May 25, 2010
School is over for this year, the students just have state exams to take, so they will be in and out for the next 3 weeks. Unfortunately I missed the last week of school because I was up in Yerevan helping plan for the new volunteers who are coming this Saturday.
Shannon and I took a taxi up on Friday, May 14. We had a committee meeting first thing Saturday morning and then I left for Ijevan, where I attended environmental camp counselor training. There were about 20 of us, including some Armenians, who had volunteered to be counselor. Of course, the other trainees were somewhat younger than me. We were lucky that the training wasn’t two weeks earlier because there had been a landslide on the road to Ijevan, which meant that you could take one marshutney up to the landslide, climb over the mud and trees, and then get into another marshutney. I’m not sorry that I missed that experience. During the training we went through a lot of the activities that the children will be doing and the overall curriculum for the camps. There are going to be 5 green camps this year, unfortunately all of them are in the northern part of the country. The Americans all stayed at the house of one of the sponsors and founders of the green camps. I was promised a bed, but that didn’t work out so I slept on the floor with the other counselors. But we did have a horovatz, their version of a BBQ. I got back to Yerevan Sunday evening and spent the rest of the week at the hostel.
I had volunteered to help with the planning for the new volunteers’ training, which is what I wound up doing the rest of the week. When I left Vachagan on Friday, I thought I would only be in Yerevan until Tuesday or Wednesday. However, once I got to PC office, I was asked to become more involved. Luckily I had packed extra clothes
I didn’t have to be at any meetings until Monday afternoon, so Shannon and I did some shopping Monday morning, which turned out to be my only free time. There were 4 of us who were asked to help with redoing the cross-cultural training curriculum. And we only had 2 days within which to do this. This meant using a generic workbook that PC put together, sequencing the topics, and coming up with lesson plans for each of the 7 sessions.
After we finished with that, since we were all English teachers, we were asked to help the new tech trainer in our sector. This again coming up with a revised curriculum, suggesting volunteers who could do each session, and coming up with TDAs (trainee directed assignments) for some of the sessions. The TDAs are a new addition to the training so we had nothing to draw from. The practicum for the English teachers is a model school the last 2 weeks of training. I was asked to coordinate that, which I’m happy to do.
While I was looking forward to being a camp counselor, unfortunately I had to give that up. But luckily, the camp I was going to help out at had a lot of counselors, so Katie the PCV in charge was fine with me not doing it. I might try it next summer. So my summer will be busy and a lot of it will be spent in Charentsevan, but I am looking forward to it.
Even though we were terribly busy last week, we did manage to get in some culture events. Tuesday night we went to a dance performance at the Opera House. It was very similar to “River Dance,” with a lot of Armenian folk dances. Some of them remind me of Irish step dancing. The costumes and dances were really amazing. Then on Wednesday we went to an opera, “Anush.” This is the most well-known Armenian opera. The sets were spectacular and the singing was extraordinary. They had some programs in English so we had a general idea of what was happening. I’m going to get the schedule for performances at the Opera House, so when I’m in Yerevan I can take advantage of this. The tickets are very reasonable so there’s no reason not to go. Another highlight of my week in Yerevan was going to dinner with another volunteer, Barbara, to a wonderful little Italian restaurant. This place is very small, with only 5 tables. However, the food is exquisite. Barbara had been there before and had raved about the steak, so that’s what I ordered. I don’t usually order steak in an Italian restaurant, but I am so glad that I did. The steak was one of the best I’ve ever had, it practically melted in my mouth. They cooked it exactly the way I wanted it and it was cooked with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes. I will definitely go to this place again.
As I said school is over and the last day was Saturday, which I was very glad to back for. They all it “Last Bell,” since it is the last time the 11th graders will be there. They had a graduation ceremony of sorts. The hall was decorated with streamers and balloons, and a small stage was set up at one end. The first graders marched in with the 11th graders and during the ceremony they exchanged gifts. There was a slide show, showing the 11th graders throughout their school years. The PE teacher had made up poems about all the faculty, including me, and the students took turns reading them and presenting flowers to the appropriate teacher. Afterwards they had a luncheon for the graduates and their families. A lot of othere villagers came to watch, besides the families. As I said, I was very glad I made it back in time.
I also realized that spending an entire week in the hostel is a bit much for me. While I enjoy being with the younger volunteers, I also need some quiet time, which is not available there. It was like living in a college dorm, a co-ed one at that. But the place is reasonable, clean and has nice hot showers. I also found out they have an iron and a hair dryer we can use. It’s the little things that make it worth it.
This weekend the new trainees come and I will be going back up north on Friday. Friday night I will be staying with my host family from last summer, who are just wonderful people. I was even able to call them by myself and make the arrangements, so I am making progress with this language. But I will have to bring my dictionary with me.