My Armenian Family Part One

My Armenian Family Part One

Well, I last wrote about how wonderful the greeting was for us when we arrived at the school in Ayntap.  My host family was the last to arrive.  I was getting so very nervous.  I met Robert and Olga and we loaded my belongings in to the taxi and went to their house.  As we rode, I was thinking of all the simple greetings we had been taught.  I sounded like a two year old as I said, "Good Day.  How are you?  I am good.  My name is Jody.  What is your name?"  Robert and Olga smiled and introduced themselves.

We got to their house which they had just remodeled because their son is getting married there this summer.  I met Lady, their big dog. Lady is almost the size of a Shetland Pony but gentle as a lamb. Robert helped me carry my luggage up to my room and then said I needed to come have lunch.

We ate in their den and the television was on with Armenian music videos.  We struggled through lunch with my limited understanding of Armenian and their lack of English.  They were so nice and kept putting food on my plate.  We had salad and tomatoes and cucumbers and dohlma and lots of bread and lavosh.  The food was great but I could not figure out how to tell them I did not want  or need more.  Robert offered me a shot of Tequila; I had heard about the Armenian penchant for drinking but I was expecting vodka.  

I tried to take my dishes to the kitchen but I was ordered to sit down.  I was a guest and an old guest at that.  I was not expected, nay, not allowed to do something as menial as help clear the table.  So, I sat and watched music videos I did not understand but the music was good.  Robert sat with me while Olga cleaned the kitchen.  He told me that he had wireless internet and gave me the password.  

While we were sitting watching videos and having an incredibly broken conversation, my LCF (Language Culture Family) support person, Aruse, came over to visit.  They all spoke in such fast Armenian that i understood almost nothing.  Then, Aruse would tell me that they want to if I needed anything.  She told me they were happy to meet me.  Then she asked me if I wanted her to tell them anything and I told her I was going to be fine. ( She bought that but I was so confused that I did not even know what to ask.)

I unpacked and settled in at the desk in my room for a little while.   Robert came up to my room and invited me down to have dinner.  I was not really hungry after that big lunch but did not want to seem ungrateful or rude.  Olga had laid out another big spread of about the same meal as lunch.  Robert had me sit next to him and then broke out the Tequila again.  Needless to say, the combination of exhaustion from the trip, the carbohydrate loaded meals and the tequila made me sleep pretty well that first night.

The next morning, I loaded my back pack and went downstairs.  Robert and Olga greeted me like a life long friend and asked if I wanted coffee.  We had coffee, strong stuff served in a demi-tasse cup.  Olga had made my lunch and put it in a nice little bag.  Robert walked me to school carrying my lunch bag.  I felt like a first grader heading to his first day of school being escorted by his Dad, and I know I am about five years older than Robert.  After school, Robert was there to walk me home.  He introduced me to friends all along the way.

In the evening, while Olga made dinner, Robert and I talked, if you can call it that.  I showed him pictures from America on my phone.  He and Olga especially liked the pictures of my Mom and brother.
There is a great deal more to write about these wonderful people but I must tell you what has happened here.  I had taken a break from writing and planned to finish telling you about the family later when tragedy struck.  I opened this letter from the road telling you about Lady.  This morning, I went downstairs for coffee before leaving for school and felt the sadness in the room.  The evening before, Olga had told me Lady was sick.  This morning, Olga fought back tears as she told me that the big beautiful dog named Lady had died in the night.  When I finished my coffee and left for school, I found Olga on the back porch placing flowers on Lady where she lay in the yard against the porch.  The tears were flowing.  I wish my Armenian were better to let her know how sad I was to lose Lady as well but, you know, a touch on her shoulder and the sympathy in my eyes was enough.
I found out that night Lady had gotten in to the insecticide that Robert had been using on his grapevines and apple trees.  The poison had killed her.
I have only been here a little while but I had grown accustomed to the last thing before I left for school every morning was Lady leaving me at the gate. And, when I returned in the evening, Lady would come from the back yard around to the front gate as I entered and would run up to me.  As we walked to the back door, Lady would rub herself against the rough bricks to scratch herself.  She would sit by me as I read on the back porch and nudge my hand on to her head to pet her.  Lady would sit by me as I took my shoes off before entering the house and I would shake hands with her before I went inside.  The last few days, I have missed those greetings and farewells.
I never got her picture.  I had planned to but the tragedy struck first.  It really makes me appreciate getting things done in the moment because the moment may never return.