Not as Young as I Once Was

So, I'm hurting. So hurting. Just got back from a great weekend in St. Louis playing in a volleyball tournament. There were 15 teams in our play level from all over the country (Baltimore, Dallas, Florida, Columbus). It was a lot of fun, but I'm paying for it now. Played 8 pool/group games on Saturday (8 AM - 5 PM). We went 0-8. Yep, everyone was scared of us. Sunday was elimination time (two loses and you are out). We were the bottom seed in the bracket play, kind of like starting as the 16th seed in March Madness. And we lost our first match to bump us into the loser bracket. But as with any team I play with, there has to drama. And the funny thing, we didn't lose another game. We clawed our way through the losers bracket to the Championship game. Beating 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th seeded teams (who all lost at some point). Everyone was saying "you guys are still here?"

While we lost in Championship game, 2nd place isn't bad. And it was a lot of fun. But playing 8 games on Saturday and another 8 on Sunday (because we just kept winning) takes its toll on my 28 year old bones and muscles. Might ask for physical therapy gift certificates for my wedding gift because I feel that I'll still be hurting in October.

And I got a little beat up. Hitting the ground, scraps, bumps and bruises. Check out the picture. Oh yea. And who says that volleyball isn't a contact sport.

And Masha will be happy to know that I had to cut my shell necklace in order to play in the tournament. She absolutely hated the necklace. But maybe I'll put it back together for our wedding. She'll love that. A little wedding gift.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures from the tournament. And the exhausted look on James (old friend I've known since 3rd grade and plays on another team) after the long weekend.

Go ahead, poke me again

It's confirmed - I have magical powers. I made it snow in Yerevan today. We've been having warm(er) weather the last few days, and the giant mounds of slush on the roads had begun to shrink. I put my down jacket and insulated boots back in the closet. Last night it rained, and this afternoon, as I was walking into the conservatory for my voice lesson, I thought to myself, "I'm so glad it's not snowing." An hour and a half later, while I was in my car driving to church, the rain turned to snow. After the service was over, there were four inches on the ground. Yerevan has a way of poking you in the eye just when you think things are looking up. I hear the temperature is supposed to drop way down in the coming weeks.

This evening I went to a Masquerade Ball put on by some folks from USAID. I got dressed up, but wore my Alaskan Xtratuf boots to the event (and brought my dress shoes in a bag). After an hour or so of dancing, I got fed up with the heels, and put my Xtratufs back on. They were a big hit. Carina tried to take a picture, but she couldn't seem to get one that showed the full splendor of the Xtratuf. She said it was because the room was dark, but I think it was one too many vodka-and-cranberries. That's her (in the mask) and Taline in the picture below.

Here comes St. Louis!!!

This weekend, I’m heading off to St. Louis to play in a volleyball tournament. It should be a great time, but I don’t know if my body can handle the 8 hours of playing/day, followed by the 8 hours of drinking/night. Sure, you say that there are still 8 hours available of sleep, but that doesn’t mean my body recognizes that. Any tips would be helpful. I’ll send you pictures later and put them up here.

Nothing much to report on the election front. Voting is on Tuesday, so there is a lot of pushing and shoving on the media front in order to get coverage. Like the current mayor and his pledge to pay $100 to any college student who works on Tuesday to hand out literature at the polls to voters. I should be able to predict his vote percentage based on the amount of college students out drinking and paying off bar tabs on Tuesday night.

Additionally, I hope that you’ve all had a chance to enter into the February Madness pool and made your picks for the elections. There are some great prizes!!! But no $100, sorry.

Prom and my run in with the fridge

Alright, so I’ve been a little lazy in the posting department as of late. Masha has sent me some strongly worded hate mail about how the blog represents our commitment to togetherness, longevity, and our future. I thought that was a mortgage.

Anyway, here is a little update (with no pictures sorry, but the censors will have a fit).

Masha still won’t allow me to post her Valentine’s Day cookies online, so you’ll just have to take my word on it that they are tasty. Very tasty. Ladies, you need to send them to your guy. Trust me, you’ll come home to a happy man.

Also, ask my mom and she’s always waiting to hear what part of my body I have hurt next. Well, as luck would have it, I busted my eye lid open this past weekend. Again. Let’s see here, 12 stitches on my left eyebrow for running into a trashcan when I was like 10. A couple more on my right for running into a volleyball net on the ice (and doing a Jackie Chan style flip onto my face) when I was 12. Well now you can choke up a busted left eyelid thanks to a refrigerator door. I was running through the house last Saturday during our Prom (more on that later) and hit the edge of the stainless steel door of the refrigerator. Oh yea, it was a little gusher. Thankfully no stitches. And no dent to the door. Stainless steel, gotta love it.

Now, to the PROM!!!!

Yes, my co-op house had a prom. It was a lot of fun, too much (as you can tell from my run in with the door). We decorated the house up in red, black and silver in a Valentine’s Day theme. Had a photo booth set up for pictures, and way too much punch (mixed by an unlicensed bartender). Red lights, a DJ (local iPod), chandelier and what prom wouldn’t be complete without a pregnant prom queen and 70’s style chaperones with rulers (see if you can spot them, hint: mustache and short leering woman).

PROM PICTURES!!

Now, as for my outfit, Masha doesn’t like the shirt. How can you not like the shirt? It’s awesome. Check it out. Ragstock: $19. How can you beat that. And it's complemented by the suit that I got in Armenia. Ohhhhhhhhhh, that's so hot.



And I’m threatening to bring it to Kabul. Who supports me in that effort?

Forgiveness Sunday

I was quite pleasantly surprised to discover yesterday that there is a beautiful Orthodox church literally feet from our hotel here on the hill in Tbilisi. Made it very easy to attend church this morning, and this evening for the Forgiveness Vespers (this is the service that kicks off Great Lent). The services were, of course, in Georgian, which sounds completely like gutteral gibberish to me. But the church was packed for both services, and the women were all in skirts and headscarves, and I would say that the majority of churchgoers were in their 20s and 30s. I was in Georgia for Forgiveness Sunday last year too, and noticed the same thing then. It's very pleasant, particularly after the empty churches of Armenia, where it seems most people just tend to stop in to place a couple dozen candles and then walk right back out again. It seems to be more superstition than anything else. I get a very different feeling here. The singing was also gorgeous. Georgian polyphony is fascinating. The tonal structure definitely has an Eastern feel to it, but it is still accessible by ears used to Western harmony. And once again, I find myself smitten by Georgian iconography. It's less austere and more folksy, for lack of a better word, than the Byzantine icons I tend to gravitate towards. I took the below photos during my trip here last year. I stopped into several icon shops on Saturday, looking for a Georgian style icon, but have yet to find one I want to put up in my home. I plan to take another trip here before I leave, though, so hopefully I'll find one.



I think I would like to live here. I used to be scared of the crime, but I really love the churches all over the city, and particularly the vibrant faith that I see within them. I also like the robustness of the culture. Armenian culture is very distinct as well, but, particularly as manifested in its visual and performance art, it's a lot more melancholy than the exuberant Georgian culture. Maybe we can come here after Afghanistan (though I'm not sure how Jeremy would feel about that).

So today, after church, Taline and I went to the English language bookstore, where I picked up a copy of "Stalin:In the Court of the Red Tsar." Started reading it this afternoon. Very interesting. Then we went to CD store, where I picked up some Georgian folk music, and then to another cafe, where we read for a bit. This evening we met up with our friends Sonya and Amy from Yerevan, who happen to be staying in the room next door. I'm pooped from all the strenuous sitting around we did today, so I left them in the bar and came down to bed. It's been a nice, relaxing weekend.