Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Last week we were at a “ski resort” learning how to write grants. They have a certain grant here that is only available through Peace Corps and needs a PCV in order to apply for it. Since I have never written a grant, I learnt a lot. We went up on Monday and the conference lasted until Friday morning. They broke us up into 7 groups, each group being led by a PCV and an interpreter for our counterparts. They were very long days, especially since I’m not used to sitting inside from 9to 5:30 every day. And I’m no sure I will ever write a grant while I’m here.
This resort is very nice and we were able to walk around the town at night. The last night we were there it snowed, and we found out the next morning it snowed in almost all of Armenia. Luckily I had planned on staying in the capital city of Yerevan for the weekend because the one road going south was closed. It did open on Saturday so people were able to get home then.
Unfortunately, two more of the group I trained with decided to go home. We all were, however, able to say goodbye to them in person. Victoria was in PC office on Monday when we arrived there, and Beth was there on Friday. I will miss them both, especially Beth who I had gotten to know a bit better than Victoria. They both gave the PC a good shot, 6 months at their sites, and realized that this was not for them. I admire them for at least trying it and being honest enough with themselves to make the decision to go home.
When I arrived home on Sunday, I found out that I didn’t have any water. My pipes froze, even though I had left the kitchen faucet running. So for the past two days, I have been melting ice on my wood-burning stove and then running it through my water filter. It’s a slow process, but at least there was the snow to melt so I wasn’t left completely without water. This is what I would call my first Peace Corps experience. Between my small school, wood-burning stove, and no water I keep thinking of the settlers in America who braved the frontier to help establish our country. I don’t know how they did it. I at least know that this is for a short period of time, and I keep reminding myself of that when things go wrong, or don’t go as I planned.
So I’m sitting here waiting for the snow to melt and for the water to get warm on my wood-burning stove so I can use it to wash out my clothes, by hand. Then I will put them on my drying rack in front of the stove to dry. Yet I’m also listening to music on my laptop. Talk about a mix of cultures!
It’s fairly easy here to be on a diet. Their normal plate size is our salad plate, so the portions are definitely smaller. And even if you back for seconds, it’s really only like our normal first portion. Of course during the winter no one looks like they’ve lost weight. We all wear multiple layers to keep warm. While I tend to stick with just 3 layers, some of the other volunteers wear up to 6 or 7 layers. They’ll really look like they lost weight come the spring!
Monday, February 22, 2010
The past two weeks seem to have just flown by. Having English club twice a week keeps me busy during the week and on the weekends it’s playing catch up with the housework. Two weekends ago I was snowed in up in my village. It had snowed during the week and then everything froze. The marshutnies were not coming up to the village and the taxis were only going half way up. Unfortunately it was another PC’s birthday, so I missed the celebrations. But it was nice for a change to just stay in my house, look out at the frozen landscape and keep warm by my stove. I got a lot of crocheting done and finished a book. I was also able to get a bit ahead with my lesson planning for my clubs and classes.
This past weekend I was once again up in Yerevan for a meeting for the volunteer initiative committee. There were a lot of other PC meetings going on as well so I got to see quite a few of the other volunteers, which is always nice. The down side is that the hostel was full and they were repairing the two upstairs bathrooms, so everyone had to use the downstairs one. I wound up taking my shower at midnight Saturday! The weather was incredibly warm, so it was nice to just walk around the city at night. Instead of going up on Saturday morning, Shannon and I went up Friday, so it was a bit more relaxing, and we came back down Sunday. The school faculty, especially my counterpart, are always happy to see me after my days off. I think they are afraid I’ll not come back one of these times.
Today I found out that my pen pal club received its first packet of letters from the Ukraine. Shannon picked up the package for me and I’ll get it this weekend. My students are still working on their first letters, but I hope to mail them on Saturday. It’s been a slow process getting this project off the ground, so I’m glad something has come of it. I only hope the students keep up their interest. I’m anxious to see how this goes.
The Armenian men take very good care of their cars. With the warm weather they are all out there washing their cars and trucks. On the drive up to my village we pass the local “car wash.” Actually there are two: one is a manmade lake they drive up to and bucket wash their cars. The other is a spring that runs down the side of the mountain and pools next to the road. They park next to it and use the water to wash their car.
Speaking of water, after my pipes unfroze I still could not use my shower. The water wasn’t going through the heater. Yesterday I finally saw the electrician (that’s what they call the plumber here) and asked him to look at it. After about a half hour, he discovered that the hose to the shower head was clogged, with dirt from the water. That’s how dirty the water is here and why we use a water filter for our drinking water. I’ll probably have to clear it out about every other month or so. I just won’t think about when I take a shower.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Today is Army Day in Armenia, a national holiday. However, they were having some activities at the local army base, so the schools were taking the boys to see that. It’s a way to get interest in the army as a career. There is mandatory two year army service for all boys once they turn 18. But it seems that less and less are making the army a career.
Well winter seems to have finally arrived in southern Armenia. This week has been cold and snowy. On Tuesday we had snow all morning, but then it rained for a while. However, it turned to snow agaityping this I’m sitting in my house with a hat on to help keep me warm. I haven’t lit my wood burning stove yet today and am relying on my fan for heat. My wood supply has run low and I’m not sure when I’ll be getting more. I haven’t seen my wood man in a few days, so I don’t want to take any chances of running out. I just bring the fan with me as I move from room to room. I’ll light my stove tonight. Since I didn’t make arrangements for the wood until the middle of November, I’m not sure how much I’ll actually get this winter. Rest assured that I will make arrangements for wood for next winter in plenty of time. I’ll also try to get a meter and a half for each month. I am a spoiled American used to a good heating system and it’s hard to get used to a chilly house. And I refuse to wear my coat in my house, the hat is one thing, but I draw the line at the coat. Besides this, my geyser, hot water heater, isn’t working either. It seems that in the cold the water pressure decreases and there isn’t enough pressure for the geyser to work. Oh well, I’m used to bucket baths anyway.
At school we have been having extra classes every day. Not only do we have to make up for the 3 weeks we missed in December, but my counterpart and I will be out all next week. We will be going to a conference on grant writing. Luckily the school is small and it’s fairly easy to change the schedule and make up the classes. In fact, it’s rare that the schedule isn’t changed at least once a week. With the snow on Wednesday, I had to go in early Thursday morning because the teachers who live down in the town (11 out of 14) were having a problem getting up the mountain. The buses weren’t running and they couldn’t find a taxi either. This also meant that some of our students couldn’t get to school. The teachers were finally able to get a ride most of the way up the mountain and classes were juggled to accommodate all. Flexibility is a needed asset here.
Our computer teacher is out on mandatory maternity leave since Dec. 1. We finally hired a part time replacement, who works Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This means that since she is trying to make up for the whole month of Dec., the three days she’s in the computers are never free. So my access to the internet is severely limited. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, there is generally at least one class using the computer/faculty room for a class. So for the next 2 months I will be lucky to get online once a week, unless I go to town on Saturdays and use the computers down there.
I finally started some clubs after school. I have one on Tuesday afternoons in which we are part of a pen pal program with other former Soviet Union countries that also have Peace Corps volunteers. Eleven of the students showed up for our first meeting and I think most of them will stick with it. We will be writing to students in Romania, Macedonia, and the Ukraine. There is also a project as part of this. Each group will put together a packet of information about their village/town and share it with the others. It’ll be a great learning experience for the students.
On Thursday afternoons I have a tutorial club for the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th graders. It’s kind of a wide range of students, but they all expressed an interest so I’ll see how it works. Yesterday I gave them a placement test of sorts to help me see what they’re having trouble with. I plan to use a lot of different approaches, including games, in order to keep their interest and make it enjoyable for them. Since I am doing these clubs by myself, I’m hoping that my Armenian will improve. I told the students that I will help them with their English and they need to help me with my Armenian. We’ll see how this works.
Thanks to some very generous family members I have started a library of sorts in our English room. I have received a lot of pre-readers and readers, as well as some picture dictionaries on various subjects. When we started back after the holidays, I decided that the upper grades would start journaling and the 4th and 5th graders would start reading at the beginning of each class. Both ideas have been very well received by the students, especially the reading. Most of the books, both school and reading, in Armenia are primarily text, with little or no pictures, and very small print. Once they saw the illustrations and size of the print in these new books, they were excited to read them. We give them at least 5 minutes at the beginning of class and sometimes we extend it because they are so engaged in their books. At the end of the club on Tuesday I mentioned to those students that they could also take the books. It’s like I’m giving them money or candy, they can’t have enough of it. Each of the older students took a book. I just told them that they had to return the book when their done with it.
The journaling is also going quite well. It was hard at first for them to just write, even though we supplied them with a topic. They’re just not used to thinking in English. But after a few classes, they are doing very well. I told them their journals will not be graded, but I will look at them every now and then to see how they’re doing and correct mistakes. Some of the students are so serious about it that they go home and continue writing. Of course some of the other teachers are complaining that all the students want to do is their English homework.
Friday, January 29, 2010
I had to get a new gas bubble for my stove. Somehow I broke the on/off nozzle, luckily in the on position so I could at least heat up the kettle in the morning for my tea/coffee. However, I was a little worried that some gas might be leaking. So someone from Peace Corps drove down to Vachagan today and switched the gas bubbles.
I also went to visit my wood man this afternoon and explained that I needed more wood. I also asked if he could deliver more at one time. I think he understood, I’ll soon find out. Just as I was leaving, his wife came out and invited me in for a cup of tea. She also admired my Yaktrax and asked if I had gotten them in Armenia. I explained, as best I could, that the Peace Corps handed them out to all the volunteers. They’ve really come in handy this week. I know that by visiting people I will have to speak Armenian more, so it’s good for me to do this. And I do enjoy getting to know my neighbors.
Today is Army Day in Armenia, a national holiday. However, they were having some activities at the local army base, so the schools were taking the boys to see that. It’s a way to get interest in the army as a career. There is mandatory two year army service for all boys once they turn 18. But it seems that less and less are making the army a career.
Well winter seems to have finally arrived in southern Armenia. This week has been cold and snowy. On Tuesday we had snow all morning, but then it rained for a while. However, it turned to snow agaityping this I’m sitting in my house with a hat on to help keep me warm. I haven’t lit my wood burning stove yet today and am relying on my fan for heat. My wood supply has run low and I’m not sure when I’ll be getting more. I haven’t seen my wood man in a few days, so I don’t want to take any chances of running out. I just bring the fan with me as I move from room to room. I’ll light my stove tonight. Since I didn’t make arrangements for the wood until the middle of November, I’m not sure how much I’ll actually get this winter. Rest assured that I will make arrangements for wood for next winter in plenty of time. I’ll also try to get a meter and a half for each month. I am a spoiled American used to a good heating system and it’s hard to get used to a chilly house. And I refuse to wear my coat in my house, the hat is one thing, but I draw the line at the coat. Besides this, my geyser, hot water heater, isn’t working either. It seems that in the cold the water pressure decreases and there isn’t enough pressure for the geyser to work. Oh well, I’m used to bucket baths anyway.
At school we have been having extra classes every day. Not only do we have to make up for the 3 weeks we missed in December, but my counterpart and I will be out all next week. We will be going to a conference on grant writing. Luckily the school is small and it’s fairly easy to change the schedule and make up the classes. In fact, it’s rare that the schedule isn’t changed at least once a week. With the snow on Wednesday, I had to go in early Thursday morning because the teachers who live down in the town (11 out of 14) were having a problem getting up the mountain. The buses weren’t running and they couldn’t find a taxi either. This also meant that some of our students couldn’t get to school. The teachers were finally able to get a ride most of the way up the mountain and classes were juggled to accommodate all. Flexibility is a needed asset here.
Our computer teacher is out on mandatory maternity leave since Dec. 1. We finally hired a part time replacement, who works Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This means that since she is trying to make up for the whole month of Dec., the three days she’s in the computers are never free. So my access to the internet is severely limited. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, there is generally at least one class using the computer/faculty room for a class. So for the next 2 months I will be lucky to get online once a week, unless I go to town on Saturdays and use the computers down there.
I finally started some clubs after school. I have one on Tuesday afternoons in which we are part of a pen pal program with other former Soviet Union countries that also have Peace Corps volunteers. Eleven of the students showed up for our first meeting and I think most of them will stick with it. We will be writing to students in Romania, Macedonia, and the Ukraine. There is also a project as part of this. Each group will put together a packet of information about their village/town and share it with the others. It’ll be a great learning experience for the students.
On Thursday afternoons I have a tutorial club for the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th graders. It’s kind of a wide range of students, but they all expressed an interest so I’ll see how it works. Yesterday I gave them a placement test of sorts to help me see what they’re having trouble with. I plan to use a lot of different approaches, including games, in order to keep their interest and make it enjoyable for them. Since I am doing these clubs by myself, I’m hoping that my Armenian will improve. I told the students that I will help them with their English and they need to help me with my Armenian. We’ll see how this works.
Thanks to some very generous family members I have started a library of sorts in our English room. I have received a lot of pre-readers and readers, as well as some picture dictionaries on various subjects. When we started back after the holidays, I decided that the upper grades would start journaling and the 4th and 5th graders would start reading at the beginning of each class. Both ideas have been very well received by the students, especially the reading. Most of the books, both school and reading, in Armenia are primarily text, with little or no pictures, and very small print. Once they saw the illustrations and size of the print in these new books, they were excited to read them. We give them at least 5 minutes at the beginning of class and sometimes we extend it because they are so engaged in their books. At the end of the club on Tuesday I mentioned to those students that they could also take the books. It’s like I’m giving them money or candy, they can’t have enough of it. Each of the older students took a book. I just told them that they had to return the book when their done with it.
The journaling is also going quite well. It was hard at first for them to just write, even though we supplied them with a topic. They’re just not used to thinking in English. But after a few classes, they are doing very well. I told them their journals will not be graded, but I will look at them every now and then to see how they’re doing and correct mistakes. Some of the students are so serious about it that they go home and continue writing. Of course some of the other teachers are complaining that all the students want to do is their English homework.
Friday, January 29, 2010
I had to get a new gas bubble for my stove. Somehow I broke the on/off nozzle, luckily in the on position so I could at least heat up the kettle in the morning for my tea/coffee. However, I was a little worried that some gas might be leaking. So someone from Peace Corps drove down to Vachagan today and switched the gas bubbles.
I also went to visit my wood man this afternoon and explained that I needed more wood. I also asked if he could deliver more at one time. I think he understood, I’ll soon find out. Just as I was leaving, his wife came out and invited me in for a cup of tea. She also admired my Yaktrax and asked if I had gotten them in Armenia. I explained, as best I could, that the Peace Corps handed them out to all the volunteers. They’ve really come in handy this week. I know that by visiting people I will have to speak Armenian more, so it’s good for me to do this. And I do enjoy getting to know my neighbors.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
December 27, 2009
Merry Christmas!!! I hope you all had a very blessed and joyful Christmas. While I wasn’t with my family, I thought of you all often throughout the day. Spending Christmas in a different culture has been very interesting. But first let me catch you up on what’s been going on here since I last wrote.
There was a lot of sickness, seasonal flu they called it, in November and early December. There were some reported cases of the H1N1 flu, mostly in the capital city. So, on Dec. 7th, the Minister of Education announced that all schools would be closed for 10 days, reopening Dec. 21. This meant that I basically had 10 days off. While it was nice to have some unexpected time off, that isn’t exactly why I joined the Peace Corps. However, I decided to use the time as best I could to plan for the next half year. I had found that not knowing the curriculum and not having had a chance to look at all the books being used was getting harder the more we got into the school year. So, I’ve been going through the books used in each form (grade), picking out the grammar being introduced and making up exercises and activities for it.
I’ve also had lots of time for crocheting. I am so thankful that I know how to crochet, for it has been a real time filler for me. So far I have made 6 afghans, a scarf, hat and a placemat. Four of the afghans were for other PCVs who had bought the yarn and I just supplied the labor. I have one more afghan to make for another PCV and then I’ll move onto something else. Luckily there are quite a few yarn stores in the town near me, and a great one in the capital city that I go into whenever I’m up there. I might even try to learn how to knit, since that’s more popular among volunteers so I’ll have access to more patterns.
Each day I tried to take a walk, sometimes down to the town, other days just around the village. The people in the village have gotten used to seeing me walking around. They don’t walk just for the sake of exercise, but in order to go some where. At first they couldn’t understand why I was just out walking, but now they just accept that that’s what I like to do. Besides good exercise, it’s a good way to meet some of the villagers.
One of the other PCVs, Shannon, moved into a new apartment last weekend, so we helped her move her stuff. It’s very interesting seeing the looks on people’s faces as we walked from one place to the other with all her stuff. We only had to make two trips, which was good because she moved into an apartment on the 5th floor, with no elevator.
I found out on Sat., Dec. 19, that the schools were not reopening until Jan. 11th, so I will have had 5 full weeks off. I was disappointed that schools were not reopening, since I came here to help in the schools, but I realize that for health reasons it’s better to keep them closed. So I have decided to take a road trip next week, with Shannon, to visit some of the other volunteers in the northern part of this country.
I used this past week to get ready for Christmas dinner and my overnight guests and to relax a little. It was strange not having any last minute Christmas shopping to do, or any crowds to hassle with. In Armenia they celebrate Christmas on Jan. 6th, but their really big celebration is on New Year’s Eve/Day. That is when they exchange presents and gather at people’s houses, and have fireworks. So their last minute shopping is happening now. They are also just putting up their decorations, when I know in the States some are already taking down their decorations.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day turned out really nice. 25 of us gathered at Barbara’s apartment for Christmas Eve dinner and then they all came up to my house for Christmas dinner. For most of the younger volunteers this was their first Christmas without any family, so it was good for them to be with the rest of us. I had 4 stay at my house and we sang Christmas carols Friday morning while we got everything ready. We had a grab bag so everyone got a gift and they could exchange among themselves if they wanted. Not too many did. While we didn’t have a lot of Christmas decorations, we did have some. Thanks to Jackie and Brendan, I had a stocking and a small Christmas tree, to which we added a reindeer. Actually the reindeer had started out as a paper maiche spider for Halloween, then was transformed into a turkey for Thanksgiving, and now is a reindeer. A little imagination and good old US ingenuity go a long way here.
In some ways for me it was like being with my family. Most of the younger volunteers are the ages of my own children and some of them even call me Mom. I enjoy being with them, as I enjoy being with my own children. Having them here definitely made it easier on me not to be with my family. The one thing I really missed, besides my family, was being able to go to Church. There are no Catholic Churches in Armenia, at least in the part where I am. So I have decided that next Christmas I will visit Georgia or someplace where I know there are Catholic Churches.
As New Year approaches my wish for all of you is peace and happiness.
January 3, 2009
Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a safe and happy New Year’s celebration.
I’ve been on a road trip since last Monday, when Shannon and I left to head north. We had a meeting at PC Headquarters on Tuesday, Dec. 29 about volunteerism in Armenia. This initiative is new here and one that PC would very much like to see take hold. I’m on the planning committee for that and we hope to have some definite ideas and activities in place by April. The area I’m specifically involved in is camps for young people (ages 11 – 16) and Forums for young adults (18 – 25). It will be pretty intense for the next few months, but hopefully we will be successful. I’ll keep you posted. By being involved on the planning committee it will mean that I’ll be making regular trips to Yerevan.
In Yerevan I’ve been staying at a hostel, my first venture into hostels. This one is actually quite nice and very clean. They have a wonderful shower and computers that are online. And we get a breakfast each day. By staying in the hostel, I save about 1500 drams each night.
Tuesday afternoon after the meeting, we headed to Gyumri for a few days. We arranged to stay with another PCV, Staci, who we really just met when she came to my house for Christmas. Gyumri is a large city in the northwest part of Armenia. There was a major earthquake there in 1988, and some of the rumble is still visible. The earthquake destroyed a majority of the buildings in Gyumri and they put the displaced families in “temporary” housing – old railroad cars. They scattered these around the city, wherever they could find a flat, clean spot. There are still about 7,000 families living in this housing around the city. We walked around Gyumri quite a bit and it’s astonishing to see these “homes” right next to newer housing. In one of the city’s squares, there are 2 big churches, one of which was destroyed in the earthquake. The other was saved by the fact that it’s spires were built so as to absorb the shock and shoot off onto the ground. It’s amazing to see the remains of such destruction. Barbara, one of the PCVs stationed in Gyumri only since August, has done an incredible amount of research on the city and was very helpful on our walks. There is also somewhat of a walking tour, with explanations of the buildings and their history throughout the city. I hope to go back to Gyumri in the summer.
There is a wonderful fish restaurant in Gyumri where we ate Tuesday night. It’s called “The Fish House,” at least by the PCVs. It is attached to a fish hatchery and right on a river. The fish was delicious, as was the rest of the meal. There were 10 of us at dinner and we had a good time. On New Year’s Eve, we all, 14 of us, met at Amanda’s for dinner. She made a wonderful Greek chicken meal. Some of us, myself included, didn’t make it til midnight. But we were all together again the next day for dinner, which Staci and Barbara had made – ham, potatoes au gratin, garlic bread. It was nice to celebrate with the other PCVs. New Year’s is very big here, with most of the stores were closed and some will not open until tomorrow or even next week.
Saturday, Shannon and I left Gyumri and headed to Karashamb, the village I lived in during the summer, to visit my old host family. Of course the road network in Armenia is almost non-existent, so we had to come all the way back to Yerevan and then head to Karashamb. We wound up taking a taxi, because the marshutneys were all too crowded. We must have gotten the only taxi driver who didn’t know where Karashamb is. As it turned out, we met some of my family in a town before Karashamb, at a cousin’s house. One of the customs here surrounding New Year’s is that you visit your relatives and eat at each house. Each house has a table full of food: fresh ham, 3 or 4 vegetable salads, bread, small egg roll like things, nuts, pastry, fruit, and of course wine, vodka, and cognac. We wound up going to 3 houses and by that time I was stuffed. I was so glad we went, because it meant so much to that family. Some of the extended family had come to see me, and others called while we were there. They wanted us to stay the night, but I knew we would be putting someone out of their bed, so we declined. I will definitely go back to visit them this summer.
We got back to Yerevan and the hostel about 7:30 last night. It was nice to see all the lights and decorations in the city. These will stay up until sometime after Jan. 6th, their Christmas. Today as we walked around the city, we saw that most of the stores and even the restaurants are closed. Most will reopen tomorrow, but some take the whole week off. Tomorrow we head back to Kapan, to our own houses. It’s been nice to visit different areas and people, but it’ll be nice to be home again. Hopefully schools will reopen on Jan. 11th and I’ll get back to work.
January 8, 2010
Our trip back to Kapan was a bit nerve-wracking since they had had snow in some of the areas we had to drive through. The road in some places was icy and snowcovered. We passed one snow plow and a sander. Actually the sander consisted of 2 men in the back of a truck throwing shovels full of sand alternately on the road. But it worked and we made it safely back. I was glad to see that there wasn’t any snow on the 2 mountain roads just outside of Kapan, since they are a series of switch backs, which I’m not too sure I want to do on ice and snow.
This has been a very relaxing week, especially since a lot of the other PCVs are still away and a lot of the stores are closed. I spent most of the week either reading, crocheting, or doing jigsaw puzzles. We had snow most of Tuesday so it was a good day to stay inside. However, it has almost all melted since the weather got warmer again. This has been an unseasonably mild winter.
I’ve also had time to do some cooking, which is another adventure here. While their diet is not that spicy or that unlike our own, there are certain spices that they don’t have here, so I’ve had to improvise with some recipes. I did make applesauce the other day, which was really good with the French toast I made this morning. They don’t have syrup here, so I substituted the applesauce for it. They also don’t have tomato sauce or marinara sauce, but have tomato paste. So when I could still find fresh tomatoes and green peppers, I would add those to the paste, sometimes with carrots, and make a marinara sauce. However, I can no longer find either, so I’ll have to find another way to doctor up the tomato paste.
I spent most of today outdoors, since it was so nice out. This morning I broke apart one of the trees that my neighbor had taken down and laid outside my basement door. I’ll use the small pieces for kindling to start my wood stove. This afternoon I went for a hike and again foraged for kindling. It’s amazing the amount of wood that I use without even having it get too hot. My supply of fire wood had gotten pretty low, which has made me realize the value of forests and the value of rationing what I do have. And I’ve found that using different size kindling helps to start the fire. I am learning so much about fires and wood stoves! But it was a nice day and it was a good excuse to be outside. I’ll probably look for some more tomorrow, especially if it’s nice out again.
I have also realized these past few weeks that I had gotten used to being able to check my email on an almost daily basis. However not being in school and with most of the businesses closed in Kapan, I haven’t been online in over a week. It made me think of the Peace Corps volunteers who served before the advent of email and cell phones. My admiration for what they must have experienced, the loneliness and sense of isolation from family and friends, has grown considerably. When I came to Armenia in June, I didn’t expect to have such regular access to an online computer, but I quickly became spoiled and used to it. Some things we just take for granted as part of everyday life, when in reality they are anything but in a large part of the world.
Merry Christmas!!! I hope you all had a very blessed and joyful Christmas. While I wasn’t with my family, I thought of you all often throughout the day. Spending Christmas in a different culture has been very interesting. But first let me catch you up on what’s been going on here since I last wrote.
There was a lot of sickness, seasonal flu they called it, in November and early December. There were some reported cases of the H1N1 flu, mostly in the capital city. So, on Dec. 7th, the Minister of Education announced that all schools would be closed for 10 days, reopening Dec. 21. This meant that I basically had 10 days off. While it was nice to have some unexpected time off, that isn’t exactly why I joined the Peace Corps. However, I decided to use the time as best I could to plan for the next half year. I had found that not knowing the curriculum and not having had a chance to look at all the books being used was getting harder the more we got into the school year. So, I’ve been going through the books used in each form (grade), picking out the grammar being introduced and making up exercises and activities for it.
I’ve also had lots of time for crocheting. I am so thankful that I know how to crochet, for it has been a real time filler for me. So far I have made 6 afghans, a scarf, hat and a placemat. Four of the afghans were for other PCVs who had bought the yarn and I just supplied the labor. I have one more afghan to make for another PCV and then I’ll move onto something else. Luckily there are quite a few yarn stores in the town near me, and a great one in the capital city that I go into whenever I’m up there. I might even try to learn how to knit, since that’s more popular among volunteers so I’ll have access to more patterns.
Each day I tried to take a walk, sometimes down to the town, other days just around the village. The people in the village have gotten used to seeing me walking around. They don’t walk just for the sake of exercise, but in order to go some where. At first they couldn’t understand why I was just out walking, but now they just accept that that’s what I like to do. Besides good exercise, it’s a good way to meet some of the villagers.
One of the other PCVs, Shannon, moved into a new apartment last weekend, so we helped her move her stuff. It’s very interesting seeing the looks on people’s faces as we walked from one place to the other with all her stuff. We only had to make two trips, which was good because she moved into an apartment on the 5th floor, with no elevator.
I found out on Sat., Dec. 19, that the schools were not reopening until Jan. 11th, so I will have had 5 full weeks off. I was disappointed that schools were not reopening, since I came here to help in the schools, but I realize that for health reasons it’s better to keep them closed. So I have decided to take a road trip next week, with Shannon, to visit some of the other volunteers in the northern part of this country.
I used this past week to get ready for Christmas dinner and my overnight guests and to relax a little. It was strange not having any last minute Christmas shopping to do, or any crowds to hassle with. In Armenia they celebrate Christmas on Jan. 6th, but their really big celebration is on New Year’s Eve/Day. That is when they exchange presents and gather at people’s houses, and have fireworks. So their last minute shopping is happening now. They are also just putting up their decorations, when I know in the States some are already taking down their decorations.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day turned out really nice. 25 of us gathered at Barbara’s apartment for Christmas Eve dinner and then they all came up to my house for Christmas dinner. For most of the younger volunteers this was their first Christmas without any family, so it was good for them to be with the rest of us. I had 4 stay at my house and we sang Christmas carols Friday morning while we got everything ready. We had a grab bag so everyone got a gift and they could exchange among themselves if they wanted. Not too many did. While we didn’t have a lot of Christmas decorations, we did have some. Thanks to Jackie and Brendan, I had a stocking and a small Christmas tree, to which we added a reindeer. Actually the reindeer had started out as a paper maiche spider for Halloween, then was transformed into a turkey for Thanksgiving, and now is a reindeer. A little imagination and good old US ingenuity go a long way here.
In some ways for me it was like being with my family. Most of the younger volunteers are the ages of my own children and some of them even call me Mom. I enjoy being with them, as I enjoy being with my own children. Having them here definitely made it easier on me not to be with my family. The one thing I really missed, besides my family, was being able to go to Church. There are no Catholic Churches in Armenia, at least in the part where I am. So I have decided that next Christmas I will visit Georgia or someplace where I know there are Catholic Churches.
As New Year approaches my wish for all of you is peace and happiness.
January 3, 2009
Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a safe and happy New Year’s celebration.
I’ve been on a road trip since last Monday, when Shannon and I left to head north. We had a meeting at PC Headquarters on Tuesday, Dec. 29 about volunteerism in Armenia. This initiative is new here and one that PC would very much like to see take hold. I’m on the planning committee for that and we hope to have some definite ideas and activities in place by April. The area I’m specifically involved in is camps for young people (ages 11 – 16) and Forums for young adults (18 – 25). It will be pretty intense for the next few months, but hopefully we will be successful. I’ll keep you posted. By being involved on the planning committee it will mean that I’ll be making regular trips to Yerevan.
In Yerevan I’ve been staying at a hostel, my first venture into hostels. This one is actually quite nice and very clean. They have a wonderful shower and computers that are online. And we get a breakfast each day. By staying in the hostel, I save about 1500 drams each night.
Tuesday afternoon after the meeting, we headed to Gyumri for a few days. We arranged to stay with another PCV, Staci, who we really just met when she came to my house for Christmas. Gyumri is a large city in the northwest part of Armenia. There was a major earthquake there in 1988, and some of the rumble is still visible. The earthquake destroyed a majority of the buildings in Gyumri and they put the displaced families in “temporary” housing – old railroad cars. They scattered these around the city, wherever they could find a flat, clean spot. There are still about 7,000 families living in this housing around the city. We walked around Gyumri quite a bit and it’s astonishing to see these “homes” right next to newer housing. In one of the city’s squares, there are 2 big churches, one of which was destroyed in the earthquake. The other was saved by the fact that it’s spires were built so as to absorb the shock and shoot off onto the ground. It’s amazing to see the remains of such destruction. Barbara, one of the PCVs stationed in Gyumri only since August, has done an incredible amount of research on the city and was very helpful on our walks. There is also somewhat of a walking tour, with explanations of the buildings and their history throughout the city. I hope to go back to Gyumri in the summer.
There is a wonderful fish restaurant in Gyumri where we ate Tuesday night. It’s called “The Fish House,” at least by the PCVs. It is attached to a fish hatchery and right on a river. The fish was delicious, as was the rest of the meal. There were 10 of us at dinner and we had a good time. On New Year’s Eve, we all, 14 of us, met at Amanda’s for dinner. She made a wonderful Greek chicken meal. Some of us, myself included, didn’t make it til midnight. But we were all together again the next day for dinner, which Staci and Barbara had made – ham, potatoes au gratin, garlic bread. It was nice to celebrate with the other PCVs. New Year’s is very big here, with most of the stores were closed and some will not open until tomorrow or even next week.
Saturday, Shannon and I left Gyumri and headed to Karashamb, the village I lived in during the summer, to visit my old host family. Of course the road network in Armenia is almost non-existent, so we had to come all the way back to Yerevan and then head to Karashamb. We wound up taking a taxi, because the marshutneys were all too crowded. We must have gotten the only taxi driver who didn’t know where Karashamb is. As it turned out, we met some of my family in a town before Karashamb, at a cousin’s house. One of the customs here surrounding New Year’s is that you visit your relatives and eat at each house. Each house has a table full of food: fresh ham, 3 or 4 vegetable salads, bread, small egg roll like things, nuts, pastry, fruit, and of course wine, vodka, and cognac. We wound up going to 3 houses and by that time I was stuffed. I was so glad we went, because it meant so much to that family. Some of the extended family had come to see me, and others called while we were there. They wanted us to stay the night, but I knew we would be putting someone out of their bed, so we declined. I will definitely go back to visit them this summer.
We got back to Yerevan and the hostel about 7:30 last night. It was nice to see all the lights and decorations in the city. These will stay up until sometime after Jan. 6th, their Christmas. Today as we walked around the city, we saw that most of the stores and even the restaurants are closed. Most will reopen tomorrow, but some take the whole week off. Tomorrow we head back to Kapan, to our own houses. It’s been nice to visit different areas and people, but it’ll be nice to be home again. Hopefully schools will reopen on Jan. 11th and I’ll get back to work.
January 8, 2010
Our trip back to Kapan was a bit nerve-wracking since they had had snow in some of the areas we had to drive through. The road in some places was icy and snowcovered. We passed one snow plow and a sander. Actually the sander consisted of 2 men in the back of a truck throwing shovels full of sand alternately on the road. But it worked and we made it safely back. I was glad to see that there wasn’t any snow on the 2 mountain roads just outside of Kapan, since they are a series of switch backs, which I’m not too sure I want to do on ice and snow.
This has been a very relaxing week, especially since a lot of the other PCVs are still away and a lot of the stores are closed. I spent most of the week either reading, crocheting, or doing jigsaw puzzles. We had snow most of Tuesday so it was a good day to stay inside. However, it has almost all melted since the weather got warmer again. This has been an unseasonably mild winter.
I’ve also had time to do some cooking, which is another adventure here. While their diet is not that spicy or that unlike our own, there are certain spices that they don’t have here, so I’ve had to improvise with some recipes. I did make applesauce the other day, which was really good with the French toast I made this morning. They don’t have syrup here, so I substituted the applesauce for it. They also don’t have tomato sauce or marinara sauce, but have tomato paste. So when I could still find fresh tomatoes and green peppers, I would add those to the paste, sometimes with carrots, and make a marinara sauce. However, I can no longer find either, so I’ll have to find another way to doctor up the tomato paste.
I spent most of today outdoors, since it was so nice out. This morning I broke apart one of the trees that my neighbor had taken down and laid outside my basement door. I’ll use the small pieces for kindling to start my wood stove. This afternoon I went for a hike and again foraged for kindling. It’s amazing the amount of wood that I use without even having it get too hot. My supply of fire wood had gotten pretty low, which has made me realize the value of forests and the value of rationing what I do have. And I’ve found that using different size kindling helps to start the fire. I am learning so much about fires and wood stoves! But it was a nice day and it was a good excuse to be outside. I’ll probably look for some more tomorrow, especially if it’s nice out again.
I have also realized these past few weeks that I had gotten used to being able to check my email on an almost daily basis. However not being in school and with most of the businesses closed in Kapan, I haven’t been online in over a week. It made me think of the Peace Corps volunteers who served before the advent of email and cell phones. My admiration for what they must have experienced, the loneliness and sense of isolation from family and friends, has grown considerably. When I came to Armenia in June, I didn’t expect to have such regular access to an online computer, but I quickly became spoiled and used to it. Some things we just take for granted as part of everyday life, when in reality they are anything but in a large part of the world.
Monday, December 28, 2009
December 27, 2009
Merry Christmas!!! I hope you all had a very blessed and joyful Christmas. While I wasn’t with my family, I thought of you all often throughout the day. Spending Christmas in a different culture has been very interesting. But first let me catch you up on what’s been going on here since I last wrote.
There was a lot of sickness, seasonal flu they called it, in November and early December. There were some reported cases of the H1N1 flu, mostly in the capital city. So, on Dec. 7th, the Minister of Education announced that all schools would be closed for 10 days, reopening Dec. 21. This meant that I basically had 10 days off. While it was nice to have some unexpected time off, that isn’t exactly why I joined the Peace Corps. However, I decided to use the time as best I could to plan for the next half year. I had found that not knowing the curriculum and not having had a chance to look at all the books being used was getting harder the more we got into the school year. So, I’ve been going through the books used in each form (grade), picking out the grammar being introduced and making up exercises and activities for it.
I’ve also had lots of time for crocheting. I am so thankful that I know how to crochet, for it has been a real time filler for me. So far I have made 6 afghans, a scarf, hat and a placemat. Four of the afghans were for other PCVs who had bought the yarn and I just supplied the labor. I have one more afghan to make for another PCV and then I’ll move onto something else. Luckily there are quite a few yarn stores in the town near me, and a great one in the capital city that I go into whenever I’m up there. I might even try to learn how to knit, since that’s more popular among volunteers so I’ll have access to more patterns.
Each day I tried to take a walk, sometimes down to the town, other days just around the village. The people in the village have gotten used to seeing me walking around. They don’t walk just for the sake of exercise, but in order to go some where. At first they couldn’t understand why I was just out walking, but now that just accept that that’s what I like to do. Besides good exercise, it’s a good way to meet some of the villagers.
One of the other PCVs, Shannon, moved into a new apartment last weekend, so we helped her move her stuff. It’s very interesting seeing the looks on people’s faces as we walked from one place to the other with all her stuff. We only had to make two trips, which was good because she moved into an apartment on the 5th floor, with no elevator.
I found out on Sat., Dec. 19, that the schools were not reopening until Jan. 11th, so I will have had 5 full weeks off. I was disappointed that schools were not reopening, since I came here to help in the schools, but I realize that for health reasons it’s better to keep them closed. So I have decided to take a road trip next week, with Shannon, to visit some of the other volunteers in the northern part of this country.
I used this past week to get ready for Christmas dinner and my overnight guests and to relax a little. It was strange not having any last minute Christmas shopping to do, or any crowds to hassle with. In Armenia they celebrate Christmas on Jan. 6th, but their really big celebration is on New Year’s Eve/Day. That is when they exchange presents and gather at people’s houses, and have fireworks. So their last minute shopping is happening now. They are also just putting up their decorations, when I know in the States some are already taking down their decorations.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day turned out really nice. 25 of us gathered at Barbara’s apartment for Christmas Eve dinner and then they all came up to my house for Christmas dinner. For most of the younger volunteers this was their first Christmas without any family, so it was good for them to be with the rest of us. I had 4 stay at my house and we sang Christmas carols Friday morning while we got everything ready. We had a grab bag so everyone got a gift and they could exchange among themselves if they wanted. Not too many did. While we didn’t have a lot of Christmas decorations, we did have some. Thanks to Jackie and Brendan, I had a stocking and a small Christmas tree, to which we added a reindeer. Actually the reindeer had started out as a paper maiche spider for Halloween, then was transformed into a turkey for Thanksgiving, and now is a reindeer. A little imagination and good old US ingenuity go a long way here.
In some ways for me it was like being with my family. Most of the younger volunteers are the ages of my own children and some of them even call me Mom. I enjoy being with them, as I enjoy being with my own children. Having them here definitely made it easier on me not to be with my family. The one thing I really missed, besides my family, was being able to go to Church. There are no Catholic Churches in Armenia, at least in the part where I am. So I have decided that next Christmas I will visit Georgia, where there are Catholic Churches.
As New Year approaches my wish for all of you is peace and happiness.
Merry Christmas!!! I hope you all had a very blessed and joyful Christmas. While I wasn’t with my family, I thought of you all often throughout the day. Spending Christmas in a different culture has been very interesting. But first let me catch you up on what’s been going on here since I last wrote.
There was a lot of sickness, seasonal flu they called it, in November and early December. There were some reported cases of the H1N1 flu, mostly in the capital city. So, on Dec. 7th, the Minister of Education announced that all schools would be closed for 10 days, reopening Dec. 21. This meant that I basically had 10 days off. While it was nice to have some unexpected time off, that isn’t exactly why I joined the Peace Corps. However, I decided to use the time as best I could to plan for the next half year. I had found that not knowing the curriculum and not having had a chance to look at all the books being used was getting harder the more we got into the school year. So, I’ve been going through the books used in each form (grade), picking out the grammar being introduced and making up exercises and activities for it.
I’ve also had lots of time for crocheting. I am so thankful that I know how to crochet, for it has been a real time filler for me. So far I have made 6 afghans, a scarf, hat and a placemat. Four of the afghans were for other PCVs who had bought the yarn and I just supplied the labor. I have one more afghan to make for another PCV and then I’ll move onto something else. Luckily there are quite a few yarn stores in the town near me, and a great one in the capital city that I go into whenever I’m up there. I might even try to learn how to knit, since that’s more popular among volunteers so I’ll have access to more patterns.
Each day I tried to take a walk, sometimes down to the town, other days just around the village. The people in the village have gotten used to seeing me walking around. They don’t walk just for the sake of exercise, but in order to go some where. At first they couldn’t understand why I was just out walking, but now that just accept that that’s what I like to do. Besides good exercise, it’s a good way to meet some of the villagers.
One of the other PCVs, Shannon, moved into a new apartment last weekend, so we helped her move her stuff. It’s very interesting seeing the looks on people’s faces as we walked from one place to the other with all her stuff. We only had to make two trips, which was good because she moved into an apartment on the 5th floor, with no elevator.
I found out on Sat., Dec. 19, that the schools were not reopening until Jan. 11th, so I will have had 5 full weeks off. I was disappointed that schools were not reopening, since I came here to help in the schools, but I realize that for health reasons it’s better to keep them closed. So I have decided to take a road trip next week, with Shannon, to visit some of the other volunteers in the northern part of this country.
I used this past week to get ready for Christmas dinner and my overnight guests and to relax a little. It was strange not having any last minute Christmas shopping to do, or any crowds to hassle with. In Armenia they celebrate Christmas on Jan. 6th, but their really big celebration is on New Year’s Eve/Day. That is when they exchange presents and gather at people’s houses, and have fireworks. So their last minute shopping is happening now. They are also just putting up their decorations, when I know in the States some are already taking down their decorations.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day turned out really nice. 25 of us gathered at Barbara’s apartment for Christmas Eve dinner and then they all came up to my house for Christmas dinner. For most of the younger volunteers this was their first Christmas without any family, so it was good for them to be with the rest of us. I had 4 stay at my house and we sang Christmas carols Friday morning while we got everything ready. We had a grab bag so everyone got a gift and they could exchange among themselves if they wanted. Not too many did. While we didn’t have a lot of Christmas decorations, we did have some. Thanks to Jackie and Brendan, I had a stocking and a small Christmas tree, to which we added a reindeer. Actually the reindeer had started out as a paper maiche spider for Halloween, then was transformed into a turkey for Thanksgiving, and now is a reindeer. A little imagination and good old US ingenuity go a long way here.
In some ways for me it was like being with my family. Most of the younger volunteers are the ages of my own children and some of them even call me Mom. I enjoy being with them, as I enjoy being with my own children. Having them here definitely made it easier on me not to be with my family. The one thing I really missed, besides my family, was being able to go to Church. There are no Catholic Churches in Armenia, at least in the part where I am. So I have decided that next Christmas I will visit Georgia, where there are Catholic Churches.
As New Year approaches my wish for all of you is peace and happiness.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all. This has been a busy two weeks for me. On Sunday, Nov. 15, I moved into my own house. I was fortunate to have the school director find this house for me and act as an intermediary with the landlord. The house has 2 bedrooms, a living room, eat in kitchen, and bathroom. For the winter I have closed off the 2 bedrooms, so I don’t have to heat them, and have set up myself in the living room. The house faces east, so I see the sunrise every morning. It’s wonderful!
Moving day was very interesting. My village doesn’t really have roads, so I had to take the path I usually take to school, which goes behind houses, up rock inclines, etc. Four other volunteers helped me move, which made it a lot easier, luckily one of them being a strong young man. I started to move some of the smaller boxes myself in the morning. On one trip one of my students came along on his donkey and took the boxes from me and he and his donkey followed me to my house. On the next trip, two other students came along and carried the boxes. The other volunteers came around noontime, and we were able to carry the rest in two trips. On the last trip, my young friend on the donkey came along again and once more carried the heavier boxes. It was quite a sight to see 5 Americans loaded down with stuff trudging along these paths, especially when the donkey joined us. Barbara had made soup and brought it with her, so we had lunch in my new abode, of course with a wine toast for good luck.
The only heat I had for the first few days were my electric heaters, which the Peace Corps provided, plus one that the owner had left. So that night I plugged in the owner’s heater and went to bed. Some time around 4 AM the heater blew a fuse so I woke up to no electricity! I thought the whole village was out, but I soon saw lights in the other houses, so I knew it was just me. Luckily the electrician was working in a neighbor’s house and soon discovered what had happened. He came to school to get me, and after a few minutes I had electricity, except in the one outlet, which also affected my refrigerator. That night I blew another outlet when I mistakenly plugged a heater into a surge protector which is also a converter. The electrician and I are becoming fast friends.
There was supposed to be a wood-burning stove in the basement of this house, but when I went to check it out, it wasn’t there. One of the advantages of living in a small village is that everyone knows what’s going on with everyone, so that afternoon my neighbor offered me his extra stove. My counterpart’s father installed the stove for me on Wednesday, which meant I was finally going to have heat. My counterpart had also arranged for another of my neighbors to deliver a meter of wood to me. That night I went to light the stove and discovered that I didn’t know how. Once again back to the electric heaters. When I saw my neighbor the next day he asked how the stove was and I told him I couldn’t light it. He came over and showed me how. Finally a working stove and a very warm house. He also brought over some Cognac, to welcome me as a neighbor, so I was warm inside and out.
The only thing that remains to be fixed in this house is the hot water heater. The old heater had been ruined a few years ago when the pipes froze and burst. I’m supposed to find out today what size geiser I need and then my friend the electrician will come and install that and fix the other two outlets. It’s been adventure moving and settling into my new house, but it’s worth it. Paraphrasing Hillary Clinton, it takes a village to train a Peace Corps Volunteer.
This past week we had an All Volunteer Conference in the capital city, Yerevan. There are currently 79 Peace Corps Volunteers in this country. My group went to Yerevan on Friday for 2 days of meetings and the other group joined us on Sunday. It was great to see all the PCVs I had trained with and catch up with them and compare notes on how we’re doing. Some of the meetings were specific to each sector, so for instance all the TEFLs met as a group and discussed our common problems ad frustrations. There was also a development fair, with representatives from different organizations active in this country. My only problem is that not a lot of organizations come down to where I am. But it’s nice to know they have a presence in the country and maybe if we keep pressuring them, they will eventually come down.
The highlight of the Conference was Tuesday night when we celebrated Thanksgiving with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. All of the volunteers participated in the preparations in one way or another. I was on the decorating committee, so we had a huge paper maiche turkey on the food table and small turkeys on every other table. We also made hats for everyone and placemats. The food was so good. We had 7 turkeys, stuffing, cranberry sauce, breads, a ton of different vegetables and of course pies. The night ended with a talent show that was a lot of fun. While I wasn’t with family and friends, I was with my new family and friends and all of you were remembered during our moment of silence. Yesterday at school, I brought in wine and chocolates to celebrate Thanksgiving with the staff (that’s how they celebrate things in my school). It was nice to be able to explain this holiday and share some of it with them. Last night 4 of us got together again for dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. I have a lot to be thankful for this year, not the least of which is the support of all my family and friends back home.
Friday, November 27, 2009
A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all. This has been a busy two weeks for me. On Sunday, Nov. 15, I moved into my own house. I was fortunate to have the school director find this house for me and act as an intermediary with the landlord. The house has 2 bedrooms, a living room, eat in kitchen, and bathroom. For the winter I have closed off the 2 bedrooms, so I don’t have to heat them, and have set up myself in the living room. The house faces east, so I see the sunrise every morning. It’s wonderful!
Moving day was very interesting. My village doesn’t really have roads, so I had to take the path I usually take to school, which goes behind houses, up rock inclines, etc. Four other volunteers helped me move, which made it a lot easier, luckily one of them being a strong young man. I started to move some of the smaller boxes myself in the morning. On one trip one of my students came along on his donkey and took the boxes from me and he and his donkey followed me to my house. On the next trip, two other students came along and carried the boxes. The other volunteers came around noontime, and we were able to carry the rest in two trips. On the last trip, my young friend on the donkey came along again and once more carried the heavier boxes. It was quite a sight to see 5 Americans loaded down with stuff trudging along these paths, especially when the donkey joined us. Barbara had made soup and brought it with her, so we had lunch in my new abode, of course with a wine toast for good luck.
The only heat I had for the first few days were my electric heaters, which the Peace Corps provided, plus one that the owner had left. So that night I plugged in the owner’s heater and went to bed. Some time around 4 AM the heater blew a fuse so I woke up to no electricity! I thought the whole village was out, but I soon saw lights in the other houses, so I knew it was just me. Luckily the electrician was working in a neighbor’s house and soon discovered what had happened. He came to school to get me, and after a few minutes I had electricity, except in the one outlet, which also affected my refrigerator. That night I blew another outlet when I mistakenly plugged a heater into a surge protector which is also a converter. The electrician and I are becoming fast friends.
There was supposed to be a wood-burning stove in the basement of this house, but when I went to check it out, it wasn’t there. One of the advantages of living in a small village is that everyone knows what’s going on with everyone, so that afternoon my neighbor offered me his extra stove. My counterpart’s father installed the stove for me on Wednesday, which meant I was finally going to have heat. My counterpart had also arranged for another of my neighbors to deliver a meter of wood to me. That night I went to light the stove and discovered that I didn’t know how. Once again back to the electric heaters. When I saw my neighbor the next day he asked how the stove was and I told him I couldn’t light it. He came over and showed me how. Finally a working stove and a very warm house. He also brought over some Cognac, to welcome me as a neighbor, so I was warm inside and out.
The only thing that remains to be fixed in this house is the hot water heater. The old heater had been ruined a few years ago when the pipes froze and burst. I’m supposed to find out today what size geiser I need and then my friend the electrician will come and install that and fix the other two outlets. It’s been adventure moving and settling into my new house, but it’s worth it. Paraphrasing Hillary Clinton, it takes a village to train a Peace Corps Volunteer.
This past week we had an All Volunteer Conference in the capital city, Yerevan. There are currently 79 Peace Corps Volunteers in this country. My group went to Yerevan on Friday for 2 days of meetings and the other group joined us on Sunday. It was great to see all the PCVs I had trained with and catch up with them and compare notes on how we’re doing. Some of the meetings were specific to each sector, so for instance all the TEFLs met as a group and discussed our common problems ad frustrations. There was also a development fair, with representatives from different organizations active in this country. My only problem is that not a lot of organizations come down to where I am. But it’s nice to know they have a presence in the country and maybe if we keep pressuring them, they will eventually come down.
The highlight of the Conference was Tuesday night when we celebrated Thanksgiving with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. All of the volunteers participated in the preparations in one way or another. I was on the decorating committee, so we had a huge paper maiche turkey on the food table and small turkeys on every other table. We also made hats for everyone and placemats. The food was so good. We had 7 turkeys, stuffing, cranberry sauce, breads, a ton of different vegetables and of course pies. The night ended with a talent show that was a lot of fun. While I wasn’t with family and friends, I was with my new family and friends and all of you were remembered during our moment of silence. Yesterday at school, I brought in wine and chocolates to celebrate Thanksgiving with the staff (that’s how they celebrate things in my school). It was nice to be able to explain this holiday and share some of it with them. Last night 4 of us got together again for dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. I have a lot to be thankful for this year, not the least of which is the support of all my family and friends back home.
A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all. This has been a busy two weeks for me. On Sunday, Nov. 15, I moved into my own house. I was fortunate to have the school director find this house for me and act as an intermediary with the landlord. The house has 2 bedrooms, a living room, eat in kitchen, and bathroom. For the winter I have closed off the 2 bedrooms, so I don’t have to heat them, and have set up myself in the living room. The house faces east, so I see the sunrise every morning. It’s wonderful!
Moving day was very interesting. My village doesn’t really have roads, so I had to take the path I usually take to school, which goes behind houses, up rock inclines, etc. Four other volunteers helped me move, which made it a lot easier, luckily one of them being a strong young man. I started to move some of the smaller boxes myself in the morning. On one trip one of my students came along on his donkey and took the boxes from me and he and his donkey followed me to my house. On the next trip, two other students came along and carried the boxes. The other volunteers came around noontime, and we were able to carry the rest in two trips. On the last trip, my young friend on the donkey came along again and once more carried the heavier boxes. It was quite a sight to see 5 Americans loaded down with stuff trudging along these paths, especially when the donkey joined us. Barbara had made soup and brought it with her, so we had lunch in my new abode, of course with a wine toast for good luck.
The only heat I had for the first few days were my electric heaters, which the Peace Corps provided, plus one that the owner had left. So that night I plugged in the owner’s heater and went to bed. Some time around 4 AM the heater blew a fuse so I woke up to no electricity! I thought the whole village was out, but I soon saw lights in the other houses, so I knew it was just me. Luckily the electrician was working in a neighbor’s house and soon discovered what had happened. He came to school to get me, and after a few minutes I had electricity, except in the one outlet, which also affected my refrigerator. That night I blew another outlet when I mistakenly plugged a heater into a surge protector which is also a converter. The electrician and I are becoming fast friends.
There was supposed to be a wood-burning stove in the basement of this house, but when I went to check it out, it wasn’t there. One of the advantages of living in a small village is that everyone knows what’s going on with everyone, so that afternoon my neighbor offered me his extra stove. My counterpart’s father installed the stove for me on Wednesday, which meant I was finally going to have heat. My counterpart had also arranged for another of my neighbors to deliver a meter of wood to me. That night I went to light the stove and discovered that I didn’t know how. Once again back to the electric heaters. When I saw my neighbor the next day he asked how the stove was and I told him I couldn’t light it. He came over and showed me how. Finally a working stove and a very warm house. He also brought over some Cognac, to welcome me as a neighbor, so I was warm inside and out.
The only thing that remains to be fixed in this house is the hot water heater. The old heater had been ruined a few years ago when the pipes froze and burst. I’m supposed to find out today what size geiser I need and then my friend the electrician will come and install that and fix the other two outlets. It’s been adventure moving and settling into my new house, but it’s worth it. Paraphrasing Hillary Clinton, it takes a village to train a Peace Corps Volunteer.
This past week we had an All Volunteer Conference in the capital city, Yerevan. There are currently 79 Peace Corps Volunteers in this country. My group went to Yerevan on Friday for 2 days of meetings and the other group joined us on Sunday. It was great to see all the PCVs I had trained with and catch up with them and compare notes on how we’re doing. Some of the meetings were specific to each sector, so for instance all the TEFLs met as a group and discussed our common problems ad frustrations. There was also a development fair, with representatives from different organizations active in this country. My only problem is that not a lot of organizations come down to where I am. But it’s nice to know they have a presence in the country and maybe if we keep pressuring them, they will eventually come down.
The highlight of the Conference was Tuesday night when we celebrated Thanksgiving with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. All of the volunteers participated in the preparations in one way or another. I was on the decorating committee, so we had a huge paper maiche turkey on the food table and small turkeys on every other table. We also made hats for everyone and placemats. The food was so good. We had 7 turkeys, stuffing, cranberry sauce, breads, a ton of different vegetables and of course pies. The night ended with a talent show that was a lot of fun. While I wasn’t with family and friends, I was with my new family and friends and all of you were remembered during our moment of silence. Yesterday at school, I brought in wine and chocolates to celebrate Thanksgiving with the staff (that’s how they celebrate things in my school). It was nice to be able to explain this holiday and share some of it with them. Last night 4 of us got together again for dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. I have a lot to be thankful for this year, not the least of which is the support of all my family and friends back home.
Friday, November 27, 2009
A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all. This has been a busy two weeks for me. On Sunday, Nov. 15, I moved into my own house. I was fortunate to have the school director find this house for me and act as an intermediary with the landlord. The house has 2 bedrooms, a living room, eat in kitchen, and bathroom. For the winter I have closed off the 2 bedrooms, so I don’t have to heat them, and have set up myself in the living room. The house faces east, so I see the sunrise every morning. It’s wonderful!
Moving day was very interesting. My village doesn’t really have roads, so I had to take the path I usually take to school, which goes behind houses, up rock inclines, etc. Four other volunteers helped me move, which made it a lot easier, luckily one of them being a strong young man. I started to move some of the smaller boxes myself in the morning. On one trip one of my students came along on his donkey and took the boxes from me and he and his donkey followed me to my house. On the next trip, two other students came along and carried the boxes. The other volunteers came around noontime, and we were able to carry the rest in two trips. On the last trip, my young friend on the donkey came along again and once more carried the heavier boxes. It was quite a sight to see 5 Americans loaded down with stuff trudging along these paths, especially when the donkey joined us. Barbara had made soup and brought it with her, so we had lunch in my new abode, of course with a wine toast for good luck.
The only heat I had for the first few days were my electric heaters, which the Peace Corps provided, plus one that the owner had left. So that night I plugged in the owner’s heater and went to bed. Some time around 4 AM the heater blew a fuse so I woke up to no electricity! I thought the whole village was out, but I soon saw lights in the other houses, so I knew it was just me. Luckily the electrician was working in a neighbor’s house and soon discovered what had happened. He came to school to get me, and after a few minutes I had electricity, except in the one outlet, which also affected my refrigerator. That night I blew another outlet when I mistakenly plugged a heater into a surge protector which is also a converter. The electrician and I are becoming fast friends.
There was supposed to be a wood-burning stove in the basement of this house, but when I went to check it out, it wasn’t there. One of the advantages of living in a small village is that everyone knows what’s going on with everyone, so that afternoon my neighbor offered me his extra stove. My counterpart’s father installed the stove for me on Wednesday, which meant I was finally going to have heat. My counterpart had also arranged for another of my neighbors to deliver a meter of wood to me. That night I went to light the stove and discovered that I didn’t know how. Once again back to the electric heaters. When I saw my neighbor the next day he asked how the stove was and I told him I couldn’t light it. He came over and showed me how. Finally a working stove and a very warm house. He also brought over some Cognac, to welcome me as a neighbor, so I was warm inside and out.
The only thing that remains to be fixed in this house is the hot water heater. The old heater had been ruined a few years ago when the pipes froze and burst. I’m supposed to find out today what size geiser I need and then my friend the electrician will come and install that and fix the other two outlets. It’s been adventure moving and settling into my new house, but it’s worth it. Paraphrasing Hillary Clinton, it takes a village to train a Peace Corps Volunteer.
This past week we had an All Volunteer Conference in the capital city, Yerevan. There are currently 79 Peace Corps Volunteers in this country. My group went to Yerevan on Friday for 2 days of meetings and the other group joined us on Sunday. It was great to see all the PCVs I had trained with and catch up with them and compare notes on how we’re doing. Some of the meetings were specific to each sector, so for instance all the TEFLs met as a group and discussed our common problems ad frustrations. There was also a development fair, with representatives from different organizations active in this country. My only problem is that not a lot of organizations come down to where I am. But it’s nice to know they have a presence in the country and maybe if we keep pressuring them, they will eventually come down.
The highlight of the Conference was Tuesday night when we celebrated Thanksgiving with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. All of the volunteers participated in the preparations in one way or another. I was on the decorating committee, so we had a huge paper maiche turkey on the food table and small turkeys on every other table. We also made hats for everyone and placemats. The food was so good. We had 7 turkeys, stuffing, cranberry sauce, breads, a ton of different vegetables and of course pies. The night ended with a talent show that was a lot of fun. While I wasn’t with family and friends, I was with my new family and friends and all of you were remembered during our moment of silence. Yesterday at school, I brought in wine and chocolates to celebrate Thanksgiving with the staff (that’s how they celebrate things in my school). It was nice to be able to explain this holiday and share some of it with them. Last night 4 of us got together again for dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. I have a lot to be thankful for this year, not the least of which is the support of all my family and friends back home.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Today is the traditional Veterans’ Day and lately I’m always reminded of the trip to Washington,DC, with Colin when he won the Veterans’ Day poster contest. It was quite an experience to be part of the traditional ceremony at Arlington, and of course having breakfast at the White House was also awesome.
The weather here has turned colder. But I can’t complain as we had an incredibly warm October. We’ve been using the wood burning stove the last few nights. In fact for the past two nights I’ve been sitting by the stove and crocheting. Yesterday we didn’t have electricity from about 10:30 AM until 6:30 PM, so we all sat around the stove until the lights came on. I’ll have to make sure I have candles when I move. They don’t lose electricity a lot, but they are putting in new poles for the wires, so they shut it off occasionally. Just another reminder that I’m in the Peace Corps.
I will be moving this weekend into my own house. It’s a 2 bedroom house, but I’ll probably close off the bedrooms in the winter and use the living room, so I won’t have to heat the whole house. I’ll have a wood burning stove for heat, which will be an experience. But I’ll also have 2 electric heaters for help. The house is a lot closer to the school and will cut out the most “interesting” part of the walk to school. I have gotten used to my walk in the morning and afternoon, but I’ll find other times for walking. I’m especially glad to be moving before we have any snow. Some people have told me to expect to be snowed in a few times this winter. I can’t wait.
Next weekend all the PCVs in this country gather for a conference in the capital city. I’m looking forward to seeing some of the other new volunteers that I haven’t seen since coming to my site. It’ll also give me a chance to get some more yarn from this great yarn store I found on my last visit there. I want to stock up so I have something to do in case I do get snowed in.
The school here is still under the old Soviet style influence, which is rote memorization of the text, without any real comprehension. The students aren’t encouraged to use critical thinking or to think outside of the box. The teachers have very little in terms of outside materials or visual aids. It’s been interesting to watch their interest in the few things I’ve introduced here, like a graphic organization, Venn diagram, etc. And the students really get excited by them as well and look forward to their English lessons to see what new thing they’ll get. They only have English twice a week, and unfortunately none of their parents speak English so it’s not reinforced at home, so it’s a struggle for them, and us. But little by little they are beginning to use more English, at least in my class.
I have really been fortunate with my counterpart. Taguhie speaks very good English and is eager to try new approaches to teaching. We are very similar in our outlooks. She has also been a great help in arranging for my house, and in translating for me. I’m still struggling with the language, so I rely on her a lot.
This blog is being posted 2 days later because we haven't had electricity but there also wasn't any gas in the town for the cars or buses. Ah yes, life as a Peace Corps volunteer!!
Today is the traditional Veterans’ Day and lately I’m always reminded of the trip to Washington,DC, with Colin when he won the Veterans’ Day poster contest. It was quite an experience to be part of the traditional ceremony at Arlington, and of course having breakfast at the White House was also awesome.
The weather here has turned colder. But I can’t complain as we had an incredibly warm October. We’ve been using the wood burning stove the last few nights. In fact for the past two nights I’ve been sitting by the stove and crocheting. Yesterday we didn’t have electricity from about 10:30 AM until 6:30 PM, so we all sat around the stove until the lights came on. I’ll have to make sure I have candles when I move. They don’t lose electricity a lot, but they are putting in new poles for the wires, so they shut it off occasionally. Just another reminder that I’m in the Peace Corps.
I will be moving this weekend into my own house. It’s a 2 bedroom house, but I’ll probably close off the bedrooms in the winter and use the living room, so I won’t have to heat the whole house. I’ll have a wood burning stove for heat, which will be an experience. But I’ll also have 2 electric heaters for help. The house is a lot closer to the school and will cut out the most “interesting” part of the walk to school. I have gotten used to my walk in the morning and afternoon, but I’ll find other times for walking. I’m especially glad to be moving before we have any snow. Some people have told me to expect to be snowed in a few times this winter. I can’t wait.
Next weekend all the PCVs in this country gather for a conference in the capital city. I’m looking forward to seeing some of the other new volunteers that I haven’t seen since coming to my site. It’ll also give me a chance to get some more yarn from this great yarn store I found on my last visit there. I want to stock up so I have something to do in case I do get snowed in.
The school here is still under the old Soviet style influence, which is rote memorization of the text, without any real comprehension. The students aren’t encouraged to use critical thinking or to think outside of the box. The teachers have very little in terms of outside materials or visual aids. It’s been interesting to watch their interest in the few things I’ve introduced here, like a graphic organization, Venn diagram, etc. And the students really get excited by them as well and look forward to their English lessons to see what new thing they’ll get. They only have English twice a week, and unfortunately none of their parents speak English so it’s not reinforced at home, so it’s a struggle for them, and us. But little by little they are beginning to use more English, at least in my class.
I have really been fortunate with my counterpart. Taguhie speaks very good English and is eager to try new approaches to teaching. We are very similar in our outlooks. She has also been a great help in arranging for my house, and in translating for me. I’m still struggling with the language, so I rely on her a lot.
This blog is being posted 2 days later because we haven't had electricity but there also wasn't any gas in the town for the cars or buses. Ah yes, life as a Peace Corps volunteer!!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
We have been having incredibly nice and warm weather for October in Armenia. It’s been cool in the mornings, but by mid-afternoon, it generally gets up to about 70. I’m thankful that I don’t have to be at school first thing in the morning, so when I do leave it’s already starting to warm up. It’s also been good for drying the clothes, which have to be hung out because there are no dryers here.
This week we have off from school for Fall break. While I’m enjoying the teaching, it’ll be nice to have some time to regroup and get ready for the next two months until the Christmas break. On Saturday there is a conference in Yerevan for TEFLs, my friend Barbara and I will go up on Friday and return on Sunday. This will be only my second time up to Yerevan, and I’m looking forward to being able to walk around it for a while. It’s a really fascinating city, with the old and new mixed in with one another. There are a lot of traces of the Soviet era, yet also a lot of new building going on.
Yesterday I walked down to Kapan, which is about 5 ½ kilometers, all downhill. I really enjoy this walk, because you notice different things when walking and you have the time to take them in. Like on Sunday I was walking and all of a sudden I noticed these vibrant yellow and orange leaves on a tree growing out of rock. I’ve probably started on this walk about 10 times so far, but only walked the whole way about 3 or 4. The other times people who are driving down will stop and give me a ride. This is one of the things I like about it here, the hospitality of the people. They seldom pass by anyone without asking if they want a ride. I’ve tried to refuse a few times, but they are insistent. In a way, it’s a good way to meet the people, although most of them are not villagers, but rather visitors to the village.
The one thing I’ve noticed is that Armenians do not just walk for the pleasure of it, or for exercise. Whenever I go out for a walk, they always ask where I’m going. When I say I’m just walking, they look at me strangely, and ask why. When they walk, they have a destination in mind, a purpose. My host family is finally getting used to my just walking, and I think some of the other villagers are also. I’ve been taking my camera with me lately and have gotten some wonderful shots. One day, when I just started out, I saw 4 of the village youngsters playing in the village center and I took their picture. They then posed for me and of course wanted to see the pictures. They were all smiles and giggles.
There’s this older man in the village who is blind. He usually sits on the bench in the center and I pass him about 3 or 4 times a week. He always calls out hello and I answer him. Last week, I stopped and introduced myself to him and explained who I was and why I am in the village. He now calls me the English woman, because I said I was teaching English in the school.
We have been having incredibly nice and warm weather for October in Armenia. It’s been cool in the mornings, but by mid-afternoon, it generally gets up to about 70. I’m thankful that I don’t have to be at school first thing in the morning, so when I do leave it’s already starting to warm up. It’s also been good for drying the clothes, which have to be hung out because there are no dryers here.
This week we have off from school for Fall break. While I’m enjoying the teaching, it’ll be nice to have some time to regroup and get ready for the next two months until the Christmas break. On Saturday there is a conference in Yerevan for TEFLs, my friend Barbara and I will go up on Friday and return on Sunday. This will be only my second time up to Yerevan, and I’m looking forward to being able to walk around it for a while. It’s a really fascinating city, with the old and new mixed in with one another. There are a lot of traces of the Soviet era, yet also a lot of new building going on.
Yesterday I walked down to Kapan, which is about 5 ½ kilometers, all downhill. I really enjoy this walk, because you notice different things when walking and you have the time to take them in. Like on Sunday I was walking and all of a sudden I noticed these vibrant yellow and orange leaves on a tree growing out of rock. I’ve probably started on this walk about 10 times so far, but only walked the whole way about 3 or 4. The other times people who are driving down will stop and give me a ride. This is one of the things I like about it here, the hospitality of the people. They seldom pass by anyone without asking if they want a ride. I’ve tried to refuse a few times, but they are insistent. In a way, it’s a good way to meet the people, although most of them are not villagers, but rather visitors to the village.
The one thing I’ve noticed is that Armenians do not just walk for the pleasure of it, or for exercise. Whenever I go out for a walk, they always ask where I’m going. When I say I’m just walking, they look at me strangely, and ask why. When they walk, they have a destination in mind, a purpose. My host family is finally getting used to my just walking, and I think some of the other villagers are also. I’ve been taking my camera with me lately and have gotten some wonderful shots. One day, when I just started out, I saw 4 of the village youngsters playing in the village center and I took their picture. They then posed for me and of course wanted to see the pictures. They were all smiles and giggles.
There’s this older man in the village who is blind. He usually sits on the bench in the center and I pass him about 3 or 4 times a week. He always calls out hello and I answer him. Last week, I stopped and introduced myself to him and explained who I was and why I am in the village. He now calls me the English woman, because I said I was teaching English in the school.
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