At first glance, I would have little to offer an art school. My artistic talents are limited to Photoshop manipulation, and accidentally taking some decent photographs. When I first became involved with the Koghb Art School almost two years ago, I had no clue the direction it would take me. The school is run by three talented young women who do a lot with very little. Together, we have done numerous computer trainings, started a local English club, started a handcraft business, and celebrated more holidays than I ever did in America. To me, they represent the potential youth have in Armenia; given the political “situation” of the last few months, it’s nice to see motivated people who will enthusiastically and democratically develop their communities and nation.
Anyway, as I prepare to leave, we’ve talked about ways to expand the coverage of their school and the possibilities for selling their artwork and handiwork in new markets. As an IT guy, the first thing that popped into my mind was “web site!” It was an adventure for both of us (my first venture into multi-lingual sites; their first time thinking about how to market themselves), but today I am proud to announce the launch of:
I would love to hear everyone’s feedback on the site, as it’s still an ongoing effort. In my eyes, this is a great accomplishment for a school which, when I arrived, didn’t have a working computer, and is now both technically literate and showcasing their talents to the world. This truly is 21st century Peace Corps!
Love is in the air here in Noyemberyan. My host brother’s cousin, Sambul, finally decided to tie the knot yesterday. As you may remember, I went to a wedding last year, but because of that family’s financial situation, they did not do many of the Armenian wedding traditions. Not so with yesterday! The family pulled out all the stops, involving both alive and dead animals, plate breaking, and a bowl of money, for this 12 hour adventure.
For whatever reasons, most weddings in the first Christian nation don’t actually take place in a church. Some do, this one didn’t. So I can’t comment on the official “wedding ceremony” – most people settle for the registration certificate and call it a day. What they lack in religious officialism they make up for with the reception.
The first step is for the groom and his closest friends to go retrieve the bride. This, of course, can not be accomplished without a convoy of at least 6 cars, fully decorated, honking their horns and driving through town. My host brother’s Lada was the lead car, which gave it two extra responsibilities. First, it had to be adorned with a dead fox sprawled out on the front:
The second responsibility is stealing a chicken from the bride’s family, which as you can see above was also a great success. So after we completed the theft (they live in an apt building so it wasn’t so easy) we picked up the bride (which is symbolic of her leaving her house behind forever) and coming back home in the same obnoxious manner. Actually being in the car was fun though – a lot better than listening to it from your bedroom while trying to take a nap.
We arrived back at the groom’s house, and the real fanfare began. First out was the best man with the chicken, who was greeted by clapping relatives and a three person band consisting of a clarinet, drum and accordion. The music played on as the bride and groom arrived, and they got out of the car and stood and watched the party. The rest of the wedding party arrived with all the gifts from the bride’s family, which they held above their heads and danced with outside the house. This last for about 15 minutes (really) before the rest of the welcoming ceremony continued.
Next, the groom’s mother arrived with a bowl of honey, which she fed to both the bride and groom, and then draped a piece of lavash (Armenian bread – like a tortilla) over the right should of each. After that they led the bride and groom into the house, but before they could enter, they each had to stomp on and break a plate to be officially welcomed inside.
Finally, the party began (around 6) with a huge table, the same band, and the inevitable back-and-forth of family toasting. I sat with my host brother’s friends, which made us the “party table”. We certainly lived up to the name. It took about an hour to get warmed up, but eventually we hit the dance floor – hard. For those who knew me back in the States, you know my dancing is usually abysmal. I usually clear the dance floor, but not in a good way. But for some reason, Armenian dancing has come rather naturally to me, and the Armenians love it and compliment me on my moves. I hope their just patronizing me, because I feel like I’m going to kill someone every time I’m out there. I was getting random compliments from people in town (who weren’t at the wedding at all, mind you) all today. Heh.
Interspersed with the dancing were various events, including the traditional bouquet/boutonniere toss, the giving of presents (a lot of gold necklaces and rings), and of course, the dance between the bride and groom. Them dancing is about where the similarities with our weddings stop. The bride and groom had to start separate, and they passed around a tray for money which had to be at a certainly level before the groom was allowed to join in the dance. I think it’s brilliant – my future wedding guests should keep this in mind and come with a full wallet.
So, we danced the night away, literally. I finally left at 3 AM, a full 10 hours after the party started. Needless to say, today I’ve been exhausted, but it was well worth it. The Armenian wedding is certainly something I’ll never forget. Tuesday I’m going to my other cousin’s engagement party, and I’ve been promised it’s going to be another cultural adventure. Time to get the dancing shoes back out, once again.
As my time in Peace Corps draws to a close, I’ve realized there are so many things I have yet to do in Armenia. I still haven’t visited the best two museums in Yerevan (anyone want to come and play tourist with me?), I need to head down south to visit the beautiful Tatev monastery, and who knows if we’ll ever finish the bathrooms at the school. Well, not about to let every opportunity slip by, especially one in the form of a distinguished art school, I had my portrait painted! Here’s how it turned out:
I think it looks great!! The boy who painted it, Ara, is finishing up his degree in art studies, but he is an absolutely amazing artist. We are working together to figure out how to bring some of his work back to the States to sell, or at least to be a good conversation piece at my future home. His sister, Satenik, also painted one, and Ara did a wonderful portrait of Kevin, too:
Yes, for those who think Peace Corps is all work, this does prove I have some time to literally sit there and do nothing. I’d say was it worth it, though! In the other 22 hours of my days, I’ve been developing Noyemberyan (because that’s what PCVs do). As I mentioned, we hosted our spelling bee on Sunday. It was an adventure. We didn’t give the students the word list in advance, which I think was a mistake, as the whole contest took only an hour, for 5 grade levels. Oh well. It was a little entertaining (one kid took almost five minutes to misspell), a little painful every time I had to hear the letter “zhet” (what they call Z) or “double l”, but overall the students did well and I think they will be competitive at the national contest May 3rd.
[On to a completely unrelated topic] Armenians walk really slowly down the street. I’m not sure why this is, but I’m not even stereotyping. Literally, every time I walk down the street with one, they comment about how fast I walk. Granted, I have unusually long strides, but I walk like an American – always with an end and a goal in mind. (Ha! I caught you if you were making a joke about “walking like an Egyptian”). Today, while walking with my a co-worker of mine, I finally slowed down with her and it was nice to stop and look around. When you take your time, you can genuinely say hi to people, notice things you would otherwise forget, and in general appreciate the beauty of life a little more. So, go Armenians for that! This post was inspired by a Pulitzer Prize winning article about a world-class violinist who played in the DC subway, and no one noticed.
In my final random digression, one of Peace Corps’ goals is sustainability. Obviously, when I leave, this blog will not be a sustainable resource, so I’ve started to accumulate the blog links for volunteers from the recent group (the A15s) or the group that will arrive in June (the A16s). If you have anything to contribute please let me know:
- Marie and Keith in Armenia (A16)
- Elizabeth Pou (A15) – Business volunteer in the big city of Gyumri
- Robert Dietrich (A15) – Business volunteer
As I mentioned a few posts ago, I am part of the Core Design team for International Outreach Camp Armenia 2008. Last year’s camp left an incredible impression on me, as it was an opportunity to work with 70 of the most talented and progressive Armenian youth I’ve met in Armenia. I also got to see many of them interact with international students for the first time. Unfortunately many Armenian youth don’t have much exposure to life outside Armenia (and sometimes their villages), so IOC 2007 was a great opportunity for them.
We are implementing IOC again this year at a camp near beautiful Dilijan. This year we hope to attract more international students, and encourage students to do YES projects, which provide them the means to implement small, community-guided projects back in their villages using the skills they learned from camp. It should be awesome!
To implement such an ambitious program, we will need as much support as possible. To this end, we have posted a Peace Corps Partnership Project (PCPP) online, which allows friends and family (and blog readers ;)) to make tax-deductible contributions through the project. We are looking to raising almost $10,000, which will provide scholarships for local and international students to attend the camp. To donate to the program, visit the following URL for more information:
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=305-044
Thank you in advance for your support of this great project!!