Sounds busy, eh? I thought things would quiet down after IOC, but it has been quite the opposite. Overall, things are going very well here. I have already come to realize my Peace Corps service is flying by way too fast; next Wednesday, the 15th, we swear in 47 new volunteers as the A-15 group. This of course means my half-way point is approaching quick, so I’m going to begin drafting my mid-year reflection in the next few days. Here’s what I’ve been busy with in the meantime:
Art Camp on the Mountain
The students of the Koghb Art School spend one month each summer on a mountain outside Noyemberyan. Many of them spend the night, painting the beautiful nature of our region by the day and eating bar-b-que and sleeping in tents at night. It’s quite the lifestyle; I was fortunate enough to visit a few weeks ago (although only for the day – I hope to spend a night before they come down). Their artwork is truly beautiful and I hope to bring some back with me to America if anyone is interested. I will post some samples one day. We had a great, relaxing day, starting with a tasty lunch, followed by a nap on the mountain-side, a hike to some caves, and culminating in some soccer at sunset. It was an amazing day. Some photos…
Vartivar
Vartivar is the summer holiday for Armenians; think a combination of Memorial Day, the 4th, and Labor Day. All of Noyemberyan descended into the woods to celebrate over horovats, dashi-dushi dancing and of course, pouring massive quantities of water all over one another. I went with my host family, Gohar and Mxo, to the forest (well, under a tree in some guy’s field) where we had a very nice picnic. Despite a small “gasoline fire” scare, all was well and a good time was had by all. It was especially nice to drench some of the little children who like to give their American friend trouble… suckers.
Mid-Service Conference
All of the volunteers from my group (37 out of 51 are left) met together this past week for our Mid-Service Conference, in which we reflected on our work from this past year, whined about our problems, and reunited with long-lost volunteers to make plans for vacations, COS trips, and the occasional work project. It was actually a very well put together conference by Peace Corps; we had a lot of time for relaxation, and they treated us like adults. We also had our doctor checkup and language test – I would like to report I am surviving on both accounts 😉 Oh, there was one more important thing. Here’s a hint, it prompted me to rename the conference “Mid-Service Shower”. And it was goooood.
Computer Camp
Now I am finally back at site and back to work. This week my NGO and I are coordinating a computer camp for 12 8th-10th grade students. We are teaching them how to search/use the internet, scan and manipulate photos in Photoshop, understand computer and networking hardware, and to make their own personal webpage! It is actual a pretty cool camp and is going really well so far (today was the first day). We have girls and one student with a disability (although he’s very good at computers) so we’re reaching a very good audience and it will hopefully be a great inspiration to the area youth. I know when I did computer camps at that age, it inspired me to continue studying – and look where it got me. Hopefully several of these campers will find some inspiration from our lessons and take it further in their lives. We also have a professional IT speaker, Garegin Chugaszyan, Information Technologies Foundation President, coming to talk about IT careers, so that should be good for them as well.
And all the rest…
Sorry this is such a long post, but it’s been busy 🙂 Otherwise things are going well with me. I was elected chairman of the Information and Communication Technology initiative for Peace Corps. I am still training for the Athens Classic Marathon in Greece on November 4th (more on that soon). I am climbing Mt. Ararat (Armenia’s national mountain) from September 5-9. And I get to see some loved ones1 over Christmas. Hard to believe what one can accomplish in a year, and what the next year will bring with just a little more experience under my belt. Stay tuned for mid-year reflections, coming soon to theaters near you.
16 days with some of the brightest Armenian students I’ve met, internationals from 5 countries, and a few hours of sleep every night defined International Outreach Camp (IOC) for me. IOC is an international program focusing on Civic Leadership for 18-25 year olds. I was a teacher at the camp, and I can only say it was an experience like none other!
The camp was a combination of classes (Civics, Country Studies and Sharing Cultures), all taught in English. It was designed to teach promising students the values of civic leadership, volunteering, critical thinking skills and appreciation for other cultures, while developing English speaking abilities. The camp was made possible through the help of 12 Peace Corps volunteers, 15 Armenian civic leaders, and the International Outreach Coalition. I think we accomplished all of our goals!
The camp itself was a wonderful experience. Ani, my Armenian co-teacher, and I taught a course called Country Studies. We analyzed the situations in the breakaways of Abkhazia and Kosovo to answer, “what makes a country?” and, “why are there breakaways?” The class was very successful in my eyes and I think the students learned a lot. We ended the 8-day course with our capstone experience, in which students invented their own country! It was very exciting to see the students use what they’d learned to make their own countries, complete with flags, histories, ethnic groups, religions and political systems. We surprised them further on the last day by randomly assigning several students to “break away” from their created state.
The students rounded out the week with excursions to various Armenian cultural sites, cultural presentations from our international students (representing Georgia, Russia, Lithuania and Turkey), a talent show and enumerable team cheers and events. The camp really showcased some of the amazing talent and potential Armenian youth have, and has re-motivated me for my second year of Peace Corps service. So much, in fact, that I have joined the Core Design Team for next year’s IOC camp, which I’m very excited about!!
It would be difficult to explain everything that happened at IOC, so instead I published our daily newsletters from the camp, which include daily summaries, articles from campers and staff, and a lot of interesting information about Armenia. I recommend you check them out:
Newsletters and pictures. I recommend the articles in day 9 and day 10, as they are a great end of camp reflection (I also have an article about my class in day 10’s).
As promised, construction has begun on our first concrete project as PCVs (sorry about the pun) – a wheelchair ramp at Noyemberyan School #2! The city of Noyemberyan was nice enough to contribute labor for the project, which was funded with the support of the Yerevan International Women’s Council. I am leaving for IOC camp today and will not be back in Noyemberyan until the 20th, so I will update again after that.
So far they have almost completed the ramp for the first story, and additional projects include making an accessible entrance from the street, fixing the second floor to make it accessible, and some small improvements to the rooms and bathrooms.
Here are some pictures of the project to date:
It certainly feels good to see something tangible, although the intangibles – the friends, fun, and experiences – still remain the best part. Plus I can’t really take much credit for building the thing; what can I say, I make a much better supervisor:
After a year of soul searching, experimenting with different teaching techniques, studying the Armenian language for hours upon hours and becoming one with nature, I’ve finally stumbled across the answer to the Great Peace Corps Question: what could forever bridge the Armenian and American people, and ultimately the world, in peace and harmony?
The answer came in a box I received from my sister today (thanks!). My host mom tore through the box, looking for something of interest, when it finally appeared before her. No, it wasn’t the movies, or the mac and cheese, or the peanut butter. It was bubble wrap.
I’ve never seen a 50 year old woman become more excited from anything in her life. She took not one, but all three sheets of bubble wrap and immediately popped every single bubble in a span of 3 minutes and 22 seconds. I was impressed. And that’s when I realized there’s not a single person in the world who can resist popping those little air pockets if they’re sitting in front of them. The look in their eyes is a combination of religious epiphany, their wedding night relived and the best steak dinner they’ve had, rolled into one. Maybe instead of grenades, we should throw bubble wrap. Just a thought, but I think the picture says it all:
Moral of the story: send me more care packages.