On nomads

A passion in my life is moving. It's not just a passion, it's an addiction. After contemplating the same walls, the same sink, and sleeping on the same matress for more than a month I get hitches all over my body and I start to feel the need to migrate. Maybe the result of my saharian nomadic ancestry, or some product of my disturbed childhood.

The good thing is that sometimes, moving has its benefits. You discover different parts of town, different people (too many sometimes... that's why I wish I had 25 duplicates of myself, to visit all the people I have met and spent time with in the last 5 months). But mainly, sometimes it's just worth waiting for the right place and the right people.

So it took me four months, but I found it, and I found them! Meet Aurelia (Austrian), Hasmik (Armenian) and Cheryl (American):

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Lovely aren't they? And they are not only cute, they also have unique and lovely personalities, and so far it's been an immense pleasure to live with them!

We have two floors, downstairs there is a large living room, kitchen, bathrooms and balcony with a view on the city and Ararat (which still manages to move me to tears sometimes). Upstairs there are three bedrooms, one of which I share with Cheryl.

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We even have a website: www.penthousehostel.org where you can book your room and see pictures! The owners are awesome, and they once thought of making this flat a hostel.. they continually have to refuse requests though...

And the best thing is, we have a couch! Available for travellers and friends....

Our  first houseparty:

Agir rend heureux

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Exerpt from Agir from heureux, an article in the frame of the 10:10 campaign:

“Inventing a world with less carbon? That would be a world in which we would give more importance to solidarity, to generosity, to citizenship, to nature, to common sense, and less to individualism, to superficiality, and to waste

But how can we achieve this? The task may seem overwhelming and discouraging, as we feel tiny and powerless in front of all that shocks us and revolts us, all that we would like to change… It’s sometimes easier to let someone act instead of us.

However, to give a little bit of our time and of our energy or our money to a collective cause is gratifying, and creates happiness. Acting for others, it’s also acting for oneself. And when it is environmental urgency that leads us to act, the feeling that we are doing it for our children, our grand-children and our great grand-children is another motivation.

[...] There are plenty of situations every day in which we can say what we think, and in which case, if everybody is doing it, things can start to change [...] To say what we think, is to affirm our values, and it is to show to others who hesitate that they will not be the only ones to act.

http://www.goodplanet.info/eng/Zones/Agir/Bonnes-Pratiques/10-10-Agir-rend-he..."

A week end of adventures!

As the Peace Corps, say, Yerevan is not Armenia. You want to see Armenia? Get out there and go to the villages, visit people's homes and see how they live. It's so enriching, fun, and touching. The people we meet are open and generous, they are curious about foreigners and ready to open their homes and share more than a meal with us.

We were lucky enough to find a car which was going to Martuni (our destination) right at the exit of Yerevan, a nice first local hitchhiking experience! The man and his sons invited us to their home, where we met the grandparents and brother in law, and shared great food, music, and dancing in the middle of the afternoon. They were sweet and so warm (ok.. like usually a bit too much! We said we don't want to marry in Martuni!). They wouldn't let us go, they wanted us to stay for the night, but as we had made other plans we eventually managed to escape ;)

 

Make me an instrument of your peace

To kick of this new blog, here are some incredibly soul quieting and awe inspiring words, shared with me by a fantastic canadian ecologist and traveller.

As he said, 'I hope this poem will light your way as it has enlighten mine'...

Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Ok.. no more lies, this is what really happened.

As credible as my bezoar kidnapping story sounded, I am sorry but I have to disapoint you all and tell you the truth... 

The kidnapping story was just a cover up for the real story. Here it is... I found my armenian half... authoritative, smoking cigar after cigar, and driving a car with tinted windows... everything I was looking for! Here's our wedding picture

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Oh, before I forget, we also got a child. Babies grow fast here...

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You can start sending your wedding, birth and baptism presents right away!!! And you may visit, because I don't know when I'll come back, especially since there's a second one on the way (he should be born soon khowing how fast they grow in this part of the world!).

My Bezoar Family

Family, friends, and Armenian mountain goats, The last time I wrote something consistent in this blog was about two months ago. You might be thinking that I just have a boring life, or that I went back to my old hyper-busy way of life and couldn't find one minute to update my loved ones. Beware; there is a far more interesting explanation to my prolonged absence.

On January 6th, as I was out and about for some wildlife observation in the Khosrov reserve, I got kidnapped by a mountain Bezoar goat (threatened species of the Armenian highlands). I tried to escape, but then I understood that he was purely motivated by traditional bezoarian hospitality, and that it would be too rude to fight. Then, he brought me to his cave where his Bezoar goat wife and children were happily living (the kids were watching TV and the mum cooking some wild grass soup).

Picture: My Bezoar parents and bro's

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They adopted me, taught me the bezoar customs and ways of living, as well as some recipes and other cultural peculiarities. I felt so happy there, away from the cares of urban life and computers that I decided to stay for a while.

They released me yesterday, and of course, I was on the forefront of the national news all day long. “It’s the first time that someone survives a Bezoar goat kidnapping!”, they were saying. Anyways, I learned a lot from this experience, and I will keep visiting my host family as often as I can. I will update you soon about my life in Yerevan, it’s a bit hard to readjust to being in the city with other humans, but I’ll get used to it, meanwhile I try to keep the Bezoar attitude… meeeeh!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everybody! I spent the New Year Georgian style, in Tbilisi! It was amazing, full of crazy people and Ukranian vodka ;) I have been chilling at my awesome indian couch surfer's place for the last 4 days, can't leave this city! I decided on going back to conservative armenia tomorrow though, cuz this is where I belong now! My arms will be full of souvenirs and wine bottles :) And I am sure it won't be long before I come here again. Meanwhile, enjoy our new year cards, and the lucky ones that sent me their post address will receive a hard copy! Hugs and much much love 

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Happy people, random times and horseriding day

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I love Ruzan's friends, they are some of the most open minded and fun people I have met over here! If in the beginning I only met very traditional-minded people, they proved me that there are exceptions everywhere. They are all very free spirited and creative people, with great aspirations and plenty of good will. I guess that's what travelling around the world does to you. This week end, Nektar, Meline, Davit and I went horseriding in a place where they use horses for therapy.

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My little family!

For one month, I was living with the cutest, loveliest and craziest young armenian family. Michael is my colleague and offered me to stay at his place with Armine, his two sons, the grandma and his brother. The boys, Ashot and Emil are so cute. Ashot, although he is only 4, says that I am his love and that he wants to work in my office to see me everyday (and then he punches me hard... that's love!).

It was sad to leave them for my new appartment with my new iranian flatmates, and especially to leave the comfort of having everything done for me by my adoptive mum (who is 5 years older than me). Here are pictures of our lasagna farewell party. I still see them, as I work with Michael and I had the crazy idea to invite them all to my new place this week end (wild boys...)!

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The love of my life! Look how happy I look!
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My second love showing all of his toys and feeling like a superstar