Rain, Rain Go Away

Contrasts, contrasts, life is full of contrasts. Some pictures of the greenery (and reddery it seems!) of England. I have come back to days of rain and cold. Apparently it is still roasting in Armenia and I have been wearing boots and a jacket all week - not to mention carrying an umbrella. It seems this movement from one extreme to the other makes me appreciate just how incredibly alive I am. These next 26 days in England are a process for me. I am packing all my personals from my old home, simultaneously my parents are packing all their personals as well as they are moving from our other old home. It seems I have spent 4 days throwing out so many things I held on to for so long. Bags and bags of clothing went to charity. So much of what we accumulate for whatever reason thinking that at some point it might come in useful. (Oh yes! Let me wear those 1983 skin tight Jane Fonda workout leggings next time I go to the gym!) So far it has been some kind of cleansing metamorphasis thing. I seem to be shedding layers of stuff. (Lets hope I come out a butterfly!) I cannot explain the sense of freedom I feel at not looking backwards and looking forwards in my life. I always say that if I get hit by a very big truck (one of those TNT orange and whilte ones preferably) that I would die happy knowing that I lived such a life rich with experiences and emotions. It doesn't seem to slow down - It seems to continually get better. Perhaps maturity (at least to some degree!) combined with the experience makes it sweeter. As my good friend Dave Najarian Kelly said to me while I was in Yerevan: "The older the berry the sweeter the juice". Bless him. He has quite a few Simpsons and South Park quotes too for all those awkward moments. For anyone planning a trip to Yerevan I suggest looking him up. When in doubt check Cheers Wine Bar on Nalbandyan Street. He'll either be there or they will locate him for you.
I have recently been in touch with Sylvie Keshishian - a Londoner who actually went and lived in Armenia for 2.5 years. She has been trying to make it back there and I can say that many people I ran into in Armenia are missing her terribly. I am going to meet up with her for a coffee so that we can share experiences. She seems to have had a similiar emotional experience and I quote her "Isn't it a place where you can breathe, constantly learn and be INSPIRED? ....you understand the DEPTH of friendships there." So true, so true...
There seems to have been a hold up in the school renovation project due to a large portion of the funds which got lost in transit between England and Armenia. Apparently the fault of the English bank if you can believe it! Although the renovation team has done a lot of prep work for the flooring and have part of the materials waiting at the school they are holding off on laying cement and nailing down the wood. Unfortunately, if they start doing the bulk of the work at the moment there is no way that they will finish by the 25th of August which is when school will begin. Due to the size of the school and all facilities being necessary, it is not feasible to work on the school while the children are there. Furthermore the DAC volunteers are at the school at the moment and requested that the work not be carried out so as not to disturb their summer camp activities. The finances have been recovered from the bank but a little bit too late for 2006. The work will start anew at the end of June 2007. The upside is that if the prepped wood dries for a longer period of time it will be more durable and we will have a better floor. Everything is in writing and we can rest assure that the work will be carried out - not to mention Yerkir organisation have done many similiar projects. A little frustrating that it didn't happen for us this summer but we will see to it next summer for sure. Everything happens as it should. Would rather do a good job than a last minute rush job.
And so I will go back to my cardboard boxes, boxes and more boxes. Perhaps restring that old Alvarez guitar and play some tunes. Wrenched myself out of bed at 1am last night and fumbled to find the small tape recorder as a nice melody came into my head. Must go and evaluate how nice it actually is this morning!
So will keep you posted on any changes. If anyone is aware of any job opportunities in Armenia please do let me know as I would like to be able to stay out there - and as Sylvie said - be inspired. I'm a really good employee - truly! I can do Design, Admin, Sales, Translating, Teaching, Event Planning, Music Related, ....
Will be back soon.
Peace and love.
S