Goodbye Lehvaz - Հաջող Լեհվազ

I woke up extremely early the day of my departure from Lehvaz, in part because I procrastinate everything and still had some cleaning to do before I left the house, and also because I can’t sleep during times of big transition anyway. I got the final cleaning done, put all of my boxes and luggage out on the porch, and was about to make breakfast when I heard some people emerging from the village path behind my house. Onto my porch came Varsenik, a “tatik” (grandma) from the village who had always been a good friend and invited me over often, accompanied by Arsen, a little 6^th grade boy I’ve taught during my two years. The unlikely pair wanted to wish me farewell. Varsenik (or “Achik” as everyone calls her for short), started laying out fresh vegetables, lavash, and goat cheese on the table, and instructed Arsen to grab dishes from my kitchen. She said “you can’t just leave without us giving you a proper goodbye.” I nodded. I’d be getting one last bit of Armenian hospitality before leaving whether I liked it or not. We ate, Arsen asked me a million questions about how I would get to America, and Achik said a few toasts to my safely reaching home and having good luck in the future. The taxi that would be taking me to Yerevan pulled up to my house just as we were finishing up at around 9:30 in the morning, and I started moving my stuff to the car. Arsen and even Achik started grabbing stuff too, and we had the car loaded up in no time. I made a quick visit to my neighbor Karen’s, who I hadn’t said bye to yet. He and his family were already out on the porch eating breakfast, and he gave me a big bear hug and said yet another toast to my safe travels to send me on my way. Before getting in the car I gave Achik and Arsen a hug, and then I was off. Suddenly I was pulling out of the village I’d called home for two years, feeling sentimental but also feeling that subtle sensation of excitement you always feel when you’re setting out and making a change. Lehvaz had truly become my home over these two years. I’d have nothing but good memories from this place.