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.
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