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.