6/10 -- First Few Village Days

This may be a short post because I'm at an internet cafe with a difficult keyboard. I'm actually surprised that blogspot works well; Facebook is not so good.

I've spent three nights with my host family now. Their home is very nice --  my expectations were greatly surpassed! I have running water AND a flushing toilet AND a "normal" shower! No squat toilets for me!!  But what surpassed my expectations most is the kindness of these strangers. They have totally taken me in, right from the start. My host sisters help me study Armenian (which is not going well) and my parents feed me LOTS of food ... too much food! The other night, a few extended family members came over and we had khorovats for dinner. Essentially, this is Armenian barbeque... by far the best thing I've eaten in country! The extended family was also very kind. My aunt (cousin?) spoke a little English,which was a nice change of pace.

Classes are exhausting, but good. I feel like I'm improving slowly, but surely. I'm getting pretty good at reading letters (hopefully I won't jinx myself there). I can't understand when people speak to me though ...

We went for a walk around the village yesterday which was amazing. The scenery in this area (Kotayk Marz) is unbelievable. Absolutely breathtaking! There seems to be some good hiking too, although I want to wait until I'm more familiar with the area and the people before venturing.

I did get a cell phone today ... The time difference is awful from here to home, but please answer if you see a weird number!

More later!