I just wanted to post a quick note to say thank you to everyone for their birthday wishes. It really is hard to explain how wonderful it is to have support from my friends and family back home. Most days are great here, although some are not, and to know there are people there for me makes it all 😉 so, thanks!
For those who are wondering, I did have a great birthday. I visited some other volunteers in Yeghegnadzor, which is in the south of Armenia. We had a great time, which is fitting as they have named it “Fun-dzor”. The fun kicked off quick as my arrival was welcomed with a moderately drunken “Happy Birthday” rendition (2 days early..) and ended at midnight of my birthday by a second drunken rendition of “In Da Club” (the lyrics are “we’re gonna party like it’s my birthday”, mom) by lil’ ole me. In between, we had a great time, and visited the Noravank monestary. It was very pretty and was set in a gorge which they call the Grand Canyon of Armenia. Kinda similar, I guess…
I actually spent most of my birthday traveling back to Noyemberyan. I was able to meet two campers from IOC for lunch at the new Thai restaraunt (happy birthday!!!) and they brought me a cake and some very nice souveniers. I returned home late that night, and my host family had made me a cake and gotten me a very lovely gift. I am even closer to integrating now that I have pointy shoes and a polyester Chinese shirt! If anyone wants a souvenier from the “LP Athantic Nautical” let me know, I’ve appearently been there and all I got was this mis-spelled tshirt.
After crashing early, I woke up Monday and ran 13 miles as part of my marathon training. Fighting exaustion, my NGO wanted to celebrate my birthday as well. Instead of a traditional Armenian meal, I decided to treat them to a down-home American classic: CHILI! We cooked up about 6 pounds of chili and had a delicious feast. I’m pretty sure this is the first chili supper in Armenian history. I’ll make sure to put that on my resume. It was a really fun time and I was happy to share some American cuisine with them. While I thought it was delicious, I’m not sure they’ll be requesting it for the Christmas Party. But hey, that just means more for me!
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2 Responses:
August 29th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Glad to hear you had a happy b-day. Sarah said you all had a good time.
I hope you were on t.v. for the ramp that you got funding for. It’s pretty impressive.
Best wishes on your last 11 months in Armenia.
I’m continuing to pray for a warm Winter over there this year.
Mrs. Z
September 17th, 2007 at 7:12 am
Sorry, Kyle, but your chili supper in Armenia was not the first. Armenians were first introduced to chili con carne in Vanadzor some eight years ago:
“The kitchen was filled with curious Armenian spectators as they watched this foreigner cooking a huge caldron of Indiana-style chili. Unlike our American neighbors to the South and West, Midwesterners like me include macaroni and kidney beans in our chili. Such would be considered blasphemy by Texans and other chili purists. But I knew my Armenian guests wouldn’t protest my recipe. In fact, they eagerly lined up with bowls in hand when the chili was ready, and the big pot was emptied within a half hour.”
You can read about what the disaster that happened next at:
http://armenianfood.blogspot.com/2006/06/green-peppers-diarrhea-and-my.html
Happy B-Day!