Yesterday marked 6 months since I started working at USAID. 18 months left on my contract. It is the norm to be employed for a certain term at these positions, but 18 months seems like an eternity away, so I can't say I am imagining about anything except for a good long trip at that time...

My evenings this week have been a bit different, having eaten over at friends' homes twice already, and one more planned this week. Cooking for one is just no good, so eating out has just been easiest. If this keeps up the winter will be just fine, since I had no intention of sitting in smoke filled restaurants night after night. I can't imagine how far the day is when smoking is banned here. On that note we were looking at some very preliminary budgets for the future here, through 2008, and I sure hope Armenia grows out of needing help in a lot of these fields. 2008 is a long ways a way and I wonder if Armenia continues this pace of growth and development where things will be.