First day in Armenia!!!

The team arrived safely in country and we had a very full day ahead of us!!!

First, we had lunch with 2 of the Habitat Armenia staff where we were given a presentation of what types of work they do in country.

Then we went on a walking tour around downtown Yerevan, going through Republic square.

After that little tour, we made our way over to the Genocide Museum for a long, contemplative experience.

The spire in the foreground represents today's Armenia, and the 12 sided monument in the middle represents the old Armenia, which houses the Eternal Flame inside of it.

The wall alongside of it has the names of towns that were lost and destroyed during the Genocide.

There is a small cemetery there that houses the remains of some of the heroes of the Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Above is the entrance to the museum.

Here are some photos from the inside of the museum.  

I believe that it can be said that most of us left knowing far more about the genocide than before we came here.  It indeed was a very emotional and moving experience.

To learn more about what we experienced and to take a virtual tour, click here.

 After that experience, we continued on with our tour, heading over to Victory Park.  We saw the statue of Mother Armenia and and the eternal flame.

After we went to Victory Park, we headed over to the Opera House and Freedom Square to complete our walking tour of Yerevan.  There were some very interesting sculptures and art pieces to see and interact with. 

Then we went out for dinner with our Habitat Armenia counterparts at a restaurant based off of the Russian movie "Kidnapping Caucasian Style."  The lead characters can be considered the Russian equivalent to the Three Stooges.  

All of the food we have eaten today tasted amazing!!!  All in all, today was very full with learning, sightseeing and eating.  Tomorrow is our first day on site, where we will meet the family that we will be helping during our time here.  We look forward to getting down to work after such a great day getting to know Armenia.