Today is my day off between Thanksgivings – I celebrated my first on Tuesday night with all of the Peace Corps volunteers, and will be going to Berd (a village in our region) to celebrate again tonight. While I certainly missed everyone1 in America quite a bit, it was a great time. Our celebration consisted of 100+ people, including volunteers and Peace Corps staff, and was complete with all the trimmings: turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean cassarole, and pumkin pie. It was delicious!, and I was very happy, as you can tell:
I should note the evening was prefaced with a blessing of the turkey, by a married couple who’s last name is “Gobble”. I’m sure they received enough trouble during childhood to want to make the best of it, so it is now their yearly tradition to initiate the turkey by standing over it and leading the crowd in a “GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE”. The video says it much better, which I’ll try to get posted in Thanksgiving Pt. 2, coming Sunday.
Of course, no Thanksgiving would be complete without watching football, so, as the resillient volunteers we are, watched a rousing copy of Rudy on DVD. A perfect end to a perfect evening. I think my friend Cheryl summed the evening up best (sorry girl, it’s a great pic – send it home to Mom)
I never proclaimed to be perticularly good at this blogging thing – so my apologies for this belated, long-overdue update. As with most everyone, a lot has happened over the past few weeks, so I’ll save you the time and give you a quick summary, with a few exciting highlights:
Projects:
- Handicap Accessibility for Noyemberyan’s School #2 – we’ve spent the past few weeks writing up a few grants for this projects, and we will know at the beginning of Decemember whether we get them or not. I really hope we do, as it’s a wonderful project, and will genuinly enrich the lives of people with disabilities in the area. I had the opportunity to meet with a family out in a village who is anxiously awaiting the acquisition of accessible ramps ands bathrooms for the schools. This certainly put a personal twist on the entire project. Wish us luck!! Interestingly enough, nearly everyone at the school has asked us (the PC Vols) to speak with the grant organization directly about the project. According to them, you just can’t win a grant in this country without knowing someone on the inside. I’m going to let my blind optimism take me through this the first time, so we’ll see how it works out.
- WiFi Internet – long story, but basically we ordered equipment, someone opened the box between the US and Armenia, and *poof*, no equipment. So, amidst dealing with the beuracracy of TWO government post offices, we’re set back another month. Goes to show that one bad apple really can spoil the whole bunch.
Perils:
- Everyday is really a peril here 🙂 – Usually there’s always something, whether continued host family drama (can December come to soon??), language, or some people’s genuine lack of motivation. Although, I think everything was summed up Yesterday, when Alex and I went to a cafe mid-day for some food and coffee. We expressed our desire for food (in Armenian), and sat down and waited. This was appearently our folly. We didn’t know the rules of restaraunt ettiquete, so an hour later and still hungry, I asked the manager where the food was. His look of total confusion summed it up – he obviously had no clue we wanted food. So much for four months of studying – back to the books for us!
- An Apple (vodka) a Day… – Being sick no fun for anyone, but I would like to compliment Peace Corps for their excellent medical care. It’s easily the best I’ve dealt with, and I even received a follow-up phone call today from my doctor. Now that’s service! FORTUNATELY for me, everyone here is born a doctor, and everyone knows the cure for all your problems is shots of homemade vodka. I learned this first hand from a not-to-be-identified highly-public authority figure, who invited me to his office when he heard I was sick. After asking me to sit, he goes to the door, looks outside to make sure his underlings are not around, and shuts the door. I have to admit I’m a bit nervous at this point, until he pulls out 2 cups and a 2L Coke bottle full of a mysterious clear-ish liquid (mind you, this is around noon-time). At this point nervousness shifts to downright fear, and upon my insistance that my doctor told me I can’t drink (which is true), he said, “Your doctor is a liar. I am your doctor now, and you need to drink this homemade vodka. Castro drinks it, which is why he’s still alive after all these years.” Luckily Alex saved me at the last minute – thanks bud!
I’m sure the post so far has everyone in a depressed mood, but that’s life here sometimes. However, as I recently learned, “Chika charik arants barik“, or every cloud has a silver lining. Fret not, family and friends, for I am happy, and my life is still full of…
Adventures:
- The Front Lines – As alluded to in the previous post, Alex and I took a hike a few weeks ago to a 1600 year old fort in a neighboring village, about 3km from the Azeri border. For all the worrying mothers and 3rd graders, it was completely safe, despite all the continued warnings that we would be shot by “Turkish Snipers” for going there. Of course, the fort is close to a heavily populated village, and sheep graze around it all day. People here have experienced a lot of loss, especially given Noyemeberyan’s history as a war town (it was briefly invaded in 1995). Subsequently, many are afraid to travel outside of their personal safety net, which is a shame, because this really is a beautiful country with a very rich history (they say the Garden of Eden was here in Armenia, very near my town). Anyway, we made it safe. Actually, given our supurb directional abilities, we got moderately sidetracked and decided to ask for directions. In our search for a guide, we stumbled across an unlikely, but highly trained adventurer. Of course, I’m talking about an 80 year old Grandmother at work in the field:
Together, we trudged a half mile across fields and forrests, all the while learning about her great-grandkids and how the stars are brighter in Armenia because it is “closer to God”. She was obviously right, because God knows how this woman made it all the way to the hill overlooking the fort, with us lagging behind short of breath. After our thank yous and kisses good bye, we adventured to the fort, climed on it with the aid of our sheep-herding friends, and took these breathtaking photos:
- The Noy’s 10th Birthday – this past week we celebrated Noyemberyan’s (or as well call it, The Noy) 10th birthday since becoming a town (it was a “village-like town”, whatever that means). I did learn that 10th Birthday Party really means Make Children Perform Traditional Armenian Dances Intersperesed With Shakira Remixes On Stage At School. I posted an album of pictures, but it was a great time. I have video too, so look for that soon.
- Garden of Eden – As previously mentioned, Armenia proclaims itself as the location of much Biblical history, including the site of Noah’s Ark (on top of Mount Ararat) and the Garden of Eden. While I’m not sure the stars shine much brighter here, I was finally convinced about the Garden of Eden this weekend, when I went to visit my host cousins’ gyug (village). It required about 30 minutes of walking, but the place was paradise. If I were to write the next Great Americ an Novel, it would be from there. Village life is a lot different, as it’s 700 people who a) speak no English, b) have never seen an American before and c) never seen someone as tall as me before. The combination was exhilirating, but I’ve probably never had a more relaxing, laughter-filled weekend in my life. It was very inspiring to see beautiful people and beautiful country, especially in the otherwise bleak world of Armenia. It was certainly better than a weekend at Club Med! Plus, would Club Med would offer you an invitation back for New Years to help slaughter the celebratory pig?? No pictures though – you can only experience it if you see it yourself.
Ok, this is long enough, I’ll continue this later. I need to continue work on the next Great American Blogpost anyway. Tsestestyoon Dzez!
First, and foremost, to alleviate the concerns of worrying grandparents, I am in fact not getting evicted from my house. The Russians decided not to make the trip to kick little old me out of their house, so I’m here for the long haul. This officially makes thie situation nothing more than a Red Scare.
Bad jokes aside, the past 7 days have been rather interesting. Thursday, the power went out for many hours in the middle of the day. To answer the ‘why?’ question, I only had to walk down the street. Sticking out of a large manhole was the largest bundle of electrical cables I’d ever seen. Of course, nothing goes better with exposed electricity then ZERO workers. Must have been the hourly coffee break. Just wish I had my camera.
Thursday was also my host Mom’s birthday party, so no English club for me this week :/ However, it was a good time, as all Armenian parties are. I especially love my Tatik (grandmother), who loves me to death for some reason and is convinced I am going to marry an Armenian woman. While the bar-b-que was a little ghetto, it all worked out and was a good time. Some pictures for your pleasure:
The birthday girl:
The Bar-B-Que pit (no, not homeless men1):
The infamous host Tatik:
The rest of the weekend was spent in Sissian, which is about the furthest point away from me in Armenia (8 hours in a sweltering marchutni). We left 8am Fri morning – at which I would like to point out the town was COMPLETEY dark. This place doesn’t really get going until about 10am. The weekend was a lot of fun though. We saw a lot of fun things, including a bridge over a small river, where one support was an old car shell (dead serious). Also, Sissian is famous for the “Armenian Stonehenge”. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves (the Stonehence, and tourist information center, respectively):
We also played the annual north vs. south Khash Bowl, where unfortunately the south prevailed, mainly due to the lack of subs for the north (hey, we’re Peace Corps, we’re not expected to excercise). Voching. We had a restaraunt rented out for the rest of the night, and so we partied, and I talked a lot of baseball trash to the 10+ volunteers from Michigan (although no one perticularly likes the Tigers).
The rest of the week has been a good time, and it’s finally getting back to normal. We’re submitting grants this week for the handicap accessibility project at School #2, and wi-fi is slowly but surely coming along. We’ll see. Today Alex and I are hiking to an old castle along the Azeri border, and Sunday we’re making another run to an old area church before the winter hits with full force. I leave you with the following photo, taken in front of the house I stayed in this weekend. Hopefully it encompasses Armenia for you:
Happy Friday the 13th! It’s been a busy past few weeks, with a hodgepodge of random things turning up nearly every day. The first, and probably most notable, is that I have a new roomate! This isn’t just any old roomate – it’s a 61 year old Canadian, who’s name is Alta Alta (yes, the same). He is here for three weeks and is working with my NGO on our big wireless internet project we hope to be launching soon. Theoretically, this will bring internet access to Noyemberian and two surrounding villages, serving over 12,000 people! While initially I thought it would be silly to have WiFi when there is no running water, I’ve come to realize maybe this place needs a kick into the 21st century. Anyway, he’s a very smart man, and the new system should be installed within a few months. I’m pretty excited myself…
Anyone can have a roomate, but what happened Wednesday morning defies even my imagination. I woke up around 9 to my host Mom calling me in to talk. Normally, it takes me about 30 minutes to wake up, so when she spouts off a lot of quick Armenian, including the words “you have to move!” and “the Russians are coming!”, I was naturally confused and wondered if North Korea started a second Cold War. To provide some quick background, I’m essentially squatting in an apartment, which my host mom is taking care of for a Russian family who moved out 10 years ago, but left their belongings behind. Appearently, they got wind that TWO people were living in their apartment, and called my host Mom, who freaked out way too early in the morning. Whoops – who knew squatting could get you into trouble? So anyway, we’re hoping they don’t show up and kick Alta and I out. I’m affectionately calling this situation the “Red Scare”.
When I’m not questioning where I will live, I’m staying busy around town. My clubs are unfolding nicely, and Thursday night I held the first “English Speaking Club” for people who want to practice their English. It was a good time and we had 13 people come, despite a heavy downpour. One of my favorite participants was my friend Armen, who is a 50 year old taxi driver, former engineer in Soviet times and has built himself three houses. He also learned English driving around listening to 1980s cassette tapes, talking to other volunteers, and reading an English dictionary for fun. This combination of teaching methods has elicited wonderful phrases such as “what a rip off”, “f*#$ing bad day”, and “I wouldn’t kick her out of my bed”.
- We started the club off with introductions, to which Armen noted “I am a spaceman from another planet, and I drive a taxi”
- Someone raised the question of good jokes in English, to which Armen offered a series of taxi driver jokes, including one about how women drivers are the same as “drunk soldiers on motorcycles” and the other about a naked female passenger. The 10 female/3 male crowd was moderately amused.
- Another winning joke of the night came from Alex’s host Mom:
A wife decides one day she wants to be the head of the household. She tells her husband this, and he knocks her unconcious. Their neighbor comes over and sees the wife lying on the floor, and asks “Why is she laying on the floor?” The husband responds, “She’s the head of the household, she can do whatever she wants.”
- In a non-club related incident, probably the funniest experience I’ve had in Armenia, came the other day when I told this Armenian women her fan on her computer was not working and she’d have to buy a new one. She insisted it was only dirty, and when I said that wasn’t why, she sprints out the door without saying a word. Completely confused, I continue my work, and she comes sprinting back in with a hair-dryer, plugs it in and starts spraying the insides of this computer. I was awestruck for about 5 minutes.
So, that’s a hint at the randomness of Armenia for you. Of course, there’s real work, too, but I’ll let you know when a project gets done. But if you don’t hear from me for a while, I may be “vacationing” in some Russians’ trunk. I just hope they have good WiFi there.