Second Summer in Armenia and Goodbyes

Many of our posts start with "it's hard to believe that we've been here for . . . ". We are officially into our second summer in Armenia. Fred has been busy with his camps and visiting his mom, and we've literally only seen each other for a day or two since the beginning of June. Not the way we would prefer it, but just the way it is right now. I went to Lake Sevan with about 40 other volunteers to celebrate July 4. Eating, swimming, fireworks, and s'mores. Couldn't have been much better. I also got to meet some of the new PC trainees at a museum day in Yerevan. They are a great group, although much smaller than ours (42 compared to 58).

July 6 was a big day for all the volunteers here in Armenia--Site Announcement Day--the day when the trainees find out which site they will live in for the next two years, what they will be doing, whether they will have sitemates, etc. We are very lucky to have three new volunteers in our region, including one in our town. That will give us seven in our immediate area, which will be really nice. Two are TEFL volunteers, and one is a business volunteer. We are very much looking forward to having them close by. Our marz will have 9 new volunteers as of August 17!

So when the new volunteers arrive, the ones who have been here for two years start leaving. This past weekend 10 of the A-17s left (A refers to Armenia, and 17 is the 17th group to be here). I went to Yerevan to say goodbye to some, but will miss the next round on August 13. These people have been such a huge support for the past year, and it's hard to realize that they won't be here with us. But it's the Peace Corps cycle, and next year it will be our turn to say goodbye.

This week my counterpart and I will start doing some preliminary planning for the upcoming school year. We will teach up to 12th grade this year, whereas last year was only to 11th. So, more classes, and more students to teach English to. Should be a fun and challenging year. I am going to try to do things a bit differently so I actually get more time to teach the students, and hope to actually bring English into the classroom (instead of teaching in Armenian). We'll see.

We still are working on getting the greenhouse built, and there's a curriculum to write as well. Lots to do before September 1 for sure. Our school is being remodeled, or at least one wing of it is, and we will have new windows (ones that both open and shut properly), a new roof, new paint, etc. Can't wait to see what it's going to look like!

Our mid-service conference is set for next week. That means we are half way done with our 24 month Peace Corps service. I am trying to get ready for the language proficiency test. While I don't know as much as some, I still know enough to communicate in most situations. Details to follow.

The weather is good and hasn't been nearly as warm here as in Yerevan (dry and mid-70s here v. 90s in Yerevan), for which we are thankful. In fact, the wind was strong enough today that it blew out one of our windows (glass shattered 3 stories below, and fortunately no kids were down there at the time). So we have plenty of air tonight until the window is fixed tomorrow.

Not much else to report on this Sunday evening. Waiting for the USA-Japan World Cup soccer match final later tonight. Keeping up with golf scores, and of course the Red Sox.

Love to all. Please let us here from you.

P.S. These two precious little girls are relatives of my tutor. The purple "eyelashes" are made from flowers. The hair wreaths were made by my tutor's mom. More of the gifts of being in Armenia.