By the time people read this, I will have started my first day of school. Exciting. To kick off the first day of school, I went to a small gathering, a party if you will. This is Sunday and Sunday is the day when the Shuka, or the market is open. My host mom insists that I need some house slippers so I went with them to the market. Also my host brother needed some new clothes to wear to school. Back to school shopping. I had forgotten all about that until now. Anyway, the market was crazy. I say this in about the most literal way I can. There were so many people there. It was pretty fun though, but exhausting. I found some shoes to wear. They actually fit me. This was a major problem for me in Korea. I wanted to buy some shoes there but they were all too small for me. So, I was pretty happy they had some house slippers in my size. They weren’t pink, uncomfortable, or have some kind of weird design on it. So, we came back. The bus was so crowded. Going there and coming back but it was an experience. To be honest, I think Im going to leave it at that one experience.
As I was on my way back, I called Hector who is in the next village and told him to start making his one hour journey to my house. By the time we got from the shuka (this is “market” Amanda) Hector had arrived. I also found a shortcut from Terri’s house to mine. My village is shaped like a “U”. Terri lives at one end of the “U” and I live at the other. Mine just happens to be a dead end. So instead of it taking 15-20 minutes to walk that distance, it now only takes about 5. That was great. Anyway, Hector came over to my house, he had lunch at my house and then Hector and I walked to the nearest city. About an hour walk. The buses don’t run on Sunday’s as my host mom pointed out so we just walked. About a mile into our walk, it started raining. Not until we were both pretty soaked with water did Hector realize he had a rain jacket, and at the same time, I realized that I had an umbrella. Funny how that happens. Anyway, we kept walking. My socks were soaked and they were pretty old so I went to a local store and bought some socks. They are the most comfortable socks I think I have ever worn (I even bought another pair the next day). They were 90% wool and 10% something else. Whoa. Anyway, we got to the city and hung out. It was pretty fun.
The best part was when we were at a cafe and we spotted some Americans. Actually I thought they were Australian. They turned out to be French. Because the waitress saw that they weren’t Armenian she just assumed that the Frenchies were with us. So the waitress led them to our room. It was pretty funny looking at their faces because they had no idea what was going on. Frankly, we didn’t know either. The best part was that there were six chairs and for some reason when the four of us (the volunteers) sat down, we left the middle chairs empty. Don’t know why, we just did. So when the Frenchies came in, they sat in the middle of both rows. That make things interesting. They were just visiting. Their names were Jacque and Claude. (Actually Im pretty sure that wasn’t their names but I didn’t understand really what they were saying with their thick accent and the aforementioned names are pretty good stereotypical French names. Anyway, we sat and talked with them for a while. They were just traveling though. It was a really interesting conversation. I felt bad for them because we weren’t very lively because we were really tired. But, it happens. To clear up the title of the blog, the Frenchies kept saying "maybe we will meet some more Peace Corps people... we are in the Peace Corps." It would be funnier if you could picture all this with an outrageously thick French accent.
Im really tired so I don’t know if this post is making much sense but things have been going really well. I think I have finally started to win over my host mom. She is a single mom and is having some problems with a single 24-year-old staying in her house. At first I just don’t think she knew what to do with me but things now are going well. I try to help her and try not to be a doofus as best I can. Language class is going well. The daughter of my teacher who helped me out a lot in the classes went back to Yerevan to study so it will now be myself, the teacher and the three high school girls who always laugh at me because I can’t pronounce all the words. Interesting. Things are going really well. One of the volunteers who finished up his service left a bunch of stuff and I got some of it. Im getting ready for the winter. It has been pretty chilly and rainy. I, as well as many of the others, believe it will be a very long and hard winter. Im excited.
Oh, I finally splurged and bought one of those USB internet card things so I have enough internet to read and send emails and upload my blog so please send emails if you are at work and feeling unproductive. Thank you. I will probably check the internet about every third day.
Until next time.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
It comes and it goes
Like the first week of PST, my first week here has come and gone. I don’t remember what I had mentioned before and I don’t want to go back and read what I wrote so sorry if I repeat myself. In the back of my mind I knew that the beginning of things are always really rocky. The day after I went up to the extinct volcano with Hector (the guy in the next village), I went with Terri (who has been here for a year now and lives in my village) to the Polyclinic to see if I could work at the little, four room medical facility that they have here. We talked to the nurses for about ten minutes then left. The following day I went back by myself and as soon as I walked in, the six nurses stopped and just stared at me. How interesting. I was the only guy. So, we all awkwardly (may I add, very awkwardly) say staring at each other for a good ten minutes or so in complete silence. But you know, after that ten minutes, they started to ask me questions and from there, I made six new nurse friends who live in my same village. They asked me about America, and I asked them questions about Armenia, their healthcare system and what they do there. One of the nurses, Keema, gave me a tour around the facility, which is actually pretty new. Now, if you are reading this thinking that this is like a medical facility in the US, you are completely incorrect in your calculations.
Although the facility is rather primitive, the staff is well trained and they know what’s going on. There is a doctor there (also a female) and I applaud them for what they do because they do what they can with what they have. They are very resourceful. UMCOR (which is some kind of Methodist organization) gives medicines to the clinic every three months. Some of the medications they don’t know about so I got the job or translating what the medicine was, when to take it, side effects, etc. The best part of this is that a normal explanation in English to another native English speaker would maybe take about 5 minutes and 42 seconds. Well here, with my limited Armenian and all my hand gestures and drawings and things I point at, it takes about an hour. But after that hour, they have a firm knowledge of what the medicine does and how to administer it. I found it interesting though that these medications are given to outposts like this with no translation. But, for the next two years, they will know what they are giving...(this I find, is a good idea)
So now, after I go to the Polyclinic, I do a three hour lesson with my next door neighbor who happens to be the English teacher. She is very good. It impressed me to know that she has never been to a country where English is the official language. That is how good her English is. It is me and four other girls in high school. They get a kick out of it when I can’t pronounce some of the letters such as a (kh) sound and the (gh) sound, which to me sounds the same. Both of these sounds you make by making a “loogee-creating-sound.” I don’t know of a better way to describe it. Also, there is the rolling R which isn’t too difficult, but just different. Also, there is a “g” sound a “k” sound and a sound in between the two. So when Im trying to spell and sounding things out phonetically (which is what this language is based on-no silent “k”s or “p”s. Armenian is actually pretty efficient in using all the letters for their intended purpose) I can’t decipher which variant of the k/g sound that I need. There are other letters that are similar to the predicament that I previously presented. There are 39 letters in the Armenian alphabet. Sweet. Anyway, language is always pretty fun. The Grammar is all backwards here and the English teacher tells me how much she hates Armenian Grammar. I tend to side with her, half because it is new for me and half because it really difficult. Grammar aside, people understand what Im trying to say.
The daughter is going back to her husband’s town today as well as the brother who is going to go back to the Army after his five day visit. Similar to Korea, Armenia requires a two year mandatory service for males who have finished high school. The brother says that it really isn’t bad. This is different from what I have heard from others but as long as he likes it because he still has another year and three months. He told me when he finishes he wants me to teach him English. Why not...
I met with my school director yesterday. Im not going to go into the time management skills here or courtesy of people waiting, but I learned what I was going to do. He was very receptive and is pretty much going to let me do what I want to do. I told him the first couple months I wanted to observe and make relationships with other teachers and the students. There is a new “healthy living” curriculum which has been implemented here by the government so I will get to start with that. Hygiene and the like as well as physical education. Should be interesting. Im really excited about the next steps to come.
I wanted to mention the weather. I am fortunate to have missed the hot weather of home. The hot and humid weather I should add. It is dry here and rather chilly. I have to wear a flannel shirt with a sweater now. Although I like it now, I don’t know if this means for a bad omen come winter. They haven’t had a bad winter in a while and think that this year will be a doozy. Also, this was the first year in Armenian recorded history that there has been a tornado, so Brandon when you say you don’t believe in global warming, trust me, its a real thing. (Also, Brandon, an addition. Global Warming doesn’t necessarily mean everywhere is getting warmer, it is a shift in normal climate- i.e. the first tornado in Armenia since the dawn of time.) H’ok so...
I guess thats about it for now. There is another week of no school before school starts September 1st. Im gonna just do what I do.
Lastly, Will, have you asked your Dad if I can just donate the books, because I don’t want to carry them around... Get back to me on that one.
Alright people, I miss you all. Things are going well here, don’t worry.
Until Next time...
Although the facility is rather primitive, the staff is well trained and they know what’s going on. There is a doctor there (also a female) and I applaud them for what they do because they do what they can with what they have. They are very resourceful. UMCOR (which is some kind of Methodist organization) gives medicines to the clinic every three months. Some of the medications they don’t know about so I got the job or translating what the medicine was, when to take it, side effects, etc. The best part of this is that a normal explanation in English to another native English speaker would maybe take about 5 minutes and 42 seconds. Well here, with my limited Armenian and all my hand gestures and drawings and things I point at, it takes about an hour. But after that hour, they have a firm knowledge of what the medicine does and how to administer it. I found it interesting though that these medications are given to outposts like this with no translation. But, for the next two years, they will know what they are giving...(this I find, is a good idea)
So now, after I go to the Polyclinic, I do a three hour lesson with my next door neighbor who happens to be the English teacher. She is very good. It impressed me to know that she has never been to a country where English is the official language. That is how good her English is. It is me and four other girls in high school. They get a kick out of it when I can’t pronounce some of the letters such as a (kh) sound and the (gh) sound, which to me sounds the same. Both of these sounds you make by making a “loogee-creating-sound.” I don’t know of a better way to describe it. Also, there is the rolling R which isn’t too difficult, but just different. Also, there is a “g” sound a “k” sound and a sound in between the two. So when Im trying to spell and sounding things out phonetically (which is what this language is based on-no silent “k”s or “p”s. Armenian is actually pretty efficient in using all the letters for their intended purpose) I can’t decipher which variant of the k/g sound that I need. There are other letters that are similar to the predicament that I previously presented. There are 39 letters in the Armenian alphabet. Sweet. Anyway, language is always pretty fun. The Grammar is all backwards here and the English teacher tells me how much she hates Armenian Grammar. I tend to side with her, half because it is new for me and half because it really difficult. Grammar aside, people understand what Im trying to say.
The daughter is going back to her husband’s town today as well as the brother who is going to go back to the Army after his five day visit. Similar to Korea, Armenia requires a two year mandatory service for males who have finished high school. The brother says that it really isn’t bad. This is different from what I have heard from others but as long as he likes it because he still has another year and three months. He told me when he finishes he wants me to teach him English. Why not...
I met with my school director yesterday. Im not going to go into the time management skills here or courtesy of people waiting, but I learned what I was going to do. He was very receptive and is pretty much going to let me do what I want to do. I told him the first couple months I wanted to observe and make relationships with other teachers and the students. There is a new “healthy living” curriculum which has been implemented here by the government so I will get to start with that. Hygiene and the like as well as physical education. Should be interesting. Im really excited about the next steps to come.
I wanted to mention the weather. I am fortunate to have missed the hot weather of home. The hot and humid weather I should add. It is dry here and rather chilly. I have to wear a flannel shirt with a sweater now. Although I like it now, I don’t know if this means for a bad omen come winter. They haven’t had a bad winter in a while and think that this year will be a doozy. Also, this was the first year in Armenian recorded history that there has been a tornado, so Brandon when you say you don’t believe in global warming, trust me, its a real thing. (Also, Brandon, an addition. Global Warming doesn’t necessarily mean everywhere is getting warmer, it is a shift in normal climate- i.e. the first tornado in Armenia since the dawn of time.) H’ok so...
I guess thats about it for now. There is another week of no school before school starts September 1st. Im gonna just do what I do.
Lastly, Will, have you asked your Dad if I can just donate the books, because I don’t want to carry them around... Get back to me on that one.
Alright people, I miss you all. Things are going well here, don’t worry.
Until Next time...
one potato, two potato, three potato, and then a heck of lot more
The first full day I was here was really slow. I didn’t do anything. I just sat around the house and I really got discouraged about what I was doing. In the back of my head I knew that it really wasn’t like this but Sunday was a drag. I just read my book, stayed at home and really did a whole lot of nothing. I was getting frustrated with my new host Mom because she isn’t nearly as patient as the one I had in Solak. She talked really fast and got frustrated when I didn’t understand. Combine that with the fact that with everything else that is going on and that could lead to potential disaster. Anyway, no need to say more than that Sunday was a total drag.
However, I told myself before I went to bed on Sunday night that Monday wouldn’t be the same. I woke up with a list of things I wanted to do. I wanted to go to the Polyclinic and then to my counterparts house and then to the English teachers house which is right next to the one Im currently staying in. I woke up early, and started walking to the Polyclinic. I got there. It was closed. It was a holiday to remember the deceased. So I had one option of going towards my house. Lame. For some reason I started walking to Hector’s village. Its about a 4 mile walk. Its flat and not really difficult at all. I got to Hector’s house in the next village. He then informs me that he and the children in his family are going to walk up an old extinct volcano. I don’t know how far it is but maybe 5 miles. However once we got to the foot of the mountain, we just went straight up. No switchbacks or anything. Just straight up. Looking to either side, it looked like we were going at a good 45 degree angle. Oh what fun. If you recall by to my last hiking experience, I went with three guys that thought it was a good idea to drink beer instead of water. Well, the three girls and the one boy that was with us, thought it was a good idea to wear bedroom slippers and flipflops. I must remind the readers of this blog that this is not the first time they have gone up this mountain so they must have some realization of what they’re doing. Nonetheless, a really interesting experience.
We finally got to the top. It was definitely worth it. At the top of the mountain, there is a crater that is filled with water. There is a small church up there which was just rebuilt. That kind of sucked because the sign above the door said 2009. But, it was nice. We lit some candles and went down toward the small pond/lake thing in the crater and we had some bread, fruit, cheese, and veggies. I was starving. After we somewhat finished (and I was still really hungry), two people from the stone shelter walked over. One of the girls happened to be one of the girls I helped tutor when I came for my site visit. She brought her dad over and they invited Hector and myself to join their feast. Hector’s family wanted to walk around so they didn’t come over. However, it turned out that this girl’s Dad was the Village Mayor or the Village Head. Also part of the family was the Deputy Governor of my Marz (Region) and best of of, the Doctor of the polyclinic of my village. So, I asked him if I could come and volunteer there everyday for a couple hours and he had no problem with that. That was awesome. That totally made my day. They fed us really tasty hor-o-vats (Armenian bbq) and drank some wine with them and then headed down the mountain.
We got to Hector’s house and I told his Mom that I was going to leave. She had none of that. I should preface this by saying that when I got to Hector’s house I drank a liter of water because I was so thirsty. However, drinking that much, that quickly leads anyone to feel pretty full. Hector’s mom wouldn’t let me leave without eating her food. So I force fed myself some food and then started back. While I was walking back, a car stopped and it happened to be one of the teachers at Terrie’s school so he gave me a ride (this gentleman also happened to be the car that picked me up in the morning when I was halfway to Hector’s- so it was a bit humorous-and the timing was awesome because I was exhausted). He made me stop at his family’s house and have some coffee and some food. He had a really nice family and told me to come back another time. His family gave me a bag full of really nice apples. This I added to my bag of cherries that Hector’s mom gave me. So at this point I was really full. I had a liter of water, dinner at Hector’s, and then dinner at this guys house. So as I was walking home and decided to stop at my host Aunt’s store. This is the sister of my deceased host dad. She is awesome. Truely awesome. She is a little off her rocker but that is what makes her so awesome. She is really easy to talk to and even though she uses a lot of village slang, she is really patient to listen and will make fun of me in a good way. Not a condescending way like “you have been here for two and half months why aren’t you fluent yet” but more of a “ha ha, this is funny the way you use the words in the not-exactly-correct way.” Speaking with her, for some reason I feel like my Armenian is much better, I suppose because Im not afraid of making a mistake. We had about a thirty minute conversation and then I was on my way home. I got home, exhausted.
When I got home, I changed clothes and then my host brother and I made a fire in the backyard. We made it out of old rags, pieces of rubber (just to start the fire) and fried cow patties. Let me tell you, those cow patties can really hold a flame. Anyway I bring this up because when I was in school and I was taking one of my environmental classes, this was one of those things on the “not-so-good-for-the-environment” list. However, when you’re in a country without huge plumes of forest, wood is hard to come by, so here I was helping build this cow patty fire going against my strict beliefs of using rubber and poop as fuel. So after there were some coals, we roasted potatoes and I had about 5 small potatoes wrapped in lavash (kind of like a burrito). I had become hungry again by this point, at 10:30 at night. The whole family was out there along with the neighbor who is the English teacher. I asked her if she would tutor me and she said, be at my house everyday at 4. EVERYDAY. I was thinking more like 3 times a week. But I am going to look at this like a blessing. I really need to quickly elevate my language here. From my understanding, I hear that Armenian is good to know in Armenia...
Until next time...
However, I told myself before I went to bed on Sunday night that Monday wouldn’t be the same. I woke up with a list of things I wanted to do. I wanted to go to the Polyclinic and then to my counterparts house and then to the English teachers house which is right next to the one Im currently staying in. I woke up early, and started walking to the Polyclinic. I got there. It was closed. It was a holiday to remember the deceased. So I had one option of going towards my house. Lame. For some reason I started walking to Hector’s village. Its about a 4 mile walk. Its flat and not really difficult at all. I got to Hector’s house in the next village. He then informs me that he and the children in his family are going to walk up an old extinct volcano. I don’t know how far it is but maybe 5 miles. However once we got to the foot of the mountain, we just went straight up. No switchbacks or anything. Just straight up. Looking to either side, it looked like we were going at a good 45 degree angle. Oh what fun. If you recall by to my last hiking experience, I went with three guys that thought it was a good idea to drink beer instead of water. Well, the three girls and the one boy that was with us, thought it was a good idea to wear bedroom slippers and flipflops. I must remind the readers of this blog that this is not the first time they have gone up this mountain so they must have some realization of what they’re doing. Nonetheless, a really interesting experience.
We finally got to the top. It was definitely worth it. At the top of the mountain, there is a crater that is filled with water. There is a small church up there which was just rebuilt. That kind of sucked because the sign above the door said 2009. But, it was nice. We lit some candles and went down toward the small pond/lake thing in the crater and we had some bread, fruit, cheese, and veggies. I was starving. After we somewhat finished (and I was still really hungry), two people from the stone shelter walked over. One of the girls happened to be one of the girls I helped tutor when I came for my site visit. She brought her dad over and they invited Hector and myself to join their feast. Hector’s family wanted to walk around so they didn’t come over. However, it turned out that this girl’s Dad was the Village Mayor or the Village Head. Also part of the family was the Deputy Governor of my Marz (Region) and best of of, the Doctor of the polyclinic of my village. So, I asked him if I could come and volunteer there everyday for a couple hours and he had no problem with that. That was awesome. That totally made my day. They fed us really tasty hor-o-vats (Armenian bbq) and drank some wine with them and then headed down the mountain.
We got to Hector’s house and I told his Mom that I was going to leave. She had none of that. I should preface this by saying that when I got to Hector’s house I drank a liter of water because I was so thirsty. However, drinking that much, that quickly leads anyone to feel pretty full. Hector’s mom wouldn’t let me leave without eating her food. So I force fed myself some food and then started back. While I was walking back, a car stopped and it happened to be one of the teachers at Terrie’s school so he gave me a ride (this gentleman also happened to be the car that picked me up in the morning when I was halfway to Hector’s- so it was a bit humorous-and the timing was awesome because I was exhausted). He made me stop at his family’s house and have some coffee and some food. He had a really nice family and told me to come back another time. His family gave me a bag full of really nice apples. This I added to my bag of cherries that Hector’s mom gave me. So at this point I was really full. I had a liter of water, dinner at Hector’s, and then dinner at this guys house. So as I was walking home and decided to stop at my host Aunt’s store. This is the sister of my deceased host dad. She is awesome. Truely awesome. She is a little off her rocker but that is what makes her so awesome. She is really easy to talk to and even though she uses a lot of village slang, she is really patient to listen and will make fun of me in a good way. Not a condescending way like “you have been here for two and half months why aren’t you fluent yet” but more of a “ha ha, this is funny the way you use the words in the not-exactly-correct way.” Speaking with her, for some reason I feel like my Armenian is much better, I suppose because Im not afraid of making a mistake. We had about a thirty minute conversation and then I was on my way home. I got home, exhausted.
When I got home, I changed clothes and then my host brother and I made a fire in the backyard. We made it out of old rags, pieces of rubber (just to start the fire) and fried cow patties. Let me tell you, those cow patties can really hold a flame. Anyway I bring this up because when I was in school and I was taking one of my environmental classes, this was one of those things on the “not-so-good-for-the-environment” list. However, when you’re in a country without huge plumes of forest, wood is hard to come by, so here I was helping build this cow patty fire going against my strict beliefs of using rubber and poop as fuel. So after there were some coals, we roasted potatoes and I had about 5 small potatoes wrapped in lavash (kind of like a burrito). I had become hungry again by this point, at 10:30 at night. The whole family was out there along with the neighbor who is the English teacher. I asked her if she would tutor me and she said, be at my house everyday at 4. EVERYDAY. I was thinking more like 3 times a week. But I am going to look at this like a blessing. I really need to quickly elevate my language here. From my understanding, I hear that Armenian is good to know in Armenia...
Until next time...
Let's get ready to rumble...
I finally got sworn in on Thursday. It was pretty cool. I woke up early and went to the school and took the marshutni (small bus) provided by Peace Corps to the ceremony. It was funny because it was just supposed to be the volunteers but the families decided to come too. Not everyone in the families came but one of my sisters and my host mom came. We all crammed into the marshutni and off we went. When we got to the swearing in, there were a whole lot of people there. Previous volunteers, families, the PC staff, the American Ambassador to Armenia, the media, and of course us. The program started off with our Country Director making a few comments about our training and what lies ahead of us and then the Ambassador spoke about Peace Corps. After her speech, she then swore us in. It was really cool experience taking an oath administered by the federal government. It talks about upholding the US constitution and defending it from foreign and domestic enemies. It is the same one that all federal employees have to take. At least I think so. The Ambassador said it was the same one that she took. Regardless, it gave me a sense of pride that I was doing this for a country that has given me so much. I think in America, we forget, or we don’t get the chance to see how great our country really is, and what kind of true benefits we have. Anyway, following the searing in, two of the volunteers made speeches in Armenian and then we sang. It was really cool to sing. We actually sounded pretty good. Someone recorded us so maybe one day you can hear it when I get back home. We sang a traditional Armenian song. Then one of the villages decided to do a play that was written by a famous Armenian writer. After that, the program was finished.
During and after the swearing in, there was media everywhere. Apparently, anytime the Ambassador comes to an event, the media follows. I was one of those “lucky” ones chosen to have an interview. I told the media lady that I had been speaking Armenian for only two months and said that I wouldn’t be able to speak very well. She said it was fine. Either way, I stumbled through the interview and told of how excited I was to be there serving and how hospitable the people were and how beautiful the country was. What an experience. Mike took a picture of the experience.
The rest of the day, we celebrated at the cafe/restaurant we always went to and we went home. I was exhausted so I took a nap and then afterwards hung out with the family. Around nine or ten o’clock, I went over to an area close to Mike’s house and all of us met to see the meteor shower. Forgot what its called. but in the two hours we were out there, we saw about ten really good “stars” shooting and some other not so good ones. But what a place to be to see the showers. It was really nice... and cold. I got back home around 12:30 and went to bed.
Friday, August 14th. The big day. Moving to our new sites. It was hard. I had packed my things the night before and finished packing that morning. I was supposed to meet at the school at 8:45. I was getting ready to start my trekS to the school with all my stuff, but then my Dad said that a car was going to come and take all the stuff to the school. It was rough to say goodbye. I lived with the family for two months and boy were there tears. My granddad gave me a hug and wouldn’t let go. Same with the Grandmother. My host mom got emotional and so did my host dad. We loaded up the car and off I went. To be honest, in about a month I will have the opportunity to see them again but I hope that gives you (the reader) an understanding of the family dynamic here and how they really included me like I was really a member of the family. Here, family is number one and it really shows. We got to the school and loaded up the bus. All the families were there and all the mom’s were crying. Our teachers came too. It was really emotional. My tongue got a little swollen because I was holding back because once I get started, its over.
We rode to the school and they divided us up into the area where we were going. I rode with Kyle, Hector, Nick, and Pat. Terrie (who lives in my village and who has also been here for one year) came along too. It was a fast drive. About an hour and a half to my site. I was the last one to be off-loaded.
My new site is nice. My room is different, and better, than the one I had during my site visit one month prior. I unpacked my things and hung out around the house. Honestly, I don’t have that much I have to be doing for the next two weeks until school starts. Today I am going to go into the city to get some things I need. I have a really good site though. I have 7 volunteers in really close proximity to me, one of which lives in the same village. This will come in handy when its winter time and there is nothing to do.
Anyway, that is it. I am officially a volunteer now. Cool.
Until next time.
During and after the swearing in, there was media everywhere. Apparently, anytime the Ambassador comes to an event, the media follows. I was one of those “lucky” ones chosen to have an interview. I told the media lady that I had been speaking Armenian for only two months and said that I wouldn’t be able to speak very well. She said it was fine. Either way, I stumbled through the interview and told of how excited I was to be there serving and how hospitable the people were and how beautiful the country was. What an experience. Mike took a picture of the experience.
The rest of the day, we celebrated at the cafe/restaurant we always went to and we went home. I was exhausted so I took a nap and then afterwards hung out with the family. Around nine or ten o’clock, I went over to an area close to Mike’s house and all of us met to see the meteor shower. Forgot what its called. but in the two hours we were out there, we saw about ten really good “stars” shooting and some other not so good ones. But what a place to be to see the showers. It was really nice... and cold. I got back home around 12:30 and went to bed.
Friday, August 14th. The big day. Moving to our new sites. It was hard. I had packed my things the night before and finished packing that morning. I was supposed to meet at the school at 8:45. I was getting ready to start my trekS to the school with all my stuff, but then my Dad said that a car was going to come and take all the stuff to the school. It was rough to say goodbye. I lived with the family for two months and boy were there tears. My granddad gave me a hug and wouldn’t let go. Same with the Grandmother. My host mom got emotional and so did my host dad. We loaded up the car and off I went. To be honest, in about a month I will have the opportunity to see them again but I hope that gives you (the reader) an understanding of the family dynamic here and how they really included me like I was really a member of the family. Here, family is number one and it really shows. We got to the school and loaded up the bus. All the families were there and all the mom’s were crying. Our teachers came too. It was really emotional. My tongue got a little swollen because I was holding back because once I get started, its over.
We rode to the school and they divided us up into the area where we were going. I rode with Kyle, Hector, Nick, and Pat. Terrie (who lives in my village and who has also been here for one year) came along too. It was a fast drive. About an hour and a half to my site. I was the last one to be off-loaded.
My new site is nice. My room is different, and better, than the one I had during my site visit one month prior. I unpacked my things and hung out around the house. Honestly, I don’t have that much I have to be doing for the next two weeks until school starts. Today I am going to go into the city to get some things I need. I have a really good site though. I have 7 volunteers in really close proximity to me, one of which lives in the same village. This will come in handy when its winter time and there is nothing to do.
Anyway, that is it. I am officially a volunteer now. Cool.
Until next time.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
T minus 2 days
By the time you read this you will know that tomorrow I will be sworn in to be part of the 17th year of Peace Corps in Armenia. I am very excited to finally be a volunteer rather than a trainee. It was rather intense. More than I would have imagined. I thought that homework only existed when you were in school... not the case. Peace Corps also has homework and a lot of it. But, you will be happy to know that by now, I will have finished all the work and filled out all the forms that I needed to in order to become a volunteer. It wasn’t an easy road. As of now we have moved from the original 47 to 44. We lost another one on Friday. I used to think that if you couldn’t make it for two years, then you just weren’t strong enough but thats not the case. One of the guys that left a week or so ago would have been the last person I thought would have left, but he was the first. I think Peace Corps is very unique. Unique in the sense that there are so many variables that you have to be so flexible with and if you’re not, then you aren’t going to be happy. Its not a matter of living with the unhappiness. It is much better to terminate early that to go on being unhappy because if you’re unhappy, people around you will be unhappy. I have noticed that when you don’t speak the language, you have to rely on body language a lot. Actually, it is pretty much your sole mode of communication. People can pick up on how you feel. For them, it just wasn’t a good fit and there is nothing wrong with that. Fortunately for me, that isn’t the case. I don’t think Peace Corps could have done a better job finding me a better place than the place I have now. Armenia is in itself wonderful (as I have mentioned several times before). Anyway, someone throw a party somewhere in the states on thursday because that’s when I get sworn in.
At the same time, it is a sad time. Tonight (Sunday) Mike, Paul, and I went up to the rocks to watch the sunset. Megan joined us a little later. It is nice to look out over the village and see the first place that really welcomed us to Armenia. It really is hard to imagine that two and a half months has already moved by that quickly. A year ago today (Still Sunday), it would have been a week before I left for Korea. I can’t believe that was a year ago. So much has happened in that short amount of time. Korea, coaching lacrosse, mowing the lawn (like 3 times), studying at the lady’s college. Anyway, the sentiments around the house are sad. The tateek (Amanda, that is grandmother in Armenian- you’re welcome for the clearification), never fails to remind me when Im leaving and how sad she is going to be when I leave. She always calls me “im tehra” (my son) and then says that she is going to miss the way I make coffee. She is really nice and its fun to talk to her. Its going to be hard to leave this family, but the fun is about to start.
Satuday, (yesterday), we took our last cultural trip to Gharni and Gerhart. Gharni is a temple that follows that of Greek Architecture. Its like Greece decided “hey, we have too many of these buildings with the same columns on the front, lets give one to Armenia” and that’s what they did. There is this building that looks like the stereotypical Grecian building right next to a huge canyon or gorge. Its pretty cool. I didn’t pay attention to the history. Gerhart, to me, was a lot cooler. It is a church that was built way back in the day and it is built into a mountain. There are four parts to the church and two of the parts are built into the mountain. Actually what happened was apparently two brothers (speculative) drilled a hole in the ceiling and chiseled out the whole inside from that single hole in the top. It was really cool. In this part of the church, the acoustics are so good that a single note will keep resonating for roughly 40 seconds. Thats a long time. We are singing an Armenian song for the swearing in ceremony. There are about 15 of us. The lady in charge said that we needed to sing the song in the church and we did. It sounded really cool (Josh Grobin sounds like Brandon singing compared to how we sounded). It was a really nice experience. Anyway the rest of the church was just really cool. It reminded me of the Petra in Indiana Jones- quest for the holy grail. Really cool.
(Dad, remind me to tell you about Dubai and India- I forgot to tell you the other day).
Today (remember its Sunday), I did a whole lot of nothing.
Oh, I forgot. So after this cutural day, we went over to David’s house. This David lives in another village. It started to rain when Mike and I left. We got a Taxi to come back to our village. As we were driving back it was raining really hard and it was really cool because you could see lightning everywhere. You could see lightning hitting the fields all around us. In fact as we were driving, I heard this really loud boom and then a really bright flash of light. Yes, we infact got struck by lightning. I told the driver that this was very exciting. He just stared at me with a blank look. But, that was incredible. The car drove like it had been driving. It was just really cool. I didn’t even know what was going on. In fact I don’t think anyway did until Mike said “did we just get struck by lightning). Anyway, Mike spent the night again last night. The power went out last night so I got to take a bath in the dark. How cool to take a bucket bath with a candle. (im serious). As long as the water is hot, I don’t really care. In fact, its amazing how fantastic you feel after you take a bath. I feel literally, like I won a million dollars. (actually, I haven’t won a million dollars so that is a slightly invalid statement- but you get my drift. I figure I had to add that aside because Will is probably currently thinking- Dan hasn’t won a million dollars, how can he possible relate those two things... inconceivable) But, it sure does make you feel good.
Tomorrow (monday), will be low key. First the first time in 5 weeks, we have one more 4 and a half hour language lesson. It is going to feel like its going on forever. Awesome. But after that, its pretty much all over. Im going to do my laundry, hang out, finish up some work and maybe start packing. Whoa.
So, probably the next time I write will be when I am at my new site. The next post might be a while but don’t worry ill let you know how the move went.
Until next time.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
The beginning of the end... of PST
The saddest part of any experience is saying goodbye. It was hard saying goodbye to my friends when i studied in Sweden and it was hard saying goodbye to my friends in Korea. You just never really know when you will see them again. I am fortunate to meet people that actually want to keep in touch though. My Spanish (Ares and Guillermo) and Italian friends (Marco and Massimo) that I met and lived with in Sweden still talk to me in a sort of regular basis. I haven’t really heard from Damien in a while but I know he is still doing his thing. (Maybe I should send him a message). Anyway, to make this relevant with what I have been talking about... My time in Solak is coming closer to a close and it seems that a day doesn’t go by that my mom here doesn’t remind me of it and how its going to be different. Everytime we had coffee, I have made it and the grandma and mother always say how they will miss how i make the coffee. Now you have to understand how this is because in Armenia, men don’t really make coffee. So its an extra special thing when I make it because Im a guy. Its hard to stop a routine and start a new one and it seems like that is what we are about to do.
Our community project went really well. It was on Sunday and it was supposed to start at 1 and go to 3. Well, people showed up at 12:50 and our translators weren’t there yet. We had booths set up to check sight, good nutrition, clean water, and a nurses station where they would answer questions and take your blood pressure. We also had an exercise station. Overall it was a success. We had over 50 people from the village show up. It was a greater turnout than we expected. People left around 2:15 so that was that. Not too bad. Mike and I made a powerpoint of the experience that we are going to show tomorrow at the central day because we were supposed to show how the central day went. This was on top of our practica. We only have one more practica to do. I am doing it with Lisa and we are doing it on dental hygiene. Should be pretty decent. I have been trying to not use the translators and the last few I haven’t needed a translator although it does take me a little longer to come up with what I need to say. But they are a lot of fun and I definitely feel that I have some sort of connection with the kids. Im really excited about my permanent site and what I have in store for me there. But now that I have gotten comfortable here with my family and friends, my routine, schooling, the teachers, now here i go to start over again.
Speaking of things coming to a close, my village may be writing a song to sing at the swearing in ceremony. We will see. One of my teachers gave me some Armenian guitar music to learn for the swearing in thing but we will see if i can get it together before then. There is still things to get down so...
I really want to take advantage of the time here with my American friends...
Lastly, I wanted to take about the language here. Call this an intro to Armenian 101. First off, lets talk about the word “I” which turns out to be “yes” in Armenian. Right, so this can become a bit confusing. Also the colloquial way to say “yes” in Armenian is to simply say “ha”... like you’re laughing. So when you get confused between your mind being in English and your mouth being in Armenian, you may think “yes” in your mind but saying “I” in Armenian, which would prompt the response from others, “I- what”. “what” being “inch” in Armenian. (Do you understand where Im going with this). So when someone says something funny and they laugh (ha ha ha ha), you may have to becareful at what you’re laughing at because you are really saying “yes yes yes yes.” But, for anyone that knows another language, these overlaps do happen (not in Korean but Im sure it does sometime, somewhere, in another language). Your mind just kind of thinks in the other language. It can be funny. (just be careful what you laugh at). So here is the first sentence that is good...
Yes oozoomem zangel Dan-a: I want to call (the) Dan.
Weird huh. Same word order and everything as English but like Spanish, there are different conjugations, which can be a blessing but more often than not... not.
I still play guitar a lot.
Um, I have my address to my new site. If you are interested, send me an email and I will send my information to you. Or, you can call my parents and ask them. (Mom and Dad, if my friends call asking for my address, make sure you know them... and be nice.)
Ok, that seems to be it. Things are definitely winding down. After Thursday, our practice will be over. We have a field trip on Saturday somewhere but our work is pretty much over. Next Friday, we will be in our permanent sites. AHHH. At this rate, this two year thing will be over in no time. Anyway, just wanted everyone to know that I miss them but my spirits are high and I can’t complain about anything... About ANYTHING. I love it here so rest assured that your son/ friend is doing really well and is making the best out of the opportunity.
Be well and until next time...
Saturday, August 1, 2009
To Richard "Lee" Robertson
This post is for Lee Robertson. Even though he is 28 years old (or however old you are) he still acts like a 4 year old and told me that he would stop reading my blogs unless I mentioned him in one, so... here you are Lee. To be honest, I don't know why I care that you read my blogs anyway. Does Jeremy still read mine more than yours... is that why you're really actually upset? Anyway, if you guys go out and eat lunch somewhere, order some pickle chips. (That is if you go to Village Drafthouse)
12 more days...
So PST is coming to a close. Wow, only 12 more days until I go from being a PCT to a PCV. How exciting. Some bad news. We went from 47 strong to 45. We lost two from the group for personal reasons. I guess Peace Corps isn’t for everybody. We are two weeks into the practica and things are going really well. Paul and I did two days of First Aid training to the middle and younger aged kids and I think it went pretty well. We taught them how to react in an emergency situation, what numbers to call in Armenia, and how to treat a puncture wound, cut, ankle sprain, and various burns. Paul is really animated so it worked out really well for the kids (and keeping their attention).
I play guitar... a lot
Today we meet the A-16s in a fierce game of kickball. They have their mid-service conference and we are going to meet them tomorrow after class and have a good friendly game of kickball. We will win because we are better...
Sunday, we have our community projects. We are going to have several booths set up and give out a brochure about different health related topics. There will be some nurses there to help out as well. It should go pretty well. After the community project, things should go downhill from there. Megan, Victoria and I have two days of teaching basic anatomy and then Lisa and I teach about dental hygeine. Should be pretty interesting. Im having a really good time teaching, even if it is in another language. Im excited about my permanent site and starting to teach on my own. To be honest, my language has kind of hit a wall because we have so many other things going on that I don’t keep up with the studying, and when that much information gets crammed into your head, its hard to keep it all straight. From what I understand, when I get to my permanent site, things will change and my language will pick back up. Im not too worried.
This evening, I was walking about from Davids house and Mike, Paul and I stopped at a bridge and looked at the sky. It was almost one of the coolest things I had experienced. It seemed like there was a halo of clouds all around us, us being in the middle, and there was lightning flashing all around us. It was really nice to watch all that. It was nice until we realized we were on a bridge and we were the tallest objects in the area. After that... I ran home. I got home and started to eat my dinner. At this point it was 10 at night. I was half way through eating one of bo-beep’s sheep when, without warning, the lights went out. There I was just sitting there trying to figure out how to get the fat and bone off the meat. Great. No problem though because my host brother came in and flashed light directly into my eyes while I ate. I got to talk to Dad and wish him Happy Birthday.
So, I guess at this point I really don’t have too much more to say. Im starting to take advantage of the little time I have here to hang out with my friends and family. The days are really flying by. Im just excited about swearing in. For the ceremony, my village may or may not be orchestrating a chorus to sing a song that we wrote. Somewhere in there, there was an idea of having a dance number. Ill keep you posted but I don’t think it will get that far... I don’t think I will let it get that far.
All for now, until next time.
I play guitar... a lot
Today we meet the A-16s in a fierce game of kickball. They have their mid-service conference and we are going to meet them tomorrow after class and have a good friendly game of kickball. We will win because we are better...
Sunday, we have our community projects. We are going to have several booths set up and give out a brochure about different health related topics. There will be some nurses there to help out as well. It should go pretty well. After the community project, things should go downhill from there. Megan, Victoria and I have two days of teaching basic anatomy and then Lisa and I teach about dental hygeine. Should be pretty interesting. Im having a really good time teaching, even if it is in another language. Im excited about my permanent site and starting to teach on my own. To be honest, my language has kind of hit a wall because we have so many other things going on that I don’t keep up with the studying, and when that much information gets crammed into your head, its hard to keep it all straight. From what I understand, when I get to my permanent site, things will change and my language will pick back up. Im not too worried.
This evening, I was walking about from Davids house and Mike, Paul and I stopped at a bridge and looked at the sky. It was almost one of the coolest things I had experienced. It seemed like there was a halo of clouds all around us, us being in the middle, and there was lightning flashing all around us. It was really nice to watch all that. It was nice until we realized we were on a bridge and we were the tallest objects in the area. After that... I ran home. I got home and started to eat my dinner. At this point it was 10 at night. I was half way through eating one of bo-beep’s sheep when, without warning, the lights went out. There I was just sitting there trying to figure out how to get the fat and bone off the meat. Great. No problem though because my host brother came in and flashed light directly into my eyes while I ate. I got to talk to Dad and wish him Happy Birthday.
So, I guess at this point I really don’t have too much more to say. Im starting to take advantage of the little time I have here to hang out with my friends and family. The days are really flying by. Im just excited about swearing in. For the ceremony, my village may or may not be orchestrating a chorus to sing a song that we wrote. Somewhere in there, there was an idea of having a dance number. Ill keep you posted but I don’t think it will get that far... I don’t think I will let it get that far.
All for now, until next time.
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