A Quiet Saturday

After all of the excitement of this past week, it was nice to have a slow day.
I woke up to snow (!) outside my window. As beautiful as it was, it also meant the apartment was pretty chilly (okay, freezing). I don't like to sleep with the heat on, but that makes for cold morning--and with no recourse. The gas heater needs to be lit with a match, and my track record with Armenian...um, everything...assures me that I could probably blow up the building. So I jumped back into the warm bed and fell back asleep until nine...missing the morning water window. I had just a few ounces of bottled water left, so I had to decide between coffee and brushing my teeth. I'm not going to admit which one I chose, but I will say that using two sips of cold coffee to rinse and spit is not desirable.
It finally occurred to me that I need to take this water thing seriously. So far it has seemed like a fluke each time I turned on the tap and nothing came out. I mean, I knew there was only going to be water at certain times of the day, yet I didn't fully believe it until this morning when I noticed a very clear pattern. It turns out there really are only a few times each day. Bizarre. Tonight I tried it and actually whooped with joy, then filled three plastic bottles and a pitcher. No more fooling around. Time to get serious about, of all things, water.
For lunch I had leftover pizza from last night. Sara was so excited to surprise me with real American pizza for dinner! It was so sweet of her and really made me feel at home. She made a great crust and topped it with ketchup, cured meat, cilantro, and cheese (not entirely sure what kind). I told her that Wolfgang Puck also uses cilantro on pizza and he is a very famous chef. I'll have to start calling her Sara Puck.

She and Ara were so busy getting ready for Easter that I couldn't believe they took time out of their afternoon to take me to the local Archeological Museum. We were given a tour by a very pretty woman, who showed us pots and stones and bread stones and a cool mortar and pestle...all dating back to 3000 BCE! They were just sitting on raised platforms with no barrier or protection of any kind. I asked why they weren't secured in cases and she said this was all they had--all they could manage. There were also items from the iron age and old arrowheads and carpets and bejeweled belts that rich women wore hundreds of years ago. Neat stuff.

After we left, Sara told me that she was so angry at the museum staff because they had told her that she and Ara only needed to pay 200 dram to enter but that they wanted to charge me 1000. Sara told me she was outraged and said to the woman, "Why? Isn't she a person? Really! Why?!" She sounded at that moment SO much like my friend Fimi that I wanted to hug her--but we were in the car, so I just thanked her and shrugged. People are the same all over the world. Some want to take advantage. I'm just glad I have people looking out for me.
Later in the afternoon, I had the chance to talk with Sara's private students. They came for a lesson and I got to just sit and talk with them; they rarely get the opportunity to speak English with a native speaker. These kids--Artush, Nareko, Annehid, Lucie, and Arina reminded me so much of my students at Oakwood--more so than any of the other students I've worked with. They were so funny and eager and bright! We talked about how Armenians celebrate Easter and that somehow evolved into me becoming Facebook friends with them! How great is that?! I really look forward to reading their updates and staying in touch with my new friends from around the world. I plan to see them again next week before I leave.

Later we boiled and dyed Easter eggs and ate some super yummy fish, along with this very tasty, um, something...looked like a crab cake but was made from egg and spinach maybe, not really sure. When it's topped with tan and cucumber and rolled in lavash...shat hamova! Oh, and the other delicious treat of the day was another homemade cake!! This time with pineapple. I just don't know how Sara manages all of this in a very small kitchen with a very small refrigerator and no running water for days at a time! (She and her family are staying temporarily in a house outside of the "city center" where I am, so I have a couple hours each day of water, while she can only count on it a couple times a week.

I have some pictures that I'll add later, but for now, I need to get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be an amazing day. We are traveling to Yerevan to celebrate Easter with Ara's parents and sister. This year the commemoration of the genocide and Easter fall on the same day. These are two of the most important days to Armenians. It's supposed to rain but we will march for the victims of the genocide come rain or shine. I wouldn't miss it for the world!
We will stay overnight and spend Monday sightseeing in the capital. I'm charging my camera battery overnight, so as not to miss a thing!

Another new food I get to try! Really looking forward to Easter dinner!