First thing in the morning I tested out this new calling system called "Mergelian Kap". It is the first time I have ever called America from Armenia, since $3/minute was just ridiculous even once in a while. This is a prepaid phone card, which uses the internet to place the call to a normal phone number. The connection was very good and at about 20 or 25 cents a minute, I was quite happy with the whole thing. After all, e-mail and logs are no substitute for hearing a persons voice.

The house I am remodeling is completely gutted now, and looks fantastic! It is going to be so much nicer with half of the walls gone. In Armenia it is inconceivable to have an adjoining kitchen and living room. I am not sure if this is to separate the men and the women, or because they fry something every time they cook, or what. In any case, the new floorplan is working out perfectly, and people can see how cool it is to have those two rooms united and open to one another. Aside from this my quality of life has increased significantly with my new cordless phone, and refrigerator, both of which I got today.

This is one of the things I am happy to have escaped from in Southern California...