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.    

Where are you Spring??

I just had one of the most productive weeks in my Peace Corps Service.  Volunteers will tell you that the first year of service is an adjustment year and that the second year is when you start making a difference.  I’ve already been here 10 months and I’m only now beginning to feel good about my work here.  Every lesson I had in my classes and clubs this week went great.  The director and I began working on a grant to repair the floor of our gymnasium.  I tutored students at my house who wanted to study for the poetry competition. My old host mother even came over for tea, which meant I cleaned and decorated my house until it looked perfect.  It may not sound like a lot, but village life is SLOW so this was quite a lot to fit into one week.

Winter was really, really hard and the thought of warmer weather is definitely motivating me to be more productive.  Soon we might even have vegetables other than potatoes and carrots.   I’ve started studying for the GRE and it already shows that I haven’t taken a math class since high school.  Has anyone taken the new GRE yet? Any advice would be great J

I hope you all have a great Easter!

Village Life

Here are some pictures of my new house:

This bed was left behind by the military men who lived here before me, my landlady warned me not to use it so here it sits in my extra bedroom

My real bedroom/the only room I go in during winter

My backyard, outhouse on the left and the potato field on the right

This dog follows me everywhere, even into my school!

I love living by myself, but there are definitely some problems with my new living arrangements.   The houses in my area do not get water and have to go by car to get it.  I have to give empty jugs to my neighbor and I only get water when he decides to go get water.  I don’t have enough to take a bucket bath or wash my clothes so I do all of that at another pcv’s apartment in Noyemberyan. 

I moved out of my host family’s house to have privacy.  For the first few weeks at my new house I did, but now my neighbors have hired people to plant potatoes for them in my backyard.  These new workers can see clearly into my window and I have to walk past them to get to my outhouse. Awkward. They also use my outhouse and leave traces behind… It’s disgusting.

In other news, I spontaneously decided to go on a vacation to Portugal with 2 other volunteers at the end of April. Next week I'll let you know how our poetry competition goes!

How The Fire Ruined My Heart

Fail. Sorry about not posting, things around here have been kind of crazy lately.  Armenians call March the ‘crazy’ month because they never know if it’s going to snow, rain or be sunny and warm.  It has most definitely NOT been sunny or warm.  The snow keeps falling and I keep wishing I was in sunny Florida.  Good thing I bought my place ticket to come home this summer!! I’ll be Florida and DC in late June and early July J

I moved out of my host family’s house and into my own house on March 1^st.  I was so happy to move out and was actually looking forward to using a wood stove. Innocent Mistake #1.  All of my wood was wet, but I thought I would have no problem beginning my fire. Naïve Mistake #2. My taxi driver bought me kerosene at the gas station and I used almost half a bottle trying to light the wood. Stupid Mistake #3. Words of warning to future volunteers: NEVER put kerosene on live or semi-live coals. Maybe this is common knowledge that I missed during my childhood.  Turns out I should have went on more camping trips or barbeques. A huge explosion erupted from my stove when I tried to light the wet wood with an insane amount of kerosene on it.  I burnt my clothes, hair and one of my hands very badly.  I had to throw away my clothes, cut 4 inches off my hair, and suffer through a painful burn that took 2 weeks to heal.  My quasi- sitemate Danelle took care of me and I’ve recovered with no scars except for my pride.  My entire town found out that I had burned myself.  Now, every day, I get asked if I can burn the wood and start a fire.  Maybe I should have stayed with my host family for the rest of winter, but I’m sure come November the same thing would have happened to me.

Life lesson learned: I should have joined Girl Scouts as a child.  Maybe if I were alumni they would have sent me some charity Thin Mints. 

In a few days I will post pictures of my house! Promise J

Also: School is alright, my clubs are awesome, and I’ll be celebrating St. Patty’s day in style with other volunteers this weekend.

Hearts & Fires

Armenia celebrates a mixture of holidays in February: Valentine’s Day, St. Sargis Day and Valentine’s Day.  To give you an idea of how different these holidays are: I jumped over a fire today! Sure, by the time I went outside it was down to a few logs and 1 burning flame, but it was still exciting.  Below you can look at the links for the different holidays:

St. Sargis Day
http://www.oratert.com/english/society/16783.html

Trndez

http://armenianow.com/arts_and_culture/35560/trndez_armenian_church_holiday

Children were allowed out of class early to jump over the fire; you had to jump in pairs over the fire and into the ice. Some didn't quite make it... 

The highlight of my day was helping my 7^th grade club make Valentine’s cards for their families. Soo cute!

I HAVE A HOUSE!

It needs a lot of work, but I should be able to move in on March 1^st.  It has 3 bedrooms, a kitchen area, a porch and a garden in the back.  I will have no running water, no warm place to take bucket baths and of course I will have an outhouse.  I shouldn't complain because I expected to face all of these hardships going into Peace Corps. What makes Armenia so difficult is that the living situation for every volunteer is different.  Most volunteers have running water for at least part of the day and an indoor toilet that they can flush with a bucket.  It sucks knowing that if I would have been placed in a different region then I could have moved into a furnished apartment.  Instead I’m moving into a house with a bed frame, table, chairs and dresser. That’s all, unless you count the dog who has made his home on my porch for the winter. My new neighbors and people from the art school have said that they will help me move and find everything I need to buy: Wood stove, wood, refrigerator, oven, mattress, etc. It will be a very interesting March!