IN YEREVAN

    I arrived in Yerevan about 3 hours ago. I'm still in a bit of a fog with two long plane rides and a longer lay-over in Paris - but  not long enough to do anything fun.
     I'm now at my friend, Anahit Stepanyan's, home/apartment stay. It's good to see her after 5 years.  Sadly, her dog Mina is not here to greet me. Mina died this winter at age 17.  I'll tell a story about her later.
     So, I'm off to bed at what would be about 11:30am in Washington. I'm going to get on the local schedule as soon as I can.  Hugs and love to all of you,
Bob

Anahit - 5 years ago.

I am in Paris

     So I have experienced periods of pre-occupation when I am paying absolutely no attention to my surroundings or the people around me.  When I got to Seattle, I really had to use the restroom.  And I was also going through that stress that airports seem to bring on: where's my terminal, will I get through security OK, where the heck is Air France (it's actually under Delta - but who knew?).
     So on my way up the stairs, I saw to my great relief, a restroom.  It was near the 00 doors at the newer end of the terminal. I raced in and was surprised that there were no urinals, just a vast row of cubicles.  Hmmm.... Must be a new style of restrooms!
     OR... Yikes, I'm in the Women's... I got out just as a lady was walking in.  I just strolled out as if this were the most common occurence - no big deal.   
     Anyhow, I'm at Charles de Gaulle airport in France. The 10-hour flight actually seemed to go pretty quickly.  Now, I'm waiting a few hours to go to Yerevan.
     More to follow.

I AM ON MY WAY!!!

So I am at the airport in Seattle, leaving for Paris in a few minutes.  I have a 3-hour stopover there and then a 4.5 hour flight to Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia.  Thanks again to all of our friends and family who have supported Kristina and I to make this trip possible. 

Special thanks to our children and grandchildren too for carrying on  Armenian DNA.

And my great honor and respect for Kristina who done unending work to help me go - not the least of which is to not have me with her for a month.

Cheers,
Bob

Our Armenian Fundraising dinner was a great success last Saturday. We had about 30 people in attendance.  Marty and I performed a house concert  - we are called Twisted Roots - along with our friends Marilyn Kaler on harmonica and Paul Chasman on guitars.



Scandia Hall - Sons of Norway  - about to be invaded by
Armenians



We ate well, raised money for my house building project in Armenia, got to share some of the culture and we all went away with lots of leftovers.  We are still eating kuftas, khorovats, dolmas, imam beyeldi and simit here at hom



Leslie making Armenian prayer flags.



Thanks to all our great friends who cooked, set up, dined and then cleaned up with us. Friends and family are what life is about.

Our deepest thanks.

Ivy Rose getting the wrinkles out.

Fuller Center for Housing Armenia - Brief Video

Lots of people ask about the project I will be working on in Armenia this August. Here is a short video about the Fuller Center for Housing.  This is why I am going.

ARMENIAN DINNER FUNDRAISER - JULY 14 - 4:00pm

We have decided to go with July 14 at 4:00pm for the Armenian Dinner Fundraiser for my building project with the Fuller Center for Housing in Armenia. See my posts below describing the dinner and the project.

Seats are filling up fast so please make a reservation soon. RSVP us via this blog or at lawrence@olypen.com

This is a basturma, an air-dried, spice-covered beef delicacy that will absolutely thrill your mouth with subtle and robust tastes.  I've get several batches going now and can't wait for folks to taste it.

The meal will be preceded by a house concert by Twisted Roots, the local acoustic roots duo from Port Angeles.

If you are unable to attend but would still like to contribute to bringing affordable housing - or really just housing period! - to people in great need, you can use the DONATE button on the right.

Thanks for your support.
Bob and Kristina

Armenian Dinner Fundraiser

Hi All, Kristina and I will be putting on an Armenian buffet dinner on either July 7 or July 14 to raise funds for the Fuller Center for Housing in Armenia project I'll be working on in August. The Fuller Center was founded by Millard and Linda Fuller, the founders of Habitat for Humanity.  The project I will be on will be to build or complete houses in villages around the Yerevan (capital city) area.

Our Armenian dinner will consist of:

• Khorovats - Armenian Shish Kabob made of pork marinated in onion and pomergranite
• Fassoulia Piaz - white bean salad
• Imam Beyeldi - Eggplant and tomato cold dish
• Armenian Potato Salad
• Derevi Sarma (Dolma)- rice and onion grape leaf wraps
• Basterma - air-dried spicy beef - sort of like jerky
• Simit - braided dessert pastry
• Kini - Armenian Pomegranite Wine
• Soorj - Armenian coffee

We'll be sending out inquiries to see which date will work best for people.  We will be taking donations for the dinner - the amount is up to you.