I am now writing from my new “office” at my NGO in Noyemberian. Training is finally over, and I have the illustrious certificate that officially makes me a Peace Corps volunteer:
The last week in Bazum was actually pretty crazy. Between teaching our computer class, which went well dispite the language barrier, finishing training and language, planning and executing a large going-away party for our village at my house, performing a 15 minute play all in Armenian, and the hardest part – preparing to say goodbye – it was a busy week! Everything went off without a hitch for the most part. The goodbyes were definetly the most difficult. Layli and I became very close over the past few months. She called me last night, and from the moment her picture appeared on my cellphone to our last laugh about meeting in Miami, it does show the kinds of relationships that being a Peace Corps volunteer brings. Its been an amazing summer – I can only imaging what the next two years will bring. For one of my goodbye presents for Layli, I Photoshop’d a picture of Layli and I on Miami Beach. It’s an inside joke as we both want to visit Miami, and that’s where she will come visit me back in the States five years from now. Here it is, in all it’s glory:
However, with PST over, it’s time to get to work. Noyemberian should be a great town, and we’ve already met a lot of eager businesses, NGOs, and community members who would like to work with Eileen, Alex and I. The town is very nice, has a great football (and soon to be Ultimate Frisbee) field, a swimming pool, a lot of great hiking, and a great central park. I think I’ll be quite happy with it. Here are some pictures of my new host family and their house, which is very nice as you will see…
All of these pictures, plus a lot of photos from the goodbye party, are available in the Photos section on the right side. Also, I will be posting a list of some ideas for things to send in a care package soon. For those of you who don’t want to go all out with the package, trust me, when you’re thousands of miles from your friends and family, with few English speakers, every letter and email is incredibly welcome 😉 Hadgoh!
I’m officially a Peace Corps Volunteer. That’s a relief – now I can get to work and start saving the world, without the luxery of diversity lessons and “English” speakers. Oh well. I just wanted everyone to know that I made it to site safe, survived Yerevan (somehow – they have Jaeger there!) and that everything is well with the new host family. I will post a longer entry tomorrow, hopefully with pictures of the new house and family as well. Take care!
Also, my new address for my host family is up. You can view it on the contact me page. I will try and post a “packing list” in the coming days as well. It’s crazy to have downtime again… Hadgoh!
We have a little more than a week before we are officially sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers, and we can finally shed the trainee label and get to work. Our swearing in ceremony will be in Yerevan on Monday, August the 14th in Yerevan (the capital). We get to stay at a hotel, which means on-demand, wood-free showers, beds that are long enough and a night on the town (ie American food and beer). I’m definetly excited, but I will also miss Bazum and my host Mom quite a bit. We have gotten really close over the last few weeks and it will be a tough goodbye. A few reasons why:
What’s in a Name?
When I first met my teachers, Sveta and Stepan, they told me that I would have a problem with my name. In Armenian, Kyle means a step, and “Kylel” means to step, or to walk. Needless to say, I expected and received several jokes about this, as appearently “Kyle Kylel” is about the funniest thing in Armenia. To alleviate the problem, we decided to change a letter in my name to the other “k” sound. After emparting this information upon my host Mom, laughter proceeded a howling noise, followed by an explanation that “kyle” in fact means wolf. So, we decided to switch my name to the affectionate “Michayel”, or “Miko”. Thanks Mom!
Fuk
For those who know me, I love board games, and I was elated to discover that Armenians play checkers as well. (Un)fortunately they play by different rules, in a Russian version called “Sheshki”. With Sheshki, the rules change, with one rule standing out the most. Allow me to replay the conversation, which begins after I failed to jump a piece, because pieces can jump backwards:
Mom: Eat [take the piece]!
Kyle: What??
M: Eat!
K: What? Why??
M: You don’t eat? Then “fuk”!
K: Fuk?? No fuk… no no no.
M: Yes, fuk!
K: No fuk! No fuk!
M: Yes, fuk (takes my piece)
K: Ahhh… nice fuk.
Turns out “fuk” is just the way to say you forgot to jump a piece, so you lose yours. Talk about culture shock! Anyway, my apologies to anyone in the states who’s been without power, or is living with 100+ degree temperatures. I’ve been having 24/7 electrictity and 70 degree days. I bet no one thought life would be so much better in Armenia… suckers. But, I am keeping pretty busy, here’s what I have going on the next few days:
- Monday: Language 9-12, teaching a computer class from 2-6, host family theater practice 7-9 :/
- Tuesday: Language 9-1, shopping for my BIRTHDAY PARTY 2-4
- Wednesday: “Central Day” for all trainees, talking about feelings, and my final language test 9-5, ducking out early for a birthday party
- Thursday: More of Wednesday 9-5, plus celebrating our last Central Day!
- Friday: MY BIRTHDAY PARTY, and our end of the year Bazum party
- Saturday: Host family theater all day – our village is putting on a play for all of our host families, all in Armenian
- Sunday: Packing and hugging and picture taking and lots of food
- Monday: Swearing in Yerevan
- Tuesday: Off to Noyemberian to start my next two years!
Needless to say, I won’t have a lot of downtime. But, hey, that’s what the winter’s for…
The page is working again in Internet Explorer – sorry about that 🙂
This past week was spent with my new host family and at my new site in Noyemberian, which is in the northeast part of Armenia. I am working at a business NGO, Yerevak, who is very progressive and has a lot of great ideas. Some projects I might be working on include…
- Getting the town wireless internet (strange, I know…)
- Websites for several NGOs (non-profits)
- English and computer trainings/resource centers/school clubs
- Frisbee and basketball teams
While I’m looking forward to that, there’s been a couple of cool things we’ve been up to. A week ago we visited several monestaries near my site, Hoghpat and Shabat. Both are about 1,200 years old, and very amazing. I have posted several pictures, including those below…
Shabat:
Hoghbat:
The other big adventure was my taxi ride to Noyemberian. Our “taxi” consisted of a 55 year old man, an ’84 Honda Civic hatchback, and windy mountain roads. Lets just say I should have prepared my last will and testament, as he drove on the wrong side of the road half the time (reminded me of London) and past buses on blind curves. All was well, though, until we took a turn so fast that our rear-view mirror fell off. So we through it out the window and went on our way. Shat lav man, shat lav.
For those that are interested, here is our big group pic as well, from our first day in Yerevan:
And a shoutout to my sitemate Alex’s friend, Mary Beth. Berev!