More Optimism Please

I had a great weekend with the other volunteers! On Friday night we went to Yerevan and learned traditional Armenian dances. It was a blast and we looked ridiculous trying to keep up with the Armenians.  On Saturday I met up with a bunch of volunteers in a central town and hung out for hours.  It was so nice to just relax and talk with other volunteers I don’t get to see often.  Then on Sunday I went hiking with two other volunteers to the tallest mountain in our village.  It was well worth the view and soreness today. To top off my weekend I had a solid conversation with my host mom and sister in ARMENIAN. 

Let me tell you a quick story so you understand how important that conversation was: Two days ago another volunteer came over and was talking with my host sister.  She kept trying to talk to him in English, and he said I want you to speak Armenian.  She said Ashley doesn’t understand anything when I speak Armenian…  So basically even my own family admits how awful my Armenian is.  Sigh. My Armenian gets a little better each day, but I realized learning Armenian completely drains my energy.  I’m trying to become more active by spending more time with my host family and the other volunteers.  The card game Uno has been a great bonding game with my family because the rules are easy to understand.  I also ask to help set the table, cook food and clean up. I even helped make a strawberry cake! My sister-in-law and I began making a cake at 10 pm one night.  Basically I just mixed the ingredients that she added by memory and it was delicious! I haven’t seen anyone in my family use a recipe yet so I’m looking forward to the day when I try to bake and they laugh at my recipe haha. I had my fifth khorovats last night and they continue to be delicious (extra bonus: it was chicken instead of pork!).  The food is getting better as my family finds out what I like.

I admit I was a bit of a downer the past two weeks because of how much I missed home.  I’ve decided to set a few goals for myself to stay motivated.  The most important goals I have are to improve my Armenian and hang out more with my host family. This past weekend was great and I hope my good mood stays throughout the week!   Here are a few pictures of my weekend:

Typical Pre-Service Training Day

I wake up at 8:00 am every morning.  If my host mom is at work already then I get the honor of lighting the gas stove myself to boil water (trust me, it took about a week for my host family to let me make my own breakfast).  I get ready for school and then eat oatmeal and drink tea.  I spend 4 or more hours per day at language training in a school that is one minute walk from my house.  Our group was split into two language classes so there are only 4 volunteers in my group.  My Armenian is not going so well….. What I want to say in my head and what I actually say are two totally different things.  I’m already worried about our final language interview in August that we have to pass to become official volunteers.  I've mastered how to say I'm full, I'm not hungry, and I'm tired.  I think I say those phrases more than anything else.

After class I go home where my host sister always has lunch waiting for me.  It’s so sweet that she waits for me, but I really would like to help cook for us.  Two or three days a week after language class I go to tech training for TEFL volunteers, which so far has been a bit boring, but I think we will be having more concrete lessons soon.  The volunteers in my village try to get together on days when we don’t have extra training.  We found a decent size field that we use to play Frisbee and soccer.  Other days we just take walks or go on a hike when we are feeling adventurous.  I’m always home by 7 even though it doesn’t get dark until 10.  Some days we eat dinner at 7, other times I am already asleep by the time my family eats.  I do my homework, go online, sometimes shower and usually read my kindle right before bed. I try to be in bed by 11, but sometimes that’s impossible because we have guests over or eat so late.  Overall my days follow the same routine with surprising discoveries each day.  Yesterday I picked cherries off my host family’s huge cherry tree and today I said a complex sentence in Armenian. Small victories!  

We had our interviews for site placement, but it really wasn’t an interview at all.  I was asked about my expectations and goals for my site.  It wasn’t until the very end when I was asked if I had any preferences.  I have lived in Florida my entire life so basically I asked to live somewhere that doesn’t have a harsh winter (if such a place exists in Armenia).  In 2 weeks I will find out where I will be for the next two years!!

Driving Me Crazy

Driving in Armenia is insane.  Most families in my village seem to have at least one car, whether it is a junky soviet era car or a decked out Toyota.  The roads are in bad condition, potholes are everywhere, and there are no lines or speed limit signs that I have seen yet.  Most people who have seatbelts in their car do not use them.  I have only seen one person use their blinker and instead cars will honk at you as they pass by and come dangerously close to hitting the car in the oncoming lane.  As volunteers we are mandated to wear a seatbelt whenever available, and after traveling in Armenia I completely understand.

Riding in a marshutni is a different experience entirely.  Marshutnis are minibuses that in America would fit only 12 people max.  Here they can fit 30+ people.  How? By sitting on strangers laps! It’s totally acceptable here.  The marshutni basically has a fixed route, but to get on you just stand on the side of the road and wave it down.  I was on a crowded marshrutni with three other volunteers to a central town.  We thought our marshutni was full, but alas four older men jumped into the marshrutni right before we left.  I am not exaggerating when I say that half of his body was on my lap and the other half was out of the window.  Sooo awkward and uncomfortable for me, but he seemed just fine with sitting on my lap and displaying his behind out the window for the world to see. 

Another story: I was walking with two other volunteers yesterday and a volunteer’s dog started to follow us.  Well, the dog decided to cross the street and came within a foot of being run over if it wasn’t for the other volunteer screaming for the car to stop. Few people keep pets and stray animals are treated awfully.  If you lean down to pet a dog they will sprint away from you because they are used to being hit by rocks….. Heartbreaking to watch, but with my limited Armenian the best I can say is that we treat animals differently in America.

Yet another story: Another volunteer lives with my cousins and they took us to café in a nearby town on Sunday.  On the way back, the dad suddenly pulls over and gets out of the car.  My young cousin takes his place and starts driving us into our town.  I was more in awe that a 14 year old girl could drive stick shift than I was worried about my safety.  I’m sure I will have more fun driving stories in the future.

All that being said, I have only seen one actual accident in Armenia.  Public transportation seems to be safe, though very stressful and uncomfortable. 

P.S. I have attached pictures to give you an idea of how I live. Below are pictures of my daily snack, bedroom, laundry and backyard.  I repeat, the first picture is just a picture of the typical snack my host family gives me!

Is this real life?

I had my first dream in Armenian and I didn’t understand a word of it. Learning Armenian is much harder than I realized, but I have a very nice host family to practice with. I have been with my host family for almost a week and it feels like I have lived here for months. I moved into my village knowing that the next 2 years would be like a rollercoaster with extreme ups and downs. I listen to my host family talk and get so excited when I understand a word or phrase. Then I’ll have a few minutes alone and almost cry thinking about everyone back home. So far I have had more ups than downs and hopefully this trend continues :)

On the upside, I definitely lucked out with my host family. I live with a host father, mother, brother, sister-in-law and their 3 month old son. Surprisingly we have an indoor toilet, hot water and washing machine (though I am worried about hang drying my underwear haha.) As far as food goes, I have had hotdogs for breakfast, chicken necks and more desserts than I want to remember. Everything is smothered in oil. One of the best meals I have had is khorovats- basically an Armenian style bbq that is delicious.  It can be chicken or pork, but it is roasted over a pit with potatoes to make a fantastic meal.  I first ate khorovats when our neighbors threw a party to celebrate the safe return of their son from the military.  There was soo much food and alcohol, but thankfully my host sister took me home after an hour so I didn’t have to embarrass myself dancing.  Once I get to know my village better I plan on running to stay in shape or else I will definitely gain weight. I went on an awesome hike with the other volunteers to a famous church, but that is all as far as exercise goes.

We have language lessons for 4 ½ hours every day except Sunday and technical trainings twice a week. Seven other volunteers live with me in my village, but I get to see the other TEFL volunteers twice a week. Once every two weeks all of the volunteers meet in a central town for more training. This is where I bought my internet modem (it looks just like a flash drive) and had a great day hanging out with the other volunteers. We each had to teach an 8 minute lesson on any skill that we have to practice our teaching skills. I presented how to teach swim lessons and it was a big hit. I realized that I want my site assignment to be teaching younger children English, so hopefully I will be able to change my assignment during our site placement interviews.

Next time I’ll tell you about life in the village and my crazy experiences as a passenger in cars, taxis and minibuses!

Finally Here =)

We made it to Armenia! A current volunteer is broadcasting wifi from his computer so I only have a few minutes of internet access.  We are at hotel in the mountains about an hour outside of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.  Soon I should have a phone and internet access if you want to chat :) They say that the internet is very slow, but most volunteers still use it.  Armenia is beautiful!  The weather was a mix of rain, sun and a little chilly in the shade (only if you're from Florida haha).  We are able to take naps this morning when we arrived and then shower, thank goodness!  I'm starting realize how hard it is going to be to live without constant running water.  Winter is going to be killer.

We learned which towns we will be living in for training, and we move in with our host families on Tuesday.  I really want to start learning Armenian so I am so excited to move in with an Armenian family. The food so far has been interesting.....the highlights have definitely been apricot jam and delicious bread. So. Much. Bread. I will post more soon =)

Staging

Day 1: I am sitting in my hotel room and I am already exhausted.  I flew from Jax to Philly this morning and barely made it on time to staging (Peace Corps Orientation).  Between carrying over 100 pounds of luggage and getting lost in the crazy Philly airport I am lucky that I was on time.  Our staging agenda included learning about the history, mission and vision of the PC and expectations for both us and the PC. After staging I went out to dinner at an Irish pub with some very nice volunteers and then headed back to my hotel room to rearrange my belongings and get some sleep.

Day 2: We are about to board a bus that will take us to JFK airport in NYC.  We will spend several hours waiting at JFK until our flight for Vienna, Austria leaves at 5:45pm. I'm hoping to use this time to actually learn the alphabet, but we'll see :)