Pics from home?

Man, I've been missing home lately. I LOVE it here but I think it's because it appeals to my sense of rebuilding after the apocalypse. Yerevan is a busted up old Soviet babushka dusting herself off after a long winter. Springtime in Yerevan is a glorious celebration. All the cafes opened on or around May 1 and you can pretty much stroll around dowtown and pick whichever one catches your fancy, or when you get weary from all the walking a strong arabic coffee or icecream literally awaits you only a few steps ahead. I dig the food here -- tons and tons of fresh and cheap veggies, persian influence, and simple food makes for a happy Chad. Plus we're findign that all the Thai curry packets we brought with us mix quite well with the vegetables! Green Curry two nights ago for the Hill kids.

Our allergies are pretty bad lately, but it hasn't stopped us from camping last weekend, and we're plannign a trip out to a different area this weekend as well. There may be as many as six of us frollicking in the sunshine and sleeping under the stars.

Take care, and SEND me some pictures or home damn it. I'm talking Dad eating breakfast or mowing, and Mom washing dishes. Ralphie, my sister's new pooch is too cute for words. He really does need that spiked collar though.

C

Happy Anniversary

We've been together (legally) three years today! I love that woman.

I think we've finally got a method for the updating of the site with images. Geesh -- took long enough eh? Everyone give ptudor a big "hell's yeah" for his help in that little technical matter. In 24 short hours check this link for ptudor-hosted photos of our Istanbul trip a couple weeks ago.

This is some SERIOUS third-world living. The local phone company holds a government-mandated monopoly on all the telecommunications in the country. Being a bunch of ex-Russians I'm not sure there are very many people that even notice how inconvenient it really is. Those of us that have lived elsewhere (namely Asia and the United States) know just how whacko it is to charge private consumers by usage -- when and if broadband is even available. We tried and tried to get it at our house, but the entire switching station would require an upgrade, and this just isn't a country that has money to do silly things like upgrade their infrastructure.. Scratch that. The 'oligarchs' here have plenty of cash of course and make sure to keep it to themselves. There is a serious 'big fish in a little pond' syndrome here.

Overall though we're going well -- had a nasty cold last week but it's 98% gone. I'm back to full time at work and appreciating it. The adoption is coming along -- slowly but surely. We plan on traveling now in September/October timeframe. She'll be just in time for a cold Armenian winter.