friends

Some of our friends here in Armenia!

Amarikatsi em

Ամերիկացի

Amarikatsi em... I am American. These words have new meaning for us. Here in Armenia, it means - we don't know what we're doing! Heh.

When my taxi dropped me off and I had to switch to another one (see the post further down), when I got in to the next taxi and wasn't sure what was going on, the man asked me, "Amarikatsie ek?" And answered, "Aio, Yes Amarikooi em." which is the way to say I'm an American if you're a girl. Anyway... he smiled big and nodded. (But that's about where the conversation stopped...!) :) Most Armenians like to hear us try to talk in Armenian. A friend said that they don't hear a lot of forigners speak in Armenian so when they do hear it they enjoy that...

Anyway... People think that Americans, in general, are smart and have a lot going for them, which is true. But here, we realize that as an American, we only know one language and we don't know street rules or cultural norms... We watch other people float in and out of three or four languages and explain cultures and history...

We are humbled.
Whenever we do something goofy or are confused or don't understand... Kev and I look at each other and say, "Yes Amarikatsi em!" with a smile and shrug.

Breath of God.

Աստվածաշունչ
Asdvatsashoonch

This is the word Bible in Armenian... the actual translation is God's Breath... way cool.


--We're reading Narnia books right now and they've talked about the power of Aslan's breath... who represents Jesus.

Thoughts on our drive through town

I always think of things to share with you that are different or interesting here while we're driving around town, which is when, of course, I don't have my computer or internet... :) So I took some notes! Heh!

Gas.
Ha. Here when we fill up with gas, we just drive up (to a gas station called "Flesh"), tell the man we'd like Premium and fill it up... we pay him and tip him a little bit and off we go!

Balconies
There are apartments all over the place here. 15 floor buildings. And they usually have their clothes hanging out to dry. And most of them have balconies, but at least half of them have been made into extra rooms. So there will be one apt with an open balcony and the one next door has walls around theirs for another room in the home. (It's typical for a little apartment to have a whole family of like 10 people in there...)

Marriage
Marriage is what brings us together, today... (a little Princess Bride for my bro Scotte!) In Armenian it's Amoosnanal and Amoosing is husband... anywho. After a couple gets married here, they still typically move in with the husband's family. So a new bride packs up and heads on over to his family's house. Just interesting for us Amerikatsies to think of...

Honk/Flash
A lot of talking is done via your car while you're out driving. People honk the second that the light changes, whether or not your at the front of the line and can move at all! Just letting you know! And a lot of times they'll just flash their lights if they're trying to tell you something. I'm still figuring out the difference, or if there is one!? Go, hello, stop...

Flowers
Flower shops are all over along the sides of the roads. I like this. Guess with is on my table quite often now... fresh flowers! It's the thing to do when you go visit some body, or if your husband is sweet... ;)

Poppies
Wild red poppies grow all over Yerevan. I love it.

Stare
Maybe I already told you this, but in Armenian there is no word for stare. Even though there's no word for it... they still do it! Ha. Kevin's red hair draws some attention from people since there's mostly black hair around us. But it's also kinda interesting to us to watch men stare at the pretty ladies that walk by! Heh... so pretty...

Military
When boys graduate from high school here, they go into the military. I think it's for two years. So if you're a boy you will be in the military. Our friend was telling us this with his little 6-7 year old boy playing with Elijah next to us. Later we were told that some boys go to the university first and then to the military. They will be given some "better" jobs then... So our friends who have a 17 year old boy is going to try to go to the university first. Interesting anyway. Shushan, our friend who's brother is 17, said that if they didn't require it, no one would go...

Tight pants-high heels
So many girls here wear tight, and we're saying t-i-g-h-t, pants and high, again h-i-g-h, heels... The other day a gal walked in front of our car at a stop light and her white pants were so tight that Kevin said he could count the hairs on her butt! Ha! :) It's interesting to watch the gals walk with their high heels on the broken up sidewalks and streets, too... that would be so hard to do!! Olivia told us that when they came like 6 years ago there were no flats! ooooh... glad we came 6 years later! ;) Now there are more flats along with the high heels. Whew.




Statues
There are statues everywhere! We don't know who they all are or exactly what they all mean but we see them all over! This is one in our neighborhood. Kev says I shouldn't be so smiley by it but he was being goofy so....

Andre Aggasi
WE see a big sign of Andre Aggasi right down town advertising a watch or something... I think it's interesting to think of that for Armenians. He is from Iran, I think, and has Armenian blood... so I'm sure that's super cool for Armenians!? I'll go buy his watch... heh... (they do like tennis here...)

Marshookas

Did we tell you about riding the marshooka? They're like mini busses. A mini van type thing that picks people up and has a route and you off along the way... Well, we rode one once. And Kevin figured that was quite enough! Ha. He has some claustrophobia issues or something anyway... but seriously there were 17 or 18 people packed into the marshooka the size of the minivan! Of course, I, who have motion sickness issues, sat in the only seat open that was facing backwards... Ha. (I was okay, though.) And when we thought it was totally full, it'd pull over and more people would pile in! But the time we got out at the metro station... we were both glad for the cool breeze down in the tunnel and the wider open spaces in the metro! :)

Taxi
We take taxis sometimes. They are a little more expensive. But obviously take you where you want to go without smooshing you in there! :) (I do tend to have a little motion sickness in a taxi, too, since the roads are tough and crazy and the driving tends to be swervey and jerky...) If you can't speak the language... who wouldn't be able to speak the language... it could be a challenge to be sure that they know where you're telling them to go! We've learned some of the important words like straight, right, left, Vanahovid (our neighborhood), kilometers... (Although I did say "brain" once while riding with a friend instead of "straight" because they sound similar!!) Kevin carried a map for the first month or two... that's easier...

The other day, on of my close friends, Marine, called the taxi service that she usually uses so that she could feel confident that they'd get me home without any trouble... (we were going separate ways from down town...) And after I said goodbye and got it, the drive picked up his CB and said "something, something, Vanahovid, something something..." and then he pulled over to the side of the road. I asked if he knew Vanahovid - getoom a Vanahovid?? He nodded yes but still asked something about Vanahovid on his CB. Then we just sat there by the side of the road. I was going to ask if I should wait or go when another taxi pulled over and he pointed to it and said "sorry". So I got out and into another one... kinda laughing about how Mar-jan was off feeling confident that I was home while I was switching taxis unsure just why. But I did get home and it was no big deal. Just a little adventure! :)

ruthie's armenian preschool - inchuig

Ruthie has been going with our tutor's daughter, Iren, to an Armenian preschool called Inchuig. Inchuig means "Little Why". Cute. It meets two days a week for two hours. There are 5 classes that last about 20 minutes each. Since it's a bit overwhelming for a little 6 year old to dive into school classes that she can't understand... guess who's been sitting in on them with her? Yup, me. (although today Kevin had the pleasure!) It's been interesting for me, though, since I love kids and especially that age. (and since my degree is in early childhood education...) For most classes the kids, about 15 of them, line up in little kid sized chairs along the walls and the teachers stand in front. They play a few little games and sing some songs.

Ruth and her Armenian friends study English, art and computer, Russian, music and dance, and math and letters. English is pretty easy for her... :) And Russian is haaard... they're teaching Russian in Armenian! Heh. We don't catch toooo much, but I tell her to just listen anyway. (She's usually sucking her thumb!) Music and dance is kinda fun and she's warming up to that. Coloring and computer times are interesting. She wants her coloring to be perfect and that can be stressful! And for the computer time, they each take turns and watch the others do their turn. The Math and Alphabet class is probably the most like a class in America, with a desk and papers to write on... so she likes that one. Plus, she's good at her math!

All the teachers are very kind to us! Some of them speak English. And I'm hoping to learn Armenian here... :) Most of the moms just wait there since it takes a while to get anywhere in a big city. You'd get there and have to come back. So I've visited a little bit with a couple moms. They like that I'm trying to learn Armenian and think it's a little strange that I came here. One gal said we all want to go to America and you came here! And another gal said that it's a great pleasure that I'm taking the time to learn their language.

In June, they'll put on a little program to show all they've learned. We went to Iren's last "party" and watched her sing and dance. I kinda doubt that Ruth will get up there to perform!? But it's still been an experience for her to be making friends and to be in that environment. When she's sad or shy, her little friends say "vochinch, vochinch" (It's okay, it's okay...) and when it's time to go to the next class Iren says "ari, ari" (come, come...)

I wish they had a little free time to play together. Ruth would be able to interact a little more with the friends that way... When they get outside they run up and down the sidewalk and giggle. It can be easier to make a friend when you're playing! :) But they've all be kind to her, too... In Russian class they were going over the Russian alphabet and when the got to the "R" sound a little boy said - Like Ruth! Sweet.