single mom

I met Knarick last summer when I moved in with my second host family. She is one of their relatives, and I was really happy to meet her then because she spoke English. She teaches English in a village nearby and raises her two young children all by herself. Her husband left almost 8 years ago, to Russia, and never came back. But she still claims to be married. The social pressures for women to marry are strong, and once you are - you are. She's not alone in this regard, I've met many women in the same boat. I hate that it's that way for them, but Armenia is a traditional place with strict rules about marriage and divorce. I took these pictures yesterday at her house, when I came along to help bring her a load of new furniture. We ended up staying all afternoon, cooked a chicken, ate dinner - the whole 9 yards.