Thursday, November 27, 2008

Shakh i Mat!

The title of this post translates to "Checkmate!" --there was great excitement here on Wednesday, because Armenia won gold in the Chess Olympiad for the second year running. Chess is kind of a big deal in this part of the world--kids study it in school, for example. The winning Armenian team was met by a crowd at the airport, covered live on TV, and led on a victory parade throughout the city. (Luckily I was taking the metro home that night so I didn't get caught in the traffic!)
So congratulations to the victorious Armenian team!!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, so I'd just like to take a second to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving! The U.S. Embassy hosted a Thanksgiving dinner here, so I got to celebrate Thanksgiving for the first time in three years :) There was turkey and mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce in the shape of the can and everything! And of course, pumpkin pie. Yum!
Sorry, no pictures to share though--cameras aren't so much allowed.

One week from today all of the guys will finally be back from Kenya!! The office will once again be a lively place :)

Other random updates:

I start Armenian lessons today :)

I just checked the forecast again, and snow has disappeared from it--it's supposed to be in the 50s for the next 10 days.

I am temporarily sans heat again--in the interest of not dying, I turned off my gas heater when it started burning with orange flames. Need to get Mher to come fix it.

I will be very happy when I'm done with my grad school applications. I kind of detest writing application essays. But for better or worse I'm almost done--deadlines coming up fast!

Guess that's about it. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!!!

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