Armenia will home to Erica, David M., Joel, and Alex Simpson from May 2005 until May 2007.
Today, I received a message that every parent/grandparent wants to hear. My son-in-law has landed a job with an NGO funded by the U.S. Department of State to work with schools in Armenia in gaining high-speed Internet access and building exchange programs with U.S. schools. My son-in-law and my daughter were Peace Corps Volunteers whose tours overlapped on assignment in Uzbekistan (a former Soviet Republic — like Armenia) in Central Asia. As shown in the map above, Armenia is west of Uzbekistan, but both peoples are ethnic and linguistic cousins. The Armenians are best remembered as the victims of the worst crime against humanity prior to the Holocaust. The neighboring Turks slaughtered approximately 1.5 million Armenians in 1915-1916. Ducky. I want to visit my grandsons (and their parents) in a country surrounded by potential enemies: Turkey and Azerbaijan. To visit, I am thankful that I won't have to go through Moscow. (My least favorite place on the planet.) If this is (fair & balanced) jingoism, so be it.
