Good morning, good afternoon and good evening readers,

Today I dipped my toe back into the structured and organised sea that is my comfort zone. It is strange that I relate to my comfort zone as a sea because I can’t actually swim. Maybe that is why I find it so hard to not drown in it. ANYWHO. I completed my schedule for next week and have regular meetings to the dormitories, Smiley Club, English Club and the soup kitchen. I am really excited to get stuck into the projects. I don’t want to blow our own trumpets but… TOOT! TOOT! Amy and I have some crackin’ ideas lined up.

We left work and sat in our favourite café, Brioche, and were enjoying our quiet cups of lemonade when all of a sudden…

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK! HONK! HONK! BEEP! BEEEEEEPPPPPP! HONK! BEEP!

Let me tell you one observation I have made of Yerevan. The driver’s here will beep at everything and anything, and if there isn’t something to beep their horns at, well they will just go ahead and do it anyhow.

Waiting at a red light? HONK
Pedestrian sneezes on the street? BEEP
Oh, you indicated? HONK HONK
Oh, you cannot get out of my way? BEEEEEEP HONK BEEP HONK BEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today just took the absolute biscuit and I’m starting to believe that I actually have a rare form of tinnitus that involves the sound of a car beeping.

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So, something came up on Amy’s Facebook. Protestors are now honking if they don’t like the Prime Minister. Genius. If I am ever Prime Minister and you want me to step down, use that exact tactic because my god it is irritating.

Several hours later…

The tinnitus has stopped, and I am now in the pub waiting for this all to blow over. No, it’s not The Winchester but this place is wicked. Cost effective Armenian beer, relaxing music, Buddhist posters and … oh. Deary Me. We are to sit on bean bags at tiny tables. You introduce me to someone who can elegantly sit on a bean bag and I’ll eat my hat. Imagine me, control freak Charlotte, perched upon a bean bag. I did it though, maybe next time I won’t look like a plank of wood.

Two beers later…

I’m up guys and I’m working the room. I’m even introducing myself in Armenian, watch me flyyyyy. I meet an Iranian man, a Japanese man and a Finnish man. It sounds like the beginning to a terrible joke and I’m waiting for the punch line. During the night one of the volunteers said to me “I now see you, I see Charlotte”. That made me feel both happy and sad. I spend so much time in my protective shell that people rarely see the real me. It either requires an intensive self-development course (big up my Outlook/Essence people) or an intensive self-intoxication course. This is something that I really want to work on over the next five and a half months. To connect deeply and genuinely with people, I must give them a piece of me. That part of me that sits right in my heart. The genuine and good woman that is resting in my chest waiting for a safe time to come out. The truth is though, I am always safe because a part of my is always home. I am home. Home is not about my presence in a physical place, it is more about my presence in a state of mind. It is about the loving connections that complete our life. Whether that be in person, in mind, in sound or in spirit. When we feel scared to live our truth, we must remember it is safe to do so because we are always home.

In kindness,
C x