Day Three

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Sorry for missing yesterday. We didn't have time to go to the internet cafe.
Yesterday was another work day, but before work we took a trip to see the church in the town we are working in (Khor Virap). We climbed down a hole with a long, potentially dangerous ladder. Saint Gregory, who brought Christianity to Armenia, was imprisoned at the bottom of the hole in a little room for 13 years.
At work we did more bucket lines, but this time we passed cement to make the floor of the house. Stuart shoveled most of the day and the rest of us passed buckets. Wren was a bucket switcher for some of the day. She switched the buckets full of cement with the empty ones so that Stuart could fill them.
One member of our group, Bob, has gotten the group working hard and paying attention by shouting "Look alive!" when people aren't passing the buckets. The Armenians like to copy him and say "Luke Alife!"
After work we went to the house that our family is staying in while building (all 8 of them stay in one small room) where we watched the women of the family make the flat bread that comes with every meal called lavash. They roll it out, then make it bigger by throwing it like pizza. Then they stick it to the side of a deep stone hole that has a fire at the bottom so that it cooks in about 30 seconds. The fresh lavash is delicious!
At the end of work our guide, Gohar, told us that we would be going to Lake Sevan tommorrow and reminded us to bring our "towers and swimming sweets."

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Photos

Down Saint Gregory's Hole
The ladder was rather rickety and it was difficult to climb back up. Although we were considering leaving Izzy there until his birthday on the 22nd.

Saint Greg's Room
At the bottom of the hole was the room where St. G was left for 13 years.

Cement Floor
Some neighbors and the father, Slavik, smooth the cement that we passed them in buckets.

The Beginning of the Bucket Line
This is where Stuart and Bob shovel the cement into buckets and Wren switches around empty and full buckets.

Rolling Out Lavash
These women are all in a small room that is very hot and are sitting with their legs straight out. They move extremely quickly and nimbly to pass the lavash to the next person.

The Lavash Bakers and Rebeka
"Grandma" gave us big pieces of lavash (about 3 feet long) to eat. It is incredibly delicious.

Comments

[Sara]

Luke Alife!! lol
you work sounds so cool and fun! i'm glad you get to ineract with the armernians too. do they know english at all? i see that you all are practicing your armernian (haha to anna's favorite word from last blog) - have you gotten better?

[Ann]

hole idea
Hey, maybe you could could put a Saint Gregory hole in your new house! Could come in handy. Looking forward to a lavash party on your return. -- Ann

[Niel]

What an adventure!!
13 years is a very long time to spend in a hole. I'm glad Izzy didn't have to spend several days there, though being rescued would, I'm sure, have made a welcome birthday gift. But, seriously now, thanks for making the blog. It's great to see the pictures and read the entries. I especially like the local twist on English, but I'm still trying to figure out how sweets and towers come in handy when you're swimming. Perhaps they help you luke alife. I wish I could be there and have some lavash! Niel PS--It's hot here too