Last weekend, we had a nice beach party. A couple people came up. We walked down to our usual spot at the beach but it was packed full of people. We wanted to a find a place where we wouldn’t be stared at the whole time with people noticing that we don’t really look Armenian, and asking a bunch of questions when we are just trying to get some sun and hang out. After we noticed that the place was going to be full for the rest of the afternoon, we called some taxis to come out and get us to take us to another place. We went down the road a bit and found another beach. When I say beach, I hope you are not thinking the Caribbean, Hawaii, or even the beaches of North Carolina. The beaches are not like that at all. We just hung out there for the afternoon throwing the frisbee and talking. It was actually a really good time. Half because i evened out and now I am an even coat of tan instead of ghost white on my back and “TJ lifeguard tan all summer” brown on the front.
I spent the day at home on Sunday just doing not much of anything other than making sure my lesson plans were good to go for the following week.
I went to Yerevan to meet with my Program Manager, Susanna, and with the Doctors about my presentations. Then around 4, I got with Jon, Elliot, and Sue to Charentsavan where PST is held this year again. Jon and I hung around the PST office for a while and then played volleyball in the street with some kids. It was a lot of fun.
So, this is an aside. A while ago I told my host family in Solak that I wanted to hike from Martuni to Yeghegnatsor. There is a pass through the mountains from one place to the other and its really pretty. It used to be part of the Silk Road and has ruins of old hotels on the side of the road with signs written in old Arabic. So I wanted to walk this road which is about a 10 hour walk. I told my Solak family about this and they said it was impossible. I told them that Jon did it in the middle of winter, by himself, and he did it in 9 hours. Without even thinking about it, they said “Jon can do that, he is a natural walker”. My response was “I will do this in the summer with other people”. They said itw as still a long walk and I wouldn’t be able to do it. Then, they proceeded to list off all the places where Jon has walked. I dropped that topic of conversation.
I wanted to get some credibility. Jon said he was going to walk from Charentsavan to Solak which is about a 3 hour walk. I went with him. We walked on the train tracks the whole way and it was really pretty looking out over the hills where it was so green. I had a really good time walking on the tracks and talking with Jon. If you think of the stereotypical Peace Corps, that’s Jon. Really awesome laid back guy with long hair, a beard, and just that awesome-ness.
We got to the family’s house and they couldn’t believe that I made it that far. They still wouldn’t believe that I could do the pass. Crap. Then the time at the family’s house was really nice too. We talked with Zhora and it was really interesting.
I got up the next morning and rode into Charentsavan with the Trainees living in Solak. Jon and I sat in the front so we didn’t get a real chance to hang out with them. I hung around the office for 4 hours until it was time to do my presentation... on condoms. The Doctors asked us to do the condom presentation. Now, who do you know in America, with our Sex Ed programs that doesn’t know how to use a condom. The Doctors got bananas. Now keep in mind, this was my first interaction with the new volunteers. So here I am with Nick in front of all these people that I have never met, really, before. We tried to make light of the situation and make jokes which maybe eased the situation. I told Nick to get out the instructions that came with the condom package and read it. The best part was knowing that the Country Director and the PDO were in the back of the room laughing at all this. Awesome. Then, we broke everyone into groups and made them do it. Some of them wouldn’t do it, so I barked at them saying “listen, if you think this is uncomfortable, try giving a lesson on how to use one of these in front of 65 people...”
After that, I did some more planning with Ani and then went to Belle Cafe to hang out with some of my friends. Some of the new Trainees came and hung out for a while. It was nice to get to know them in a relaxed setting. During the welcoming, Sean showed them my documentary that I made last year. (The one I sent to a lot of you back at home). That is how they knew me...
Being in Charetsavan has been fun because Peace Corps gives us Apartments to live in. Some of my close friends that I don’t really see much I got to live with. Chris, who lives in the South was up here and we got to hang out for a couple days. Same with Kyle. Even though Kyle’s site is close to mine, I don’t really see him. Also Sue was around to hang out.
Last night Ani, the piano player, came over to hang out with us. That was interesting. She just got back from Germany and bought me a ship in a bottle. It was awesome. It was interesting seeing her interactions with my friends. I don’t really know how to explain it, but having two different groups of friends mix can be dangerous. Somehow I became the focal point of all conversation and Ani was saying a lot of stuff that was embarrassing, in a good way. Like, Bryan would ask how Ani and I met. Ani is not short-winded and would describe every thing to everyone, somethings embarrassing. For example. There was this story between Ani and myself.
Ani thought for the first month that my name was “Benion” so one day I texted her and she texted me back saying “Benion, how are you...”I called her back and asked her what Benion was and she asked “isn’t that your name?” Anyway, after telling this story, everyone started calling me “Benion”. Thank you Ani.
I did a presentation for the health volunteers. I was about two hours long talking about different ways to analyze the needs of the community. Its funny how when you teach something you realize how you can really implement things in your own community. I feel like this PST experience will make my second year even better.
It was fun teaching though. The new volunteers seemed like they were all business but maybe in that setting that is appropriate. I had a good time hanging out with them after the first central day.
So that night, everyone wanted to go to Yerevan on Friday night, so I decided to stay in Charentsavan because I would be the only one there so I could relax a little bit and its a free place to stay. Ani knew that I would be alone so she invited me to her house for dinner, so after the presentation with the new group, I went to the apartment for 2 hours and unwinded a little bit and then I went to Ani’s. That was fun. This was the first time I had been over there since her father passed away and the place seemed different. Although it was sad that her father did pass, her mother seemed to be in good spirits, not happy that her husband passed away but maybe more of a relief on several accounts; that she could relax a little with her work and also relax knowing that her husband was not suffering anymore. It was a calm atmosphere. Ani, again, made some kind of persian dish that was really good. I always eat so much there because that’s all they want me to do. I never actually see Ani because she is always in the kitchen bringing different things in. Her brother and I watched the South Africa/ Mexico game. That was fun and I spoke with Ani’s mother for a while. After dinner, to get me to stay a bit longer, Ani played piano. Holy Crap. I sat next to her just watching her play. She played my favorite song, Chopin’s “Piano Nocturne”. She played it twice. It was so good. SO GOOD. She played some other pieces that she knew and then she played some of Bach’s organ music on the piano. Afterwards she said that we would go to her conservatory, or church where I could hear all of this on the organ. Very excited. Still, Im not exactly sure of her future. She keeps going back and forth not knowing if she is going to go to Germany or not. She just came back from a 10 day trip up to Hamburg and is again going to go up there in a week for something. Interesting.
I came home, watched half of a movie and passed out. I was exhausted from the day’s events.
I woke the next morning, on Saturday and went in to do the AIDS meeting.I got some guest speakers to come. They were the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual etc. group of Armenia. It was very interesting listening to them talk about their organization, how they have struggled since the government won’t help them or really acknowledge them, and how they have used the grassroots method to spread their word. I think that the most interesting part of this was the diplomacy they were promoting.
In case you don’t know about this, Armenia is a landlocked country with the majority of its borders closed with Turkey and Azerbaijan. There is a little strip of land to the south to Iran open, and then the north to Georgia. There are many disputes with Turkey and Azerbaijan. However, this organization is working with similar organizations in Azerbaijan to come together to help become recognized in the Caucus region. So the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, transgender etc. people are coming together, forgetting their problems to come together to fight another problem. However, maybe it is easy to forget historical quarrels between countries when your own country won’t support you...
It was a really interesting meeting and we are going to try and work with them to promote AIDS awareness.
Terri has pneumonia so she has been at the PC health office for a week now. Lame.
Vanessa and I caught the same Marshutni back to site yesterday. The bus leaves from one station and goes to another station to pick up more people. People that have already called in advance to reserve a spot. The bus was already full and I was in the seat by the door. There were two seats left. We got to the other bus stop and there were five people. The motto in Armenia “always room for one more....” They all got on and guess what? I can’t really describe it in words but basically a man ended up sitting on my lap. My thoughts were not really of anger but more confusion as to why there would be a man sitting on my lap. About half an hour into the trip, he shifted and was not sitting on my lap anymore. He didn’t ask or anything, just sat down. Yup.
I had two bags but didn’t want to pay for a taxi so I walked the two or three miles home. I got home just as it was getting pitch dark. I opened the door to the house and no one was home. I was exhausted. I called out for grandma but she wasn’t around so I called her. It turned out she was in Yerevan. I asked her why she didn’t call and she said that she doesn’t know how to use her phone to call me. (I totally believe her because every time she wants to make a call, I have to do it for her. That is partially why I learned how to read Russian). She said that she would be home on Monday, I told her that is when I would be leaving again for Yerevan... Ha. Ill see her next Wednesday.
Anyway, obviously the first thing I did was strip down because I was hot and I was about to take a shower. Fantastically, a neighbor of mine walked to the house because he saw that the lights were on. Fortunately I was wearing my boxers because my window was open and there we were just staring at each other through the open window. After he left, I took a shower in my house for the first time since November (I take my showers in Yerevan because the pressure is better there and the hot water is constant) but the shower here was really good. I made some food for myself and then watched the USA vs. England Soccer game. Can you believe how lucky the US got? Good defense though.
I am doing my laundry, catching up on emails, washing my clothes, and doing a little bit of work before Hector comes over at 4 to watch the 3 games that are on tonight. Looking forward to it.
Next week, I am going to start planning for American Councils. Sweet.
Until next time...
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