There's No Place Like Home

I’m back! In Armenia that is.  My vacation in the states went by WAY too fast.  I’ll back track to June 12^th while I was still in Armenia.   I met up with all the volunteers in my year because we had a Mid Service Training together at hotel for a few days.  It was actually a really nice conference and I had a great time catching up with people I hadn’t seen in months. I came down with giardia (look it up), and had a very unpleasant time running back and forth to the bathroom every hour.  Thank goodness this struck in a hotel, I can’t imagine being this sick and having to use my outhouse, gross…. Anyways, the doctors brought me medicine that luckily kicked in just before I boarded my plane for America.  My flight was supposed to leave at 5:55 am according to Orbitz, but other people told me that the true time for my flight was 4:55.  How could Orbitz be so wrong? Well, Armenia boldly decided not to do daylight savings time this year and the rest of the world inconveniently forgot to notice.  I stayed out all night with a small group of volunteers and then happily took a taxi to the airport.  This began a long string of the most horrible flights I have ever had.  The man next to me used an electric razor TWICE on the plane for a solid 15 minutes each time.  Seriously, no one needs to use a razor that much on a 5 hour flight to London.  After London I flew to DC and hustled to catch my flight to Jax.  My mom was waiting for me and literally ran past security when she saw me.  We both started crying and just stood there for a few minutes; neither of us could believe I was actually there.  Then we drove home and my brother surprised me there since I wasn’t supposed to see him for another week.  My first meal was chips and guacamole and then I was passed out in my own bed at 9.  A whirlwind 2 weeks in Florida were slightly hampered by the tropical storm, but nothing beats being home.  I spent a lot of time with my extended family, some of who traveled all the way from New York to see me (Thank you!!) and then I traveled to UF to meet up with my friends for a few days. 

After a wonderful two weeks in Florida, I flew to DC to visit my boyfriend.  I was flying United and everything was going fine for the first hour.  Then all of the sudden we started flying in a different direction.  The pilot got on the speaker and said that we were having air valve problems and needed to divert the plane to Knoxville.  We all thought surely they must have another plane waiting for us in Knoxville, because why else would they divert a plane that far??  Nope, they had no plane waiting for us and we all had to spend the night at the airport hotel.  Considering I was only spending 7 days in DC to begin with, I was pretty upset.  The next morning my flight left for DC at 5:50 and I got there with no problems this time.  My awesome boyfriend was waiting with a bouquet of roses at the airport and so we started our DC adventure.  We managed to see all the monuments, museums and fireworks while eating the most delicious food the entire week.  A week was not enough time at all, but it was perfect J

Phew. What a crazy, crazy week. I’ll start with the most interesting first, I got to meet Hillary Clinton! Twenty volunteers were randomly chosen to attend a short speech at the US embassy so it was pure luck that I got to go.  I took a marshutni early yesterday morning to Yerevan and went to the embassy, which was beautiful and is one of the biggest (for the US) in the world.  Hillary Clinton gave a short speech and walked around to shake a few hands, I was lucky and got to shake her hand, but of course I got nervous and the only thing I could think of to say was “It’s so nice to meet you.” Anyways, it was an especially great moment because it celebrated my one year anniversary of being in Armenia.  Days like that make me feel incredibily blessed to be living and working here in Armenia.  Here are some pictures at the embassy, including the one of the back of my head next to Hillary Clinton haha:

Then days like today are not great.  I took a marshutni back from Yerevan early this morning and discovered I had forgotten my Dramamine pills.  I felt like I was going to be sick for the entire ride.  I had to meet my school director as soon as I got off the marshutni looking as pale as a ghost.  I asked him some last minute questions about a grant (that was due at midnight tonight!) to repair our gymnasium. Turns out we were still waiting on a couple of price quotes from different vinyl store owners so it was a crazy rush to finish everything on time.  Thank goodness it is all turned in and finished.  I will find out on Monday if it has been accepted or not… keep your fingers crossed! I haven’t worked this much since college and I will be completely crushed if we get rejected.

Random good news: There is a sour cherry tree in my backyard and I made a pretty awesome cherry crisp last week.

Random bad news: I have rats living in my roof and now I’m perpetually frightened that they will fall on my head while I sleep.

Here are some pictures of spring in Armenia J

Thanks to everyone who sent me a birthday card or package! I had a pretty good first birthday in Armenia.  My students decorated the blackboards and sung happy birthday to me.  Then my Armenian friend Manik had a surprise birthday lunch for me at a café with a few teachers.  It was really nice to get together outside of school. 

Later that day Danelle and I went to the huge monument in Noyemberyan and chilled there for a few hours.

I went to Yerevan on Friday for a meeting and met up with some other volunteers at our hostel. We spent the afternoon at an outdoor cafe, summer is finally here! We had a great time dancing the rest of the night and I went back to my village the next day.

Today I am traveling to Yerevan to meet the new volunteers.  A few of us will stay at their hotel and help them adjust to Armenia.  I barely remember those first few days because we were sleep deprived and jet lagged so it will be interesting to do it again!  

23 days until Florida :)

Shake Shake Shake

On Monday I experienced my first ever earthquake.  It was just before 9 in the morning and I was getting ready to go to school.  The ground started to shake and I thought it was just a large truck driving on the road above my house.  Then, my house began to shake back and forth and I realized it was an earthquake.  I ran outside, but by the time I finally got there it had stopped.  I stood outside talking to my neighbors, all wearing their pajamas, and they kept asking me if I was afraid.  To be honest earthquakes totally freak me out now.  I wearily went back into my house, saw there was no damage, and finished getting ready.  I started walking to school when suddenly 20 students rushed the street and yelled to me that school was cancelled because of the earthquake.  There was no damage to the school, but they closed it in case of aftershocks (There actually was a strong aftershock later that afternoon).  I think we were the only school in the region that was closed.  The epicenter of the earthquake was in Azerbaijan and people as far as Yerevan could feel it.

I had a conversation the next day with an Armenian who asked if we had earthquakes in America.  I said yes, but not usually in Florida.  I then explained hurricanes to her.  She said hurricanes sounded much more frightening because of the water and wind. I told her I was much more afraid of earthquakes because there is absolutely no warning before it strikes.  I hope that was the only earthquake of my Peace Corps service… Oh well, at least I'll be earthquake-free Florida in 38 days! Sorry Washington DC (49 days!), your earthquake last year isn't going to win you any favors ;)

Portugal!

I just got back from a weeklong vacation in Portugal and had an amazing time.  So amazing that I didn’t want to go back to Armenia.  I did much better adjusting to Armenia this time around than I did after Istanbul.  It helps that its warm and sunny now, and that I’ll be going to America in 42 days, not that I’m counting J More like desperately hoping the time flies by so I can see my family again.  Portugal was a week to recharge my batteries and visit a beautiful country.  I climbed castles, visited churches, and explored Lisbon until I couldn’t walk anymore.  I also did many American things, like eat at Burger King, and watch an American movie in English.  Hunger Games: Awesome.  I started rereading the books on the airplane back to Armenia.  Here are some pictures of Portugal:

The Small Things

What started as an awful week eventually turned into a week full of small, wonderful moments. 

A boy from my 7^th form class brought me a bouquet of tulips from his mother’s garden “so I would be happy again.” 

I had 6 students compete in the Koghb Poetry Competition with Susan and Fred, volunteers from Noyemberyan, as judges.  Each student who participated received an English book (Thanks mom and Andy for getting those to Armenia!)

I brought 4 of my students to the Noyemberyan Regional Competition.  They didn’t place, but they are excited to try again next year now that they know what the judges are looking for. Also, I am freakishly tall in Armenia.

We found asparagus in Noyemberyan, I don’t have a picture of the delicious food, but I do have a picture of us volunteers smiling because we found it haha.

I taught an awesome lesson on past tense irregular verbs today with my counterpart.  For the first time since I have been here she complimented me on the lesson plan and said that the children learned a lot today.  So things are definitely starting to look up in my village again.  I leave for Portugal in one week and I promise to come back with lots of pictures J

A Sad Story

When I first moved into my house there was a dog, Jeana, living on my porch.  Every day I gave her food and water and she would follow me wherever I went.  I tried not to become attached, but soon everyone in the village called her my dog and I looked forward to seeing her when I came home from work. 

Today is the one day of the week that I go to school late.  I slept in, went to the post office, and made my way to school at around 11.  When I got to school Manik, my friend and an English teacher, said that my dog had been hit by a car and that the children who live near me were looking for me for help.  The children left class to show me where Jeana was.  She was lying on the side of the road in front of our school with broken legs and blood everywhere.  I started crying in front of everyone: students, teachers, soldiers and even my school director.  Each student who saw me said, “Ms. Ashley, don’t cry, it will be ok, we will get you another dog.”  Most families do not have pets in Armenia so they thought it was strange for me to be crying over a dog.

All of my students in the 7^th form were trying to come up with ideas to help move Jeana back to my house.  No taxis would take her and most of the boys were afraid to even touch her.  I walked to the art school with a few children and thankfully found Ara.  He is an amazing painter and speaks a little English.  I told him what had happened and he walked with us to Jeana.  Boys from the 12^th form came outside and painstakingly tried to move Jeana into a box so that they could carry her.  It was heartbreaking to watch because she wasn’t able to move at all, and there was too much blood for the boys to move her with their hands. They searched a nearby trash dump and came back with a rusty car door that they managed to slide under Jeana.  They carried her all the way to the art school.  They placed her on the grass and covered her with a blanket.  The people at the art school began calling doctors to see if anyone who come look at her, but they were either too busy or said there was nothing they could do.  I stayed at the art school for several hours and they eventually told me to go home because I was exhausted and kind of a wreck.  Two hours later my neighbor came over with a box of chocolates and told me that Jeana died at the art school.  Manik called right after and said that they had buried the dog next to the school. 

This has definitely been my saddest day in Peace Corps service.  My school and the art school did everything they could to help Jeana and she still died.  At least she was able to die peacefully on the green grass near the art school instead of on broken glass on a street corner.  I am so thankful for my community for their help, especially since the culture in Armenia is not hospitable to animals.  RIP Jeana.