Saturday, June 27, 2009
Dilijan National Forest
Baryev Dzes! Well, on Thursday all of the EEs got out of language class early (yay!) and piled into a marshootney (van) for the hour long ride to my permenant site, Dilijan. There we met with Robert, a very nice botanist, and heard more about the background of the park and it's future plans. This was very interesting for me since Dilijan will be my home for the next 2 years. Then we all (+ Robert) piled back into the marshootney and drove up a mountain till we arrived at parz leig. Parz leig means 'clear lake' in Armenian, but take it from me, the lake is not parz anymore! We ate some kelas (cherries), tsearan (apricot), and cookies and then went on a hike. Well, unfortunatly for us it turned into more of a walk then a hike, although our boots got nice and muddy since it had rained the day before! The forest was absolutly beautiful! Well...just found out our program is starting early so I best head back to the school. Bari Or (Have a good day!) Miss you all and love you...
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Woot Woot for Dilijan!
Today was an absolutely 100% amazing day! It was a central day, so all of the A-17s arrived in Charentsavan around 9:30. The energy was crazy because today was the day that we had been waiting for...we found out our permanent sites! Of course, we had to sit through two pretty depressing sessions about rape and harassment, but then we all went outside and surrounded this huge map of Armenia that the drivers had painted onto the courtyard. The villages that we were assigned to were all marked on the map and marz (region) by marz they announced who from each sector (EE, CHE, TEFL, and CBD) would be in which village. Of course they started in the southernmost marz and worked there way up. Let me tell you, I waited a crazy long time because I was placed in my dream site in the northeastern Tavush Marz. The warmest Northern marz. Thats right...and on top of that I will be living and working right in Dilijan. Guess what is in Dilijan? A national park. Thats right...not only is the winter not so crazy cold...but there are trees, lots and lots and lots of trees! I will be working with 2 organizations, the "Sunchild" Eco Club and the Dilijan Art School. I am wicked stoked!! My stay in Armenia is looking so much better now that I know where I will be living and what I will be doing. As an added bonus, all of the other people placed in my Marz are great. Best Marz group ever, hands down. One of the girls that is another EE in the region actually went to Unity with me for the year that I was there.
As a PCV, I will be helping in planning and facilitating environmental classes, leading community environmental projects (like tree plantings and trash clean ups), organizing hikes, and organizing an evnironmental summer camp! Dilijan is also not to far ( a few hours) from my PST site of Karenis, and is only 106km away from Yerevan. A train also comes through and can be taken to Georgia (possible vacation?). Dilijan is relativly big, with about 18000 people, but many work in Russia and are only home part of the year.
To add to the great day that I had, I got another package from home! (hint hint: I LOVE mail!) and was paid today so once again I have minutes on my cell phone. Although, in retrospect I think it was pretty good for my homesickness to not be able to call anyone for a few days. With plenty of dram now on my phone, I can also get on the internet to read email, although it is quite a pain the behind.
Oh, should probably mention that I had my first bad interaction with some punk Armenian boys the other day. Abbr version: they were bored, threw rocks at us, I got hit, we scared them off. Now we know how to handle the situation though, even with our limited Armenian. Not to worry though, all of the other Armenian's that I have met have been incredibly hospitable and amazingly nice. Much nicer than most Americans would treat visitors back home. Part of the problem was that we were outside of our village, and our families are our protection in and around the villages.
Another fun story to share, for real though, is the rainstorm that we experienced the other day. The group of us were walking home from our LCF (Language Cultural Facilitator's - Armenina teachers/wardens) and we all decided to hang out for a few minutes at this great little gazebo that overlooks the river and gorge. Well, as we were sitting there this freak thunderstorm rolled in and unlike the ones we experience every other day looked like it was going to last for quite some time. So, we sat there (getting soaked) waiting for it to pass for like 20 minutes and then I decided that I was going to make a break for it. So, I walked the 5 minutes home and when I got into the house I was absolutly soaked! I walked in the door and with all eyes on my said ansrev (the Armenian word for rain) and my family started laughing at me (well, really with me). Then the little girl I live with started darting in and out of the rain and I decided to join her since I was soaked already. It was a good time.
My language lessons are still going well. I can read Armenian (slowly) but obviously can't understand everything that I read. I can also ask and answer basic questions and tell people about myself and how I am. So far we have learned the past, present, and future tense and can tell people where things are, who we are, and things like that. Not too bad, I just keep having to remind myself that we have only been here for 26 days and I already know more Armenian than Spanish (and I took 6 years of that). I will definatly keep studying like crazy though, especially since I now know that my counterparts (the people that work with me at my permenant site for the 2 years I am here) speak no English at all. I have a feeling my first few weeks at site will be very, very interesting.
Well, I need to catch the marshootny (van) back to my village since I have a big package to carry. To all my friends and family, I still miss and love you like crazy!!
As a PCV, I will be helping in planning and facilitating environmental classes, leading community environmental projects (like tree plantings and trash clean ups), organizing hikes, and organizing an evnironmental summer camp! Dilijan is also not to far ( a few hours) from my PST site of Karenis, and is only 106km away from Yerevan. A train also comes through and can be taken to Georgia (possible vacation?). Dilijan is relativly big, with about 18000 people, but many work in Russia and are only home part of the year.
To add to the great day that I had, I got another package from home! (hint hint: I LOVE mail!) and was paid today so once again I have minutes on my cell phone. Although, in retrospect I think it was pretty good for my homesickness to not be able to call anyone for a few days. With plenty of dram now on my phone, I can also get on the internet to read email, although it is quite a pain the behind.
Oh, should probably mention that I had my first bad interaction with some punk Armenian boys the other day. Abbr version: they were bored, threw rocks at us, I got hit, we scared them off. Now we know how to handle the situation though, even with our limited Armenian. Not to worry though, all of the other Armenian's that I have met have been incredibly hospitable and amazingly nice. Much nicer than most Americans would treat visitors back home. Part of the problem was that we were outside of our village, and our families are our protection in and around the villages.
Another fun story to share, for real though, is the rainstorm that we experienced the other day. The group of us were walking home from our LCF (Language Cultural Facilitator's - Armenina teachers/wardens) and we all decided to hang out for a few minutes at this great little gazebo that overlooks the river and gorge. Well, as we were sitting there this freak thunderstorm rolled in and unlike the ones we experience every other day looked like it was going to last for quite some time. So, we sat there (getting soaked) waiting for it to pass for like 20 minutes and then I decided that I was going to make a break for it. So, I walked the 5 minutes home and when I got into the house I was absolutly soaked! I walked in the door and with all eyes on my said ansrev (the Armenian word for rain) and my family started laughing at me (well, really with me). Then the little girl I live with started darting in and out of the rain and I decided to join her since I was soaked already. It was a good time.
My language lessons are still going well. I can read Armenian (slowly) but obviously can't understand everything that I read. I can also ask and answer basic questions and tell people about myself and how I am. So far we have learned the past, present, and future tense and can tell people where things are, who we are, and things like that. Not too bad, I just keep having to remind myself that we have only been here for 26 days and I already know more Armenian than Spanish (and I took 6 years of that). I will definatly keep studying like crazy though, especially since I now know that my counterparts (the people that work with me at my permenant site for the 2 years I am here) speak no English at all. I have a feeling my first few weeks at site will be very, very interesting.
Well, I need to catch the marshootny (van) back to my village since I have a big package to carry. To all my friends and family, I still miss and love you like crazy!!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
I Am Finally Here!!
Barev Dsez! So I am in Armenia, have been here now for about 19 days and am currently loving it! I am living in a small village outside of Charentsavan and am surrounded by beautiful mountains. In fact, I can see Mt. Ararat from my house! Things are going very well now that I have a cell phone and the edge is wearing off of my homesickness. There is a 9 hour difference between here and the East Coast and it makes things sometimes difficult!
The flight here was not too bad, as expected, I slept most of the way. The flight from Philly to Vienna was long and cramped, but the food was not bad. We had a 14 hour layover in Vienna and part of our ticket included 'day rooms' at a local hotel where we could shower and sleep. Of course we went exploring as well. We took the CAT train to downtown Vienna and found this great little bar/resturant to eat at. I got a baked potato with bacon and cheese (there was some miscommunication, thought it had veggies!) but even though I could feel my arteries clogging, it was delicious!
The flight from Vienna to Yerevan was fine. I slept, and then they randomly served us dinner at like 1 am. Apparently I later slept through breakfast, but oh well. When we arrived in Yerevan we had to wait for quite some time to gather all of our bags. We took over the baggage area since we made up most of the flight! We also found out that our tickets included a free vivacell sim card...which meant I did not have to buy one! yay! Unfortunatly for me though the whole actual cell phone process was excruciating. After quite an effort it was decided that it was in fact unlockable. I easily admitted defeat and with the help of my english speaking host sister went and bought a phone for 39000 dram. Not an hour later I went to an optional Armenian Culture session at the Peace Corps office. Apparently someone got a little excited with the dancing and ended up stepping on my bag, effectivly killing the screen on the phone I had yet to use! After a long bus ride home, luckily one of my family members drives a big, yellow bus, I was comforted by my family and it was decided we would go that night and get it fixed. We brought it to a shop and I had to pay for a new screen, and wait 2 days for them to fix it. Thankfully it came back on time though, as I had assured my village buddies that any mental stability I was hanging onto would go out the window if anything else went wrong with the phone! All is fine now though, some of you should be hearing from me soon!
I am picking up the language pretty well, and am becoming fast friends with all the other A-17s, which is good because they will be my best friends for the next 2 years at least! My host family is amazing...they are great at helping me with my lessons and make sure I am everywhere that I need to be. My tateak (grandmother) here reminds of my grandmother, always asking me where my coat is and making me grab a jacket before I leave for school. The food is great as well, my favorite is the dolma! It is rice and meat and spices all rolled up in grape leaves! Delicious! I actually helped the women in my family to roll the leaves the other day. I also helped to make brooms, I felt very proud!
Oh yea! Today I lived through my first earthquake! We were all sitting in class and the room started to shake! Luckily it only lasted for a few seconds and was only a 5 on the scale. Some people who were walking did not even feel it at all. And yes, I called my parents at 4 in the morning their time to let them know all about it!
Next week, on the 24th, I find out what my permanent site will be. Basically, where I will work and live for the next 2 years when I offically swear in as a Peace Corps Volunteer mid-August. I am hoping to be placed in the Northeast or the Southwest. The middle is the coldest so I want to avoid that, but not be too far away from Yerevan. I am pretty excited to find out where I will be staying and to visit and meet my counterpart!
Pre Service Training (PST, the Peace Corps loves acronyms) has been keeping me pretty busy. I go to school Monday through Saturday from 9 to 1 and then have homework and studying for the rest of the day. Not like I don't have the time to fit in a nap or hanging out with everyone else in my village. On Tuesday, we went exploring and ended up hiking up this big hill and finding this amazing stretch of flowers, it was beautiful. Hopefully I will be getting a flash drive soon so that I can start posting some of the pictures I have taken.
Well...I am going to try and keep this up once a week, at least during PST. Miss you all and love you lots!
The flight here was not too bad, as expected, I slept most of the way. The flight from Philly to Vienna was long and cramped, but the food was not bad. We had a 14 hour layover in Vienna and part of our ticket included 'day rooms' at a local hotel where we could shower and sleep. Of course we went exploring as well. We took the CAT train to downtown Vienna and found this great little bar/resturant to eat at. I got a baked potato with bacon and cheese (there was some miscommunication, thought it had veggies!) but even though I could feel my arteries clogging, it was delicious!
The flight from Vienna to Yerevan was fine. I slept, and then they randomly served us dinner at like 1 am. Apparently I later slept through breakfast, but oh well. When we arrived in Yerevan we had to wait for quite some time to gather all of our bags. We took over the baggage area since we made up most of the flight! We also found out that our tickets included a free vivacell sim card...which meant I did not have to buy one! yay! Unfortunatly for me though the whole actual cell phone process was excruciating. After quite an effort it was decided that it was in fact unlockable. I easily admitted defeat and with the help of my english speaking host sister went and bought a phone for 39000 dram. Not an hour later I went to an optional Armenian Culture session at the Peace Corps office. Apparently someone got a little excited with the dancing and ended up stepping on my bag, effectivly killing the screen on the phone I had yet to use! After a long bus ride home, luckily one of my family members drives a big, yellow bus, I was comforted by my family and it was decided we would go that night and get it fixed. We brought it to a shop and I had to pay for a new screen, and wait 2 days for them to fix it. Thankfully it came back on time though, as I had assured my village buddies that any mental stability I was hanging onto would go out the window if anything else went wrong with the phone! All is fine now though, some of you should be hearing from me soon!
I am picking up the language pretty well, and am becoming fast friends with all the other A-17s, which is good because they will be my best friends for the next 2 years at least! My host family is amazing...they are great at helping me with my lessons and make sure I am everywhere that I need to be. My tateak (grandmother) here reminds of my grandmother, always asking me where my coat is and making me grab a jacket before I leave for school. The food is great as well, my favorite is the dolma! It is rice and meat and spices all rolled up in grape leaves! Delicious! I actually helped the women in my family to roll the leaves the other day. I also helped to make brooms, I felt very proud!
Oh yea! Today I lived through my first earthquake! We were all sitting in class and the room started to shake! Luckily it only lasted for a few seconds and was only a 5 on the scale. Some people who were walking did not even feel it at all. And yes, I called my parents at 4 in the morning their time to let them know all about it!
Next week, on the 24th, I find out what my permanent site will be. Basically, where I will work and live for the next 2 years when I offically swear in as a Peace Corps Volunteer mid-August. I am hoping to be placed in the Northeast or the Southwest. The middle is the coldest so I want to avoid that, but not be too far away from Yerevan. I am pretty excited to find out where I will be staying and to visit and meet my counterpart!
Pre Service Training (PST, the Peace Corps loves acronyms) has been keeping me pretty busy. I go to school Monday through Saturday from 9 to 1 and then have homework and studying for the rest of the day. Not like I don't have the time to fit in a nap or hanging out with everyone else in my village. On Tuesday, we went exploring and ended up hiking up this big hill and finding this amazing stretch of flowers, it was beautiful. Hopefully I will be getting a flash drive soon so that I can start posting some of the pictures I have taken.
Well...I am going to try and keep this up once a week, at least during PST. Miss you all and love you lots!
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