After a highly eventful week last week, I knew it would be hard to follow up. But with Scott by my side we did pretty well having another extraordinary week!
After we posted last week we made it to Noyemberyan early in the week by taking the fabled “marshutni.” Scott said it looked nice on the outside but once we got going he realized how jerky it was and remarked a few times that he felt thrown around as we drove through the streets. He had brought quite a few American treats (rice krispy treats, sweethearts candy, frosted animal crackers, soy sauce, etc) and we destroyed the bag of rice krispy treats on the long 4 hour ride up north. Thankfully he also brought Dramamine, which saved both of us once we got to the more mountainous regions and started feeling beyond nauseous.
After checking into our hotel, we took a walk to my host family’s house so he could finally meet the people I’ve been talking about for months! Waiting for us was the Yedigariyans, Christine’s father and two of Carin’s sisters. Once we told them we were engaged and did the traditional questions (what is the weather like in Dallas now? Do you like Armenia? Is Armenia better than America?) we began setting the table for some traditional dolma. Anahit, Carin’s oldest sister, pulled me aside and told me that I’ll be a very good “harse.”
Now… She meant it as a compliment. I did NOT take it as a compliment. Harse is the word for daughter-in-law/slave. After marriage in Armenia, the new daughter-in-law moves in with the husband’s parents and she takes care of them and the house. She does all the cleaning, all the cooking and all the work! She is essentially a servant. So while Anahit meant it as a compliment, it never even occurred to me to be a harse… Gayle Brandt, what do you think of this?
Over dinner, Christine made it her mission to help me “be a harse” and would give me directions for how to take care of Scott! I was told to serve him his courses, make his drinks, essentially make sure he was beyond comfortable during the meal, and on top of all this ordering around I was translating! Now, I was going to make sure he was comfortable anyway, but being told to do it in a “be-a-good-woman” kind of way rubbed me the wrong way.
Anyway… we ate dolma, salad, sausage and multiple kinds of alcohol. Then the coffee, tea and cake was brought out. Poor Scott tried to stop eating so many times but they wouldn’t let him. I made the joke “They’ll tell you when you’re full.” Anyone who has been in Armenia for more than 10 minutes knows this is so true! You aren’t full until the matriarch says you’re full. He also remarked at how often we toasted. In America, you do a toast or two and that’s it. But Scott says we toasted about 7 times. They were all sweet toasts (May you live happily, forever, you are always welcome in our home, may your marriage be happy, etc.) but with Scott not being used to the excessiveness, it came as a bit of a culture shock.
We spent the rest of the night eating fruit and watching Russian comedy shows. I stepped out to take a phone call for a few minutes and when I turned back they had the dictionary open and were trying to show Scott a word in the dictionary. He was giving me a look that said “OH PLEASE HELP!” It was adorable and a fun example for me about just how much craziness I’ve gotten used to. Scott distributed the small gifts he brought from America and Carin drove us back to the hotel.
The next day we hiked to my work where I got to show Scott off to all my coworkers and see what I do on a daily basis (he agreed that we desperately need windows and doors!) After our visit we went to the only restaurant in town to have some insanely delicious pizza. This presented another really cool moment for me (not for Scott.) He seemed uncomfortable during the meal and pointed out that everyone was staring at us. I looked around and sure enough, everyone in the restaurant was dead quiet and were just staring at us. This happens wherever I go and I’ve gotten as used to it as one can, but this was like baptism by fire for poor Scott.
Then we took a hike to “the rock.” There isn’t much to do in Noyemberyan so we walked the four miles to a 10-foot tall rock, painted like the Republic of Armenia’s flag. On our walk back from our photo op we were approached by two girls who wanted to practice their English skills with us. It was adorable!
After we posted last week we made it to Noyemberyan early in the week by taking the fabled “marshutni.” Scott said it looked nice on the outside but once we got going he realized how jerky it was and remarked a few times that he felt thrown around as we drove through the streets. He had brought quite a few American treats (rice krispy treats, sweethearts candy, frosted animal crackers, soy sauce, etc) and we destroyed the bag of rice krispy treats on the long 4 hour ride up north. Thankfully he also brought Dramamine, which saved both of us once we got to the more mountainous regions and started feeling beyond nauseous.
After checking into our hotel, we took a walk to my host family’s house so he could finally meet the people I’ve been talking about for months! Waiting for us was the Yedigariyans, Christine’s father and two of Carin’s sisters. Once we told them we were engaged and did the traditional questions (what is the weather like in Dallas now? Do you like Armenia? Is Armenia better than America?) we began setting the table for some traditional dolma. Anahit, Carin’s oldest sister, pulled me aside and told me that I’ll be a very good “harse.”
Now… She meant it as a compliment. I did NOT take it as a compliment. Harse is the word for daughter-in-law/slave. After marriage in Armenia, the new daughter-in-law moves in with the husband’s parents and she takes care of them and the house. She does all the cleaning, all the cooking and all the work! She is essentially a servant. So while Anahit meant it as a compliment, it never even occurred to me to be a harse… Gayle Brandt, what do you think of this?
Over dinner, Christine made it her mission to help me “be a harse” and would give me directions for how to take care of Scott! I was told to serve him his courses, make his drinks, essentially make sure he was beyond comfortable during the meal, and on top of all this ordering around I was translating! Now, I was going to make sure he was comfortable anyway, but being told to do it in a “be-a-good-woman” kind of way rubbed me the wrong way.
Anyway… we ate dolma, salad, sausage and multiple kinds of alcohol. Then the coffee, tea and cake was brought out. Poor Scott tried to stop eating so many times but they wouldn’t let him. I made the joke “They’ll tell you when you’re full.” Anyone who has been in Armenia for more than 10 minutes knows this is so true! You aren’t full until the matriarch says you’re full. He also remarked at how often we toasted. In America, you do a toast or two and that’s it. But Scott says we toasted about 7 times. They were all sweet toasts (May you live happily, forever, you are always welcome in our home, may your marriage be happy, etc.) but with Scott not being used to the excessiveness, it came as a bit of a culture shock.
We spent the rest of the night eating fruit and watching Russian comedy shows. I stepped out to take a phone call for a few minutes and when I turned back they had the dictionary open and were trying to show Scott a word in the dictionary. He was giving me a look that said “OH PLEASE HELP!” It was adorable and a fun example for me about just how much craziness I’ve gotten used to. Scott distributed the small gifts he brought from America and Carin drove us back to the hotel.
The next day we hiked to my work where I got to show Scott off to all my coworkers and see what I do on a daily basis (he agreed that we desperately need windows and doors!) After our visit we went to the only restaurant in town to have some insanely delicious pizza. This presented another really cool moment for me (not for Scott.) He seemed uncomfortable during the meal and pointed out that everyone was staring at us. I looked around and sure enough, everyone in the restaurant was dead quiet and were just staring at us. This happens wherever I go and I’ve gotten as used to it as one can, but this was like baptism by fire for poor Scott.
Then we took a hike to “the rock.” There isn’t much to do in Noyemberyan so we walked the four miles to a 10-foot tall rock, painted like the Republic of Armenia’s flag. On our walk back from our photo op we were approached by two girls who wanted to practice their English skills with us. It was adorable!
After getting back to the hotel we wanted to take advantage of their fancy dining room where we ate a lavish, four-course meal in a private room for 7,000 dram (roughly $15). Scott said multiple times that he could totally get used to this!
The next day was Georgia! A new stamp in the passport and a new country for both of us! We took a taxi to the boarder where we were greeted by a very enthusiastic customs agent who got very excited upon receiving our passports. (I suppose USA passports don't cross that border often?) After some struggles we found the hostel, unpacked and took a walk to get some lunch and get our money exchanged from dram to lari. Most of the cuisine was very similar to Armenian food so we settled in just fine.
We can easily agree that Tbilisi was incredible and we'd both go back. It was so relaxed, European and clean. We got hassled by a few Roma but other than that we felt like we were in a really magical place. I'd highly recommend it to anyone wanting a place a little different, but with a touch of familiar.
We can easily agree that Tbilisi was incredible and we'd both go back. It was so relaxed, European and clean. We got hassled by a few Roma but other than that we felt like we were in a really magical place. I'd highly recommend it to anyone wanting a place a little different, but with a touch of familiar.
We filled our two short days in Tbilisi with quiet wine bars, smoking hookah and walking everywhere. It's a really romantic city and I'm so glad we went!
Is it weird that one of the best parts of our time in Tbilisi was when we went to Wendy's? Yeah... That Wendy's! Of course it wasn't a highlight, but it was a treat!
Is it weird that one of the best parts of our time in Tbilisi was when we went to Wendy's? Yeah... That Wendy's! Of course it wasn't a highlight, but it was a treat!
On Saturday we both had to go back to our real lives, unfortunately. But part of the magic of a long distance relationship is that every day actually together is an epic adventure, and this trip didn't disappoint. While saying goodbye was harder than either of us imagined, I know neither of us will forget our time together.