Perfect End of Mission: New volunteer room! :)

Finally the Red Cross volunteers in Yerevan have their own room! Aprenk! The walls are painted, the floor fixed, and computers donated by HSBC bank are at line along the new desks. The furniture is funded by our activity budget from the Norwegian Red Cross (5400 NOK/900 USD).

This was celebrated with cakes and wine for both staff and volunteers in June. All the volunteers got free tickets to the cinema from the staff/delegates to let them know that we appreciate the good work they all do.

The room is across the hall of the Youth Departement and is open for all volunteers that want to use it. The room will benefit both the Bead group, Smiley Club group, Newsletter group, the English debaters and also for all kinds of recruitment, meetings and trainings for youth .

In addition to the English debates, Satik (to the right) now wants to start with French debates! She is also interested in voluneetring, and here Rita tells her about the programs she can participate in.

Finance-queen Lia donates her calculator to the Bead group! :) Apres!

The Bead volunteers have had the need of more practical space for the making and storage of the items, and finally they can sit around a table with a lot of shelfs and closets close by.

I only had a few working days in this room, but it feels good to know that the volunteers can have this room for a long time (4ever!), and this was a very good end on me and Kajas Youth Delegate mission, and a very good start for the contuniation of the important work that the Armenian youth does for the Red Cross.

Thanks a lot for the cooperation, dear fellow Red Cross volunteers! I will never forget you, and I wish you all the best! Shat merci,u shat aprek aziz jans... ;)

Children's Day in tha Wood!

The Smiley Club Children that are getting social help from the Armenian Red Cross Youth were taken to the Botanical Garden on 1st of June. They had a wonderful time, and so did we! :)

We celebrated Children's Day with them by showing them games and making a barbecue for them. And giving them surprises: gifts and ice cream and sun glasses for the boys (left overs in a shop that we got for free).

Nice job with the kiddos, Kaja jan! :) Apres!


Kaja and her friend Liv cut the bread... :) Maladetz!

The kids also got a guided tour around the Botanical Garden. And me and Kaja showed them how we should get there. 2&2 holding hands! :)

Kaja handed out Armenian icecream!!

I gave handmade bracelets from the Beads for Needs Group with my fellow bead-friends. :) The kids were happy, but some of them wanted to change colour... And they could! :)

After a long day in the park, the children went back to the dormitory by bus while getting more presents: singlets! It felt good to see the children so happy for relatively little money and work. The day was supported by money from the Beads for Needs sale and fundings from the Federation (Norwegian Red Cross). Aprenk! :)

High lights fra venninne-visitten! :)

Tusen takk for besoeket, kjaere Anne, Astrid og Guri!!

Det var stas aa faa besoek, og artig aa vaere med aa oppdage nye sider av Armenia og snedige folk som vaar kjaere sprudlende, snakkesalige sjaafoer! :)

Han (alias Oerna!) tok oss med til lake Sevan og Khor Virap, hvor vi kunne se rett over til Ararat i Tyrkia paa veldig kort avstand. (noen faa km). Astrid tok en "Kilkenna" med dette fine bilde som resultat:Artig at dere ville se saa mye av landet, og at Guri endelig fant det komplette dukke-settet av russiske presidenter paa markedet i Yerevan.

Guri fant seg ogsaa en bygning hvor hun gjerne ville bo...

Vi dro paa teater med Emma og Lia, vaare soete venninner fra Yerevan og saa et semi dukketeater om Don Quijote paa armensk!

Snille kompis Paul kjoerte oss til kirkesetet Echmiadzin. Nydelig gammel kirke med flotte malerier (tok ikke bilder inne...). Kan sammenlignes med Vatikanet, men ikke saa storflott av arkitektur... PS: Armenia er verdens foerste kristne stat. (301 AD.)

Etterpaa saa vi ruinene etter Zvartnots som en gang var en enorm kirke, over 40 meter hoy. Det sies at kirka (som lignet en kransekake :)) ble oedelagt av araberne og et enormt jordskjelv for over 1000 aar siden. (Hvem som kom foerst, jordskjelvet eller araberne, vites ikke helt sikkert...)
Skulle gjerne ligget mer paa latsida i ferien vaar, men glad det ble tur til Trivelige Tblisi og skjoenne Sevan (verdens nest mest hoytliggende innsjoe).

Trivelige Tbilisi!

Drar du til Armenia, boer du ogsaa ta turen til Tbilisi i Georgia! Gamlebyen der er en vakker perle fra slitte sovjet-blokker og slitsom trafikk i Yerevan. Bare 5-6 timer unna! :) Anne koser seg i gresset med utsikt over hele byen.

Jeg har vaert der en gang foer, og viste lett fram de enkleste severdighetene i byen: hoyden over Gamlebyen, de tyrkiske badene, de gamle kirkene, de fine brosteinsbelagte gatene, elva, kafeene og den nydelige franske restauranten "Au sans souci":

Paa kvelden koste vi oss ute med vin&vannpipe og diskuterte religion paa en marokansk restaurant.Og en liten Cola paa kirkebakken! :)

Vi dro med minibuss tur/retur, og det gikk bra med turen, men returen var vaerre... Paa morningen vi skulle dra, moette vi synet av en minibuss med motorstopp det tok 1,5 time aa reparere. Sjaafoeren kjoerte som en gal paa de smale veiene (ble bedre etter at vi sa i fra...), og saa punkterte vi plutselig...

Kjipt, men ogsaa ganske komisk! :) Jeg var overraska over at det tok bare en time aa skifte dekk, og Guri, Astrid og Anne mente det beviste at jeg hadde vaert lenge i Armenia...

Hurra for 17. Mai i Yerevan!!

17th of May in Yerevan was filled with Norwegian flags, a parade around the Cascades while singing the Norwegian Anthem, dinner and cakes with happy people from Norway and several other countries, Kransekake and games in the grass with Armenian kids participating. :)

The Norwegian Consul Tim Straight had a couple of speeches saying that during the 7 years he has been in Armenia, a lot of positive changes have happened, and he mentioned the Norwegian cooperation with Armenia among the reasons for these changes.

This was the biggest gathering of Norwegians that have ever happened in Armenia on the 17th of May (our Constitution Day); some 30 Norwegians participated (half of them guests/tourists) and it was very nice to share this day with people from Armenia and several other countries.

We walked in the first 17th of May Parade in Yerevan ever! Singing "Ja, vi elsker", "Norge i Roedt, Hvitt og Blaatt", "Vi ere en Nasjon vi med" and "Alle fugler smaa de er". :)

The "Bag Run" and the "Potatoe Run" was a sucess among the Armenian kids, and a lot of people gathered around this event.

(Jepp, I cheated... Sorry Fred! :))

My study friends Anne, Astrid and Guri came the night before and participated in the celebration, great! We walked the Cascade steps (500) to see the view of Yerevan in the evening, from where we can see the Ararat mountains in Turkey. At the bottom of the steps, we met Douglas from the US. He has been in Oslo, and brought his Dale sweat shirt. :) (Looks like a pic from a the Norewgian Magazine S&H...)

In the evening, Tim invited everybody to his place, with Kransekake from Norway!! Maladetz!