Apparently I Spoke Too Soon....

I really do suck at keeping this thing up to date. I am sorry. I pinky swear promise I will try harder this time.

Part of the problem is that I have been crazy, crazy busy in these last few weeks, and will continue to be so until January probably. I really need to learn to say NO. Actually, I lie, I like the busy...it makes me feel like I am actually accomplishing something AND makes the time absolutely fly by. 9 months and counting. Yup.

Let me tell you about some things that have been going on. A few weeks ago I spent the week in Robby's (another PCV) village of Վարդաբլուր (Vardablur). The village is a teeny tiny one, in between Vanadzor and Stepanavan. Robby, Rani (yet another PCV, check out the teamwork here people) and myself put on a 'mini Green Camp' for some of the younger kids in Robby's after-school clubs. Let me tell you, I was super excited to head back to the village, not only because the camp sounded fun, but also because Robby's host family ROCKS! There is a grandmother, mother, and 3 little kids (12, 9, and 4ish). I love them like whoa. I miss living with a big family (if you remember I lived in a family of 12 during PST) and enjoy having kids around. And if any Armenians are reading this..չէ ես չեմ ուզում երեխաներ հիմա!!! (NO I don't want children right now!)But moving on. The first few days that I was there were absolutely fantastic. We made some good food and had a good time. The camp was going pretty well even though the kids had the attentions spans of goldfish! We did some easy team building activities and played a lot of environmental games, including one where they were bees and had to run around collecting 'pollen' for their hive! Everything was going well, until the day I became insanely ill. I woke up and my stomach wasn't right, and then by mid day I couldn't stand up without almost passing out and had to run downstairs to the bathroom every hour. That was LAME! What was really weird about it was that by the next morning I felt better, but later in the day (after a great visit to Lori Berd, and old fortress) I felt horrible all over again. After staying one day longer then I was supposed to, I finally doled out the cash to take a taxi back to Dilijan because there was no way I was crawling into a crowded marshutka. After a few more days of sick in Dilijan, and starting some antibiotics, I finally felt better. Thank God. I can count the number of times I have been stomach sick in this country on one hand, and I don't want to kill that record!

The week after Robby's camp, I got my schedule for Sunchild and the 2nd School all worked out, which is nice. I work with 3 classes at the school (5th and 6th form) and am going to start an after school club their next week. I love those kids. They remind me of why I came to this country in the first place, even if I am teaching English :( . Oh well. I love playing games with them, and they love the fact that I don't make them memorize and read pointless stories out of their silly books. Note: Insert a much stronger word where 'silly' is. I just don't feel like talking about it.

My Sunchild classes happen three times a week, and are mostly becoming a mix of a lot of Environmental and a little bit of English. I have decided that until they pay for an Armenian to help me out (so I am not stealing a job in a country where they are desperately needed) I will not be teaching strait English classes, end of story. The kids don't seem to care that much, and I am much happier. My class today went fantastically! We had three new girls show up, and we learned about birds. The kids had a TON of fun, and I will follow up the class tomorrow with a little bit of bird watching..good times all around!

oOo..I almost forgot. On Saturday I spent $3000 bucks. Yup. $3000. That is more money then I make in a YEAR here! My director and I went shopping for all of the technology needed for our Dilijan Art Center. Our first class will happen on Saturday (a community art lesson) and from that day on there will be program every SINGLE Saturday. I am super stoked for this project! Tomorrow I will work on setting up the technology, and hopefully the men will get all the furniture moved around where we want it to be! Why the men, you ask? Because this is Armenia, of course, and moving heavy furniture is 'man's work'. duh!

Next week will also be my FIRST, yes FIRST, lesson with the Art School kids. Why now? after 1 and 1/2 years?? Because the teachers finally decided that it was a good idea, and honestly, I think my Program Director coerced them into letting me work with the teachers. I'm cool with it. Means to an end, right? So, on Tuesday of next week I will have an hour with EVERY SINGLE CHILD in the school. They will come up to the auditorium and watch a movie and slide show presentation about the ocean. I am going to talk about different ecosystems in the ocean, different animals that live there, and how OUR actions effect those creatures. It will be GOOD. It needs to be or it will never, ever happen again. As it was they killed a lot of ideas this afternoon during our meeting, I was basically told what to do instead of asked, but oh well...you have to start somewhere right?

Part of the busyness going on is things that I am involved with outside of Dilijan as well. I am heading this weekend to work on by-laws for the 'Environmental Action Initiative', in two weeks I will (cross your fingers) hopefully be a participant in an International Youth Fair. Which is basically a conference with teams representing their 'home' countries. We will cook some Thanksgiving dinner (yum), teach some baseball, and basically tell people all about America. Of course, we will be learning all about their countries as well. Like I said, keep your fingers crossed please! Right after that conference (or during, maybe) I have to meet with a bunch of volunteers to start planing our Woman's Day Expo and Poster Contest...and that is all before All Vol, which is the All Volunteer conference for 4 days in Yerevan.

Immediately after All Vol, I'm talking next day here, I will take part in a TOT (training of trainers) for a mini PDM (Project Design and Management) conference that I will help facilitate for FLEX students. Man, sorry for all of the acronyms. Peace Corps loves them, obviously!

After that?, you ask...well...drum roll please...GERMANY! Yup. I will have two days in Tbilisi, Georgia and then fly to Munich for 5 days. I am SUPER excited for this trip. Tbilisi activities are still up in the air, but in Munich we will be seeing a concentration camp, a castle, a Christmas bazaar, and more then a couple of beer gardens. It is going to be AMAZING!

Well, I think that is all for now. I am in a much better place then I was a few weeks ago, and hopefully will remain that way. It is amazing what a set schedule and plans and flying time can do for a girl : )

I love you all and miss you...