Reason #457
Grandma is awesome because when her great-grandchildren (that’s right, she is 70 and has great-grandchildren) are propped up and fall over, she laughs the hardest I have ever seen anyone laugh. For example, my host cousin (if you will) wanted some pictures taken of her daughter in the flower garden. She had her daughter propped up with some sweaters, then after about twenty seconds, the little baby would slowly fall over and totally eat the ground. Meanwhile, grandma is watching this happen, and hitting me on the arm to look, and then laughing hysterically that it happened. I didn’t really help the situation because I would laugh really hard as well...
Reason #458
Grandma is awesome because I worked all day today on my grant for the school. I mean literally all day besides washing my clothes that are three weeks overdue, as a break. She saw how tired my eyes were at dinner and told me that she would write my grant for an hour so I could take a break. How fantastic is that?
So, I figured that I would write to talk about that. Nothing else really going on. The weather is beautiful here. Terri came over last night and we sat and talked on the bench outside. We remarked how it was like being in a movie scene because it is just so beautiful here. Seriously unbelievable.
The next Peace Corps group for Armenia left today for Washington DC for staging. Tomorrow they wake up, drive to the airport, and leave United States soil for at least 27 months. I can’t believe that was me a year ago.
Until next time...
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Graduation and house hopping
So I wrote on birthday morning. That was before Graduation. Graduation started at 1:00 and so I did some work in the morning, and at around 12:30 I got ready and headed out the door. My next door neighbor, Arpine, is the English teacher at my school and my tutor. At 12:45 when I was walking by her yard, she was in the potato field working. I called out to her and asked her what she was doing. She said that she was working in the field and would come to the graduation. In my head I was wondering how someone would stop working in the field, clean up, get dressed, and make it to the school by 1:00. I soon figured out the answer.
I got to the graduation. It had already started. I wasn’t late because I got there with ten minutes to spare. So the one time in Armenian history, something started early. Weird. Anyway, the way I came in, I actually ended up behind the graduating students, and so I just stood there. Then eventually I made my way to the front and sat with some teachers.
The Actually graduation was interesting. There are two eleventh grade classes. So grade 11A went first. The teachers don’t do anything, they just sit there and listen. The ideology of this is that the students have to listen all year and they finally get their chance to talk. This was a bit curious because there wasn’t much talking. The students would get in a shoulder-to-shoulder line and they would say stuff. So, they would talk for 3 minutes, and then dance for 12 minutes, talk for 3 minutes, dance for 12 minutes, and it went on like this for an hour and a half. They would talk about their school year, make fun of the teachers (in a strictly comical way), and talk about their classmates. So, after the first hour and a half, my butt was completely numb and I was ready to leave, but then it was time for the 11B class to go. Crap. So, after that, I had a really bad headache because I had pretty much been sitting on a hard seat, meant for an eight year old, for 3 hours. After I walked around a bit, I felt a lot better. My neighbor finally arrived halfway through the first class presentation.
Anyway, when that was finished, I walked home, but with some of my classmates. The six girls that I did the poetry competition with and who are in my English class came over to my house. They baked me a birthday cake. Holy Cow that thing was huge. A picture is attached. Anyway, we talked for a while, took some pictures, and we danced a little. It was a little awkward in the dancing part. Then, some of the girls went into the kitchen and did all the dishwashing which was great because Grandma didn’t have to do it, and more importantly, I didn’t have to do it. There were a lot of dishes.
Afterwards, I went house-hopping to different neighbors houses. I had barbeque at home house, with some more cake, then went to Varton’s house, but then my counterpart came over to my house so I had to run home to sit with her, but then Varton called and said that Mike had come over to his house, so I had to run over there and get him. I brought him back to the house for some cake and to drop things off at my house. When I got back, Huseek, my tutor’s husband came over and was sitting with my Grandma and my counterpart. We sat there and talked for a while. It was really nice. I had a really good time. Then my counterpart left and then Terri came over. At this point it was 9:30 ish but we still needed to go over to Varton’s house again. So, Mike and I went over there and we hung out for another two hours or so. It was fun because pretty much Varton’s whole family was there. I met his eldest daughter who is married and lives in Yerevan. She was really cool and had a really good sense of humor.
So overall, it was a great way to spend a birthday overseas. Last years was pretty good, and this one came in a close second.
Mike is certainly a character. I have never met someone quite like him before. He knows a lot about politics and history and this area, things that only interest me if someone tells me these things in brevity. He is just one of those guys you can always count on and will do what he can for anyone. I guess I should say that I am really fortunate to have such a friend. But sometimes he can do some really dumb things. For example, coming to my village from Arteek usually costs about 2500 dram, or about 6 dollars. He missed the last bus from Arteek and decided to get a taxi. A shared taxi is about 5000 dram or about 12 dollars. Mike rented a taxi for himself and spent 20,000 dram or 50 dollars on a taxi to my village. It was a nice gesture. It was really nice actually, but then he realized what he had done... He likes chocolate cake a lot too.
So Sunday, I had some work to do, so we went to the school and started digging some percolation holes for my bathroom. These are all tests I need to do to put in a bathroom. So, we carried shovels across the village and of course everyone came out to see why the Americans were walking around with shovels. That was interesting.
That afternoon, we met up with Terri because we were going to go to the beach. The weather turned and we ended up getting to Martuni with the weather changing for the worse. So we just sat around and talked and then headed back. That night, Mike and I went over to Arpine’s house and made some American style pizza.
There were several times when she would try to correct what I was doing and it was funny because I would keep saying that we were making the pizza the “American way”. They turned out really good. My neighbors, I think, said they liked it because they would say “ oh this is so good, we are going to eat it tomorrow for breakfast” and they would be halfway through their first slice. Ha. The little boy flat out said he didn’t like it and took one bite and spit it out, but honestly, it was really good. I ate probably half of a whole pizza by myself. Anyway, a nice experience.
Then Monday, early in the morning, we got to the bus stop and there was no bus. Usually there are at least two waiting, but there wasn’t any. So we waited a long time. When it finally came, there was a mad rush of people pushing people out of the way. It was pretty crazy. Mike and I tried one time but we just got thrown to the side. The best part was when another bus came, the same thing happened, this time Mike and I stood on the sidelines. Funny enough, another bus came half full of people, we got on and that was that. We even left before the other bus. We had a nice ride in and it was really pretty in Yerevan.
We got to Yerevan and went to the office. We waited there for about 30 minutes. There is an animated film that was made in Armenia and they wanted some native English speakers to dub over the voice. So, Mike and I volunteered for it because it would be an interesting experience. I went first. I went into a soundproof room with a computer screen and a really really sensitive mic and dubbed over the Armenian. It’s really hard to do that. You have to match up the English with the Armenian. You have to act in the studio to get “into character”. This part had two problems. One, everyone is staring at you so it took me a while to get “into character”. Second is if you move too much the mic picks up the rustling of your clothes. I took off my button up shirt so I could move a little freely and they freaked out because they thought I would be cold in the studio.
They fed us. It was really cool. Our names are going to be on a film going to a film festival. How cool. I never thought this would happen during my Peace Corps experience. Weird.
After that, we went back to the office to do some work and then took a taxi to our favorite mexican restaurant, Taco Maco. I got in an argument with the taxi driver and I honestly thought we were going to get in a fight. The man wanted 1000 dram (2.50) to take us what we usually pay 600 dram (1.50) for. Now, I know that you are like, oh a dollar, but remember that I am working with a Peace Corps salary and I don’t like it when taxi drivers, or anyone for that matter, tries to take advantage of me. So, when I tried to give him the 600 minimum fare, he asked how much it was, which I told him. He said it wasn’t enough. This is how the rest of the conversation went:
Me: How do you know how much it is, you didn’t turn on the meter
Taxi: I don’t need to, I know how much it should cost
Me: I know how much it is, I take this route every time I come to Yerevan
Taxi: this is my taxi
Me: Yeah, well you should have turned on your meter then
Taxi: Well you also got my seats dirty
(Mike slid his feet across the seat and got some dust on the seat which just wiped away)
Me: You show me where the dirt is and I will happily pay
Taxi: The next person that comes and sits down is going to get dirt on them
Me: I slid over, now the dirt will be on me, take the money
Taxi: (while freaking out, almost jumping in the back seat) You will pay me the money
Me: Ill tell you what, Ill call the cops and they will sort all this out
Taxi: There is no need to call the cops
Me: Listen, take the money or we will wait until the cops come
At this point, Oscar the owner of Taco Maco came out and his business partner took care of the problem. The business partner said the taxi driver was trying to intimidate us into paying more. So, that was that. We left the 600 dram in the taxi and walked away.
Good experience? I would say YES...
So that was my exciting weekend. The weather is really nice now. No more school so I have plenty of time to plan all my stuff out now. Great. AHHH.
Anyway, hope everyone at home is doing well.
Here is a description of the pictures:
What we do in Peace Corps
Me and my students
The amazing cake
Monuk, a really cool guy and the Healthy living counterpart at school after graduation
Until next time...
I got to the graduation. It had already started. I wasn’t late because I got there with ten minutes to spare. So the one time in Armenian history, something started early. Weird. Anyway, the way I came in, I actually ended up behind the graduating students, and so I just stood there. Then eventually I made my way to the front and sat with some teachers.
The Actually graduation was interesting. There are two eleventh grade classes. So grade 11A went first. The teachers don’t do anything, they just sit there and listen. The ideology of this is that the students have to listen all year and they finally get their chance to talk. This was a bit curious because there wasn’t much talking. The students would get in a shoulder-to-shoulder line and they would say stuff. So, they would talk for 3 minutes, and then dance for 12 minutes, talk for 3 minutes, dance for 12 minutes, and it went on like this for an hour and a half. They would talk about their school year, make fun of the teachers (in a strictly comical way), and talk about their classmates. So, after the first hour and a half, my butt was completely numb and I was ready to leave, but then it was time for the 11B class to go. Crap. So, after that, I had a really bad headache because I had pretty much been sitting on a hard seat, meant for an eight year old, for 3 hours. After I walked around a bit, I felt a lot better. My neighbor finally arrived halfway through the first class presentation.
Anyway, when that was finished, I walked home, but with some of my classmates. The six girls that I did the poetry competition with and who are in my English class came over to my house. They baked me a birthday cake. Holy Cow that thing was huge. A picture is attached. Anyway, we talked for a while, took some pictures, and we danced a little. It was a little awkward in the dancing part. Then, some of the girls went into the kitchen and did all the dishwashing which was great because Grandma didn’t have to do it, and more importantly, I didn’t have to do it. There were a lot of dishes.
Afterwards, I went house-hopping to different neighbors houses. I had barbeque at home house, with some more cake, then went to Varton’s house, but then my counterpart came over to my house so I had to run home to sit with her, but then Varton called and said that Mike had come over to his house, so I had to run over there and get him. I brought him back to the house for some cake and to drop things off at my house. When I got back, Huseek, my tutor’s husband came over and was sitting with my Grandma and my counterpart. We sat there and talked for a while. It was really nice. I had a really good time. Then my counterpart left and then Terri came over. At this point it was 9:30 ish but we still needed to go over to Varton’s house again. So, Mike and I went over there and we hung out for another two hours or so. It was fun because pretty much Varton’s whole family was there. I met his eldest daughter who is married and lives in Yerevan. She was really cool and had a really good sense of humor.
So overall, it was a great way to spend a birthday overseas. Last years was pretty good, and this one came in a close second.
Mike is certainly a character. I have never met someone quite like him before. He knows a lot about politics and history and this area, things that only interest me if someone tells me these things in brevity. He is just one of those guys you can always count on and will do what he can for anyone. I guess I should say that I am really fortunate to have such a friend. But sometimes he can do some really dumb things. For example, coming to my village from Arteek usually costs about 2500 dram, or about 6 dollars. He missed the last bus from Arteek and decided to get a taxi. A shared taxi is about 5000 dram or about 12 dollars. Mike rented a taxi for himself and spent 20,000 dram or 50 dollars on a taxi to my village. It was a nice gesture. It was really nice actually, but then he realized what he had done... He likes chocolate cake a lot too.
So Sunday, I had some work to do, so we went to the school and started digging some percolation holes for my bathroom. These are all tests I need to do to put in a bathroom. So, we carried shovels across the village and of course everyone came out to see why the Americans were walking around with shovels. That was interesting.
That afternoon, we met up with Terri because we were going to go to the beach. The weather turned and we ended up getting to Martuni with the weather changing for the worse. So we just sat around and talked and then headed back. That night, Mike and I went over to Arpine’s house and made some American style pizza.
There were several times when she would try to correct what I was doing and it was funny because I would keep saying that we were making the pizza the “American way”. They turned out really good. My neighbors, I think, said they liked it because they would say “ oh this is so good, we are going to eat it tomorrow for breakfast” and they would be halfway through their first slice. Ha. The little boy flat out said he didn’t like it and took one bite and spit it out, but honestly, it was really good. I ate probably half of a whole pizza by myself. Anyway, a nice experience.
Then Monday, early in the morning, we got to the bus stop and there was no bus. Usually there are at least two waiting, but there wasn’t any. So we waited a long time. When it finally came, there was a mad rush of people pushing people out of the way. It was pretty crazy. Mike and I tried one time but we just got thrown to the side. The best part was when another bus came, the same thing happened, this time Mike and I stood on the sidelines. Funny enough, another bus came half full of people, we got on and that was that. We even left before the other bus. We had a nice ride in and it was really pretty in Yerevan.
We got to Yerevan and went to the office. We waited there for about 30 minutes. There is an animated film that was made in Armenia and they wanted some native English speakers to dub over the voice. So, Mike and I volunteered for it because it would be an interesting experience. I went first. I went into a soundproof room with a computer screen and a really really sensitive mic and dubbed over the Armenian. It’s really hard to do that. You have to match up the English with the Armenian. You have to act in the studio to get “into character”. This part had two problems. One, everyone is staring at you so it took me a while to get “into character”. Second is if you move too much the mic picks up the rustling of your clothes. I took off my button up shirt so I could move a little freely and they freaked out because they thought I would be cold in the studio.
They fed us. It was really cool. Our names are going to be on a film going to a film festival. How cool. I never thought this would happen during my Peace Corps experience. Weird.
After that, we went back to the office to do some work and then took a taxi to our favorite mexican restaurant, Taco Maco. I got in an argument with the taxi driver and I honestly thought we were going to get in a fight. The man wanted 1000 dram (2.50) to take us what we usually pay 600 dram (1.50) for. Now, I know that you are like, oh a dollar, but remember that I am working with a Peace Corps salary and I don’t like it when taxi drivers, or anyone for that matter, tries to take advantage of me. So, when I tried to give him the 600 minimum fare, he asked how much it was, which I told him. He said it wasn’t enough. This is how the rest of the conversation went:
Me: How do you know how much it is, you didn’t turn on the meter
Taxi: I don’t need to, I know how much it should cost
Me: I know how much it is, I take this route every time I come to Yerevan
Taxi: this is my taxi
Me: Yeah, well you should have turned on your meter then
Taxi: Well you also got my seats dirty
(Mike slid his feet across the seat and got some dust on the seat which just wiped away)
Me: You show me where the dirt is and I will happily pay
Taxi: The next person that comes and sits down is going to get dirt on them
Me: I slid over, now the dirt will be on me, take the money
Taxi: (while freaking out, almost jumping in the back seat) You will pay me the money
Me: Ill tell you what, Ill call the cops and they will sort all this out
Taxi: There is no need to call the cops
Me: Listen, take the money or we will wait until the cops come
At this point, Oscar the owner of Taco Maco came out and his business partner took care of the problem. The business partner said the taxi driver was trying to intimidate us into paying more. So, that was that. We left the 600 dram in the taxi and walked away.
Good experience? I would say YES...
So that was my exciting weekend. The weather is really nice now. No more school so I have plenty of time to plan all my stuff out now. Great. AHHH.
Anyway, hope everyone at home is doing well.
Here is a description of the pictures:
What we do in Peace Corps
Me and my students
The amazing cake
Monuk, a really cool guy and the Healthy living counterpart at school after graduation
Until next time...
Friday, May 21, 2010
The ride of my life...
This week has been a bit abnormal. I’ve sincerely enjoyed it, but a bit abnormal. In a good way.
So Monday I finally got a chance to meet with the major and we went over the grant project. It went really well. This major is awesome. To show how corrupt politics can be here, he has been major for 26 years, lives in a really large, really nice house, drives a nice car, and has a neighbor who pretty much lives in a shack. (comparatively). Anyway, he is a really nice guy how seems to understand me and my point of view. Part of my grant is I have to find 25% of the total budget which needs to come from the village. It can be “in-kind” donations or money from different people, or money from the major. The major really liked the idea of my project and said “whatever you need, I will supply. If I have to give you 25%, 35%, 50%, I will give you that in workers, money, whatever you need. I just want to give the students a place to use the bathroom that’s clean and indoors so its warm during the winter.” I think some of his strong feelings to this project come from the fact that some of his school children go to my school, and one of his middle daughters I teach English to. Ha.
Anyway, when his contractor tried to rip me off, and I called him out on it, Mr. Major man had a few words with his contractor and ever since, things have been really good.
After that, meeting, I really got to work on my grant, but not for too long because on Wednesday I had to go to Yerevan to start planning for Pre-Service-Training with Peace Corps. It was so nice because I met up with Ani again (not the piano Ani, but my trainer from last year, Ani, who lives in California who is contracted to come here to do PST. She is fluent in both Armenian and English and has a Masters in Public Health, and is really cool). Anyway, seeing her, I couldn’t believe that 10 months had already gone by since I last saw her. Honestly, I saw her and it seemed as though I had just seen her yesterday. Weird.
It was an intense two days. All Thursday and Friday we went over the training and started planning. Grueling. Thursday night though, Susanna, my program manager, took us out for dinner. It was really good. It was nice getting to talk to both Susanna and Ani in a non-work setting. Both of them are really great and Im looking forward to this summer.
The new volunteers come in one week.
Coming back to my village from Yerevan, I left on the last bus and had to take another bus which would just drop me off on the way. It is a bit nicer because there is much more leg room which is great. Another thing that was great were the people. I sat in the back (as I normally do) and one of the guys started talking to me. I started to talk to him which inspired other people to talk to me. It was AWESOME. There were about 4 guys that I talked to on the way back and I haven’t laughed that hard since I have been in Armenia. We talked about so many things but it was one of those things I will never forget. They asked me to come to their house to stay the night, but told them that the next day was graduation and I needed to be there for that. I also told them it was my birthday and they freaked out. They almost told the bus driver to pull over so one of them could buy a bottle of vodka to make a toast. I convinced them not to do that, so one of the guys had a hand full of candy and we cheers-ed with candy. They said some really nice things and that was that. I won’t ever forget that. The best part was the fact that the normal 2 hour ride was 3 and a half this time because of detours, getting gas, and leaving from a different bus stop. What normally would have been a horrible situation, turned out to be potentially one of the best memories I will have here.
So, it is still the morning of my 25th birthday. I guess I can go ahead and reflect what I have done in my life and say that I really happy where I am in my life (I don’t mean actual location, but I am happy to be in Armenia). I have learned a lot, met a lot of people, experienced things that I don’t think many people have experienced, but I wouldn’t be able to do any of this, or be who I am today without all the support and help of my parents. So to Mom and Dad, I want to send you a million thank yous. I don’t tell you enough, I know, but thank you for everything. I miss you guys and love you tremendously.
If you are my age and are reading this, I strongly suggest you think about your parents and how they have made you who you are.
It was last year at this time we had our little get together outside in the patio. Over a year ago that I saw a lot of you until next year. Weird.
I got some messages on facebook and wanted to say thank you to those people who wrote me a message. One of them was especially nice from someone that I have just recently met. I was shocked to read it. That person doesn’t know about my blog, but a general thank you to everyone who said happy birthday.
So that is that. I will write again soon to let you know about graduation and what’s going on next week now that school is finished. Weird.
Until next time.
So Monday I finally got a chance to meet with the major and we went over the grant project. It went really well. This major is awesome. To show how corrupt politics can be here, he has been major for 26 years, lives in a really large, really nice house, drives a nice car, and has a neighbor who pretty much lives in a shack. (comparatively). Anyway, he is a really nice guy how seems to understand me and my point of view. Part of my grant is I have to find 25% of the total budget which needs to come from the village. It can be “in-kind” donations or money from different people, or money from the major. The major really liked the idea of my project and said “whatever you need, I will supply. If I have to give you 25%, 35%, 50%, I will give you that in workers, money, whatever you need. I just want to give the students a place to use the bathroom that’s clean and indoors so its warm during the winter.” I think some of his strong feelings to this project come from the fact that some of his school children go to my school, and one of his middle daughters I teach English to. Ha.
Anyway, when his contractor tried to rip me off, and I called him out on it, Mr. Major man had a few words with his contractor and ever since, things have been really good.
After that, meeting, I really got to work on my grant, but not for too long because on Wednesday I had to go to Yerevan to start planning for Pre-Service-Training with Peace Corps. It was so nice because I met up with Ani again (not the piano Ani, but my trainer from last year, Ani, who lives in California who is contracted to come here to do PST. She is fluent in both Armenian and English and has a Masters in Public Health, and is really cool). Anyway, seeing her, I couldn’t believe that 10 months had already gone by since I last saw her. Honestly, I saw her and it seemed as though I had just seen her yesterday. Weird.
It was an intense two days. All Thursday and Friday we went over the training and started planning. Grueling. Thursday night though, Susanna, my program manager, took us out for dinner. It was really good. It was nice getting to talk to both Susanna and Ani in a non-work setting. Both of them are really great and Im looking forward to this summer.
The new volunteers come in one week.
Coming back to my village from Yerevan, I left on the last bus and had to take another bus which would just drop me off on the way. It is a bit nicer because there is much more leg room which is great. Another thing that was great were the people. I sat in the back (as I normally do) and one of the guys started talking to me. I started to talk to him which inspired other people to talk to me. It was AWESOME. There were about 4 guys that I talked to on the way back and I haven’t laughed that hard since I have been in Armenia. We talked about so many things but it was one of those things I will never forget. They asked me to come to their house to stay the night, but told them that the next day was graduation and I needed to be there for that. I also told them it was my birthday and they freaked out. They almost told the bus driver to pull over so one of them could buy a bottle of vodka to make a toast. I convinced them not to do that, so one of the guys had a hand full of candy and we cheers-ed with candy. They said some really nice things and that was that. I won’t ever forget that. The best part was the fact that the normal 2 hour ride was 3 and a half this time because of detours, getting gas, and leaving from a different bus stop. What normally would have been a horrible situation, turned out to be potentially one of the best memories I will have here.
So, it is still the morning of my 25th birthday. I guess I can go ahead and reflect what I have done in my life and say that I really happy where I am in my life (I don’t mean actual location, but I am happy to be in Armenia). I have learned a lot, met a lot of people, experienced things that I don’t think many people have experienced, but I wouldn’t be able to do any of this, or be who I am today without all the support and help of my parents. So to Mom and Dad, I want to send you a million thank yous. I don’t tell you enough, I know, but thank you for everything. I miss you guys and love you tremendously.
If you are my age and are reading this, I strongly suggest you think about your parents and how they have made you who you are.
It was last year at this time we had our little get together outside in the patio. Over a year ago that I saw a lot of you until next year. Weird.
I got some messages on facebook and wanted to say thank you to those people who wrote me a message. One of them was especially nice from someone that I have just recently met. I was shocked to read it. That person doesn’t know about my blog, but a general thank you to everyone who said happy birthday.
So that is that. I will write again soon to let you know about graduation and what’s going on next week now that school is finished. Weird.
Until next time.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Captions to the pictures
So, by request of my Father...
from the top
1) From the left to the right. Shannon, Mike and Sue. Sue is the wonderful lady that we met at the airport the day that I left. We were in her village to visit. It is by Kapan and it is a beautiful village.
2)This is my Grandmother that I live with. This is her flower garden. It is really pretty but she assures me that the flowers will die soon.
3)This is after the poetry contest in the local town. This is my English club. Two of the girls came in second and third place but honestly, I think they should have come in first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth.
4)When we were in Kapan and we hiked to a fort on the side of a mountain. I was the only one to wear boots. Sean decided to wear his new shoes. Well done Sean. Sean just got married to an Armenian so let’s send our congratulations to him. I laughed at him...and Mike... because both their shoes got really muddy. It was funny.
5)This was at Patrick’s birthday. Sean and Brian. Good pair of guys.
“Next” blog
1)Halidzor gorge. Beautiful
2)Mike and myself at the 10th century church that was partially destroyed by the landslide some 100 years after it was built. 3)Seriously one of the most awesome places I have ever been.
Halidzor near Goris. Sean’s village. Just awesome. We do a lot of walking in Peace Corps. Anyway, this Halidzor is the village, the fort we visited, also Halidzor is not the same thing as that one is near Kapan.
4)The girls scared of Michael... The picture is self explanatory.
5)Mike, Sean, and Myself at the Halidzor fort in Kapan. You can’t see how dirty their shoes are.
Anyway, that is all. I hope you can appreciate how beautiful Armenia is now. Winter is completely different from Spring/Summer.
from the top
1) From the left to the right. Shannon, Mike and Sue. Sue is the wonderful lady that we met at the airport the day that I left. We were in her village to visit. It is by Kapan and it is a beautiful village.
2)This is my Grandmother that I live with. This is her flower garden. It is really pretty but she assures me that the flowers will die soon.
3)This is after the poetry contest in the local town. This is my English club. Two of the girls came in second and third place but honestly, I think they should have come in first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth.
4)When we were in Kapan and we hiked to a fort on the side of a mountain. I was the only one to wear boots. Sean decided to wear his new shoes. Well done Sean. Sean just got married to an Armenian so let’s send our congratulations to him. I laughed at him...and Mike... because both their shoes got really muddy. It was funny.
5)This was at Patrick’s birthday. Sean and Brian. Good pair of guys.
“Next” blog
1)Halidzor gorge. Beautiful
2)Mike and myself at the 10th century church that was partially destroyed by the landslide some 100 years after it was built. 3)Seriously one of the most awesome places I have ever been.
Halidzor near Goris. Sean’s village. Just awesome. We do a lot of walking in Peace Corps. Anyway, this Halidzor is the village, the fort we visited, also Halidzor is not the same thing as that one is near Kapan.
4)The girls scared of Michael... The picture is self explanatory.
5)Mike, Sean, and Myself at the Halidzor fort in Kapan. You can’t see how dirty their shoes are.
Anyway, that is all. I hope you can appreciate how beautiful Armenia is now. Winter is completely different from Spring/Summer.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Little mr. sunshine
The weather has been rather pleasant the last couple days which, like I said before, does a number on your morale. For some reason, everything is better. For the first time since maybe last fall have I had fresh veggies. Not yet time for fruit. But do you know how good a cucumber is after 7 months of no fresh produce? The produce comes from Iran, where the weather is pretty good year round. I helped Grandma change over from Winter-ness to not-freezing-all-the-time-ness. That meant breaking down the gas heater that stayed in the middle of the living room and putting my electric heater back in its box, for it to remain there, I hope, till next winter. (It better not get cold again here until this winter of ’10).
It has been really enjoyable. There is a bench outside my door. Around 8 at night with it still being light until around 10, I take my guitar out there and play for a while. Sometimes Grandma comes out and sits next to me and listens to me play. I think she gets bored of listening to me because she will start talking. I think she knows that I can’t spare an ounce of concentration on playing the guitar if I am talking to her. We just sit out there and talk. Its really nice. She tells me about her family, growing up, the village... stuff like that. Sometimes its really interesting, sometimes not so much.
This weekend I didn’t really do much outside in the gorgeous weather. So much to do in so little time. No one ever told me that in Peace Corps you have to do work. And its not like work at home, it can be so much harder because everything is in another language and sometimes cultures clash.
For example, as most of you know, I am trying to build a bathroom at my school. For the grant I am writing I have to go to three different stores so that I can prove that I tried to find the cheapest price. Awesome. I went with my neighbor. He is a pretty funny guy, but more in a laugh-at-him kind of way. He doesn’t mind admitting he is wrong when it comes to concrete ideas such as math problems, but when it comes to ideas, if he is wrong, he will pretend that the right idea was his all along. Sometimes its really funny, but the other day it wasn’t. Its even funnier when I call him out on it. For example:
Me: You know Varton- we should probably just get a price quote on just one meter of piping.
Varton: No, we should go ahead and get 50 meters
Me: Why 50 meters
Varton: So we can write down the price
Me: We can just write down the price for one meter since we don’t know how much we need.
(pause)
Varton: what we should do is just get one meter of piping since we don’t have the exact measurement.
Me: (blank stare)
Awesome... just plain awesome.
Anyway, so far, this grant has been a complete pain in the butt.
Another funny story about Varton. Don’t get me wrong, he is a really nice guy that will do about anything for me so I don’t want to make too much fun of him but... If you have seen “little miss sunshine” you will know the part where the transmission fails and the whole family has to get out and push the car to start it. Ha ha. Well Varton’s car had the same problem, so Varton and I had to push the car before his friend in the driver’s seat popped the clutch. It wasn’t too funny in the village, but when we got into town and we had to push that car down the street, I just kept thinking of that movie and laughing to myself.
In other news, I have three more days of school. I have to go to Yerevan and start planning out lessons to teach the new volunteers when they come. Should be a good time. On my birthday, is their last day of school. I made the mistake of telling one of my teachers that. He responded by saying “oh, im going to remember” with a huge grin on his face. I don’t know how I feel about that. This is the only graduation that I will be able to see here because Armenia is extending high school from just 11 years to 12. So next year, there will be no graduation. Looking forward to it this year though, apparently its a huge deal.
Honestly, not too much else to report. One of my good friends here, Sean, got married on paper three days ago. So congratulations to him and his Armenian wife. When I say, “got married on paper,” here there is a state wedding and a family wedding. The family wedding is in August. His family from the States is going to fly out here. Exciting.
Ok, so this is kind of lame blog, but that’s really all I got. This was a short week since I came back from the south and next week not too much is going to happen. This summer should be pretty interesting though. Eh.
Anyway, Mom and Dad, I miss and love you guys. If next year goes as fast as this past year has gone, ill be back before you get that fence fixed...
Ill be sure to post some pictures on the blog when I get to Yerevan on Wednesday.
Until next time...
It has been really enjoyable. There is a bench outside my door. Around 8 at night with it still being light until around 10, I take my guitar out there and play for a while. Sometimes Grandma comes out and sits next to me and listens to me play. I think she gets bored of listening to me because she will start talking. I think she knows that I can’t spare an ounce of concentration on playing the guitar if I am talking to her. We just sit out there and talk. Its really nice. She tells me about her family, growing up, the village... stuff like that. Sometimes its really interesting, sometimes not so much.
This weekend I didn’t really do much outside in the gorgeous weather. So much to do in so little time. No one ever told me that in Peace Corps you have to do work. And its not like work at home, it can be so much harder because everything is in another language and sometimes cultures clash.
For example, as most of you know, I am trying to build a bathroom at my school. For the grant I am writing I have to go to three different stores so that I can prove that I tried to find the cheapest price. Awesome. I went with my neighbor. He is a pretty funny guy, but more in a laugh-at-him kind of way. He doesn’t mind admitting he is wrong when it comes to concrete ideas such as math problems, but when it comes to ideas, if he is wrong, he will pretend that the right idea was his all along. Sometimes its really funny, but the other day it wasn’t. Its even funnier when I call him out on it. For example:
Me: You know Varton- we should probably just get a price quote on just one meter of piping.
Varton: No, we should go ahead and get 50 meters
Me: Why 50 meters
Varton: So we can write down the price
Me: We can just write down the price for one meter since we don’t know how much we need.
(pause)
Varton: what we should do is just get one meter of piping since we don’t have the exact measurement.
Me: (blank stare)
Awesome... just plain awesome.
Anyway, so far, this grant has been a complete pain in the butt.
Another funny story about Varton. Don’t get me wrong, he is a really nice guy that will do about anything for me so I don’t want to make too much fun of him but... If you have seen “little miss sunshine” you will know the part where the transmission fails and the whole family has to get out and push the car to start it. Ha ha. Well Varton’s car had the same problem, so Varton and I had to push the car before his friend in the driver’s seat popped the clutch. It wasn’t too funny in the village, but when we got into town and we had to push that car down the street, I just kept thinking of that movie and laughing to myself.
In other news, I have three more days of school. I have to go to Yerevan and start planning out lessons to teach the new volunteers when they come. Should be a good time. On my birthday, is their last day of school. I made the mistake of telling one of my teachers that. He responded by saying “oh, im going to remember” with a huge grin on his face. I don’t know how I feel about that. This is the only graduation that I will be able to see here because Armenia is extending high school from just 11 years to 12. So next year, there will be no graduation. Looking forward to it this year though, apparently its a huge deal.
Honestly, not too much else to report. One of my good friends here, Sean, got married on paper three days ago. So congratulations to him and his Armenian wife. When I say, “got married on paper,” here there is a state wedding and a family wedding. The family wedding is in August. His family from the States is going to fly out here. Exciting.
Ok, so this is kind of lame blog, but that’s really all I got. This was a short week since I came back from the south and next week not too much is going to happen. This summer should be pretty interesting though. Eh.
Anyway, Mom and Dad, I miss and love you guys. If next year goes as fast as this past year has gone, ill be back before you get that fence fixed...
Ill be sure to post some pictures on the blog when I get to Yerevan on Wednesday.
Until next time...
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
A different country in a different season...
The end of the school year is approaching and the new group of potential volunteers are saying their goodbyes back home to embark on a journey in which I only have one more year of. Weird. In the respect of being consistent, I will write about my past week’s adventures.
Last Tuesday, I went to Yerevan to get some business done. It was the A-16’s (the group before me) COS (Close of Service) Conference. Potentially that was the last time that whole group was together. Weird. Anyway, after my work at the office, I went to meet some of my A-16 friends and hang out with them. It was pretty fun.
The next morning, I had more meetings. Meetings can be really fun. I met with Susanna my Program Manager for the first time in maybe two months because she had been gone on vacation and because she got caught up in the volcano fiasco. Anyway, I caught up with her for a long time. There was a lot to cover due to her two month absence. It made me reflect on a lot of things. Such as my trip to the Ukraine, and my family moving out, which it has been two months already since they left. Whoa. Afterwards, I met with our PTO (Program and Training Officer) who is helping me with probably everything. Everything from the AIDS initiative to the bathroom that I am trying to build. Really great guy who is really willing to help out. Anyway, both of them are really great and will go way out of their ways to help you out so I am really glad for that.
Anyway, after my meeting with Nick, the PTO, I got in a shared taxi to take the 7 hour taxi ride down south to the city of Kapan. About two hours from the Irani border. There were eight of us for a seven person taxi. Oh my. We can to cram in there for seven hours. Not that comfortable, but at least it was only volunteers and we all knew each other. We had a good time getting down there. Didn’t really feel like seven hours I guess. I passed out a good amount too so that helped.
Kapan was beautiful. Mike and I stayed at Shannon’s house. She was a really good host. We ate grilled cheese for dinner which is a delicacy here. The next day, Sean came over and we went hiking around. We went to an old church and then went to Halidzor Fort which has an incredible view of Kapan. That was hilarious because I was the only one out of Mike and Sean that wore boots. They had mud up their ankles. I have some pictures that I will post later on. After walking back we just hung out and then went to Andrea’s house for dinner. I got to hang out with a lot of volunteers that I usually don’t see so that was fun.
The following day we went up to Sue’s Village (Sue is the older women and we met at the airport the day that I left- she lives in Greensboro in real life). Anyway, we went up there. She has an excellent view as well because she just looks over the gorge and into Kapan as well. I was supposed to do an AIDS presentation there but it fell through. No problem. We walked down from her village and went to a girl scout meeting at Shannon’s NGO. There I talked to some of her co-workers about doing AIDS related presentations and then sat in on the girl scout meeting. We made beads out of magazines. It was fun. I guess when you get older it is harder to relate to younger people. I tried to make conversation with a ten year old. I think I freaked her out. She gave me one word answers and didn’t really seem interested in being my friend. Eh. So, I was going to talk to that group about AIDS as well, but figured that ten year olds wouldn’t really care to listen to me, so instead I talked about hiking. The group was going to go on a hike in two days, so I told them what to bring and what to wear and that kind of thing. At least I did something.
After the girl scout meeting, we went to an outdoor cafe and hung out for a while. That was nice. Kapan is really beautiful. You will get some kind of understanding when I post some pictures, but there are these really nice mountains all over the place. Really pretty. So green too.
The next morning Mike and I went to Goris. I had been there once before with Hector and Pat in December but now that it was green, it was so pretty. This is the city that is in a bowl. You have to go down about 1000 feet to get to the city. It is so nice there. When we got there, we went straight to Findler’s birthday party. That was interesting. From there we went to Brian’s village and stayed there. We worked on some things there and just hung out.
The following day was a lot of fun. We walked from Brian’s village to Sean’s village. Sean’s village is about 500 large and is really pretty. We settled into his place, ate some food and then went on a hike. We walked down the gorge and then half way up the other side. The walk took us about 2 hours to get there. We went to a 10th century monastery there which had been partially destroyed in a landslide. Some of the rooms were underground but it was so beautiful because there was a lot of green growing all over it. We took a lot of pictures and then walked to the waterfall. The water was freezing cold but it felt really good. Then we went and sat on a hill and had a snack. That area was really really nice. We could see Sean’s village across the gorge.
So, we walked back to Sean’s village. As with most gorges there is a river that runs at the base of it. It was really warm out and it was the first time this year that I had broken a sweat. We hung out by the river and I let my feet cool in the water. This parts gets funny. Somehow we convinced Mike that he smelled bad (which he did) and told him that he needed to take a bath in the river. So he got down to his boxers but realized that he would get them wet. So he got completely naked and got into the water. We told him that he had to completely submerge himself. Now remember this is snowmelt so it is really cold. He did it. The funny part was that a rapid came and knocked him over which he was crouched in the water and his naked body was flailing around in the water. The water wasn’t that deep so he wouldn’t be taken away. (we aren’t that stupid). Anyway, he got out. He said it felt really good, so Sean and I did the same thing. I guess its just a man thing, I don’t know. Anyway, the water did feel really good. But it was bitingly cold. So, we walked up the other side of the gorge and stopped at old Halidzor. (the fort’s name in Kapan and Sean’s village in Goris have the same name).
Anyway, old Halidzor is the old village that was inhabited until the 1970’s. The place just looks magical to be honest and its really pretty. No one lives there now but the homes are somewhat destroyed and are built into the hill. Again, I will post some pictures. We looked around for a while and then walked back to Sean’s village. We bought some things at the store and then went back to his house and ate a lot of food while eating on his deck looking over the gorge. It was really nice. He didn’t have enough water for us to take proper showers, so we did the same thing again as we did in the river. We got naked and poured cold water over the other person. Just to clarify, only one person was naked at a time and one person was crouched in the tub holding their junk and the other person was standing, full clothed, outside of the tub pouring the water. The reason it took two people was because who in their right mind would pour frigid water over themselves. Really... The best part was watching the reaction of how cold the water was. The facial expressions and the lack of words was very laughable.
So, afterwards, we just hung out and then the next day we went to Sean’s school and then walked around a bit more. At 3:00 we took the hour bus into Goris again and went to Findler’s house. We had a relaxing night and then the next morning, Nick came and picked us up to drive us back to Yerevan. It is always nice to get a ride from Peace Corps staff for two reasons. First, its comfortable and free. Second, because all the vehicles and white Toyota landcruisers which look like UN cars, so naturally when you are sitting in the backseat, you feel like you are somebody. Its pretty cool. The view driving out of Goris was amazing. Honestly, I would say that Armenia is prettier than Ireland. Although Ireland is green year round and may be pretty for a longer period, Armenia, if you come at the right time, is absolutely breathtaking. Keep that in mind when planning your help vacation.
I got back yesterday night. It was really nice to be home. Grandma greeted me, I talked to her for a bit and then unpacked my things. While I was, she cleaned everything. My bedsheets, towels, even my sleeping bag and all my clothes that were laying around. Amazing. Seriously, could you ask for a better Peace Corps experience than this? The answer is no, no you can’t.
Its getting busy here planning out everything, but it sure is making the time fly by. Anyway, hope things are going well back at home.
Until next time...
Last Tuesday, I went to Yerevan to get some business done. It was the A-16’s (the group before me) COS (Close of Service) Conference. Potentially that was the last time that whole group was together. Weird. Anyway, after my work at the office, I went to meet some of my A-16 friends and hang out with them. It was pretty fun.
The next morning, I had more meetings. Meetings can be really fun. I met with Susanna my Program Manager for the first time in maybe two months because she had been gone on vacation and because she got caught up in the volcano fiasco. Anyway, I caught up with her for a long time. There was a lot to cover due to her two month absence. It made me reflect on a lot of things. Such as my trip to the Ukraine, and my family moving out, which it has been two months already since they left. Whoa. Afterwards, I met with our PTO (Program and Training Officer) who is helping me with probably everything. Everything from the AIDS initiative to the bathroom that I am trying to build. Really great guy who is really willing to help out. Anyway, both of them are really great and will go way out of their ways to help you out so I am really glad for that.
Anyway, after my meeting with Nick, the PTO, I got in a shared taxi to take the 7 hour taxi ride down south to the city of Kapan. About two hours from the Irani border. There were eight of us for a seven person taxi. Oh my. We can to cram in there for seven hours. Not that comfortable, but at least it was only volunteers and we all knew each other. We had a good time getting down there. Didn’t really feel like seven hours I guess. I passed out a good amount too so that helped.
Kapan was beautiful. Mike and I stayed at Shannon’s house. She was a really good host. We ate grilled cheese for dinner which is a delicacy here. The next day, Sean came over and we went hiking around. We went to an old church and then went to Halidzor Fort which has an incredible view of Kapan. That was hilarious because I was the only one out of Mike and Sean that wore boots. They had mud up their ankles. I have some pictures that I will post later on. After walking back we just hung out and then went to Andrea’s house for dinner. I got to hang out with a lot of volunteers that I usually don’t see so that was fun.
The following day we went up to Sue’s Village (Sue is the older women and we met at the airport the day that I left- she lives in Greensboro in real life). Anyway, we went up there. She has an excellent view as well because she just looks over the gorge and into Kapan as well. I was supposed to do an AIDS presentation there but it fell through. No problem. We walked down from her village and went to a girl scout meeting at Shannon’s NGO. There I talked to some of her co-workers about doing AIDS related presentations and then sat in on the girl scout meeting. We made beads out of magazines. It was fun. I guess when you get older it is harder to relate to younger people. I tried to make conversation with a ten year old. I think I freaked her out. She gave me one word answers and didn’t really seem interested in being my friend. Eh. So, I was going to talk to that group about AIDS as well, but figured that ten year olds wouldn’t really care to listen to me, so instead I talked about hiking. The group was going to go on a hike in two days, so I told them what to bring and what to wear and that kind of thing. At least I did something.
After the girl scout meeting, we went to an outdoor cafe and hung out for a while. That was nice. Kapan is really beautiful. You will get some kind of understanding when I post some pictures, but there are these really nice mountains all over the place. Really pretty. So green too.
The next morning Mike and I went to Goris. I had been there once before with Hector and Pat in December but now that it was green, it was so pretty. This is the city that is in a bowl. You have to go down about 1000 feet to get to the city. It is so nice there. When we got there, we went straight to Findler’s birthday party. That was interesting. From there we went to Brian’s village and stayed there. We worked on some things there and just hung out.
The following day was a lot of fun. We walked from Brian’s village to Sean’s village. Sean’s village is about 500 large and is really pretty. We settled into his place, ate some food and then went on a hike. We walked down the gorge and then half way up the other side. The walk took us about 2 hours to get there. We went to a 10th century monastery there which had been partially destroyed in a landslide. Some of the rooms were underground but it was so beautiful because there was a lot of green growing all over it. We took a lot of pictures and then walked to the waterfall. The water was freezing cold but it felt really good. Then we went and sat on a hill and had a snack. That area was really really nice. We could see Sean’s village across the gorge.
So, we walked back to Sean’s village. As with most gorges there is a river that runs at the base of it. It was really warm out and it was the first time this year that I had broken a sweat. We hung out by the river and I let my feet cool in the water. This parts gets funny. Somehow we convinced Mike that he smelled bad (which he did) and told him that he needed to take a bath in the river. So he got down to his boxers but realized that he would get them wet. So he got completely naked and got into the water. We told him that he had to completely submerge himself. Now remember this is snowmelt so it is really cold. He did it. The funny part was that a rapid came and knocked him over which he was crouched in the water and his naked body was flailing around in the water. The water wasn’t that deep so he wouldn’t be taken away. (we aren’t that stupid). Anyway, he got out. He said it felt really good, so Sean and I did the same thing. I guess its just a man thing, I don’t know. Anyway, the water did feel really good. But it was bitingly cold. So, we walked up the other side of the gorge and stopped at old Halidzor. (the fort’s name in Kapan and Sean’s village in Goris have the same name).
Anyway, old Halidzor is the old village that was inhabited until the 1970’s. The place just looks magical to be honest and its really pretty. No one lives there now but the homes are somewhat destroyed and are built into the hill. Again, I will post some pictures. We looked around for a while and then walked back to Sean’s village. We bought some things at the store and then went back to his house and ate a lot of food while eating on his deck looking over the gorge. It was really nice. He didn’t have enough water for us to take proper showers, so we did the same thing again as we did in the river. We got naked and poured cold water over the other person. Just to clarify, only one person was naked at a time and one person was crouched in the tub holding their junk and the other person was standing, full clothed, outside of the tub pouring the water. The reason it took two people was because who in their right mind would pour frigid water over themselves. Really... The best part was watching the reaction of how cold the water was. The facial expressions and the lack of words was very laughable.
So, afterwards, we just hung out and then the next day we went to Sean’s school and then walked around a bit more. At 3:00 we took the hour bus into Goris again and went to Findler’s house. We had a relaxing night and then the next morning, Nick came and picked us up to drive us back to Yerevan. It is always nice to get a ride from Peace Corps staff for two reasons. First, its comfortable and free. Second, because all the vehicles and white Toyota landcruisers which look like UN cars, so naturally when you are sitting in the backseat, you feel like you are somebody. Its pretty cool. The view driving out of Goris was amazing. Honestly, I would say that Armenia is prettier than Ireland. Although Ireland is green year round and may be pretty for a longer period, Armenia, if you come at the right time, is absolutely breathtaking. Keep that in mind when planning your help vacation.
I got back yesterday night. It was really nice to be home. Grandma greeted me, I talked to her for a bit and then unpacked my things. While I was, she cleaned everything. My bedsheets, towels, even my sleeping bag and all my clothes that were laying around. Amazing. Seriously, could you ask for a better Peace Corps experience than this? The answer is no, no you can’t.
Its getting busy here planning out everything, but it sure is making the time fly by. Anyway, hope things are going well back at home.
Until next time...
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Not Italy, Instead Armenia?
This week has gone by pretty quickly. The last post I wrote I didn’t really have that much to write about. Well, this past week, I was sick. A little. On Monday I went to school for the most part ok. Then on Tuesday I got a call at 7am. We had our emergency consolidation meeting. I think one of my first blogs wrote about PC safety and security. Anyway, without going into too much detail, there is an emergency action plan (EAP) that we practice. Basically, each area has a place where the volunteers gather. Anyway, we had that practice on Tuesday. I was sick, tired, but it was a pretty day.
I mean, sometimes I gets scary thinking about this because the Georgian volunteers (which is the country right above Armenia) had that war a couple years ago. Well, Armenia has two closed borders, one with Turkey and one with Azerbaijan. You may know this, but what most people don’t know about is Kharabah, an area that Azerbaijan is trying to take from Armenia. Armenians inhabit this area. Anyway, where I am, is decently close to the closed border. I don’t think I have anything to worry about, but I have some friends that are a stone’s throw away from the border and sometimes its a little scary talking about what we would do, or what our plan of action would be, if Azerbaijan decided to get trigger happy. Let’s not talk about this anymore.
So, I was feeling like poop on Wednesday, so I stayed at home. I left my room twice the whole day and stayed in bed...Sleeping... I woke up Thursday pretty much feeling 100% better. I went to school on Thursday and then Friday. On Friday, Paul walked over to my village and saw my school life here. I had a health class again and out of the 15 or so kids that normally come, two showed up. Apparently there was a gathering because someone from the village was going to Russia and they wanted to say their good-byes. Anyway, it was a little awkward because it was myself, Paul, and my counterpart, and two seventh grade girls. Uh huh. So, we talked about the skeletal system and bones and how to have strong bones. Not too bad of a lesson.
Afterwards, Paul and I came back to my house. He met my spunky grandmother and then we went to the bus stop. We got to the town and met up with Terri and Pat. We talked for a while. As we were leaving, we noticed some foreigners on bikes. One of them approached us because they were looking for a hotel to stay at because a front was coming through. We figured out they were from London. They had some vacation so they decided to take a bike trip from Armenia to Azerbaijan through Georgia because if you remember I said that the border was closed between Armenia and Azerbaijan. So, we said, you will stay with us. So, we walked with them to Vincent’s house and they stayed the night. It was a lot of fun talking to them. Of course we ask every foreigner we see, “why did you come to Armenia”. One guy, said, “we were thinking about going to Italy and riding the coast and tasting the wine and food...” and then another guy jumped in and said “but then we decided that we would never come back to the Caucus Region again when we were older. I got a really good laugh at that because it was the way they said it with their accents. Classy.
We got the football out and went outside to throw the ball around. Well this attracted quite a crowd. So then we started playing with the kids. They got a kick out of that. We then got some food and ate together. We hung out for a long while.
The next day, Hector, Pat and I went to Yerevan because of the North vs. South football game. It didn’t happen because the weather was so bad. So, we just hung out at the office and did some work there. I saw some friends and then came back. Kyle, Hector, and I left on a different bus because we were too late for our bus. It is a little more expensive but the bus leaves later and will take Kyle straight to his village, so it wasn’t that bad.
Now usually, the motto here is “always room for one more.” I have ridden into town on more than one occation hanging half out of the bus doors. If you have ever seen a picture of those Indian trains with people all over the place, that is what I have had to do. I actually prefer it. Also, I must add (because Im sure Dad is reading this with a skeptical eye) that the bus only goes about ten miles an hour (if that) so if I did fall off, I would just start walking and probably still be right next to the bus to get back on. And these are the village to town buses. So its not exactly the same kind of bus that we take from Martuni to Yerevan. Anyway, I was just trying to get a point across. Usually the buses to Yerevan are pretty full too but not to the extent as the village to town buses. Ok, so to my point. When Hector, Kyle, and I were coming back from Yerevan, it was just us. Just the three of us in the whole bus that is usually slammed with people. It was amazing. We just spread out and talked the whole way back.
I got back last night. Grandma went to her village and to get some more potatoes. So I just hung out with my neighbors who are staying at our house. I was really tired so bascially as soon as I got home, I drank a lot of water, brushed my teeth and then passed out.
Plan for today... to do absolutely nothing. It is raining here so it is perfect weather to do nothing. Although I have to get some translations done for my grant so the day won’t be totally wasted... but ill do that this evening.
Mom and Dad, I forgot to tell you yesterday that everyone backed out and probably won’t be able to go to the Balkans with me, so it looks like I am going alone. So, let me go ahead and ask: if anyone would like to go and visit the Balkans (Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece) please email me because its always more fun to go with someone else. I am going at the end of July.
Next Wednesday, I go down south. A nice 6-7 hour journey in one of those crapped buses. Sweet. Ill give you an update when I get back.
Until next time...
I mean, sometimes I gets scary thinking about this because the Georgian volunteers (which is the country right above Armenia) had that war a couple years ago. Well, Armenia has two closed borders, one with Turkey and one with Azerbaijan. You may know this, but what most people don’t know about is Kharabah, an area that Azerbaijan is trying to take from Armenia. Armenians inhabit this area. Anyway, where I am, is decently close to the closed border. I don’t think I have anything to worry about, but I have some friends that are a stone’s throw away from the border and sometimes its a little scary talking about what we would do, or what our plan of action would be, if Azerbaijan decided to get trigger happy. Let’s not talk about this anymore.
So, I was feeling like poop on Wednesday, so I stayed at home. I left my room twice the whole day and stayed in bed...Sleeping... I woke up Thursday pretty much feeling 100% better. I went to school on Thursday and then Friday. On Friday, Paul walked over to my village and saw my school life here. I had a health class again and out of the 15 or so kids that normally come, two showed up. Apparently there was a gathering because someone from the village was going to Russia and they wanted to say their good-byes. Anyway, it was a little awkward because it was myself, Paul, and my counterpart, and two seventh grade girls. Uh huh. So, we talked about the skeletal system and bones and how to have strong bones. Not too bad of a lesson.
Afterwards, Paul and I came back to my house. He met my spunky grandmother and then we went to the bus stop. We got to the town and met up with Terri and Pat. We talked for a while. As we were leaving, we noticed some foreigners on bikes. One of them approached us because they were looking for a hotel to stay at because a front was coming through. We figured out they were from London. They had some vacation so they decided to take a bike trip from Armenia to Azerbaijan through Georgia because if you remember I said that the border was closed between Armenia and Azerbaijan. So, we said, you will stay with us. So, we walked with them to Vincent’s house and they stayed the night. It was a lot of fun talking to them. Of course we ask every foreigner we see, “why did you come to Armenia”. One guy, said, “we were thinking about going to Italy and riding the coast and tasting the wine and food...” and then another guy jumped in and said “but then we decided that we would never come back to the Caucus Region again when we were older. I got a really good laugh at that because it was the way they said it with their accents. Classy.
We got the football out and went outside to throw the ball around. Well this attracted quite a crowd. So then we started playing with the kids. They got a kick out of that. We then got some food and ate together. We hung out for a long while.
The next day, Hector, Pat and I went to Yerevan because of the North vs. South football game. It didn’t happen because the weather was so bad. So, we just hung out at the office and did some work there. I saw some friends and then came back. Kyle, Hector, and I left on a different bus because we were too late for our bus. It is a little more expensive but the bus leaves later and will take Kyle straight to his village, so it wasn’t that bad.
Now usually, the motto here is “always room for one more.” I have ridden into town on more than one occation hanging half out of the bus doors. If you have ever seen a picture of those Indian trains with people all over the place, that is what I have had to do. I actually prefer it. Also, I must add (because Im sure Dad is reading this with a skeptical eye) that the bus only goes about ten miles an hour (if that) so if I did fall off, I would just start walking and probably still be right next to the bus to get back on. And these are the village to town buses. So its not exactly the same kind of bus that we take from Martuni to Yerevan. Anyway, I was just trying to get a point across. Usually the buses to Yerevan are pretty full too but not to the extent as the village to town buses. Ok, so to my point. When Hector, Kyle, and I were coming back from Yerevan, it was just us. Just the three of us in the whole bus that is usually slammed with people. It was amazing. We just spread out and talked the whole way back.
I got back last night. Grandma went to her village and to get some more potatoes. So I just hung out with my neighbors who are staying at our house. I was really tired so bascially as soon as I got home, I drank a lot of water, brushed my teeth and then passed out.
Plan for today... to do absolutely nothing. It is raining here so it is perfect weather to do nothing. Although I have to get some translations done for my grant so the day won’t be totally wasted... but ill do that this evening.
Mom and Dad, I forgot to tell you yesterday that everyone backed out and probably won’t be able to go to the Balkans with me, so it looks like I am going alone. So, let me go ahead and ask: if anyone would like to go and visit the Balkans (Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece) please email me because its always more fun to go with someone else. I am going at the end of July.
Next Wednesday, I go down south. A nice 6-7 hour journey in one of those crapped buses. Sweet. Ill give you an update when I get back.
Until next time...
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