Gallivanting in Gavar

Gavar is the provincial seat of Gegharkunik marz, near but not on Lake Sevan, a town of about 30,000, framed this time of year by green, snow-capped mountains. It has a nice church – the tallest in the country before Etchmiadzin was built – but the main attraction for me was the PCVs who live there. When I mentioned my plans to another PCV, he decided to come along for the day before returning to his site. Good thing that he did – this was my first encounter with overcrowded marchutnys. I remember the bum-rushes at the Fes taxi stand, but hadn’t steeled myself for pushing my way onto a vehicle here; as another crowd gathered, we found enough people to share a taxi, and off we went.

Chris and Bryan were the hosts, Vincent and I came up together, and Rani and Robby were visiting as well, already there. The six of us took a long walk to Noratus, the site of more khatchkars in one place than anywhere in the country. They date from three separate time periods (I think 5th, 9th and 11th century) and you can see the evolution in style. There are even older (cradle-shaped or flat stone) grave markers as well, and a fancy, new part to the cemetery, in addition to a view of the surrounding town, lake and mountains, so it was a nice place to wander around. There had been a bigger collection of khatchkars in Naxcivan, but the Azeris destroyed it. Supposedly, when the Ottomans came, the general defending Noratus dressed the khatchkars as soldiers, and the Ottomans, thinking it was a big army, retreated. We wandered, had a cup of coffee outside the entrance, and then some of us walked back – part of the way through fields of wildflowers – while others took a taxi and started cooking. Another PCV friend, Shannon, came up in time for dinner, a repast of fried zucchini sticks, macaroni and cheese, and cherries, strawberries and Girl Scout cookies that I contributed. Good walk, good food, good company, good cheer. It was one of my favorite days here!

Border2Border is a volunteer project that I have been excited about since I first heard about it – you can read more at http://walkacrossarmenia.wordpress.com/. Six PCVs started at the Georgia border and six started at the Iran border and this coming weekend they will meet at Yeghegnadzor. Along the way they are stopping every other day or so and giving health lessons to kids about smoking, drinking, nutrition and exercise. I’ve planned for a while to go to Yegh this coming weekend to support everyone (several of the people I’ve become friendly with are walking – and the PCVs in Yeghegnadzor have been warm and inviting). I didn’t realize when I set the date with Chris that the northern group would be arriving in Gavar on Sunday. Once I knew it, though, I offered to help; Chris and Brian convinced me to contact my counterpart and Peace Corps and tell them I was staying to see the presentations on Monday.

Chris, Bryan and I spent most of Sunday getting food – both for the nutrition presentation and for the meals that the walkers would have during their stay. There’s no supermarket in Gavar, so we had to go to several hanuts to get everything requested and required; that’s just daily life for the people in the regions (as is water availability – Chris has water from about 7:30 am to 2:30 pm and he fills up buckets so that he can flush and wash during off hours). It was raining off and on and much chillier than the day before – it had been threatening during our hike but the rain held off until after dinner.

The B2B people arrived in mid-afternoon and we greeted them with cheers and snacks. They were tired – they’d walked 187 km so far and 38 km that day – so we sat around and talked (well, some dozed, and some just sat without the energy to talk). I’ve never been one to just hang around, but the walkers, the hosts, and the other PCVs in town are all good people, so I am glad I stayed. As with Thanksgiving in the Philippines, it was nice to experience a slice of PCV, as opposed to PCRV, life here in Armenia.

The next day, showers went to the B2B people but not to the hosts or other guests (I hadn’t slept well, either – makes me appreciate the shower and bed at Zina’s all the more). I helped cook breakfast and then we all went to the school to set up for the event. The picture of them walking in was staged for the media – but their actual arrival the day before was in two groups, so this is a better picture. About 45 kids came; I haven’t interacted much with kids here so it was interesting. Gordon is working on a grant to study gender differences in the schools. In general, the girls are good students and the boys are disruptive – maybe because they know that after school they have to go into the military or to Russia to have any hope of work. To some extent, the same dynamics were at play in these health lessons.

After the setup, I sat in on talks. About halfway through the second one, I was pulled out of class – I don’t think I’ve experienced that since sixth grade! The sky was looking ominous and Shannon and Rani wanted to get going back to Yerevan before the storms hit. I’d been looking forward to seeing the kids swarm around the healthy food and do the exercising, but at least I had seen some of that in photographs the night before. We made it out just in time. And when I got back, I napped and then went to bed early! I did rouse myself in between for dinner with Will, the A-14 in town, and his now-fiancee. He had come here to see his girlfriend and in the course of the month proposed. She said yes; he said how about now? They’ve been working on the paperwork but it’s complicated, so he will come back in a month – possibly with his parents and brother as well; they’re a nice couple and I wish them a happy marriage! He came over to have a farewell coffee with Zina on Tuesday, and I, refreshed by sleep and showers, am having a good week!