Ahhh, I am speeding down the information superhighway with my cousin's cable modem, networked to a computer I plugged my hard drive into. So it is like having my own machine back, but with instant internet! What a pleasure. I have all my favorite bookmarks, files, etc handy now. If any of the loggers have photos for me to upload, there has never been a better time! That having been said, I am leaving tomorrow for a week long camping trip near the beach. Okh, I can't wait. How much better does it get? All the things I miss I am loading up on. Broadband internet, beach, foods, etc. One of the nicest things though is that here, even as an outsider, I don't stick out like a sore thumb, and am not so interesting* just because of the way I dress** or where I am from. It is funny that in Armenia I stick out more than in the west, just because of dressing habits... because certainly I have a good Armenian face (not to mention rug... on my chest!).

*Being interesting is nice and novel at first, but it can get old rather quickly... how many times can you answer the same questions about America vs. Armenia or sometimes rather personal questions without going nuts or inventing new answers (lies ;-) every time? Often you just want to be a regular uninteresting person, but can't.
**How do I dress? Like a regular Californian. Shorts/jeans, sandals/flip-flops, t-shirts... ie. very casual. Many of the younger crowd in Yerevan are becoming much more casual, which is a nice trend for me, since now people in Yerevan can't automatically tell I am an ardasahmantsi (outsider) until I talk to them and they detect my Western Armenian mixed in with the Eastern.