One Year in Armenia

This weekend marks one year that we have been in Armenia. It sure has gone quickly, for the most part. But oh, how we miss our families and friends! That's the hard part. Actually, trying to do the work we were sent here to do is the hard part. Oh, I don't know. It's ALL hard sometimes!

So this has been a big month! I turned 62 on May 4 (it's just a number, right?). It was a truly amazing day. Every kid in school seemed to know it was my birthday, and the kids in each of my classes (plus a few that I didn't teach that day) all sang Happy Birthday to me--in English! I had so many flowers and presents from the kids and teachers that we needed two trips to get them all home. We had a cake at school, one of my English clubs showed up at the house with a complete party (balloons, presents, home-made cake, brandy, singing and dancing), and then a friends/neighbors party in the evening! What a wonderful celebration it was! Here are a few pictures from the day. Two cakes, my 10th form's blackboard decorations, one of my English clubs leaving after the party, and a perfect rainbow!









Compost Pile

May 6 and 7 I went with a group of PC volunteers to a Biointensive Gardening Workshop in Syunik Marz (about 8 hours away). We learned how to "double-dig" beds for planting, and how to make a compost pile that won't attract animals (a one cubic meter lasagna of twigs, weathered hay, fresh greens and dirt). We worked hard and finished three 30 ft. x 5 ft. beds. And even got potatoes planted in one of them! Bonus--a nice garden fork for our school garden.

Double Digging


May 8 was the National Poetry Recitation Contest in Hrazdan. More than 1000 kids in 6th through 11th grades had competed throughout the country learning a variety English language poems. Our local competition sent its top 6 students and each did an excellent job reciting their poems. Unfortunately, none of them placed in the national competition. But just wait until next year!!

On May 14 we traveled with a group of 15 PCVs and some family members to visit two of the most famous monasteries in Armenia--Khor Virap and Noravank. The first is right on the border with Turkey, and it was a little unnerving to see the guard towers protecting the border. It is famous because St. Gregory the Illuminator was held captive in a dungeon there for 12 or so years. We were able to go down into the pit where he was held, which was really interesting. The second (Noravank) is in a canyon a few hours south of Yerevan and sits on top of a rock face. Absolutely stunning location.


Noravank

Noravank

Khor Virap

Khor Virap

Fred and I also celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary on May 25. Another milestone for sure. We have been tested this year in so many, many ways, and I'm glad we have gotten through it--together. But that's what marriage is all about. You stick with it and with each other when it's easy, and even when it's not. So we celebrated by going to one of the only restaurants in town. The food was really, really delicious, even though we were the only people in the restaurant!

May 26th was the last day of school for this year. A fun-filled day with lots of activities. There is something special that happens for the 9th grade students, sort of like a graduation. I haven't really figured it out yet. I took the time that I was in class to play games with the kids and take a few pictures. In the "posed" pictures nearly none of them smiled. But when I asked them to wave at the camera, the smiles came out. I love these children. Here are just a few of the pictures I took.


4th Graders

6th Graders

Now we're trying to figure out how to spend our summer. I will be walking across Armenia with the Border2Border group of Peace Corps volunteers. The walk starts on June 4 and our northern group will cover around 165 miles in two weeks. Fred will take the Foreign Service Test on Saturday June 4, the first step in being able to apply for a state department job. Here's hoping he does really well! Then we will have English clubs with our kids, and Fred is going to be involved in two camps--one for boys and one for international students. And we also hope to go to Istanbul before the summer is out, and to see some of Armenia. We've got around 40 days of vacation to use before next June, so we've got to get busy!!

That's all for now. We hope you are all well. We miss you more than we can say.

May in Armenia

Happy May! It has finally stopped raining after what has seemed like endless days and weeks of rain, with a bit of snow thrown in for good measure. We had a few days in early April of warm, sunny weather and we both thought "ahhhhhh, Spring!" But it was short lived. Now, however, we are feeling a bit more optimistic. The swallows have returned in full force and are busy with nest building and other bird-like things in preparation for this year's breeding season. Everyone's moods improve dramatically when the swallows return to the school. It is very distracting when I am teaching, and much more interesting I'm sure to watch the activities of the birds! I love watching them fly around. Truly magical.

This week I will turn 62. That means I am eligible to apply for social security benefits! Who knew! Now the big decision--do I apply now or wait for another 4 years? I think now, and then invest the money and hope for the best! Waiting for advice from my very smart brother on what is the right thing to do. So as far as birthdays go, I'd just as soon skip this one. Not sure why. And of course, all the students know it is my birthday, so I have to be prepared for something I'm sure. They all whisper when I walk by, so something is up.

It is traditional here to invite people to your home when it is your birthday. So, we have ordered some cakes and invited a few friends and neighbors over for cake and coffee on Wednesday. The big hurdle now is to learn how to make Armenian coffee between now and then! It is a process involving water, finely powdered coffee, and sugar in a pot that is boiled until is just about boils over. You have to rush to turn off the heat before it spills all over the stove, and then it is poured into really small cups. I have had some only a few times and it is guaranteed to keep you awake most of the night if you have any after about 7 pm.

I meant to post last month about Women's Month, which starts on March 8 and ends on April 7. It truly is a month-long celebration of women. We have parties at school, student performances, and the mayor gives out money to women who have had babies in the past year. I've included a picture of the cake we had at school. I asked some of the women how their days were different during this month. Aside from maybe getting flowers, life for most is still the same--cooking, cleaning, washing, taking care of husbands, children, homes, and working too for some. I had hoped that the men in the house would offer to do dishes or something, but I think that is rare. And seeing as we really don't have restaurants, most didn't even get a break from the daily routine of cooking. But it was a lovely month of various celebrations. Our kids at school put on an amazing performance of traditional dance and song, and repeated it at the culture house for all the teachers and many of the women who work in the town. I am very impressed with the abilities of our students! They are very, very talented in so many ways.

A bit of success for our school as well--In March I wrote a grant application to put in an "educational" greenhouse. I learned that it was approved and we should be able to start construction in the next few weeks. It's the first project of its kind in Armenia, and I have great hopes. The next task is going to be to write a curriculum incorporating the greenhouse that will be used in grades 4 to 12. We plan to use it for science, economics (marketing) and hopefully even health and nutrition. I am going to a "biointensive gardening" workshop this weekend where I will learn more techniques that hopefully will be useful in our greenhouse and maybe even an outdoor garden classroom. Should be a lot of fun. My school is putting up half the money, and USAID is paying for the rest. A big thank you to my wonderful counterpart, my project "champion" and the committee who approved the project. Details and photos to follow as the project progresses.

Also this weekend is our national Poetry Recitation Contest in Hrazdan. We had our local contest here on April 3rd with 50+ kids from 8 surrounding villages. It was awesome, and wouldn't have been possible without the help of the awesome Peace Corps volunteers who helped with judging, writing certificates, taking photographs, etc. And of course my counterpart, the teachers who helped their students to recite the poems, and the School Directors. Thank you, one and all! Here is a photo of all the winners (1st through 3rd places in grades 6 to 11). The 6th grader in the middle of the first row is my student and he won "best in show" for his recitation of "Rain" by Shel Silverstein. He gets extra points in my book for being able to say "slishity slosh." I STILL can't say it without a mistake!! I am very excited to have two students from my school going. I can't wait to see how they'll do. We will all pile into a mini-van (marshutni) on Sunday for the 2-hour trip to Hrazden. Wish them luck!! Next year I hope to bring the International Writing Olympics and a Spelling Bee into our school. Ambitious, but doable I think.

So just one more reason why I love living here . . . a wonderful neighbor just brought us some home-made matsune! It is a yogurt-like product that is absolutely delicious. Everyone here makes it, but this particular neighbor seems to have a gift for making the most delicious matsune I have ever tasted. You add a little bit of muraba (fruit preserves), and it is truly food from the gods. Thank you my dear, dear neighbor! AND we have fresh strawberries in town now! They won't be in season for another few weeks, and are terribly expensive. But Fred came home with a few, and I know they will be delicious. Can't wait until they are less than $6 a kilo!!

Well, that's enough for this post. It's hard to believe that we have been here for more than 11 months now. Only 16 months left, and I know it's going to fly by. Although we are quite happy here with our work, our town, the people, and friends, we really do miss our families and friends. Thanks, as always, for the amazing care packages, e-mails, letters and Skype calls. They really, really help! We send love to each of you and know we will see you soon.