This old church and royal palace was destroyed by either an earthquake or Arabs.
Same church. There are ancient churches with fabulous history all over Armenia.
Many games of backgammon, chess and cards in the shade.
Downtown Yerevan. Paved shopping promenade in this area for pedestrians only.
There is a roundabout with no island in the middle with stop lights that no one seemed to be paying attention to; people and cars all mashed together to get through.
Bread served with our meal. It was like a tortilla shell full of air served with a side of hummus.
I sat behind the driver of this bus. You paid as you got off.
When someone put the coins on the carpeted dash, he flicked the coins under the quilt.
I got the giggles.
Mrgashen (pronounced mir-cosh-en)
This was Evelyn's training village for 3 months.
On the way here from Yerevan we saw beautiful countryside. There are apricot orchards, grapes, strawberries, pears, cherries. Some very poor farms. Some houses extremely well-to-do (bribed.)
The neighbours of Evelyn's host family greeted her as we came into town.
The "mom" and girls squealed out the window. A cute welcome.
Back yard of Evelyn's host family was all garden, with a cow barn, chickens and some fruit trees.
Gohar milks the cow, plants the garden, makes cheese (panir,) cans vegetables.
She said she works all day long.
Gohar (the mother) had an outside kitchen with fridge (eggs on top) and did her canning here.
She also makes lavache here. Primitive wiring, no luxuries.
Gohar fed us a high tea. I had coffee so thick! It was customary to turn the cup over so the "mud" would drain out and someone would tell your fortune.
Tea is served with very sweet strawberries and cherries for sweetener.
An hour later we had dinner. Horavatz (barbecue anything - we had chicken) with potatoes, matsun, panir, cukes, greens, currant juice, and some other things I can't remember the names of.
Gohar walks her cow to the pasture every morning. It joins the other neighbourhood cows
for the day and someone herds them back to the village in the evening.
Each turns off the road into its own gate. That was some sight to see.
Neighborhood kids greeted Evelyn everyplace we went.
Typical home in Mrgashen.
School toilet. It has a flusher, you just have to have good aim.
Lots of the public toilets along the highway are similar.
Some Mrgashen homes only have outhouses.
We chatted with these neighbour ladies. Each was knitting on the same sweater, a back, a front,
and a sleeve. They were the cutest little old ladies, (my age, ha ha.)
They were happy to visit with us.
Gohar with her cow. She doesn't allow anyone in the barn with her.
Mary (6), Joyce, Nellie (5)
Gohar's daughters.
Gohar and husband Gnel with girls.
Gnel works in Yerevan, 10 to 12 hours a day. He earns $300 a month.
7 days a week, no vacation.
Their long range dream is to move to America.
Lots of poverty here, lots of kids and happy people. The streets are narrow, no sidewalks, always someone sitting on the bench beside the door chatting.
Evelyn was welcomed by most of the town with hugs and smiles.
We walked through several streets and it was like we were on parade, a special happening that day.
