WHEN COFFEE IS NOT REALLY COFFEE

FLEX Team

   We finished our project with the Fuller Center and on Zorik and Larissa's house on Wednesday. On Monday and Tuesday, we had groups of young volunteers from the Future Leaders Exhange Program (FLEX)  working with us. They were lead by a wonderful young woman, Anna Hovakimyan, who coordinates the program. These are all young people who are in high school or have recently graduated. They spent a year in the US living with host families. Armenia invests in its future leaders with FLEX, IREX and other programs that help develop the skills of young people. I don't know of any programs on this national scale in the US.   I am very impressed with the skills that these youth have developed.

Kyra and Annette in the blue room

   Sometimes the work got a little hectic with so many people. Our team worked so well together that we would often just work on rooms ourselves while the FLEX team worked on other rooms. We were into painting by Tuesday so FLEX team finished spackling and sanding.  It was an amazing feeling to be painting bedrooms and seeing them get near completion. I thought of Hovakim and Anie having their own bedrooms after 10 years of sharing one communal room.  The room colors of the three bedrooms were a light green, a light blue and a lavender color.

Karnig and Avedis in the apricot room



Gohar V., Anie, Annette, Kyra, Larissa and Gohar P.

   And our team has been awesome. While there were only six of us, we worked so well together that under Larissa's gentle guidance, we were able to accomplish the same amount of work that larger teams would do. Larissa, Karnig, Kyra, Annette, Avedis and I have become good friends and we spend nearly all our off-time together as well.  It has been an honor and a privelege to work with such incredible people.  And also the coordination and work of Gohar Vardanyan and Melik was very integral to our work. I would also like to thank the staff of the Fuller Center for all of their support and their dedication to ending poverty housing in Armenia. Gohar Palyan, President Ashot Yeghiazaryan and Director Armen Avetisyan not only provided background support but also came out to work on the project.

Johnnie and Zorik

   We finished the day with the first coat of paint in the living room. It was apricot colored - of course - and it was so inspiring to see it go from rough concrete, to plaster, to a painted room.  We cleaned our tools and sat down to yet another fabulous meal. This time we had lamb kebobs, cutlets, tomatoes, eggplant and peppers (from the garden) cooked outside on a barbecue grill. If I said that the meal was amazing, would you believe me?  Of course, it was.  We ate, drank local wine and had plenty of toasts to the family, the volunteers and the Fuller Center staff.  And Johnnie, Zorik's childhood friend was there. He is an incredibly warm man who is also incredibly strong. He challenged us to arm wrestling matches and not one of us could even come close - not even using two arms.

Larissa, Anie and Hovakim

   Oh, and the title of this posting.  So after the wonderful meal, the pictures, the arm wrestling and many toasts with shots of vodka, I decided that a little coffee would be a nice alternative to yet another drink of wine or vodka. So I spied a small cup of coffee that someone didn't drink. There were often extra cups of coffee and I would usually quickly claim those. After all, I can't pass up a cup of the nectar of the gods!  So even knowing it would be cold, I tossed it down my throat,,, and discovered that someone who also decided they'd had enough vodka, had surreptitiously dumped their shot into a coffee cup that still had grounds in it. Gasp, choke, sputter!!!  I will be more cautious in the future. However, I am happy to report that I felt fine the rest of the day and no hangover the next day. Vodka, or "Haygagan Chur (Armenian Water)" is very much different - and forgiving - than vodka elsewhere.

  We still have a few group activities left. Today we are going to Khor Virap - the site of the conversion of King Trdat III and the whole country of Armenia to Christianity in 301 AD - the first nation to do so. In the afternoon, we are having a dance workshop with our friend Hasmik Harutyunyan assisted by her husband, Andranik Michaelian.  We will be refreshing our knowledge of traditional Armenia dances and learning some new ones.  Then dinner at Mer Gyug (Our Village) where we will hear some outstanding traditional Armenian music.  Avedis leaves tomorrow morning and our group will start to disperse. But we will always have the knowledge that we formed friendships in one of the best ways possible - working together to make the world a better place.

No Contest!