Since we got the longest and gnarliest ‘loose end’ out of the way first, there are just a few more. I have mentioned in a few posts already that the GAD (Gender and Development) Initiative has been working with Armenian Young Women Association (AWYA http://www.aywa.am/en/index) to plan a Woman’s Day Expo, which will happen (now really cross your fingers) on April 4th. What is Woman’s Day? You ask…well, it is what it sounds like. A day (or days, as there happens to be two in Armenia) that celebrates the amazingness and awesomeness and incredibleness of women. Can you see why I like it? On Woman’s Day(s) all the ladies get flowers from their families, or students, or friends. And there is usually some type of celebration with cake and wine and cognac. Last year, PCVs worked with AWYA to organize a poster and essay contest. The contest was open to anyone from 6th form to 1st year in University, girls and boys, and they had to create a poster or write an essay around the theme ‘Women in the Workforce’. This year, we are looking to build up the event even more. The poster/essay contest this year is ‘Women in Leadership’ (and you can bet my kids will be participating) and the winners of the contest will be invited to Yerevan for an award ceremony. The ceremony will take place in the middle of our planned expo. Hopefully, there will be different NGOs there, focusing on Woman’s health, domestic violence, education, etc. We will also have different dance groups and craft exhibitors (all women, of course) and will even have a ‘childran’s section’ where younger children can come and play games or do team building exercises. Quite frankly, I am pretty darn stoked for the whole thing! Right now, I am working as the coordinator between AYWA and the PCV team that is working on the whole organization aspect of the event. We will hopefully have a venue organized soon, and from there we can work on enlisting NGOs and crafters and dance groups for the event.
Of course, outside of these events, life in Dilijan continues on. Dilijan might be my LONGEST and thickest string. It is my home, my community. It still puts a smile on my face as I walk down the street and a bunch of boys from my classes yell ‘hello’ at me from across the river, or actually mean it instead of just being rude little brats. Or when girls that never spoke to me before will walk down the stairs with me and talk to me about class or what is going on. I can honestly say that I love them, and really, they love me. It never gets old to walk in the class and see the kids jump up in excitement as a big smile spreads across their face. My after school English Environmental club is going spectacularly well. I am alone in the classroom, and they listen. They legit listen. And when someone doesn’t, they self police and the ‘problem’ is told pretty quickly to cut it out. I love playing the games with them, watching them learn things without the standard screaming teacher, shaming, and rote memorization that happens in the normal lessons. Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and I am going to make valentines with the kids in my normal lessons, and then on Tuesday during club we are going to make some pretty valentines to give to one another.
If that goes well, I am even going to bring the Valentine theme into my adult English class at the unemployment center. This class happens for 2 hours every Wednesday. There are 10 or 15 women at every class (plus one man) and they are great. They are totally enthusiastic for everything that we are doing, and love just talking to me. In fact, the only reason I know the class exists is that they sent their teacher looking for me, telling her that they want me to come and help with class. Last week, my third class with them, we worked on food words, and taking a page out of my own Armenian training, I had them prepare menus to share with the rest of the class. This week (if the Valentine thing doesn’t work out) I am going to have them write out recipes. That should be a good time. My other ‘adult’ class or ‘conversation club’ is still going just OK. It has gotten much better though. I have given them more dialogues, and they have stopped fighting me about reading Dr Suess’ The Lorax. A nice compromise, I think.
My new and exciting project, which I am SURE I mentioned before was the ‘Border 2 Border’ walk that I will be participating in during the ENTIRE month of June, or at least the great majority of it. For 20 days (or 23) two groups of PCVs will be walking the entire length of Armenia, one group (mine) starting in the south, and the other group from the north. We will meet in the middle, Martuni specifically. All along the way we will be stopping to teach healthy lifestyles classes for groups in the villages along the way, and in Martuni we will have a large ‘health’ celebration. Another PCV, well versed in the ways of long distance walking, has sent us all a training routine and we are just now beginning to cement our collaboration with the Red Cross and World Vision. This is going to be huge, a nationwide event that will hopefully draw attention to the need for change. Check out our blog (http://walkacrossarmenia.wordpress.com) or find us on Facebook. Oh, and if you have any connections at UA or Nike or Adidas or anyplace like that, let me know…appropriate clothing for this marathon walk is pretty scarce in Armenia.
In other exciting news, my parents are coming to visit! Yes, after months and months of harassing (and threatening) my father passport applications (well, application, we were just waiting on his) have been submitted and plane tickets have been bought! No going back now! I am very, very excited for them to come and see me. Quite frankly, going more than a year without hugging your parents (at any age, and you know this) is pretty depressing. I miss them. I am also really happy that my two lives will finally meet. I have always referred to my life here in Armenia as my ‘Peace Corps Life’ and my life back in America as ‘the real world’ and I am pretty stoked that those two worlds will soon be coming together. For two years now, Armenia has been my ‘home’, and I have ‘families’ here that I feel like some part of the real world needs to meet and see and experience, or it won’t be real. I have talked about and explained and taken pictures of my life here, but honestly I want someone from home to experience it. So when I continue (as I will for many years) to talk about the people and places here, they will know what or who I am talking about. When I speak of my host family, to my parents they won’t just be some abstract family in Armenia that fed me (or overfed me, rather) but will be legitimate, tangible people that my mother has hugged and my father has taken shots with.
Bah. I have talked too much, if I keep going with all of these thoughts and random things swirling around in my head I won’t have anything to tell you about next time I write (which will be soon, I pinky swear promise).
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