I guess its getting to the point now that missing people is starting to become inevitable. Of course I still love it here, but it gets harder and harder to say goodbye to my parents during our weekly conversation on the phone. The people here always ask me if I miss my friends and family back and home and I always say “no” just because, although I do, saying “yes” wouldn’t help anything. They also say that for my parents, its a lot harder for them, than it is for me. (I can see my Dad reading this and rolling his eyes). At the same time, while I do miss my friends and family back home, I still don’t want to go back. I have established my life here. I have a job to do and that makes life here really easy. Time literally flies by. November 2nd. It is already November 2nd. It is hard to believe that. My neighbor next door said, “wow, you only have 21 months left.” Thanksgiving is only three weeks away and I can remember my Thanksgiving last year like it was yesterday. I could give you a minute by minute play back of what I did. I was in South Korea teaching English and after classes finished at 8. Damien and I went to “GartenBier,” The newest bar in the area and we ate “fajitas” and we drank some beer. That was my Thanksgiving last year but I guarentee that I won’t forget it.
Looking out my window, I can see a lot. The plants in the garden have been cut down and I can see to the road. I can also see the stars like I have never seen before, except maybe when I was in New Mexico at Philmont, a Scout Ranch where you backpack around the area... Anyway, tonight we have a full Moon and you can’t help but think about the Moon and what its been through. All the people that have seen the Moon. The same Moon that I see, is the same Moon that you see and in that respect, people are always connected, in a way, to everyone else who stares at the Moon. Its an interestingly simple idea.
Halloween was interesting this year. A lot of other volunteers went up to Berd in the north country to go to a party. I didn’t want to spend the money or the time to get up there because travel here is not like just hoping in a car and going where you want to go. So, instead, I went to Martuni and met some of my friends there. Hector, Pat, Terri, and Ashley from Yerevan came out to meet us. Earlier that day, my friend Vahram called me and said that his parents were in Yerevan for the night so we went to his house to just eat dinner. He cooked us dinner. It was great. We hung out with him and talked for a bit and then we came back home. It was a good night. I’m not a huge Halloween person so I was ok keeping things low key.
This week, nothing new is going to happen, which is nice. Nice and low-key. I have some work I need to keep up with, but other than that, things are good. My Armenian teacher’s husband came back from Russia. He has been away from home for 6 months so they were very happy to have him back. He is really nice and tonight I went over to their house to hang out for a bit. The whole family, including him speaks English rather well so one way or another, we understand each other.
There is this really interesting article that I read by the Washington Post if you are interested in reading it. Its called “Pearls Before Breakfast” written by Gene Weingarten, April 8, 2007. It is about being too busy in life to take notice of one in a lifetime experiences. Just wanted to throw that out there.
I guess that is it for now. Nothing really new to report. It is cold and windy here and my host mom finally decided to turn on the heater and now its warm. My host sister came down from her city to show my grandma her baby that she had in July.
Hope things are going well in the states. You jackasses that haven’t emailed me (you know who you are), write me back...
Until next time...
Monday, November 2, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Staring Contest with an Ambassador
This past week went by pretty quickly. Actually I sometimes catch myself wondering when the last time it was that I wrote a blog. It is getting harder and harder to find time to write a blog. Although it doesn’t take that long to write one, it is still something that I need to sit down and do. For better or worse, time is becoming a hot commodity for me. Actually, I recently watched one of Chris Rock’s stand up acts and he talks about this exact situation. He says that there is a difference between a job and a career.A career, time is always valuable; you never have enough of it. Its 5 o’clock before you know it and you have to stay late and come in early to do what you want to do. However, a job, once you get there, you look at your watch and when you think that two hours has gone by, its only been ten. I remember when I worked at The GAP or when I sold cell phones for Christmas vacation jobs. I remember looking at my watch and seeing that I still had 7 hours and 45 minutes left before I could leave. However now, I start my work, and there is still so much to do, the days are literally flying by. I hope by reading all this, you are understanding that I still love my time here and I try and cherish every minute of it.
So, this is why time has been flying by. Last week was pretty good. I met with my counterpart and we planned our lesson plan out for our class on Friday and again, she didn’t let me teach anything and I just sat there even though half of the class time was supposed to me mine. Its alright, because this upcoming Friday I am going to force my way in there and will stop her. Yup, I have already decided that. This Friday’s curriculum will be about dental hygiene. My toothbrush and floss will be ready.
Saturday was great. I slept in (an extra hour) and then just hung around the house and helped my host mom dig up the yard trying to find something. What exactly, I don’t know, but we were moving massive rocks and stuff out of the way. If you had just come across us digging in the yard, you would think both of us were crazy because the yard looked like pictures of the Moon. That night, I went into Martuni and hung out with my friends there for a while. Then on Sunday, Hector and I went into Yerevan. We got there super early. Probably because the Marshutni driver had to pee or something. We were flying down the road.
As an aside, there is a detour because the lake overflows sometimes near Sevan, another city. Anyway, while we were on this dirt detour road, the kid in front of me starting yarking (throwing up). It was great. I told Hector that it reminded me of the time my family and I were in Africa and we were on this road. I was 5. We were in this van that had seats on the sides and then a bench seat in the very back. So there was an aisle down the center and I was in the center with either parent to the left and right of me. Anyway, we are driving and out of nowhere... projectile vomit. I clearly remember that and now, looking back on it, I must have been one hell of a kid because that stuff got everywhere. So, thanks to that kid that was sitting in front of me, this memory came to mind...
Anyway, we got to Yerevan really early and Hector and I went to our favorite shwarma place (shwarma is a wrap with pork or chicken, sauce, veggies,etc.) Anyway, they are less than a dollar each and it is a cheap way to get full, and that is exactly what we did. We met up with Ashley and we walked around the city. We bought a pumpkin for Ashley to carve and we met up with Michael and others as well as my LCF, Anahit. It was fun walking around with everyone. We went to a cafe and we chatted a while. Then afterwards, we walked around because I wanted this “something.” Now, I can’t tell you what it is because I am going to surprise my parents with this awesome-ness. Yeah, that’s right, you have to wait another 2 years upon my arrival to see what it is. Ha.
Anyway, afterwards, Hector, Ashley, Mike and I went to this Italian Restaurant. It was a bit pricey but it tasted just like Italian food did in Italy. It was really really good so it was worth every dram. (don’t worry, it was like 6 dollars, but to me thats like 50). We went back to Ashley’s house (because she is nice enough to let us crash at her place) and we just hung out.
The next day was awesome. First off, unlike Korea, Armenia observes Day light savings time. That totally threw me off on Sunday and it did the same for Monday. I had other work to do on Monday so I was in Yerevan. First thing in the morning, we went to the Indian Embassy to get our visas. They were more than nice there. The lady knew about Peace Corps Volunteers and knew we lived in the villages. She said it was too early for the visa application process, but after we told her what we did, she said she would make an exception. Also, when we didn’t have passport sized pictures, she called an embassy driver to take us to a place to get it done and then brought us back. It was great. It took a little longer than I hoped but I still got all my work done. Oh, another little funny tidbit. I was the first one to finish my application so I was waiting outside for about 15 minutes. During my little waiting period outside, the Indian Ambassador came outside and it was just him and myself just standing there. He was waiting for the car to come around and pick him up. We literally just stared at each other for 5 min. I mean, what do you say to the Ambassdor of India to Armenia? I just smiled like a moron and half-assed a hello.
Afterwards, work began. I had meetings all that afternoon to meet with the organizations for the HIV/AIDS project that Im doing. It was insane. The taxi drivers didn’t know where anything was. I was late to about every meeting, but everyone understood and still met with me. UMCOR, my first meeting, kept me for an hour and a half. One of the ladies I will be working with had her birthday so I ate cake and drank coffee with them for a while. Talk about super nice. Counterpart International were really helpful too. They gave me some really good contacts, people that when I tried to meet them, didn’t respond to my emails but now, by referral, they do want to meet with me. Great. The Armenian Red Cross were having budget cuts in the area of HIV/AIDS but said they would support in any way they could. And lastly the American Council. The director was a Peace Corps volunteer three years ago and basically said that she would help in any way she could. She also gave me a lot of great insight to people I should contact and different programs and so so much more. It was a great day. I was exhausted and passed out on the marshutni ride home but I was really excited about everything. I was so glad to be home. Im getting to the part now where I don’t like sleeping anywhere else except for in my own bed. Even being in the village. I start to miss it when I am away for too long. The city is starting to drive me crazy. There is so much to do in so little time in Yerevan and it is just so much more busy compared to here that it starts to get to me.
Also, yesterday, all the volunteers in the Martuni area met with the police chief so that he knew us and could better give us support if we needed it. Ill tell you what, Peace Corps does a good job to make you feel safe, even though we are in a country that really doesn’t have much crime anyway. But it was great. Hector asked a lot of questions about snow plows and problems associated with snow. He lives in a village that is kind out out there and from what we have heard, we probably won’t be seeing him until March when it starts snowing. Im sure he will be fine. It was just funny because the Police Chief people were making fun of him saying “good luck out there” and laughing at his questions.
This weekend is Halloween. I was going to go up to Berd, a city in the North but I didn’t realize how far away it was and how expensive it would be for me to head up there. So I will be having my own little party.
I guess that’s about it. It seemed like it was yesterday when I was talking about the soccer game we went to, but now its already almost November. Geez. Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well. I guess being five months in, I can say that I miss you all. Sweet.
Brandon, Happy Birthday this Friday. If you actually read this, let me know. Also, Jeremy, did you return from your backpacking trip? Did a bear eat your food? I hope you have learned by now.
Oh, speaking of camping, a Giardia update. It has now been three weeks and no symptoms.
Until next time...
So, this is why time has been flying by. Last week was pretty good. I met with my counterpart and we planned our lesson plan out for our class on Friday and again, she didn’t let me teach anything and I just sat there even though half of the class time was supposed to me mine. Its alright, because this upcoming Friday I am going to force my way in there and will stop her. Yup, I have already decided that. This Friday’s curriculum will be about dental hygiene. My toothbrush and floss will be ready.
Saturday was great. I slept in (an extra hour) and then just hung around the house and helped my host mom dig up the yard trying to find something. What exactly, I don’t know, but we were moving massive rocks and stuff out of the way. If you had just come across us digging in the yard, you would think both of us were crazy because the yard looked like pictures of the Moon. That night, I went into Martuni and hung out with my friends there for a while. Then on Sunday, Hector and I went into Yerevan. We got there super early. Probably because the Marshutni driver had to pee or something. We were flying down the road.
As an aside, there is a detour because the lake overflows sometimes near Sevan, another city. Anyway, while we were on this dirt detour road, the kid in front of me starting yarking (throwing up). It was great. I told Hector that it reminded me of the time my family and I were in Africa and we were on this road. I was 5. We were in this van that had seats on the sides and then a bench seat in the very back. So there was an aisle down the center and I was in the center with either parent to the left and right of me. Anyway, we are driving and out of nowhere... projectile vomit. I clearly remember that and now, looking back on it, I must have been one hell of a kid because that stuff got everywhere. So, thanks to that kid that was sitting in front of me, this memory came to mind...
Anyway, we got to Yerevan really early and Hector and I went to our favorite shwarma place (shwarma is a wrap with pork or chicken, sauce, veggies,etc.) Anyway, they are less than a dollar each and it is a cheap way to get full, and that is exactly what we did. We met up with Ashley and we walked around the city. We bought a pumpkin for Ashley to carve and we met up with Michael and others as well as my LCF, Anahit. It was fun walking around with everyone. We went to a cafe and we chatted a while. Then afterwards, we walked around because I wanted this “something.” Now, I can’t tell you what it is because I am going to surprise my parents with this awesome-ness. Yeah, that’s right, you have to wait another 2 years upon my arrival to see what it is. Ha.
Anyway, afterwards, Hector, Ashley, Mike and I went to this Italian Restaurant. It was a bit pricey but it tasted just like Italian food did in Italy. It was really really good so it was worth every dram. (don’t worry, it was like 6 dollars, but to me thats like 50). We went back to Ashley’s house (because she is nice enough to let us crash at her place) and we just hung out.
The next day was awesome. First off, unlike Korea, Armenia observes Day light savings time. That totally threw me off on Sunday and it did the same for Monday. I had other work to do on Monday so I was in Yerevan. First thing in the morning, we went to the Indian Embassy to get our visas. They were more than nice there. The lady knew about Peace Corps Volunteers and knew we lived in the villages. She said it was too early for the visa application process, but after we told her what we did, she said she would make an exception. Also, when we didn’t have passport sized pictures, she called an embassy driver to take us to a place to get it done and then brought us back. It was great. It took a little longer than I hoped but I still got all my work done. Oh, another little funny tidbit. I was the first one to finish my application so I was waiting outside for about 15 minutes. During my little waiting period outside, the Indian Ambassador came outside and it was just him and myself just standing there. He was waiting for the car to come around and pick him up. We literally just stared at each other for 5 min. I mean, what do you say to the Ambassdor of India to Armenia? I just smiled like a moron and half-assed a hello.
Afterwards, work began. I had meetings all that afternoon to meet with the organizations for the HIV/AIDS project that Im doing. It was insane. The taxi drivers didn’t know where anything was. I was late to about every meeting, but everyone understood and still met with me. UMCOR, my first meeting, kept me for an hour and a half. One of the ladies I will be working with had her birthday so I ate cake and drank coffee with them for a while. Talk about super nice. Counterpart International were really helpful too. They gave me some really good contacts, people that when I tried to meet them, didn’t respond to my emails but now, by referral, they do want to meet with me. Great. The Armenian Red Cross were having budget cuts in the area of HIV/AIDS but said they would support in any way they could. And lastly the American Council. The director was a Peace Corps volunteer three years ago and basically said that she would help in any way she could. She also gave me a lot of great insight to people I should contact and different programs and so so much more. It was a great day. I was exhausted and passed out on the marshutni ride home but I was really excited about everything. I was so glad to be home. Im getting to the part now where I don’t like sleeping anywhere else except for in my own bed. Even being in the village. I start to miss it when I am away for too long. The city is starting to drive me crazy. There is so much to do in so little time in Yerevan and it is just so much more busy compared to here that it starts to get to me.
Also, yesterday, all the volunteers in the Martuni area met with the police chief so that he knew us and could better give us support if we needed it. Ill tell you what, Peace Corps does a good job to make you feel safe, even though we are in a country that really doesn’t have much crime anyway. But it was great. Hector asked a lot of questions about snow plows and problems associated with snow. He lives in a village that is kind out out there and from what we have heard, we probably won’t be seeing him until March when it starts snowing. Im sure he will be fine. It was just funny because the Police Chief people were making fun of him saying “good luck out there” and laughing at his questions.
This weekend is Halloween. I was going to go up to Berd, a city in the North but I didn’t realize how far away it was and how expensive it would be for me to head up there. So I will be having my own little party.
I guess that’s about it. It seemed like it was yesterday when I was talking about the soccer game we went to, but now its already almost November. Geez. Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well. I guess being five months in, I can say that I miss you all. Sweet.
Brandon, Happy Birthday this Friday. If you actually read this, let me know. Also, Jeremy, did you return from your backpacking trip? Did a bear eat your food? I hope you have learned by now.
Oh, speaking of camping, a Giardia update. It has now been three weeks and no symptoms.
Until next time...
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Timing is everything
First off, I would like to clarify exactly where I am. There seems to be some confusion because I got a couple emails from people who thought I was in Algeria, and Romania. I am in ARMENIA. It is an ex-soviet country just north of Iran, east of Turkey, west of Azerbaijan, and south of Georgia. Now, I know by adding this little aside, that I am inviting all my friends to send me emails that say "I thought you were in Thailand" or "didn't you say you went to Senegal" or "Wait, you left the country..." Yeah, real cute. Anyway... Like I said before, I am in ARMENIA.
This past week was rather uneventful I suppose. Not too much happened. But before I get to that, I will have to give an update on something I was trying... So one of my friends here, Pat (really interesting guy, went to VT), anyway, he doesn’t ever use his water filter and he only got sick once way back in the summer. So I thought, hey, maybe the water is clean. I was over at my language tutor’s house really thirsty and I just asked for a glass of water from the tap. No filter. While I was drinking it, I realized that this was unfiltered water. At first, I said to myself “oh (expletive)” but then I thought that maybe I could turn this into a little experiment. Knowing my past problem with the food poisoning I got, I figured it couldn’t be worse than that, and I got through it so I drank probably half a gallon of water just to make sure that if there were little Giardia bacteria floating around in the tap water, that I would get it. Well, its been two weeks and I feel fine. They say it takes about 2 weeks for the bacteria to take full form, but it has been over two weeks and still no sign. (I say that today, and watch it hit me with full force tomorrow). Im sure Peace Corps is going to read this and really be thrilled that I am trying to get a disease that they strongly try to keep you from getting. But if you think about it, you can’t avoid it. The fruit is washed in tap water, you bath in the tap water, I brush my teeth with the tap water. I mean it has been 2 months in site and I haven’t gotten sick... from the water. So, Dad, I know you’re totally thrilled to be reading this, but I’m fine.
Anyway, Terri and I decided that we wanted to start a health club. Actually it started out as an English club, but Terri thinks that’s a waste of time so we are doing a health club. We (and by we, I mean Terri) made signs and we (and this time, I mean Terri and myself) went around the village and put these posters up. Wednesday came and from a village with around 5000 inhabitants, zero people came. ZERO. I mean you can’t help but laugh at that. So we walked around the culture house. Since Terri was a dancer way back when, she was trying to teach me how to do the “moonwalk,” the signature dance move that Michael Jackson does in “Billie Jean” where he glides backward and it looks like he is floating. It was awesome...until the weightroom guy came in and just stared at me. (I’m getting it down- if I take anything away from the Peace Corps, its going to be learning how to do the moonwalk... Mom, Dad, I’m just kidding)
There is a weightroom in the culture house and if you can conjure up an image of what a Soviet weight room would look like, you would be right. It looked just like that. Anyway, the man that runs the weightroom actually wanted to sit in on our little class. Well, the weightroom man took us to meet the culture house director. At this point, Terri and I were thinking “huh, maybe we should have talked to this guy before we decided to have a class in his building.” Anyway, he was really nice and was really supportive in what we wanted to do. He said that our timing was all wrong. Right now it is still harvesting time so they can’t just leave their work to come to a health class, so we changed the day and time. After this, the director, his friend, the weightroom specialist, Terri and I went to the culture house director’s house and we ate a whole crapload of food. It was really good. It was tolma, one of my favorites. We stayed until about 10 and then I came home. What great fun.
The rest of the week was pretty normal. Nothing really new happened. I had to go back to Yerevan on Saturday to do some errands. That journey is getting long. I just want to get there now instead of wait the two hours. I know the different landmarks though, so when I look out the window, I know pretty much exactly where I am, which if you think about is pretty useless because regardless, you are still on a little bus.
I did some initiative stuff there for the HIV/AIDS thing. So far, I have three organizations that want to meet and a couple more that are willing to help. Its really hard organizing this thing because I am in the village, the organizations are in Yerevan. Day trips are hard to do because the first bus from my village is at 9 and by the time I get to Yerevan, its 12 and the last bus leaves at 6 to come back. So I have a good 6 hours to get stuff done but its hard when you have to walk around the whole city... But you got to do something to keep yourself busy right? Regardless of the problems I may encounter, I still have two years here and Im sure within that time, I will figure all this out. Just in time for me to probably leave. This is what happened when I was in Korea. As soon as I figured out the ropes, met friends, found out how to better do things, I had to leave.
Speaking of Korea, I mention this because my uncle Wan-Young in Korea reads my blog. I miss that place. Don’t know if its because its my birth city or what, but my cousin sent me pictures from there and I miss it. Weird. I guess I miss it there more than America because in the back of my mind I know that I am going to go back to America, whereas Korea, I may visit but then I have to go back home. Its hard, yet interesting having family all over the world. I guess you just have to value the time you have with the people you want to be with...
I guess that’s it for now. This week should glide through pretty easily. I hope (unless Giardia strikes).
Until next time...
Shannon, if you’re reading this, have you had your baby yet?
This past week was rather uneventful I suppose. Not too much happened. But before I get to that, I will have to give an update on something I was trying... So one of my friends here, Pat (really interesting guy, went to VT), anyway, he doesn’t ever use his water filter and he only got sick once way back in the summer. So I thought, hey, maybe the water is clean. I was over at my language tutor’s house really thirsty and I just asked for a glass of water from the tap. No filter. While I was drinking it, I realized that this was unfiltered water. At first, I said to myself “oh (expletive)” but then I thought that maybe I could turn this into a little experiment. Knowing my past problem with the food poisoning I got, I figured it couldn’t be worse than that, and I got through it so I drank probably half a gallon of water just to make sure that if there were little Giardia bacteria floating around in the tap water, that I would get it. Well, its been two weeks and I feel fine. They say it takes about 2 weeks for the bacteria to take full form, but it has been over two weeks and still no sign. (I say that today, and watch it hit me with full force tomorrow). Im sure Peace Corps is going to read this and really be thrilled that I am trying to get a disease that they strongly try to keep you from getting. But if you think about it, you can’t avoid it. The fruit is washed in tap water, you bath in the tap water, I brush my teeth with the tap water. I mean it has been 2 months in site and I haven’t gotten sick... from the water. So, Dad, I know you’re totally thrilled to be reading this, but I’m fine.
Anyway, Terri and I decided that we wanted to start a health club. Actually it started out as an English club, but Terri thinks that’s a waste of time so we are doing a health club. We (and by we, I mean Terri) made signs and we (and this time, I mean Terri and myself) went around the village and put these posters up. Wednesday came and from a village with around 5000 inhabitants, zero people came. ZERO. I mean you can’t help but laugh at that. So we walked around the culture house. Since Terri was a dancer way back when, she was trying to teach me how to do the “moonwalk,” the signature dance move that Michael Jackson does in “Billie Jean” where he glides backward and it looks like he is floating. It was awesome...until the weightroom guy came in and just stared at me. (I’m getting it down- if I take anything away from the Peace Corps, its going to be learning how to do the moonwalk... Mom, Dad, I’m just kidding)
There is a weightroom in the culture house and if you can conjure up an image of what a Soviet weight room would look like, you would be right. It looked just like that. Anyway, the man that runs the weightroom actually wanted to sit in on our little class. Well, the weightroom man took us to meet the culture house director. At this point, Terri and I were thinking “huh, maybe we should have talked to this guy before we decided to have a class in his building.” Anyway, he was really nice and was really supportive in what we wanted to do. He said that our timing was all wrong. Right now it is still harvesting time so they can’t just leave their work to come to a health class, so we changed the day and time. After this, the director, his friend, the weightroom specialist, Terri and I went to the culture house director’s house and we ate a whole crapload of food. It was really good. It was tolma, one of my favorites. We stayed until about 10 and then I came home. What great fun.
The rest of the week was pretty normal. Nothing really new happened. I had to go back to Yerevan on Saturday to do some errands. That journey is getting long. I just want to get there now instead of wait the two hours. I know the different landmarks though, so when I look out the window, I know pretty much exactly where I am, which if you think about is pretty useless because regardless, you are still on a little bus.
I did some initiative stuff there for the HIV/AIDS thing. So far, I have three organizations that want to meet and a couple more that are willing to help. Its really hard organizing this thing because I am in the village, the organizations are in Yerevan. Day trips are hard to do because the first bus from my village is at 9 and by the time I get to Yerevan, its 12 and the last bus leaves at 6 to come back. So I have a good 6 hours to get stuff done but its hard when you have to walk around the whole city... But you got to do something to keep yourself busy right? Regardless of the problems I may encounter, I still have two years here and Im sure within that time, I will figure all this out. Just in time for me to probably leave. This is what happened when I was in Korea. As soon as I figured out the ropes, met friends, found out how to better do things, I had to leave.
Speaking of Korea, I mention this because my uncle Wan-Young in Korea reads my blog. I miss that place. Don’t know if its because its my birth city or what, but my cousin sent me pictures from there and I miss it. Weird. I guess I miss it there more than America because in the back of my mind I know that I am going to go back to America, whereas Korea, I may visit but then I have to go back home. Its hard, yet interesting having family all over the world. I guess you just have to value the time you have with the people you want to be with...
I guess that’s it for now. This week should glide through pretty easily. I hope (unless Giardia strikes).
Until next time...
Shannon, if you’re reading this, have you had your baby yet?
Monday, October 12, 2009
Spain vs. Armenia
This past weekend was pretty good. Thursday Hector had a birthday party at his house. It was nice to get together with all the other people in the area. Well, Pat and I got to Hector’s house around 3 and already when we got there, food had already been prepared. We basically went straight to eating. Now, if you have been good, and have been keeping up with my blogs (not Will, Brandon, TJ- oh wait, basically most of my best friends) you may remember that Hector’s mom is like the Food Nazi but in the way that she forces food on you. Well, that night, Hector’s family made my two favorite foods, khorovats (Armenian bbq) and Tolma (cabbage or grape leaf wrapped meat/rice and spices- really good). So, basically, I ate from 3, when I got there, till 9, the time when I honestly felt like i was going to pop. I have never been so full in my life. After the food, we had coffee and paklava (not baklava, but paklava- basically the same thing). Probably the most delicious pastry I have ever had, even though things don’t taste nearly as good as when you are starving. I was just the opposite, super full and it still tasted amazing. No. I didn’t eat one, or two, I ate 3 pieces of this paklava and a slice of cake that tasted like s’mores and a piece of Hector’s birthday cake. Yes, as you are, I too was wondering where the space was forming for me to stuff all this desert even after I was already about to burst. Needless to say, I slept like a champ that night. I just couldn’t move off the couch for two hours. Awesome.
The following day, I didn’t go to school, but went into Yerevan to get some work done at the Peace Corps office. I had a lot of high hopes to collaborate with the various organizations and all but two said they weren’t interested. This was great news. Both of those organizations had good reason too. The British Embassy asked, “well, how would you like us to help” and I told them that any information they had would be great... They didn’t have any information but they said if there was another way they could help, they would, even with other projects. The other organization... well lets just say, I don’t really know why I called them. That organization was about pregnant women. Actually, we (myself and the person I was speaking with) got a good laugh out of that).
However, there was one conversation that was pretty funny. At least to me and really awkward. Apparently I had called the same organization twice, which was impossible because they said I called an hour ago but I was just calling down a list. Anyway, just trust me when I say it was impossible but it went like this:
Me: Hello, Im Daniel calling for Peace Corps... blah blah blah
Lady: Yes, you already called
Me: When?
Lady: an hour ago
Me; Are you sure you spoke to me?
Lady: yes
Me: who did you talk to
Lady: what is your name
Me: Danny
Lady: yes, Danny called
Me: Danny who? From Peace Corps? I don’t think I called before
Lady: Yes, you did
Me: I don’t think I did, are you sure it was Danny and not someone else
Lady: Danny called
Me: (totally confused with Vanessa laughing in the background) Uh, Im really sorry then.
Lady: just send an email
Me: ok, thank you bye
So I think there was some major miscommunication because he English wasn’t that great, and neither is my Armenian. You can see how this can be a problem. The actually conversation was a lot funnier now that I look back on it, but I was so terribly confused...
Anyway, that went well. I got a good amount of work done and a lot of organizations are interested in working with Peace Corps. Now I just have to meet with them and get stuff solidified.
So, then Saturday. I went to the market, and met up with Ashley who is here on a Fullbright and we ate lunch together with Michael. Then Michael and I walked around together. I met with Ani that night and we walked around the city and then... SPAIN VS. ARMENIA.
This was awesome. So the “Martuni 6” (that is what we and other people call us because there are 6 guys in the Martuni area). Well, Vincent didn’t want to come so it would have to be the Martuni 5. Hector got tickets way in advance. There are 3000,4000, and 5000 dram tickets. 5000 dram is about 15 bucks. It was awesome. We were basically on the field. we were between the corner and the center of the field and there was no one between us and field. Now, let me explain about security. For a country that is so nice and a country were there are no guns, there was a whole crapload of security.
So while we were walking to the stadium, it began to rain, and I was hungry, so I stopped at a little stand and bought a shwarma (its kind of like a gyro). Really good because it was fresh. I saw the guy put the raw meet onto the skewer and cook it. So, I walked alone to the stadium in the rain. When I got close, there were so many people there and i was like “crap, what a line”. Actually, it was people just standing outside. They just didn’t have tickets. It was weird because the stadium was not even close to being sold out. Anyway, I just walked myself up to where the police were forming a barricade and the police man said “ticket” and I showed him my ticket. Now, this is just a barricade. It didn’t have anything to do with the real ticket place where they rip your ticket but there was just a string of police forming a barrier. Crazy. Then i walked about 50 feet and I was met by another barricade where I had to show my ticket again. This is where they ripped it and I went through a huge gate. Then on the other side of the gate, there were more police EVERYWHERE. I met up with Kyle and we walked to our seats. You know those tunnels that lead you into the stadium, there were huge iron gates in the tunnel where there would be 5 or 6 police people there and they wouldn’t let you in unless you had the correct seat for that area. It was crazy. The police were really nice though and when I got lost trying to figure out the stadium, they helped me out and one guy walked with me.
The game itself was really cool. I had never been to a professional soccer game before and it was so nice being so close to the game. You could almost smell the grossness of the players. Actually you couldn’t at all. But anyway, the game was 2-1 Spain. Spain won on a PK. It was a pretty good game. After that, we left and walked back to the center of the city.
Sunday was the 2791 birthday of Yerevan so the center of the city was completely closed down. So no taxis, no buses, no nothing really. It was cool though because the whole place was really decorated. I would like to come back in 8 years and be here for the 2800 birthday. That is really old. I spent a lot of time at the office, but sitting on the couch. I really like the couch there. I take a lot of naps there when I am waiting for people to finish with their computer work.
All in all a really good weekend. This week with be nice and relaxing. Nothing I have to do this upcoming weekend so that is nice. Should be pretty nice.
Anyway, hope all is going well in the states. Just wanted to say in general because some people have expressed interest in sending me stuff. There is a flat rate box if the contents are going to be heavy. 52 dollars for 20 pounds shipped anywhere in the world by USPS. Definitely put insurance on it because I still have not received a letter I should have gotten a long while back. Also, NO chick-fil-a sandwiches please. It takes a month for packages to get here and meat will not hold for that long.
Oh, and someone tell Brandon to email me back. Preferably TJ since you are the closest. On that note, Im going to need someone who knows him to call him and tell him to tell Brandon to write me back.
Ok, until next time...
The following day, I didn’t go to school, but went into Yerevan to get some work done at the Peace Corps office. I had a lot of high hopes to collaborate with the various organizations and all but two said they weren’t interested. This was great news. Both of those organizations had good reason too. The British Embassy asked, “well, how would you like us to help” and I told them that any information they had would be great... They didn’t have any information but they said if there was another way they could help, they would, even with other projects. The other organization... well lets just say, I don’t really know why I called them. That organization was about pregnant women. Actually, we (myself and the person I was speaking with) got a good laugh out of that).
However, there was one conversation that was pretty funny. At least to me and really awkward. Apparently I had called the same organization twice, which was impossible because they said I called an hour ago but I was just calling down a list. Anyway, just trust me when I say it was impossible but it went like this:
Me: Hello, Im Daniel calling for Peace Corps... blah blah blah
Lady: Yes, you already called
Me: When?
Lady: an hour ago
Me; Are you sure you spoke to me?
Lady: yes
Me: who did you talk to
Lady: what is your name
Me: Danny
Lady: yes, Danny called
Me: Danny who? From Peace Corps? I don’t think I called before
Lady: Yes, you did
Me: I don’t think I did, are you sure it was Danny and not someone else
Lady: Danny called
Me: (totally confused with Vanessa laughing in the background) Uh, Im really sorry then.
Lady: just send an email
Me: ok, thank you bye
So I think there was some major miscommunication because he English wasn’t that great, and neither is my Armenian. You can see how this can be a problem. The actually conversation was a lot funnier now that I look back on it, but I was so terribly confused...
Anyway, that went well. I got a good amount of work done and a lot of organizations are interested in working with Peace Corps. Now I just have to meet with them and get stuff solidified.
So, then Saturday. I went to the market, and met up with Ashley who is here on a Fullbright and we ate lunch together with Michael. Then Michael and I walked around together. I met with Ani that night and we walked around the city and then... SPAIN VS. ARMENIA.
This was awesome. So the “Martuni 6” (that is what we and other people call us because there are 6 guys in the Martuni area). Well, Vincent didn’t want to come so it would have to be the Martuni 5. Hector got tickets way in advance. There are 3000,4000, and 5000 dram tickets. 5000 dram is about 15 bucks. It was awesome. We were basically on the field. we were between the corner and the center of the field and there was no one between us and field. Now, let me explain about security. For a country that is so nice and a country were there are no guns, there was a whole crapload of security.
So while we were walking to the stadium, it began to rain, and I was hungry, so I stopped at a little stand and bought a shwarma (its kind of like a gyro). Really good because it was fresh. I saw the guy put the raw meet onto the skewer and cook it. So, I walked alone to the stadium in the rain. When I got close, there were so many people there and i was like “crap, what a line”. Actually, it was people just standing outside. They just didn’t have tickets. It was weird because the stadium was not even close to being sold out. Anyway, I just walked myself up to where the police were forming a barricade and the police man said “ticket” and I showed him my ticket. Now, this is just a barricade. It didn’t have anything to do with the real ticket place where they rip your ticket but there was just a string of police forming a barrier. Crazy. Then i walked about 50 feet and I was met by another barricade where I had to show my ticket again. This is where they ripped it and I went through a huge gate. Then on the other side of the gate, there were more police EVERYWHERE. I met up with Kyle and we walked to our seats. You know those tunnels that lead you into the stadium, there were huge iron gates in the tunnel where there would be 5 or 6 police people there and they wouldn’t let you in unless you had the correct seat for that area. It was crazy. The police were really nice though and when I got lost trying to figure out the stadium, they helped me out and one guy walked with me.
The game itself was really cool. I had never been to a professional soccer game before and it was so nice being so close to the game. You could almost smell the grossness of the players. Actually you couldn’t at all. But anyway, the game was 2-1 Spain. Spain won on a PK. It was a pretty good game. After that, we left and walked back to the center of the city.
Sunday was the 2791 birthday of Yerevan so the center of the city was completely closed down. So no taxis, no buses, no nothing really. It was cool though because the whole place was really decorated. I would like to come back in 8 years and be here for the 2800 birthday. That is really old. I spent a lot of time at the office, but sitting on the couch. I really like the couch there. I take a lot of naps there when I am waiting for people to finish with their computer work.
All in all a really good weekend. This week with be nice and relaxing. Nothing I have to do this upcoming weekend so that is nice. Should be pretty nice.
Anyway, hope all is going well in the states. Just wanted to say in general because some people have expressed interest in sending me stuff. There is a flat rate box if the contents are going to be heavy. 52 dollars for 20 pounds shipped anywhere in the world by USPS. Definitely put insurance on it because I still have not received a letter I should have gotten a long while back. Also, NO chick-fil-a sandwiches please. It takes a month for packages to get here and meat will not hold for that long.
Oh, and someone tell Brandon to email me back. Preferably TJ since you are the closest. On that note, Im going to need someone who knows him to call him and tell him to tell Brandon to write me back.
Ok, until next time...
Sunday, October 4, 2009
The world has turned and left me here
I don’t know if the title is a bit of a pejorative, but if it is, I certainly don’t mean for it to be one. Its actually lyrics from a Weezer song. Um, actually its a title of a Weezer song. One of the many choice songs TJ, Will, and I played countless times in Will's basement in high school. Anyway...
Life in the village. This past Tuesday my Program Manager, Susanna, came to my village and saw my life here. I met her at the school and she spoke to my school director and to my counterpart and some of the other teachers. I then took her to the Polyclinic and had coffee with the nurses. Afterwards, we came back to my house and we did some more talking. She saw my room and the house and gave me my heaters. Peace Corps gave me two heaters. One is a radiator and the other is a heat fan thing. That heat fan is awesome. Especially since my room is so small. It heats the whole thing up in about 8 minutes. Yes, 8 minutes, I timed it. I wanted to see how long I had to suffer before my room was warm. Anyway, Susanna said it seemed like things were going well and I was adapting well. She had other nice things to say which boosted my confidence. We had some lunch and then she left. We did talk about the HIV/AIDS initiative. I have been talking to people from my village and elsewhere about this and I feel like this is something I can become really passionate about. I have some meetings with some organizations on Friday and Im excited to see how they turn out. More to come in the next posting...
While we are on the same subject, I told my host mom what I was doing and from time to time she asks me about my work and exactly what else I do other than my work at the school and the polyclinic. I told her about the initiative and she was very curious about it. She didn’t really know anything about it so I explained it to her and how the disease gets here and how it works. She asked a lot of questions and I felt like she was being really supportive in what I was doing.
Fortunately now, the weather has become much nicer. Its warm outside. The problem with that... In the villages we have what are called “gardens”. Yes, they are not the nice gardens people have in their backyards in the States but in fact, basically a farm. Well, in my particular area, potatoes the way to go, and really, the only way to live. Potatoes don’t pick themselves and there are no John Deere tractors to make life easier, everyday, we (my mom, brother, myself, and my grandmother-who is here visiting from Belarus) go out and we dig up potatoes. Apparently we did a good job on Saturday because she said we did 4 days work in one day. I felt pretty good about that. I was so sore but felt good being outside working, exercising and helping my host mom. Here’s the best part. Here is this seventy/eighty year old grandmother carrying out 50 pound sacs of potatoes. Now, I played lacrosse for several years and over that course of time, I accrued some muscle on my forearms, but honestly, if you look at her forearms, you would think that she was pop-eye (the sailor man- after he ate the spinach). She is strong... to say the least. Also probably the sweetest lady you will meet. If I have been gone for a while, she will come up to me, grab my face with her treetrunk forearms, and pull me down (because I have no choice) and kiss my cheeks. Ill tell you what, its one of the greatest feelings in the world (not being pulled down, but feeling like you apart of their family). Potatoes are awesome...
I have also become better friends with my other neighbor who is also a school teacher at my school. Basically his whole family is in the medical area. His daughter is a nurse, his brothers are all doctors and he is a teacher. His brother works at the local hospital as a surgeon and he told me that I could go and watch him do surgeries and whatever else I wanted. I was very excited about this. Anyway, the point I was trying to make was, he told me to come over whenever I want (cultural lesson #467- when an Armenian says to come over whenever you, he actually means it. Even if you come over everyday, thats ok- not like in America where you say that but know that person won’t actually come over all the time). This man came over a lot when i was at home by myself and he kept telling me that I would never be lonely because if I ever felt lonely, I should just come over to his house. Its a good feeling when you know you have been, or are starting to, become accepted.
I don’t really know what else to talk about. This week is just going to be more potato picking, regular work, and language lessons. My Aunt gets mad at me (in a kidding way) all the time because she doesn’t understand why I can’t understand her, even when I have told her everytime I see her that if she stopped using so much village slang then maybe I would have a chance. Even to that, she responds in even more slang and still wonders why I can’t understand her. My host mom here has gotten really good about being patient and listening to me and helping me with my language. She tells other people to stop interrupting me when I am speaking so that I can finish what Im saying. People will keep trying to guess what Im saying even when I am in mid-sentence. So, thats good.
Brandon, Matt, Will. I would just like to say that its good that I didn’t hold my breath for those emails you were going to send me because I would have been dead about 2 or 3 weeks ago. I really like it when you guys send me several emails explaining that you’re going to email me later. Well done fellas, well done.
Alright, I think that about wraps it up. My Mom is back from Korea so the family is back to being on just two continents instead of three. She had a good time.
To Terrie’s friends. Terrie is doing well and we are starting an English and Health Club in the Culture house sometime in the next two weeks. She said to say Hi. (Actually that is a complete lie, but I feel that she would want to say Hi, so that is why I said it- I will ask her tomorrow, and if she doesn’t want to continue to say hi, I will add a correction in the next blog.
Until next time...
Life in the village. This past Tuesday my Program Manager, Susanna, came to my village and saw my life here. I met her at the school and she spoke to my school director and to my counterpart and some of the other teachers. I then took her to the Polyclinic and had coffee with the nurses. Afterwards, we came back to my house and we did some more talking. She saw my room and the house and gave me my heaters. Peace Corps gave me two heaters. One is a radiator and the other is a heat fan thing. That heat fan is awesome. Especially since my room is so small. It heats the whole thing up in about 8 minutes. Yes, 8 minutes, I timed it. I wanted to see how long I had to suffer before my room was warm. Anyway, Susanna said it seemed like things were going well and I was adapting well. She had other nice things to say which boosted my confidence. We had some lunch and then she left. We did talk about the HIV/AIDS initiative. I have been talking to people from my village and elsewhere about this and I feel like this is something I can become really passionate about. I have some meetings with some organizations on Friday and Im excited to see how they turn out. More to come in the next posting...
While we are on the same subject, I told my host mom what I was doing and from time to time she asks me about my work and exactly what else I do other than my work at the school and the polyclinic. I told her about the initiative and she was very curious about it. She didn’t really know anything about it so I explained it to her and how the disease gets here and how it works. She asked a lot of questions and I felt like she was being really supportive in what I was doing.
Fortunately now, the weather has become much nicer. Its warm outside. The problem with that... In the villages we have what are called “gardens”. Yes, they are not the nice gardens people have in their backyards in the States but in fact, basically a farm. Well, in my particular area, potatoes the way to go, and really, the only way to live. Potatoes don’t pick themselves and there are no John Deere tractors to make life easier, everyday, we (my mom, brother, myself, and my grandmother-who is here visiting from Belarus) go out and we dig up potatoes. Apparently we did a good job on Saturday because she said we did 4 days work in one day. I felt pretty good about that. I was so sore but felt good being outside working, exercising and helping my host mom. Here’s the best part. Here is this seventy/eighty year old grandmother carrying out 50 pound sacs of potatoes. Now, I played lacrosse for several years and over that course of time, I accrued some muscle on my forearms, but honestly, if you look at her forearms, you would think that she was pop-eye (the sailor man- after he ate the spinach). She is strong... to say the least. Also probably the sweetest lady you will meet. If I have been gone for a while, she will come up to me, grab my face with her treetrunk forearms, and pull me down (because I have no choice) and kiss my cheeks. Ill tell you what, its one of the greatest feelings in the world (not being pulled down, but feeling like you apart of their family). Potatoes are awesome...
I have also become better friends with my other neighbor who is also a school teacher at my school. Basically his whole family is in the medical area. His daughter is a nurse, his brothers are all doctors and he is a teacher. His brother works at the local hospital as a surgeon and he told me that I could go and watch him do surgeries and whatever else I wanted. I was very excited about this. Anyway, the point I was trying to make was, he told me to come over whenever I want (cultural lesson #467- when an Armenian says to come over whenever you, he actually means it. Even if you come over everyday, thats ok- not like in America where you say that but know that person won’t actually come over all the time). This man came over a lot when i was at home by myself and he kept telling me that I would never be lonely because if I ever felt lonely, I should just come over to his house. Its a good feeling when you know you have been, or are starting to, become accepted.
I don’t really know what else to talk about. This week is just going to be more potato picking, regular work, and language lessons. My Aunt gets mad at me (in a kidding way) all the time because she doesn’t understand why I can’t understand her, even when I have told her everytime I see her that if she stopped using so much village slang then maybe I would have a chance. Even to that, she responds in even more slang and still wonders why I can’t understand her. My host mom here has gotten really good about being patient and listening to me and helping me with my language. She tells other people to stop interrupting me when I am speaking so that I can finish what Im saying. People will keep trying to guess what Im saying even when I am in mid-sentence. So, thats good.
Brandon, Matt, Will. I would just like to say that its good that I didn’t hold my breath for those emails you were going to send me because I would have been dead about 2 or 3 weeks ago. I really like it when you guys send me several emails explaining that you’re going to email me later. Well done fellas, well done.
Alright, I think that about wraps it up. My Mom is back from Korea so the family is back to being on just two continents instead of three. She had a good time.
To Terrie’s friends. Terrie is doing well and we are starting an English and Health Club in the Culture house sometime in the next two weeks. She said to say Hi. (Actually that is a complete lie, but I feel that she would want to say Hi, so that is why I said it- I will ask her tomorrow, and if she doesn’t want to continue to say hi, I will add a correction in the next blog.
Until next time...
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
All roads lead to Yerevan
I guess nothing new really happened during this week. I am completely over whatever I had. I am leaning toward food poisoning since I didn’t have any other symptoms than those related to food poisoning. For some reason I was hoping to have Giardia just to see what it was like. Weird huh?
Anyway, this weekend was really nice. After school on Friday I waited for Hector to walk to my village so that we could take the bus into Martuni and then to Yerevan since this past weekend was supposed to be initiatives. The bus is usually late. It takes Hector about an hour to walk from his village to mine. Well, Hector was really happy because he made it into my village for what we thought would be enough time. However, this particular day, the bus decided to be ten minutes early. I didn’t get on the bus without Hector, so I waited for him. He was five minutes late, and about ten minutes early from when the bus should have arrived. Oh well. We decided that we would just walk. Like I said before it is really cold in my village. I can see my breathe now when I breath and in the mornings there is a blanket of frost on the garden plants. That particular afternoon it was not that cold. In fact I was walking in just a t-shirt and long pants. So we got to Martuni and instead of walking all the way, Kyle persuaded the driver to just stop on the way and pick us up. Off we went...
It was a really nice drive to Yerevan. The marshutni was not overly packed and there was plenty of room to spread out. The whole backseat was just us three guys. We talked the whole way in. We got to Yerevan and walked to the Peace Corps office. There were some other people there and it was really nice to see them. It had only been a month and a half but there were so many stories to be told and new experiences to be shared. It was great. Some of the people, like Hector and Kyle, decided that they would go to their training village and see their old families. I decided to stay in Yerevan and all the volunteers from Solak stayed in one room together at the hostel. I was really surprised. The hostel was really clean, with a real shower, wireless internet, a TV with English channels, and it was well priced. It would be cheap for a tourist, moderately priced for a volunteer. I walked around with Sean and he showed me some things in the city and then we met up with one of his friends and we just talked. It was a good night. David was really loud that night so we didn’t get to bed until about 3am.
The next morning I woke up around 8, took a SHOWER and Mike and I headed to the Peace Corps office since we had our initiatives first. It is the HIV/AIDS initiative. It was a small group of people but it was all people I would like to work with and the group was small so i figured it would be efficient. I took on the task of talking to other organizations in Yerevan such as USAID or the embassies about collaborating on some ideas to spread the word of HIV/AIDS. I am really excited about this because I think this will be a good chance for me to practice relations skills. I am hoping that this will not be too hard of a task and from my understanding, other organizations are willing to support another on a similar cause.
Afterwards, I met with some of my friends for lunch near the opera. It was good, but a little pricey. I met one of my Armenian friends and we walked around the city and saw some of the sights. It was very nice. Afterwards, I met up with other volunteers and ate a pretty delicious dinner. At 8 we were going to meet with our LCFs, Anahit and Irina. It was so nice to see them. They asked us about how life was going in our villages and what we were doing. It really was a nice time. The group from Solak ate dinner with them at a Mexican restaurant. That was my second dinner but I decided that I would load up on non-potato-based-food while I had the opportunity, even if I was about to explode. No sense in wasting an opportunity. All in all, I probably gained 5 pounds that weekend. I met a Fullbright scholar who went to Mike’s University and since she had only been here for 3 weeks we walked around the city. We went to the fountains and saw the fountain show which was interesting.
Afterwards, Mike, Ashley and I walked around some more and then decided to call it a night. I had been walking around a lot so I was really tired.
Sunday came and I met with some of my other friends and a little church get together. It was nice. We met at a doughnut shop. The apple fritter I got was not as good as everyone said. I think my expectations were too high. Anyway, afterwards I went back to the office and said my goodbyes and off we went. This weekend was nice because we figured out how to do things without spending so much money. For example, we learned just to take the city bus to the bus station for 100 dram instead of getting a taxi and paying 1000 dram. Although the route is a bit more scenic, every little bit helps. Its nice figuring out how the native people live and emulating what they do. They certainly know how to live here much better than we do... After the two hour bus ride home, it was back to reality. Good thing that I really like my village. I met my host mom working outside. Her mom was flying into Yerevan that night, so at midnight, my brother and mother went in a neighbor’s car and they were to Yerevan to pick up her mother from a 5am flight. Im not exactly sure why they left so early, but they were back at 8am, when I woke up. Her mother is from Belarus. Interesting. I don’t have a clue how long she will be here but she is taking some of the other work off my host mom so I am appreciative of that. She is just way too overworked. (my host mom).
I guess that’s it for now. Things are starting to pick up now. The time is going by. I no longer have my lessons with a group trying to learn English, instead I have language class for an hour and a half every night but still with the same lady. For better or worse, I have homework now but I suspect it will expedite my language learning.
Ah its cold.
Shannon, when are you going to have your baby?
Until next time...
Anyway, this weekend was really nice. After school on Friday I waited for Hector to walk to my village so that we could take the bus into Martuni and then to Yerevan since this past weekend was supposed to be initiatives. The bus is usually late. It takes Hector about an hour to walk from his village to mine. Well, Hector was really happy because he made it into my village for what we thought would be enough time. However, this particular day, the bus decided to be ten minutes early. I didn’t get on the bus without Hector, so I waited for him. He was five minutes late, and about ten minutes early from when the bus should have arrived. Oh well. We decided that we would just walk. Like I said before it is really cold in my village. I can see my breathe now when I breath and in the mornings there is a blanket of frost on the garden plants. That particular afternoon it was not that cold. In fact I was walking in just a t-shirt and long pants. So we got to Martuni and instead of walking all the way, Kyle persuaded the driver to just stop on the way and pick us up. Off we went...
It was a really nice drive to Yerevan. The marshutni was not overly packed and there was plenty of room to spread out. The whole backseat was just us three guys. We talked the whole way in. We got to Yerevan and walked to the Peace Corps office. There were some other people there and it was really nice to see them. It had only been a month and a half but there were so many stories to be told and new experiences to be shared. It was great. Some of the people, like Hector and Kyle, decided that they would go to their training village and see their old families. I decided to stay in Yerevan and all the volunteers from Solak stayed in one room together at the hostel. I was really surprised. The hostel was really clean, with a real shower, wireless internet, a TV with English channels, and it was well priced. It would be cheap for a tourist, moderately priced for a volunteer. I walked around with Sean and he showed me some things in the city and then we met up with one of his friends and we just talked. It was a good night. David was really loud that night so we didn’t get to bed until about 3am.
The next morning I woke up around 8, took a SHOWER and Mike and I headed to the Peace Corps office since we had our initiatives first. It is the HIV/AIDS initiative. It was a small group of people but it was all people I would like to work with and the group was small so i figured it would be efficient. I took on the task of talking to other organizations in Yerevan such as USAID or the embassies about collaborating on some ideas to spread the word of HIV/AIDS. I am really excited about this because I think this will be a good chance for me to practice relations skills. I am hoping that this will not be too hard of a task and from my understanding, other organizations are willing to support another on a similar cause.
Afterwards, I met with some of my friends for lunch near the opera. It was good, but a little pricey. I met one of my Armenian friends and we walked around the city and saw some of the sights. It was very nice. Afterwards, I met up with other volunteers and ate a pretty delicious dinner. At 8 we were going to meet with our LCFs, Anahit and Irina. It was so nice to see them. They asked us about how life was going in our villages and what we were doing. It really was a nice time. The group from Solak ate dinner with them at a Mexican restaurant. That was my second dinner but I decided that I would load up on non-potato-based-food while I had the opportunity, even if I was about to explode. No sense in wasting an opportunity. All in all, I probably gained 5 pounds that weekend. I met a Fullbright scholar who went to Mike’s University and since she had only been here for 3 weeks we walked around the city. We went to the fountains and saw the fountain show which was interesting.
Afterwards, Mike, Ashley and I walked around some more and then decided to call it a night. I had been walking around a lot so I was really tired.
Sunday came and I met with some of my other friends and a little church get together. It was nice. We met at a doughnut shop. The apple fritter I got was not as good as everyone said. I think my expectations were too high. Anyway, afterwards I went back to the office and said my goodbyes and off we went. This weekend was nice because we figured out how to do things without spending so much money. For example, we learned just to take the city bus to the bus station for 100 dram instead of getting a taxi and paying 1000 dram. Although the route is a bit more scenic, every little bit helps. Its nice figuring out how the native people live and emulating what they do. They certainly know how to live here much better than we do... After the two hour bus ride home, it was back to reality. Good thing that I really like my village. I met my host mom working outside. Her mom was flying into Yerevan that night, so at midnight, my brother and mother went in a neighbor’s car and they were to Yerevan to pick up her mother from a 5am flight. Im not exactly sure why they left so early, but they were back at 8am, when I woke up. Her mother is from Belarus. Interesting. I don’t have a clue how long she will be here but she is taking some of the other work off my host mom so I am appreciative of that. She is just way too overworked. (my host mom).
I guess that’s it for now. Things are starting to pick up now. The time is going by. I no longer have my lessons with a group trying to learn English, instead I have language class for an hour and a half every night but still with the same lady. For better or worse, I have homework now but I suspect it will expedite my language learning.
Ah its cold.
Shannon, when are you going to have your baby?
Until next time...
Thursday, September 24, 2009
There’s snow? Here? Already?
Last weekend, as you know, my host mom and brother left to visit my sister up in another city about two hours away. That left me here. Alone. It was nice to have the house to myself but it was getting a bit lonely. My neighbors however took really good care of me and made sure I was not left hungry. I was still recovering from my illness and each day I would explore a bit further away from the village to see if I could stomach the trip I had wanted to go on to my old village. I went into Martuni and did some errands and found that I was alright, so the following day, I decided that I was ready to make the two hour trip to my old village. I went by myself. It was rewarding to know that I could get on the autobus into the city, get on the right marshutni and then tell the driver when to stop. That’s right, when you want to get off the marshutni, you just tell the driver to stop. So, when I got close to Charentsavan, I told the bus driver to stop on the highway. I got out and luckily there was a taxi that was waiting for a passenger. I got in and off I went.
Now let me explain this. You know that phrase “all roads lead to Rome?” Well quite literally, all roads lead to Yerevan. It is a very inefficient way to travel because it literally uses the hub-and-spoke system of travel. You have to travel to Yerevan, get off, and then take another bus to the city where you want to go. So, this bus was going from Martuni to Yerevan and my stop was along the way.
Anyway, I got to my old house and my grandparents were there. The rest of the family was still at church, so I visited them and talked for a while and then went up to my old room and took a little nap until my family came home. You don’t realize how much you have learned until you have been away for a while but I actually felt like I knew Armenian. I spoke to my old host mom with little to no trouble at all. It was a great feeling. Of course they know what words I know and can use so that was helpful but what a great feeling. They were really excited that I had come back to visit and it was very obvious by how they were acting.
They made me horovats. They killed a lamb just for me. I know that’s weird, but it was a very warm feeling that they did all this for me. I had forgotten how much I liked that family. I was talking to the last guy that lived there, Jon, and he said there is no other family like them so I was really lucky and blessed to have been with them during my training. After we ate, I just hung out with them and talked about my site and what I was doing with my work. Later on that night, we watched Ben Hur. Its interesting watching that movie in Russian. I had no idea what they were saying but it was still a good movie. Maybe that’s what they should do to determine good movies. If it is still a good movie after you watch it in another language, it must be good... Maybe not.
That night I shared a room with my old host brother because my old room was too cold. It was funny because I have a bad habit of snoring and i think that annoyed him. In the middle of the night, I awoke to a pillow hitting me in the head. I got the point. The next morning, I got a good laugh out of it.
The next day I went into Charentsaven and met up with a friend. We talked for a while and then I had to leave around 4. I made it back to my village with no problem. I had gotten back thirty minutes after my new host family had gotten back. Since I was gone, they decided to extend their stay visiting my host sister in the other city. We conversed, but I was really tired so I went to bed early.
So speaking of the title. It is quite cold here. I already have to wear long johns. There is a lot of snow on the mountains behind our house. I’m beginning to worry what this winter will bring. From my understanding, the cold is about a month and a half early. And I don’t think its a front, because its been cold for quite some time now. For me, being from the South, this could be an interesting winter.
Until next time.
Now let me explain this. You know that phrase “all roads lead to Rome?” Well quite literally, all roads lead to Yerevan. It is a very inefficient way to travel because it literally uses the hub-and-spoke system of travel. You have to travel to Yerevan, get off, and then take another bus to the city where you want to go. So, this bus was going from Martuni to Yerevan and my stop was along the way.
Anyway, I got to my old house and my grandparents were there. The rest of the family was still at church, so I visited them and talked for a while and then went up to my old room and took a little nap until my family came home. You don’t realize how much you have learned until you have been away for a while but I actually felt like I knew Armenian. I spoke to my old host mom with little to no trouble at all. It was a great feeling. Of course they know what words I know and can use so that was helpful but what a great feeling. They were really excited that I had come back to visit and it was very obvious by how they were acting.
They made me horovats. They killed a lamb just for me. I know that’s weird, but it was a very warm feeling that they did all this for me. I had forgotten how much I liked that family. I was talking to the last guy that lived there, Jon, and he said there is no other family like them so I was really lucky and blessed to have been with them during my training. After we ate, I just hung out with them and talked about my site and what I was doing with my work. Later on that night, we watched Ben Hur. Its interesting watching that movie in Russian. I had no idea what they were saying but it was still a good movie. Maybe that’s what they should do to determine good movies. If it is still a good movie after you watch it in another language, it must be good... Maybe not.
That night I shared a room with my old host brother because my old room was too cold. It was funny because I have a bad habit of snoring and i think that annoyed him. In the middle of the night, I awoke to a pillow hitting me in the head. I got the point. The next morning, I got a good laugh out of it.
The next day I went into Charentsaven and met up with a friend. We talked for a while and then I had to leave around 4. I made it back to my village with no problem. I had gotten back thirty minutes after my new host family had gotten back. Since I was gone, they decided to extend their stay visiting my host sister in the other city. We conversed, but I was really tired so I went to bed early.
So speaking of the title. It is quite cold here. I already have to wear long johns. There is a lot of snow on the mountains behind our house. I’m beginning to worry what this winter will bring. From my understanding, the cold is about a month and a half early. And I don’t think its a front, because its been cold for quite some time now. For me, being from the South, this could be an interesting winter.
Until next time.
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