September 23, 2009
School has been in session for 3 weeks now and we finally have a set schedule. Well it’s set until something happens and it has to be changed. But at least my counterpart and I know what classes we are supposed to be teaching on the different days. She has planned out the year in each grade and then we adjust as we go along and see what we really do cover on any given day. My main input is with visual aids and activities, or I should say tasks. This is an area where the Armenian teachers are particularly weak. They are not taught about these things in their schooling or training. And it’s amazing to see how well the students react to something different. Most of their learning is done by rote memorization and copying from the books. We played a tic-tac-toe game with question words in the 5th form and the kids loved it. They had to say a question in English in order to get the square. It helped improve their English while having some fun. Of course now they want to play it every day.
One of the problems with having so few students in the classes (there are only 2 3rd and 4th graders) is that we really have to plan a lot of activities. Two students don’t take as long to do things as 20 do. But we’ve gotten into a nice rhythm with both these classes. We use a lot of flash cards with the 3rd graders as they try to learn the English alphabet, which is the third alphabet they are learning. They start learning Russian in 2nd grade. It makes me feel really slow in learning Armenian as only my second language. But then again I am a bit older.
I’ve also begun to work with some of the students individually, during the classes. My counterpart will work with the ones who are on grade level and I’ll take the others. Most of the ones I’m working with just need a little incentive and individual attention. I’ll also be starting an English club after school next month. The plan is for it to be a drama club, with us putting on some small skits every now and then, in English. I think it will be a fun way for them to learn and practice their English. Hopefully they think so too.
I’m still hiking on the weekends with some of the other PCVs. Two weeks ago we went to Halidzor Fortress and Vahanvank Monastery, which are historical places near here. It was probably a 15-20 mile hike, but the weather was warm and it was a nice day. This past weekend we just walked around a local park. Monday was Armenian Independence Day, but they don’t celebrate it the way we do our Independence Day. It was basically just a day off, which was much appreciated. I also took an overnight trip to a nearby city to visit some other PCVs. It was fun to be with them and share some of our experiences.
We are now in our rainy season here. It has rained at least part of every day for the last week. Since there aren’t any clothes dryers here, this weather really puts a damper on doing laundry. I also don’t have a washing machine, so I do my wash by hand, which isn’t all that bad. Sometimes having it rain on the laundry helps rinse out some of the clothes. I’ve had some stuff hanging up for 3 days now. It takes some getting used to, but eventually I’ll learn how to time doing my wash so it will dry in a reasonable amount of time.
I occasionally will sit with my host family and watch TV, but since it’s in either Armenian or Russian it’s a bit frustrating. So I’ve been doing a lot of reading, about 12 books since the beginning of August. I’ve also been crocheting again. I’ve started an afghan for myself, which will help in the winter. I also have started a placemat, and will probably do a lot more during the winter. I do have some movies which I can play on my computer, which I’m saving for the winter.
Every morning I wake up to this incredible view of Mt. Hustrip. The other day there was a little bit of snow on the top, but it has since melted. The leaves are beginning to change and the colors are brilliant. Because of all the rain we’ve had, the colors are really vibrant. Last year it was a dryer fall, so there wasn’t a lot of color, so they tell me. But the scenery is magnificent and I’m grateful every day for it.

September 4, 2009
Today is the end of the first week of school. It’s been quite a week. School starts on September 1, with “First Bell.” There is a celebration attached to this, which took our school about an hour. They invite all the parents, one of the administrators from the Ministry of Education, a WWII Russian veteran, an active member of the military, and the former school director, who is about 95. They decorate the school with balloons and streamers, as well as the fence surrounding the playground area. Since I am new, they asked me to say a few words, in Armenian, as a way of introducing myself.
There are 11 forms (grades) in this school, but only about 45 students. So the classes are very small, in fact the 3rd form only has 2 students. A few of the classes have 5 students, but most have 3 or 4. It’s almost harder to teach a very small class because you have to have a lot of activities planned since it doesn’t take too long to go through the lessons.
My counterpart and I teach all the English language classes, usually 3 or 4 a day. Each form has English twice a week. I started right off teaching on Tuesday. They had doubled the first period because of the celebration, so I had one group and my counterpart took the other group. We were in the same room, so it was a bit confusing at times, but we worked it out. Taguhie, my counterpart, is a wonderful teacher and very easy to work with. School starts at 8:30, but most days we don’t have to be in until after 10. But that means that we generally have the last scheduled class as well, which gets out at 3:15. It’s not a bad schedule and will be especially nice in the colder weather, not to have to get out first thing in the morning. Most days we have at least one break between classes, which is when we will do our lesson planning for the next day or week. It’ll take a little time, but we will get into a routine pretty soon.
On the weekends I’ve been doing some hiking with some of the other PC volunteers in the area. Last Saturday morning we set off to see this bear that was made by one of the volunteers’ host grandfather. It’s on the outskirts of Kapan, sort of guarding the city. It has a key in it’s mouth that holds the secrets to the town. Tomorrow we are hiking to an old church up on one of the mountainsides. Besides the exercise, it’s nice getting together with this group and discussing our successes and struggles. I also try to walk most afternoons after school. It’s wonderful exercise, especially since it’s up and down hills. But the scenery is spectacular so it’s worth it.