Volume I Number 9: October 15, 2004

PHOTO FEVER!

Hello Family and Friends,

We don’t have much to write this time around but we do have a bunch of photos we wanted to send to you. Despite our camera being stolen, we did have photos saved in our computer. We have also been asking our fellow volunteers for their photos. We will send them in 3 different emails because of the size of the files. Here is a brief explanation of each photo zip file.

Haghartsin Photos: This is a beautiful monastery nestled in the mountains near Dilijan. We took this day trip in August with our friends Jason and Tera. Haghartsin is one of Armenia’s most visited monasteries. Construction for the church began in the 10th century and was completed sometime in the 13th century.

Lake Sevan Photos: These photos are from a trip that the environmental education volunteers took in August. We swam, had a picnic, and did a clean-up project near the picnic area. Lake Sevan is a major feature of Armenia. It is one of the world’s largest high-altitude lakes with it surface originally 1,915 m above sea level. The lake’s water level has been severely reduced due to irrigation and hydro-electric purposes. Currently, it is one of Armenia’s most prominent environmental problems.

Noyemberian Photos: We took this trip a few weekends ago. Our pictures are from our hike to one of the local monasteries.

Swearing-In Photos: This is from our swearing-in ceremony on August 23 in Yerevan. There is a group photo of all the current volunteers, one of the environmental education volunteers, and one of the English teacher volunteers.

The days are getting freakin’ cold around here. We have been bundling up to go outside, throwing the extra blankets on the bed, using our electric heater and whatever else it takes to stay warm. Because we sit up on a plateau we are constantly exposed to the wind. Living on the fifth floor of an apartment building also doesn’t help in avoiding the wind. The sad part is that we are in one of the warmer spots of country. Here’s to a chilly winter. Woo hoo!

We’re emailing from Yerevan this weekend. We came to Yerevan to do a little shopping, develop a couple roles of film, and to send in our ballots for the upcoming presidential election. We hope everyone gets out this year to vote. If we can do it from Armenia then you can easily do it in America.

That’s it. We’re heading back to the village.

Freezing in Armenia,

Brett and Laura