Kyle’s Journey in Armenia

My vacation to Turkey was really nice – it was very relaxing and felt like a real vacation. Because of this, the last 3 weeks here have been extremely busy, and it looks like there won’t be much downtime until I leave for Greece in November. So for those of you I haven’t written back in a while… sorry, this week I promise!

Right now I’m on the road – in between an IOC meeting on Sunday and a seminar I will deliver to teachers about integrating technology, I went to my friend Sarah Z’s village (she has a blog, too) to continue our marathon training with an 18 mile run (ugh!). Unfortunately, between late meetings and slow public buses, we didn’t get to her village until about 7 pm. At about 8, we started our run, which took about 3 hours – most of which was in the pitch black on a major highway. The first 12 miles were a piece of cake until the last 6, when we decided to run on the only lit section of road, a half-mile stretch of 24-hour fruit stands.

These stands are open all night, and there are actually beds and televisions out for the workers. It should be noted that each stand sells the EXACT same things, and there is nothing to differentiate one from the other. So, for one hour, we ran next to these stands and gradually developed a cheering session. Most people were just thouroughly confused, which I think can be summed up by Sarah’s quote, “The only thing funnier than the two of us running up and down this street lined with fruit stands is your shorts.” Yes, they are short, and I am tall, and this is funny to many Armenians. We finally made it though, and while I couldn’t stand up most of the rest of the night, I’m only a month away from running 26 miles through the heart of Athens! Here are some pictures of the fruit stands, and some of Sarah’s quotes she asked me to post:

“If we can train here…”
“It fits right in, it’s just like we’re littering.”
“I bet these socks won’t be white ever again.”
“I’m going to get a reputation in Ararat.” “You told them your name?!”

If you don’t understand all of these, it’s ok, neither do I. Anyway, If you only want to hear a random anecedote about my marathon training, you can stop here. If you’re actually interested at what I’m doing here, please click the link below to read on.

I’ve actually been really busy at my site lately. Here is what’s been taking up my time:

• Work at my NGO – We’ve been really going lately! We are looking to finish up the Peace Corps grant we received in May and will be delivering a free marketing training involving technology (web sites, brochures, digital images, etc). My NGO is publishing their first website. We will be offering our Internet clients person email and webpages soon. And for some reason I am involved in all of this!
• Our City – Together with my site mates Alex and Kevin, and a couple of really great local youth, we are putting on a week long day camp for upper form school children during their Autumn break the last week of April. The camp is a city simulation and will be persented in English. The students will elect government officials, create laws for their town, open businesses, and live and work in their city for one day. It will be a great program, will teach some much needed skills about being involved in their cities, and will keep them busy during their break! And thank you SOOO much to the Mid-Missouri RPCV group for sponsoring this project!!
• Handicap Accessibility at School 2 – Wait, didn’t I already do this? The group that sponsored our ramps, the Yerevan International Women’s Council, just gave us some more money they raised. So, we plan to do some bathroom renovations, making them handicap accessible. We will probably have to find a donor for this though (Peace Corps SPA?) so that’s one more thing to do. BUT, I’m really proud of this project – starting TODAY (Oct 1), 17 Special Ed students began studying at School #2 from the villages around Noyemberyan! I’m more than happy to do whatever it takes to ensure the continued integration of people with disabilities into school and public life whenever possible.
• IOC Armenia 2008 – One of my favorite parts of last summer, I am now on the planning commitee for International Outreach Camp Armenia 2008. I am helping to coordinate fundraising and logistics along with some Armenian counterparts. No doubt I will be Vanadzor much more than I could ever hope to be.
• 24, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Sopranos, etc – In our downtime, we’ve been watching a lot of TV on DVD. It’s been my savor, but I’m told I’m missing out on a great new show, Heroes. Anybody want to send me copies??

So, I don’t my upcoming vacations can come any too quick. Wish me luck, and hope all is well back home with everyone!!

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

6 Responses: