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!