Well, it is 11pm on Wednesday night here in Armenia, and at this time tomorrow I will be at Zvartnots International Airport, waiting patiently (or probably not so patiently) for my flight to Dubai to depart! From Dubai, we (2 other PCVs and I) will fly from Dubai, to Cairo Egypt...spend 2 weeks traveling around Egypt...and then a couple of days in Dubai before heading back to home, sweet, home (Armenia that is). Why the sudden love for this place that I live?? Because, Summer, yes Summer!, is finally rearing her pretty little head...and I am one excited little sun baby!
As for our time in Egypt..we are going to cheap route, mostly, but will be spending 2 or three days in Cairo, Alexandria (beach..what?!?), Luxor (pyramids), and Answar (big ol' damn that I never remember the name of). I am mostly excited for Alexandria and Luxor. Plus visiting the Qatar (City of the Dead) and Egypt Museum in Cairo. Dubai will be equally astounding, but in a different, modern sort of way. I am dragging the other volunteers to the Atlantis aquarium (I NEED some marine life)and we are also going to get our good food (ie fish and chips) and shopping on. Yes, a mall, or many of them actually are on our list of things to do. We will probably have mild panic attacks when we go inside and experience the overwhelming massiveness, but my excitement for a new pair of jeans and some shoes will for sure get me over that right quick.
Back to Armenia though, the country has been treating me well in the last few weeks. In case you didn't hear my shouts of excitement last week, our Environmental Leadership Grant was APPROVED!!!!! I jumped up and down, and probably scared the crap out of my host family (they don't really do that here). I was incredibly, incredibly happy and relieved, it was a huge weight off my shoulders. We are now well on track to implement 5 camps in 4 different villages/towns this Summer...with 40 kids and 10 counselors at each camp. Oh baby, I am stoked! We have been working on the new curriculum (Team Building, Leadership, and Project Management) and have finalized the English versions...we are now working on the translations...which should be done well before the first camp starts the last week of June. We also had our Counselor Training already. Which was quite a success. All of the Armenian counselors showed up this year, which was a 100% increase from last years training! Also had about 20 PCVs staying in on house. It was actually the house of the Green Tavush (our partner NGO) Director's house. We horavats. It was an AMAZING night..and everyone was ready to go the next morning despite the appearance of some homemade nicknamed the 'nuclear bomb'. Good, good times. And an experience the Armenians won't forget for quite some time!
Well..I am off to do some last minute packing, and to work on my arguments for convincing the marshutka driver to let me, and my large suitcase, on board. Wish me luck, and be on the lookout for pictures!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
I Apologize...
It has been a long time, I'm sorry. In my defence, my computer was broken for just over a week and just got fixed! This is probably how the Summer will be, I don't see myself having lots of time to sit down and write here, which makes me sad..and kind of happy for the business (ie lack of homesickness/flying time).Truly, I am really looking forward to it, especially if this constant rain ever lets up. Yes, it is still raining just about everyday. Not even just in Dilijan (which is known for rain) but all over the country. Places in the south were even getting snow as late as last week. Craziness.
There have been no big changes here, still chugging away at English and Environmental classes, and Green Camps (oops...Environmental Leadership Camps) are taking up more and more of my time. I hope you still have your fingers crossed for us so that our grant will be approved!
Went to Yerevan last weekend, for a meeting, and some fun. A lot of volunteers where there, and it was a nice time. Since it was sunny there for a few hours every day, a lot of time was spent at the many outdoor cafes that can be found all over the place in the city. We also checked out a new night club that had opened, I love dancing.
Another volunteer and I traveled on Sunday from Yerevan to Ijevan for another ELC meeting, which means I got to cross the landslide that has blocked the road for just about a month now. It had been raining for days, and we really didn't think about what a gigantic mud pile the landslide would have become. It was d i r t y. Of course, men were trying to 'rent' us wellies to cross, and many clever Armenians had plastic grocery bags to tie around their shoes. Us Americans, not so much. We rolled up our pants and went to town. We were accompanied by two young girls, each wearing a pair of 3" heels, wrapped in plastic bags. Don't worry, pictures were taken, and as soon as I get them from the other volunteer, they will be up on Facebook. One of the girls kept muttering 'vay mama jan', which is basically the Armenian equivalent of 'oh my goodness'. It was cute. When we finally reached the other side, I dug in my bag for my extra shoes, and the other volunteer was directed to a stream to clean off his shoes before we could get in the waiting marshutka and go the rest of the way.
Things are really coming together for the camps this year. We are working really, really well as a team..and the Armenians we are working with are fantastic. Their house has become my home away from home away from home (Dartmouth, Dilijan, Ijevan). We are all waiting like expecting parents for the grant to come through, so like I said before, keep those fingers crossed.
We are having the Counselor training on the 15th and 16th and for the first time all counselors are required to attend. We are hoping that will help the quality of the camps increase, as well as demand a certain level of commitment from the HCN counselors.
In only 15 days I leave for Egypt!!! I am so excited there are really no words! The other volunteer traveling with me keeps me updated on the weather reports. Egypt is already seeing days over 95, hello tan, here I come.
OH, and in just 20 days, it will be my and Armenia's one year anniversary! Time has flown.
Love you all!
Happy Birthday Uncle Allen!
There have been no big changes here, still chugging away at English and Environmental classes, and Green Camps (oops...Environmental Leadership Camps) are taking up more and more of my time. I hope you still have your fingers crossed for us so that our grant will be approved!
Went to Yerevan last weekend, for a meeting, and some fun. A lot of volunteers where there, and it was a nice time. Since it was sunny there for a few hours every day, a lot of time was spent at the many outdoor cafes that can be found all over the place in the city. We also checked out a new night club that had opened, I love dancing.
Another volunteer and I traveled on Sunday from Yerevan to Ijevan for another ELC meeting, which means I got to cross the landslide that has blocked the road for just about a month now. It had been raining for days, and we really didn't think about what a gigantic mud pile the landslide would have become. It was d i r t y. Of course, men were trying to 'rent' us wellies to cross, and many clever Armenians had plastic grocery bags to tie around their shoes. Us Americans, not so much. We rolled up our pants and went to town. We were accompanied by two young girls, each wearing a pair of 3" heels, wrapped in plastic bags. Don't worry, pictures were taken, and as soon as I get them from the other volunteer, they will be up on Facebook. One of the girls kept muttering 'vay mama jan', which is basically the Armenian equivalent of 'oh my goodness'. It was cute. When we finally reached the other side, I dug in my bag for my extra shoes, and the other volunteer was directed to a stream to clean off his shoes before we could get in the waiting marshutka and go the rest of the way.
Things are really coming together for the camps this year. We are working really, really well as a team..and the Armenians we are working with are fantastic. Their house has become my home away from home away from home (Dartmouth, Dilijan, Ijevan). We are all waiting like expecting parents for the grant to come through, so like I said before, keep those fingers crossed.
We are having the Counselor training on the 15th and 16th and for the first time all counselors are required to attend. We are hoping that will help the quality of the camps increase, as well as demand a certain level of commitment from the HCN counselors.
In only 15 days I leave for Egypt!!! I am so excited there are really no words! The other volunteer traveling with me keeps me updated on the weather reports. Egypt is already seeing days over 95, hello tan, here I come.
OH, and in just 20 days, it will be my and Armenia's one year anniversary! Time has flown.
Love you all!
Happy Birthday Uncle Allen!
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