This week has held its share of the realities of life-decisions to be made about employment and locality, new vocabulary to learn, shopping and correspondence to think of. And yet it has been a week, too, of freshly falling in love with this land and people, whether in song or dance or at table or on the street or in a marshrutni. Or in the classroom: as I've had time to become better acquainted with my English pupils, they've stealthily worked their way into my heart till, anticipating a class, I begin to think not of the subject matter but of the thrill of seeing the students' faces again.

It has been the kindness of them and their fellows, in fact that has made my experience here such a heartwarming one. Eight weeks' stay is too long for adrenaline to hold out, and even part-time work has too many hours to sustain continuous interest. But to be greeted at the end of a hot, wearisome walk with smiles and fresh apricots; to walk home after a full day and be swept up into the birthday festivities of a host father; to make work plans sitting at a cafe with a fellow volunteer: these, coupled with trust in God's faithful providence, smooth away worries and leave me happy and thankful to be another week in this old, rich land of my fathers.

Grace Yacoubian (USA),
AVC volunteer and BR/DH participant