Armenia- In the Home

In this post of Armenia, I thought I'd take some time to simply post some of the photo of being in peoples' homes. The other posts I've outlined and drafted all had too many photos as it is, so even though most of them have some "in the home" photos, these ones were a bit in a beautiful misfit pile. Everyday we ended up knocking on peoples' doors or talking to them on the streets and basically inviting ourselves in. Which is funny because as a missionary we were actually not allowed to do that as a country law, but as photographers we went for it! And we never got turned away. Everyone was more than willing and friendly. And of course in most homes we were given the hospitality of drinks and sweets. 

Most of the living conditions are hard to imagine until you've seen them. And it's different from a poor tropical village. Armenia endures a harsh, unbearable winter. And Armenia was at one point a Soviet block during the reign of the USSR, so there are many concrete buildings that were made and then abandoned when Russia pulled out, causing a ghost town effect. Except that people still dwell in these places.

Again, the enlarged passport photos on the wall honoring their family members who have passed on.

They knew I was there to photograph Armenian life and so they joked, "Do you want to photograph the bathroom?" But then I replied, ".....yes.... actually I do..." haha

Always opening a new jar of canned juice for us. This was rose juice.

I swear this was not a thing when I was there the first time but now it seems to be all the rage to throw a HUGE party for a child when they lose their first tooth. We stumbled upon such a party. The girl did not seem nearly as thrilled as the parents were.

But this tooth cake was impressive.

Kitchens vary there. I would say this one was fairly nice considering they had a sink and a stove.

These metal burners are all most people have to heat their homes in the winter. They burn wood if they are lucky to have that, but many of the people can be found digging in the trash to find items to burn all during the winter months.

They just let me stand there and photograph them while they talked.

With most people I took the time to show them the photos I brought with me of my family though, and that always made them feel extra connected and close to me. We could bond over the fact that we all loved our families. It's so different there. I would show store clerks the photos because they would be asking questions about why we were there and next thing the whole of employees would be gathered around, looking at my family photos, telling me to come back and visit again. Can you imagine pulling out photos of your kids in America, at a store? They would be so confused.

In all the towns and villages there are several buildings known as "dorms." These were rooms people could rent and there were shared bathrooms, hence the name. But after Russia left these were some of the buildings that seemed to suffer the most. Yet families with no other options still choose to reside there to this day. Many of these buildings have no electricity or running water. This particular dorm I am going to show you is completely open and crumbling on the bottom floor. There are only three families in the whole building now. But they let us in and allowed us to tell their story.

Going to fetch water

Only two more posts to go and we're done with my trip! Thanks for sticking with me here. Please add comments and ask me any questions you might have about Armenia or tell me how these photos make you feel. I print my blogs into books and include the comments so it's fun to make it more interactive. xoxo

If you've missed the other posts here are the links:

Odds and Ends

Familiar Faces

Being a Tourist
In the Home
Village Life 
Around Town 

Armenia Diary