Average Daily Routine in Small Village Armenia

I’ve been in Armenia for a few weeks now, and have established somewhat of a routine. The following are things I do in a typical day, and what time they usually happen.

7:00 a.m. (or so) – Walk over to the school (dprots) for some exercise. Dodge the morning running of the goats in the street.

Daily Running of the Goats

Meet up with other Americans. (Maybe because of our influence, some Armenians have been showing up to work out with us as well.) The relatively cool morning is the best time for any exercise because it has been roasting hot during the day.

• Run around the small track 3-10 times (probably 1/8 of a mile around). I don’t really like running in circles…
• Utilize the playground equipment: pull-ups, push-ups, lunges, squats, sit-ups, etc. I can do 2 pull-ups now. And of course my abs are rock hard.

Utilizing the Playground Equipment

8:00 – Walk back home to get ready for school. Shower? Not this girl! I only shower when my host mom says I can, and that’s not very often.

8:30-ish – My host mom knocks on my bedroom door and says, “Evelyn! Nahajosh!” That means breakfast. I sit at the table and wait to be served. (I have tried to help, but am repeatedly told to “Nesti!” Sit. “Ker!” Eat. Breakfast is usually two hard-boiled eggs (which I have to cut in half with a knife and scoop out the insides–my host mom is insistent I do it this way), lavash, panir, lolik, varoong, and karak. I always drink either tey, or warm kat as well. (Armenian-style tortilla, cheese, tomato, cucumber, butter, tea, warm milk.)

School where I learn Armenian. It says, "Bari Galust," which means "Welcome."

9:15 – Head back to school for language class, carrying my books and “lunch.” (Lunch is leftover breakfast rolled into lavash.) The eight of us are split into 2 groups. The other group always gets out of class early. Our teacher is hard-core. We sometimes are kept a half hour past the required 4 hours. On the plus side, I feel like I am learning Armenian a little better because of this rigorous schedule.

Armenian Language Lessons

11:00 (or so) – break time!!!! We all lounge on the stone bench outside the school and speak English. Random Armenians come by and we say, “Barev!” Hello. After the 15 minutes cruises by, we slowly make our way back into the hot, stuffy classroom for the remainder of daser. Lessons. The chairs are hard and not ergonomically friendly. And they’re made for younger bottoms than mine.

Learning Armenian is not easy.

2:00 p.m. – Head home from the dprots. My host mom feeds me. Same food as breakfast, minus the eggs, plus a bowl of soup that contains rice and potatoes.

3:00 – evening – Depends… Homework for the next day, play with my host sisters, write in my journal, help my host mom with some little chore, hang out with the other volunteers, try calling home (how come you guys never answer???), play my mandolin… Somehow the time flies by. There is usually a coffee break during this time. The sun beats down. There are not many people around in the streets because it is very hot. Toward evening, they start coming outdoors. Wind picks up and cools everything off.

8:00 p.m. (approximately) – eat dinner. Sometimes there are many people over (in which case, we may eat as late as midnight), and sometimes it is just the five of us. Depending on the occasion, dinner may be breakfast minus the eggs, plus noodles. Or we may get a little more extravagant with a meat dish or dolma. I smile a lot and say “Inch?” What? a lot. When I’m feeling energetic, I try to initiate my own conversations. “Inch es anelu vagha?” What are you doing tomorrow? Then I sit in complete bafflement as they tell me their plans. After dinner, there is a bit of socializing — and maybe watching TV, maybe singing and dancing — until I realize I’m exhausted.

11:00 – I get up from the couch and say, “Bari gisher.” Good night. From my room, I hear lots of people hanging out in the street. Loud talking and yelling. Sometimes horns honking, sometimes loud music late into the night — the sounds of a khoravats (an Armenian BBQ, accompanied by a party) going on at the neighbors’.

Night - Dream strange dreams, often of me being back in the U.S. for a few days, with the opportunity to re-pack, or bring things I wish I had here.

View of Mt. Ararat from my village

It’s a good life so far, and I’m getting used to the differences. People are also getting used to me, especially the kids, who have started trying to initiate conversations with me. They think it’s hilarious when I say, “Chem haskanum.” I don’t understand. Or when I mistakenly tell them, “Ha,” or “Che.” Yes, or No.

Anyway, I’m learning. And things are about to change, because in a little over a month, I will be leaving this village and going to my permanent site, where I’ll have to start all over, meeting people and becoming familiar with my surroundings.