Pig Heads and Bathroom Blunders

Mat again went to the clinic to meet with patients and I got to be with Sister Reading, a CES missionary (seminary and institute program) who resides int he city.

She has been living in the city for a 17mths and will go home to Utah in June.  She likes to go on what she calls a "walkabout" to explore the city.  She'll sometimes take the metro to a new stop or a bus and see where it leads her and her husband. My kind of gal, wouldn't you say?

Here is the local church and institute where religion classes are taught. Church is held here as well.



A classroom where they teach religion and also provide English speaking classes.



Here is the local market where all the fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, and spices are sold.  They are organized into sections and they are all fresh.  There is nothing like the Armenian fresh fruits and vegetables. I also applaud their organization.  They don't have much, but what they do have, they keep tidy.





















I'm rather giddy to be experiencing this.



Across the street they have more meats to choose from along with a few leftovers.







An Armenian decided he did not want to miss his camera opportunity, and jumped into the photo with me. Well, alrighty then, we'd love to have you.



Grabbed a few goods of my own and then headed up to the history museum



At the museum, we learned that the Armenians like to include dragons and snakes in there tapestries and pottery. Many times it formed a swastika shape.  When Hitler was on a rampage during World War II, he did not touch the Armenians because of them having this in their history.  He believed they were a part of his race and left them alone.
It was also custom that married women wear and apron to protect their reproductive organs. And, when you're married, the groom delivers your wedding dress in a basket.

I had to use the bathroom at the museum and it was the unisex kind.  I grabbed a stall and locked it.  While going in my little stall, a man walked in on me, don't know how the door was unlocked---thought I checked it not once, but twice. To both of our surprises, I screamed, then he screamed and then he shut the door. I started to laugh while I tried to get myself together.

Mat met up with us later.  We toured the cathedral where most apostolic Armenians meet. Sister Reading said that many times the church is empty, which is a shame because it is so beautiful.













Other interesting things we saw along the way:




Many of the homes in the city



caps for sale



Cigarette claw machines



The Stones invited us to dinner at their apartment on the northern end of town



Readings on the left and the Stones on the right