Party Time 6-9-10

My host brother left for the Army today. After three days of huge parties, he if finally gone and I am so sad! It actually reminds me a lot of me leaving home. He made sure to come and get me at breakfast and give me a big hug. My family was so even keeled and un-emotional. I know it sounds crazy but the kid just has the best aura about him, you can’t help but love him and already tonight I can feel that he is not here and it makes me sad. Even my one of my villagemates Mike agrees with me. The first thing he said about my brother was that he can’t help but to have a man crush on him.
So more about these parties I’ve been to. Armenian parties are basically a huge food fest! I have helped to set the table for three of them so far and the table get’s so crowded with food that you literally have plates on top of other plates!! There are always the staple cucumber and tomato plates, the salad plate, the cake plates, the candy dishes, the cooked greens, the chicken or fish plates, the cheese plates and the salami plates. People sit at the table for hours eating, toasting and talking. It’s a lot of fun, however it can get kinda messy when you don’t speak the language. The men can get drunk and try to say things to you that you don’t understand. I am pretty sure something inappropriate happened at my host cousin’s party the other night when a guy who I had talked to previously asked to take a picture with me, or so I thought, until my host brother went to him grabbed him and stepped between us. Without knowing what was said I know my brother was defending my honor. Another reason why Garrik was the most awesome host brother in the world.
Anyways I have had three nights in a row of these parties and I am relieved to get a break from them. One can only sit and smile for hours at a time for so long. Luckily we have Joel in our village. Joel is our American rock star. You give him a guitar and he puts on a show! The Armenians love him! He is basically our entertainment center, playing anything from Brittany spears to the Beatles. At one of the parties he broke out some Rihanna and let me tell you, the Armenians went crazy singing ella ella ay ay ay ay ay. It was so funny! Armenia is such a far away world from the US; it’s funny to see that they listen to our same music. Lady Gaga and Kanye West are huge here. I was sitting on the couch for about an hour with some of my host family’s cousins yesterday and not one world of English was spoken and then all of a sudden some cold play comes on and these kids are singing every word! Ha-ha just another mixed up day in Armenia. I love it here!