friend-jan

Some portraits of my very good friends - Jon & Emily. An amazing writer, and a terrific photographer. My time here wouldn't be the same without them.

shoes

The shoes of a little girl - with their silent pink laughter they carry like a tiny secret. I used to have a pair of red cowgirl boots I'd wear with every outfit. Every outfit. There is something about shoes and girls....

sunday church

Very few people go to the churches here on Sundays, but by ethnicity they are folded into Christianity. There are no dunkings, sprinklings, or bread and grape juice to save you from your Sunday morning teenage hunger, just a simple birth-right instead.

A recent Me

.....and a little sketch I drew.

year 2

Year No. 2 in Peace Corps is much better than the first go round. I look at the pictures I took during my first Fall here and see and feel the differences. This picture is from October 2008 of some of the girls in my classes, after school. My life has more or less settled itself here, and I've become used to it. Now, we begin to talk about and plan for our lives after Armenia - and it's a damn whirlwind of emotion that is on par with coming here 18 months ago. I haven't made big plans yet, but I look forward to making them very soon.

age

A picture from an evening I spent tutoring English....on age, and being young. Whatever being "young" is, I think everyone clings to the idea. Have a great weekend - enjoy your time.

kid labor

This little boy is part of a new community of houses the Fuller Center of Armenia has built, and worked with us on Saturday to help build a new one. While we passed buckets of dirt and concrete, he hustled back and forth in the mud with oversized clothes and dress shoes to bring the buckets to the front of the line like it was a game. A cool kid in my book, beautiful too.

officer man

A few weeks ago I missed the bus, and hailed down a random car going in the direction I needed to go. It happened to be this nice guy, a local policeman. He drove me to where I was going and we talked about the usual questions (where are you from, why are you here, how old are you, do you like America or Armenia better) for half an hour. He agreed to let me take his picture yesterday - I was hoping for a better background but I wasn't allowed to wander around the station looking. I really like these hats. They are absurdly tall, but make the stature more impressive on whomever they sit. I didn't have to worry about him smiling in the picture, because he'd never think of doing it.