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...
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