Armenia-Part 1

I don't even know where to start with this amazing trip, should I divide into sections? I'm not sure how though because the days all ran together, and somehow a day went missing while we were in the airplane.

Truth be told...I started this blog post my last day in Armenia, then I got home, the jet lag hit hard, I wanted to spend time with my family and I was in high demand as a photographer. So, I still sit here, three weeks later, with only half of my photos edited. But I must start, because the longer I wait, the more details will be lost in my memory. And since my first half of my photos are done, I guess I will just start chronologically. Also, the reason this is so difficult is because I'm not one for words, I don't feel like there is any way for me to explain the significance of this trip, I'm not even sure my pictures can represent that very well but I will do my best.

The anticipation and anxiety was so intense in the days coming up to my flight. I knew that my boys would be well cared for but also, felt sad that they wouldn't have a mom for two weeks. There is no part of me that wanted to leave them for a "break" Yes, I was excited to have some time to explore Armenia on my own schedule and have many uninterrupted conversations with other adults. But I really can't say I was looking forward to time away from them and from my dear hard working husband who has only supported me in my ambitions to go on this trip.

So, My family dropped me off at the airport, apparently Miles cried for a second but then both boys enjoyed looking at all the airplanes and asking if I was in them.

My flight from Oregon to LA was uneventful and I was too anxious to try and read anything so I just stared off for most of it. Arriving into LA, I had to grab my checked bag and check it back in at the International Section of the airport. This wasn't super fun but luckily I found Anna through the mayhem, and we trucked the 7 minute walk to another airport. It turned out that they weigh your carry on in Aeroflot (if they feel like it, they didn't on the way back) and ours were too heavy so we had a whole bunch of scrambling and throwing stuff in my light checked bag and we made it work. After an hour or so, we were through security again, got some food and waited for our next flight.

The start of a really long flight.
No, It didn't worry me at all that this plane looked like it came out of the seventies!;)

Photo by Anna

12 hours! That's a long flight. We felt like we had been talking for hours then looked at the clock and maybe an hour had passed. We became delirious  but couldn't really sleep. Luckily we were able to watch some movies so that helped a bunch, but our old lady knees were really cramping

But we did get to see the sun rise over Greenland so that was pretty special.

The food was really salty and left us completely bloated so that wasn't the best. And I don't feel like rotating this picture, if you've known what I've gone through to even get this much on my blog, you would forgive me.


Ok, so then we arrived to Moscow. A snowy snowy cold place. We ran through the airport thinking our flight may already be leaving, we got to the gate and found it empty and locked. It took us poor american girls a little bit to realize they may have changed the gate (thanks to a kind English speaking stranger) When we got to the gate they were just starting to line up for boarding.

We then spent the next two hours flying into Yerevan. We were delirious but still had a hard time sleeping even though it had been 24 hours since leaving our homes. From the moment I stepped off the airplane, I could smell Armenia. It was the smell of burning leaves or crops. It's a smell I've always associated with Armenia and even in the middle of the city I could smell it and realize I had come back to someplace so significant to my being. It may seem strange but, while being so far away it is easy to forget the huge significant role that Armenia played in my life and it's strange how the smell of burning crops reminding to strongly of that fact.

We were happy to see that our checked bags made it to Armenia in one piece. we got Sim cards for our phones, met our shuttle driver and then we were out in the big city. We were completely exhausted but exhillerated to see our second home.

We stayed in a nice Armenian hotel owned by an Italian family. We got there probably around 9:30 so we pretty much tried to connect to the wi-fi which took awhile and tried to call our families, then I took a shower and we went to bed. I didn't sleep that well even though I was so tired, neither did Anna so we just ended up having random conversations. In the morning, I got to skype with my boys before they went to bed on the other side of the world. Then the hotel provided us with a lovely breakfast that included many of our Armenian favorites including their fresh bread and cheese.

Photo by Anna

We were able to meet a handful of other people at breakfast attending the workshop with us. We then loaded up into a large van/Marshutni/bus. And started our two hour drive up to Gyumri. Gyumri is the first area I served on my mission. It is also where Anna and I first met. I was lucky enough to serve in Gyumri again near the end of my mission, so I was able to check on some people I was able to teach and learn to communicate their specific dialect better. The closest people that I have stayed in contact with are from Gyumri and if I could have only picked one city that I could visit in Armenia, it would have been Gyumri, thus only further establishing the miracle that it was that I got to participate in this workshop in Gyumri Armenia.

 

When we arrived we were greeted by John Stanmeyer, the National Geographic photographer that was running the story telling workshop. He was much more jolly and friendly than I anticipated and I felt like he was Willy Wonka and we were the kids being introduced to his magical world.

We stayed in another hotel owned by the Italian man, it was like a castle and much better conditions than many of the apartments we lived in as missionaries, I mean we had constant running water, and it could be hot if we wanted it to. Luxery!

Photo by Anna

Photo by Anna

Photo by Anna

Photo by Anna

Photo by Anna

 

Photo by Anna

Anna was way better about taking photos of our hotel than I was. Anyway everyone else was meeting up with their translators, Anna and I opted out of using a translator and just hoped and prayed our Armenian would be refreshed and we could get by. We called Siranush who is a dear and close friend to both of us. She is one of the most beautiful and Christlike people I know. She spends her whole life serving others and served two mini missions with me and two with Anna. Anyway. Anna had been much better about keeping in contact with her but we were both so excited to be reunited with her. Her dad was driving her to meet at our hotel, in the meantime Anna and I went out on the streets for the first time as non-missionaries. It felt weird, and we got just as much attention being Americans (and blond, Anna, not me!) Like within the first 5 minutes a taxi driver stopped in the middle of the street to stare at us and you could see groups of people looking at us and whispering. They don't get a whole lot of Americans up in Gyumri. So we went and visited the church across the street from the hotel. My original PhotoStory for the workshop was going to be about Armenians devotion to God despite all the hardships they face. I thought a good place to start this would be the many Armenian churches all over the city. We weren't able to visit many as missionaries so it was fascinating to go in a handful of churches on this trip.

When Siranush drove up, we couldn't stop hugging her. It was such a beautiful moment but it also felt like no time had passed and we were still our young missionary selves in our early 20s. (Ok maybe I should just speak for myself.) We showed her the hotel then we went on our way to have lunch at her house. We didn't know this but her mom was fixing Khorovatz for us. It's an Armenian BBQ chicken.

Here is Siranush, the most Angelic woman I've ever met!

Photo by Anna

It was tasty and it was so strange to be back in her house again, although it still felt like time had not passed. I am glad I served a mission but I have never been one to wish I was a missionary again, I was happy to be home and love my life. It was great to realize we didn't have to worry about many of the rules that are made and purposeful for missionaries.

Photo by Anna

Photo by Anna

  After a tasty and filling lunch, Siranush had planned for us to go to the church and meet the senior missionaries. We were so utterly jet lagged that we just went with the flow. We were happy to go see the church building. It was a branch when we left and it is now a ward (significant growth in the church)We rode a marshutni there which brought back a flood of memories related to Gospel conversation and being crammed in a vehicle like sardines.

Luckily Siranush has been around missionaries for years so she understands even the most broken Armenian. Which was helpful with my jetlagged self. I was surprised at how well it came back for the most part, and how well I could understand.

After meeting with the senior missionaries, we planned on going to Tatevik and Gohar's house, they are a mother and daughter family that Anna and I were able to teach and baptize while we were in Gyumri, the senior couple wanted to go with us but they had to stop at another house on the way, again, we were exhausted and went with the flow but we ended up getting some great pictures, and meeting some wonderful people. 

There was a brand new church in the middle of an old run-down neighborhood.

We then went to Tatevik and Gohar's home.  For some reason I didn't end up taking any pictures of them at this visit. Don't worry, we went back multiple times. It was packed with all of us in their little domik, which is their small shipping container that was meant to be temporary nearly 30 years ago after the big earthquake in 1988, a little sidenote: their living conditions are terrible and while we were there we spoke with the Bishop and we found out that $2000 could buy them a newer home that keeps them safe from the harsh winters, here is a link about getting them a new house, Click Here If you feel that you can contribute to their home go ahead and do it! They are incredibly humble and talented people. I did end up taking some pictures of Tatevik's artwork.

A photo with Gohar.

Photo by Anna

Shortly after that, we ended up back at Siranush's house to visit her sister, and I went to take pictures of kids playing soccer. 

In the evening, despite our exhaustion, we went to have John Stanmeyer go over our photos and give us some pointers and pick out ones he liked. This was completely intimidating and mentally draining. But as hard as it was, it was invigorating to see potential in my photos even with my amateur status (a status I gave myself)

Later in the evening (night), when we wanted to be sleeping, John gave a presentation with his photos from his Armenia visit last year that are in this April's volume of National Geographic. You can see that story and some of the photos here.
It was worth it, and his photos were incredible! We crashed that night as soon as we got to our beds. The next morning was Saturday, I had spoken with John at breakfast and decided to change my photo story to Armenian children instead. Since my children are the reason I really got interested in photography, I found that I was enjoying taking photos of the children as opposed to the religious parts of society. This made me enjoy my project much more. So we set out to the town square to check to see if there were any weddings at the main square. We didn't find weddings. But there was some big celebration for one of their city leaders. 

We then went in the main church in Gyumri called Yot Verk which means Seven Wounds. With all the happenings in the square, the church was a busy place. Many people were in and out lighting candles and saying prayers. We checked ahead of time to see if we were allowed to take pictures and everyone was okay with it so we went ahead. 

 While we were in the church, a swarm of soldiers came in at the same time, it was a neat scene to witness.

 After a little break, we went back out, this was kind of a random day, just walking around town. We did see this sweet girl sitting on her porch and her mom was happy to let us take her picture.

She decided to hide from me.

 

We ended up by Siranush's house again for lunch and ate some delicious Potato Pirashkis.

Photo by Anna

Something that surprised us was in Gyumri that there were many more Grocery stores. It used to be that there were just small little one-room stores spread throughout the town but now there are larger "super markets" So we took pictures in there.

Siranush's niece. 

We then walked for awhile down the road...

 And this lady just had the bluest eyes, which is so rare in Armenia. It seemed that she was having a rough day but her mood completely changed when we were able to have a little conversation with her.

we were going to go explore a museum but they wanted to overcharge us so we just took this random picture. And yes, Anna carried her blanket everywhere....hahaha!

 

We stopped by an amazing store that had some excellent gifts for my boys, I got them some Armenian alphabet blocks, a Armenian coloring book and an Armenian Children's book about trucks and vehicles.

 We walked through the square back to the hotel.

 

We met with John to go over our photos always nerve-wracking but very informative.

 

We went back out before night fall. and tried to get another couple of photos. We ended up getting a little separated and I didn't have my phone since it wasn't working right. I couldn't find Anna and Siranush so I just walked the couple of blocks back to the hotel. 

We ended the night with another presentation from one of the Armenian woman photographers, Anush,  that works with John, She shared some of her photo stories that she had been working on. She is incredibly talented. We called it a night after that.

I know I'm probably missing some important details and I sometimes feel frustrated not being able to express my thoughts on how incredible it was to be in Gyumri, to be challenged as a photographer, and to reunite with people I love so dearly. So, I'll just say it was great and you can know that is an extreme understatement.