WiFi and Yoga 6/23/16

I got up so early. I got up in the wee hours of the morning to use the Wi-Fi without people bumping me off, and it STILL didn’t work. Say goodbye to blog posts everyday and Snapchat streaks because that internet connection is summed up in one word -- sketchy. After that fiasco, I headed to the church for a full day of servicing the community and apricots and bread for every meal of the day. I was working at the blood pressure station and the two machines took turns not working. After replacing batteries and finding charging cords we were finally moving quickly. It lasted for about two minutes before l I was put on the urine station. Let me tell you, I was not very excited to test people’s pee while they hold the cup in their hands. If prideful Armenians are humbled by one thing and one thing only, it would be them opening a cup of their own pee and being told by a 17-year-old to balance a tester strip on it for 1 minute. The men got really shy and the some of the older women started giggling. I found myself saying, “Sit here” “Open” “Close” and “Thank you very much” hundreds of times in one day. Lots of the women were asking if I was Armenian. The pale skin and blond hair tend to throw people off and I would always answer “Yes hayoohee em”. Being Armenian is something I’m proud of. I may not look the part, but I definitely would never deny my roots.

At the end of the day we went to a gorge in Stepanavan with amazing views. Green hillsides overlooking a creek at the very bottom that flowed over the bridge we stood on. The street that goes over the bridge had cars AND cows.

The cows would stroll along with their herders while black Mercedes Benz’s and old beat up trucks would zip by without a care in the world for the humble creatures.

A few of us weirdos ended up doing some acrobatics on the divider between the street and the sidewalk before we left and took some extreme yoga pictures. (If you consider Tree Pose extreme). After that we went to one of the translator’s houses who grew up in Stepanavan. They generously opened up their home for 30+ people and her mom baked a delicious cake and other pastries.

We listened to the translator’s story about how she found our medical mission program and how it has changed her life in so many ways. It was a moving story that my dad didn’t want to forget, so he videotaped the whole thing with a GoPro. Let’s just say the camera was pointed at the wall the entire time. When we got back to the hotel they was Armenian dancing in the lobby for someone’s birthday and we all joined in as the authentic music blasted our ears and my limbs awkwardly swayed because I clearly do not know how to function as a normal, coordinated human being.