Happy 4th of July!

Last night we celebrated with our village.  We decided to have an American style potluck for the 4^th of July with our host families.  I attempted to make brownies and banana bread.  The brownie pan was tilted so ½ of the brownies turned out good while the other super thin half refused to separate from the pan.  The banana bread almost turned out deadly.  What I thought was baking soda turned out to be medicine for cuts….. Long story short my host mom saved me from poisoning the other host families.  I accidently put salt instead of sugar into the other banana bread so not a very successful baking day. We had a potluck at our school and even sung the American national anthem for our families.  Then we went to an open field to play games with the kids.  I played soccer even though I haven’t played in years and I ended up hurting my leg.  It swelled a bit and now I walk with a limp, but we are pretty sure it’s just a bad strain at this point. Moral of the story: don’t try to pick up soccer in a country where every single person will be better at it than you. 

Today I have a language interview to gauge how much I have learned the past month.  We have been practicing for the past few days so I should do ok.  Tomorrow I find out which village I will be placed in for the next two years.  Needless to say I am freaking out a bit, but it really is out of my control.  I want to be somewhere warm, near other volunteers and with an indoor toilet.  We shall see…

I’ve decided to start a reading list on my blog.  Current volunteers say they read an insane amount of books during the winter so I thought I’d get a head start ;) So far I have read Peter Pan and the Game of Thrones.  Mom: Thanks again for the Kindle, I think it will become the most useful item I brought to Armenia!

P.S. Letters and packages take about 2 weeks to arrive to my village.  You can send anything to the following address as long as you mail it from America before August 1st:

13 Torozyan Street, High School, Nor Hajn, 2412, Armenia

Soon I will give you my new address that I will use for the next two years!