Tues. 7-21
Lesson 10 today. I e-mailed at AUA and make my study notebook. I
talked with Alan and Raffo outside after dinner tonight. I showed
them all of the stupid cards that I have in my wallet. Credit cards,
I.D. cards, insurance cards, video rental cards- I explained them all
in Armenian. (I think.) Rich made a funny list of the reasons why our
dorm is like a prison. Examples: we trade and barter in cigarettes,
we have a curfew, we have guards, we have literacy classes, the
furniture, we're only allowed one hour of exercise a day (walking to
AUA and back), the lack of water, etc.
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 13:47:05 +0400
From: "Katy Pearce, live from Yerevan" <KPEARCE@aua.am>
To: Betsyp655@aol.com
Cc: kpearce@umich.edu
Subject: Re: visa
First, the fun stuff.
Sunday in Armenia (Sunday the 3 week of July or something) is "water
day" it's some old pagan holiday that basically means that all
throughout the country kids and adults throw water on you. It all
started early, at this monastery where a bunch of kids started
throwing buckets at us. We were prepared and had filled tons of water
bottles and we got in a big water war w/ a bunch of 10 year olds over
St. Gregor's tomb... then on the bus ride, every town we went through
kids, in packs of 30 or more would throw buckets, hoses, everything
to the bus and they had such good aim that we got wet inside... of
course we got them back... then we get back to Yerevan around 1 or 2
in the afternoon... seriously- no exaggeration- we got doused at
least 25 times- especially because we're American... we'd run,
scream, whatever--- we got most of it from the street, but a lot from
peoples' balconies and windows. People were carrying buckets in the
cars to get the kids back. Then our dorm got in a war w/ the kids
down the street... it was Hilarious- a bunch of 20 year olds throwing
water on eachother, Screaming, laughing- it was so cool. Then- (since
we only have water in the dorm 6-9 and 6-9) we girls had Walked down
the street to a public pump to fill our bottles- we Walked back to
the dorm and the door was locked and the guard was Mopping and told
us to wait, we had to get dry before walking in. We look up and all
of the guys are up on the balcony about the Entrance with huge
buckets, which they dumped all over us...
It was a great day.
The cool part is that it was 104 degrees- but no one was too
hot...
:)
The other good thing is that I understand Armenian now! Okay, a
little capsized version of the last week...
Been talking Armenian-lish mixed w/ hand signals to the guards and
stuff for a while but, I have these 4 friends that don't speak
English at all... (Well- a very little- about as much as I speak
French or German, you know?) I have to speak Armenian. I can now
Understand 40-80% depending on how slow one is talking... I can't
reply as well as I understand, but that is to be expected...
Yesterday- very interesting (This was after a few days of only
speaking to children- they talk
Slowly and don't correct me in a rude way) I had to get my laundry
done- went to the laundry lady-explained to Separate whites and
darks, found out how much it was and what time to
Pick it up. In the mean time I go to the park. I'm sitting, doing my
homework- this old man comes up to me and Starts talking. Somehow we
had a very interesting and deep conversation for 2 hours With passing
my book back and forth... he'd point out the word and I'd be able to
understand it in English (if I didn't already know what it was)- then
I had to go to the Laundromat and on the way these Guys yelled hello-
previously I just walked away, but now since I Have a good grasp of
Armenian, I walked up to them and said, "parev,
inch bes es?" (hello, how are you all?) We talked (they were like 20
years old) about rap, music, politics, school, beer, etc. for a long
time- with only an occasional unavoidable English word (like "rap"
or
A band's name or something) went to get my laundry, she told me a few
minutes and the laundry people gave me REAL (very rare and expensive)
orange juice (not tang) and I watched the little mermaid in Armenian
w/ these 3 little girls and we sang along (the songs themselves were
subtitled and 1/2 dubbed (more like an echo)) and they sat on my lap
and we played pattycake...I then, later that night, watched a
Georgian movie, dubbed in Armenian w/ French subtitles... what I
couldn't get in Armenian, I could guess in French... it was so
weird...
Even if I'm not pounding vocabulary words in to my head (although
I do great on my vocab tests) like everyone else, locking themselves
in their rooms doing flash cards- I'm in Armenia for god's sake- I
could
Be pounding my head w/ flashcards in America- I should go out and
talk with people and go to museums and zoos and movies and
concerts... and I have been... it's more important. I speak well for
my class and I'm
Understanding, I'm way ahead of everyone- because I go out and listen
to people and put things in context and comprehend it... it's
great... 3 weeks and I understand so much...anyway, gotta go to
language lab. I have a midterm on Thursday... oh yeah! We're going to
Karabagh on Friday!!! yay! We got our visas
Today- it's really safe- some roads are flooded, but we have an
awesome busdriver...
More to report later.
Adios
love, kt
Katy Pearce
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~kpearce
Armenia Live :)