Experiencing More of Armenia: Permanent Site Visit

In early July, all the A-19 volunteers received our site placements, and had the opportunity to visit our new sites for a weekend to preview our upcoming two years in-country as Peace Corps Volunteers. The following snippets are taken from my journal from those days…

July 6
My brother’s birthday. I tried calling him, but he didn’t answer. Typical of anyone I’ve tried calling back in the states lately. (Answer your phones! I want to talk to you!)

Today is our site announcement! BIG DAY because today we learn about our job placement, where we’ll be living for the next 2 years and who (meaning other volunteers) we’ll be living near. Our little training village is going to be split up, and we all want to know how far from each other we are going to be. (This is a little bit scary.)

Kim and Brian showing their feelings Before Site Announcement

To announce our sites, they chalked a huge map of Armenia on the sidewalk, and had us stand on the map where we were placed.

We feel like today is the day things start happening for us. Everything is getting more concrete. Our purpose in Armenia is becoming more clear……

—- Heto (Later) —–

I’m going to be in Gegharkunik Marz, near Lake Sevan (the one big lake in Armenia). There is one volunteer there currently, and there will be another volunteer from my group going there as well. Thought I’d be more excited, but it was definitely a mixed bag of emotions.

When my name and town were called and I went to stand on my place on the map, someone came running out of the crowd and handed me a bag of potatoes.

July 7
Melancholy. Hot. Tired. My feet hurt. Dozed off and on in bed for two hours this morning. Wondering why I don’t get up. Wondering why I’m not excited. Today I go to my new site! Thought I’d be ecstatic.

July 8
The drive to my new site was long and hot. I rode in a taxi with my future English tutor, her husband, and son. We stopped at a roadside fruit stand and bought 5 big bags of cherries. We ate one bag along the way. As I ran out of cherries in my hand, I found another bunch placed there. Typical Armenian hospitality, making sure I keep eating until I’m absolutely stuffed and throwing cherries out the window just so I don’t have to put anymore in my mouth.

Some of the huge delicious cherries I ate on my way to my new site.

July 9
I’m in my new site. My new host mother is delightful! We had a feast for dinner last night, just her and I. Dolma, roasted bebar, matsun, muraba, ganachi, lavash, Coca-Cola, cherries, strawberries, apricots, panir… all very delicious, of course. Turns out my new host mom is a cook for her profession.

My host mother and the feast she prepared for my first night at my new site.

I got a tour of the house and showed her my photo book of pictures and she showed me pictures of her family and the volunteer they had hosted several years ago who made an incredible impression upon them all. (Guess what? I have to live up to Connie!)

This is my new host mom digging trenches in her garden. This is how they garden here: the plants are on top the hills, and they flood the trenches with water.

My new host mother speaks a few words of English, but mostly Armenian. Somehow, though, I was able to understand her very well! It was awesome! I don’t know if it was because she speaks slower or just that somehow she knows to use only words that I understand, but I felt like we actually had a conversation in Armenian, which made me feel really good about myself.

I washed my hair in freezing cold water. Couldn’t figure out how to make it warm.

I met the college director where I’m going to be working, and I met my counterpart who is a very nice, friendly lady. The three of us and several other future co-workers had coffee for two hours while I told them about my family (in my very limited Armenian, but I am good at saying, “I have 10 brothers and 4 sisters.”) and they asked me questions about America and the differences between here and there. “Do you speak Russian?” “Does America have apricots that taste as good as these ones?” “When people are unemployed, do they get help from the government?” “Do you like it better in Armenia or America?”My future tutor translated some things for me, which helped out a great deal, but I still found some of their questions quite difficult.

By the way, guess who used to volunteer at my college? Connie! (Everyone loved Connie.)

Afterwards, I was able to hang out with the A-18 volunteer who currently lives in my new town and he explained that I will be eating a lot of potatoes during the winter. Hence, the welcoming gift at site announcement. All hail the mighty kartofil!

He showed me around the town so I have a little knowledge of the lay of the land. The main part of town seems fairly easy to navigate. As far as I’ve seen so far, there are 2 parks, a cultural center being renovated, shops, apartments… Things are in various states of disrepair, but still being used. Lots of garbage in the streets. Potholes, uneven ground. All buildings seem gray and shabby (but that could be because the weather was overcast almost the whole weekend). All shops are overflowing with the same goods. The insides of the buildings also all seem the same. Big bare stone entryways, 2-toned walls, uneven stone or wooden floors, crumbly stairways.

July 10
I learned how to have a hot shower. It involves turning the gas on and lighting the water heater with a match.

My counterpart met me at the post office and we walked to her house, holding hands. (This is a common way for Armenian women to walk places.) She is a very petite lady, and I felt a little gangly and awkward, matching my pace to hers, and towering over her, holding her hand.

We had a good lunch at her house with family and neighbors, and I understood pretty much none of the conversation around me. My counterpart read my fortune in a deck of playing cards, and while I didn’t understand much, I did get that the cards signified: travel, me, more travel, communication, and money. Interesting, huh?

Some of my new host mom’s family came for two nights, including her 8 year old granddaughter, who regaled me all evening with stories in Armenian. I loved it! She’s really expressive and didn’t care at all that I barely understood her!

July 11
It was a great weekend. Everything went really, really well. I ended up meeting the mayor and his wife, the music school director, the chief of police, and the director of another of the schools.

I got to watch the graduation of the 9th form (9th grade class), which was interesting. There were a lot of ladies (I think other teachers?) all sitting around the room, and the students stood in the middle. When their name was called, they went over and got their report card. When everyone was done, there were a few short speeches, and then it was over. There were no parents or family there, and the students weren’t dressed up especially nice for the ceremony. In Armenia, after 9th grade, students either go on to high school or college.

This is the graduation of the ninth grade class in one school in Armenia

I also got a better idea (I think) of what I’ll be doing as my job. It seems I’ll be teaching graphic design and various software programs to the teachers and the students in a college. I will also be assessing the students’ skill levels, and if all goes well, I may be helping them with the business aspect of freelance graphic design and we can do some real-world work, working with clients. I’m very excited about this, and hope it works out! Also, since I coached some Dale Carnegie classes back in the states, there is a possibility that I can form some sort of personal development classes, which would also be really cool.

Overall, I’m looking forward to getting done with training and moving on to my new site.

Those of you who want it, I have a new address where you can start sending me letters and packages anytime! Just ask. Communication with you all is GREATLY appreciated!