenian women... friends of mine. They are both about 55 years old. Zoya lives in Hrazdan and has a fruit and vegetable shack. She is a widow and has a grown daughter and 5 grandchildren. She lives in a high rise apartment in Hrazdan. She is very poor. She was orphaned at age 5 when her mother was run over with 9 other people at the same time on a street in Hrazdan. Her mother was working with some others sitting on the side of the road when they were all killed by a drunk driver. I believe she was then raised by an aunt with many other children. Her husband died maybe 15 years ago - heart attack or stroke. She survives by selling fruit and vegetables in the shack you see for very little money. She is here from about 9 a.m. to dark every day. In the coldest month - January, she goes to Yerevan to her daughter's house. The fruits and vegetables are obtained by going to Yerevan in the middle of the night on a cold bus/van with others like her to pick up the produce. I wanted to go with her one night and she said no it was much too cold for me and I could go with her in the spring when it got warmer.
Zoya is warm and loving. Through a translator I told her the story of how I never lived with my mother either. We spoke of how difficult life can be without a mother. But her life is of course so much more difficult than mine.
On US Christmas afternoon Zoya made me my Christmas dinner of potatoes and salt on the woodstove. It was very special for me. I love her. She is now in Yerevan for a month with her daughter where she can be warmer. Can't wait till she gets back and I can be in her shack with her again...
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Potatoes and salt on the pech/woodstove...
These woodstoves are made only of tin and do
not hold a fire very long...
Zoya in her shack...
Zoya... she speaks Russian and Armenian..
Zoya's produce of pomegranates, something orange (I cannot identify),
grapefruit and cabbage and oranges..
Haykoosh I met on my walks through the village of Makravank. I met her on the road and she invited me to her house. Haykoosh is also alone... not a widow but abandoned with two children and now grandchildren. Haykoosh's husband went to work in Moscow as a lot of Armenian men do.. contruction or whatever and like many Armenian men, he just never returned. They find other women and abandon their Armenian wives. Haykoosh was left 20 years ago with two small children and a small farm (cows/chickens/large garden) to manage on her own. She had one other child, a daughter, who died as a young child with some kind of an infection. She raised these two children and managed the farm and garden by herself and works in the town hall.
She recently has had heart problems and was in the hospital. Now she has chest pain and fatigue... I think she is in congestive heart failure. Her son is now home from Moscow and does not work as none is to be found, but at least she is not alone. She still works now two days a week with chest pain. I think she will not live much longer. She has two young grandchildren by her daughter who lives close by in Hrazdan. I go to visit her about once a week. I went once right after her hospitalization for shortness of breath and a home health nurse was there giving her IV medication. The nurse used a huge bore needle and used the table vodka for antiseptic wipe before inserting the needle which was of course a reused needle and reused IV tubing etc etc. What can I say... I was appalled at all of this but of course said nothing.
Haykoosh's house has no hot water, the living room shown with the pech/woodstove is the only heated room in the house. She has running cold water in the kitchen and an outhouse.
Haykoosh and her granddaughter...
Pech and wood in the livingroom...
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