First of all, thank you to everyone who sent their thanks on my birthday – and I suppose thank you to Facebook for remembering. It means a lot to hear good words from people back home and it really does keep me going on those bad days.
For the big 2-3, I joined 10 other volunteers in a trip to another “village-like town”, Berd, which is about 2.5 hours away from me. We had a great time hear about each others’ sites, gossiping, eating CHIPS AND SALSA (all homeade), and afterwards we went to a restaraunt and ate BBQ (“horovats”), and then drank some imported liquor (“whiskey” and “jaegermeister”). And it cost more than $6.99] We ended the party like every good birthday party should end – with a riling game of charades at 4am.
The marchutni ride home the next day, however, was nothing short of terrible. Imagine cramming into your family station wagon back in 1979, no A/C, but with less room, a hangover and 2 hours of sleep. Sunday was a long day 😉
However, all’s been well since then. I’ve moved into my new host family, who is really great – I basically have my own apartment now, with a landlady who cooks and plays Nardi (backgammon) with me all the time. Not a bad deal! Look for pictures soon – hopefully this weekend. And finally, I finally reached a milestone in my Peace Corps service, and am now officially living the Eastern European stereotype:
My First Bucket Bath: Wednesday, August 30th, 2006.
In a lot of ways, I would consider myself lucky. Since passing through several different schools, homes, cities and states when I was younger, the moves have stopped. I’ve been blessed with great friends, a great education and a wonderful family, all in the great, and static, state of Missouri. However, after my years of good fortune, it’s time for one last move that might be the most heartbreaking of them all.
Armenia is a tough country, but the people here are amazingly resilient. In the past 100 years, they’ve survived through genocide, several political revolutions, a major earthquake, the breakup of the USSR, the subsequent corruption during the privatization phase, a major war with their neighbors, and presently an economic blockade around 80% of their borders. And to think I had it tough with a new fourth grade?
My current host family is no different. Our family, and generations before them, lived in Noyemberian for decades through the political and economic turmoil. Moreover, in the past 20 years, my host grandfather lost his job as a dentist, our town was invaded by Azerbaijan, my host father was killed in the same war, and during the rebuilding effort, my host mother lost her NGO (which supported families like hers) to government corruption. But they stuck it out in Noyemberian, through it all.
Today they reached their breaking point, and are leaving for Yerevan, the capital, for a chance at jobs, a chance at stability, and the security of their children’s futures. I have moved into a new host family, who is great and who I’ll write more about later, but once again saying goodbye to new friends. In the past few months these goodbyes have been overwhelming. Friends, administratively separated friends], and family in the states were tough, but now some of my best friends in Armenia, both fellow volunteers and host families who’ve become my family, are saying goodbye, too.
It’s enough to make me want to push forward, stay here for two years, and really make a difference in Noyemberian. I’ve realized the instability of my relationships here are quite the microcosm for all of Armenia. You never know if your friends, your family, your job, your city or your country will be here tomorrow. Armenia is a tough place to live, with little money and few jobs, no matter how much this blog may sugarcoat it. I can only hope that my goodbye, two years from now, will be met with a renewed Armenian spirit and the same good fortune that I left behind in America only two months ago.
On a positive note, my birthday went really well, thanks for all of those who left notes and sent me cards. Thank you notes are on the way, albeit a bit slowly ;). I will update more on the birthday party, and the new host family, later this week. Until then, perhaps just wish my host family luck and include them in your prayers. Godspeed…
So, I’m famous. There is a new post on the US-Armenian Embassy webpage about the swearing in ceremony, which you can read here. However, don’t miss the pictures at the bottom of the page. Sure enough – number one - myself and the US Ambassador shaking hands. Must be my new pointy Armenian shoes…
I also posted the care package list, and updated the “Peace Corps Service” section, with a guestimate of some of the projects I’ll be working on. Check ’em out einter (there) –>
Myself and another volunteer, Cheryl, put together a video for our going away party, with a lot of the pictures of our families and set it to music, along with some great video clips. I uploaded a compressed and subtitled version for everyone to download. It’s about 6mb, so it might be slow if you have dialup. I can also send it on CD if anyone would like a copy – please email me. Anyway, enjoy!