Yesterday was one of the best days I’ve had in country so
figured it was the perfect time for an update from sunny, but cold and icy
Gavar!
 |
| Add caption |
I’ll start with the end of the December. Because I really just started with my NGO’s
at the beginning of December and because the holidays were quickly approaching,
my time at Cartias and Good Hope was more about celebration of Nor Taree (New
Year, the biggest celebration here in Armenia) and just getting to know the
people I was going to be working with. I
did go with Diana (Caritas) to Chambarak and Vardenis to meet with and get to
know a little bit about the two NGO’s we are going to be working with in those
towns.
I also got to go to both Nor
Taree celebrations for Good Hope and Caritas, which was a great way to get to
know the staff and kids I’ll be working with.
Caritas’ party was over 5 hours long and there were presentations on
Christmas and Nor Taree celebrations throughout the world (I presented on New
Years in the States), singing (Armenian’s love Abba’s Happy New Year and Wham’s
Last Christmas- which the English club performed for us and everyone in the
room sang along to the chorus…interesting song choices, but they love them!), a
Secret Friend game (basically Secret Santa), and of course lots of dancing. I had a wonderful time and it made me realize
how happy I am to be working with the staff and kids at Caritas, though those
kids wore me out!
 |
| with my Secret Friend, Hovhannes For my gift, he made me a purple rose, and drew me a picture which he had the English teacher write Have A Nice Day in English:) |
 |
| Dzmer Papik (Santa Claus) visit the kids at Children Rehabiliation and Development Center |
Then I went to Argel with David to see my host family before the holidays and I swear I fall in love with them more everytime I am with them. The day really could not have been better. Liova, the baby, is getting so big and the second he saw me he started to smile, warmed my heart, and his mom Arpine said, this is your sister:) Soosana was so excited to see me, she brought out the wine, totally an Armenian thing to do for the men, but was pretty funny that Soosana did it. So at 2pm, we had dolmas and wine. And Soosana told me she needed more Old Bay because she uses it all of the time! I'd say that's a pretty good show of PC Goal #2: Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.:) After a wonderful afternoon with my host fam, I went over to David's host family's home to celebrate his host mother, Alla's birthday. Just watching both of our host families and the love shared in the room, David and I both agreed, it couldn't have been a better day:)
 |
| Sylvie, Liova, and Arpi |
To celebrate Christmas, I had several Peace Corps friends over. My friend Arpine was kind
enough to loan us a projector for a few days, so we ate some traditional
American food, played Dirty Santa, listened to Christmas music, visited the
town of Noratus to check out their famous hatchkars, and watched Christmas movies
on the wall of my apartment. I have to
admit, it never quite felt like Christmas so I really didn’t experience
homesickness which is good. Armenians don’t celebrate until January 6th,
so December 25th is just another day here in Armenia, but being
surrounded by some of my dearest Peace Corps friends made it a very special
couple of days. I also got to skype with mom, Dorrie, and dad back home and in
true Engel/McGovern fashion we just laughed our way through our conversation,
kind of hard not to be happy after that, especially since mom included her
grocery list in my Christmas boxJ
 |
| Christmas in Gavar |
Then, after counting down since August, I packed up for the
trip I had been waiting for: 10 days in
Prague and Budapest with my sister and several of my other friends. And what a trip it was! We got to see all of the sites, eat delicious
food, drink tasty beer, laugh a ton, indulge in mulled wine, take a ton of
jumping shots, experience new things and places, be serious in completely inappropriate situations (Robin you'll have this done by June;), and just enjoy a real vacation. And we all got along amazingly which made it even more incredible! Having been in Armenia for 7 months prior to
the trip, I hadn’t realized how much I missed just blending in, being able to
speak English, talk about life and future stuff, and be around people who know me incredibly well. It was a great time to just be me, enjoy the
company of my sister and some of my best friends, go back to my favorite city,
and re-think my goals during my time here in Peace Corps. And everyone knows how much I love my sister,
so just being with her was the best thing I could have asked for.
 |
| The crew at Hero's Square in Budapest, Hungary |
 |
| St. Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic |
 |
| New Years Eve with my sister |
The first week back to Armenia was a little
tough, there is definitely a transition you go through when you come back here
from vacation. And to top it off, I had no water, no power, it was cold, the first person I ran into asked me when I could start teaching them English, a snowstorm was on its way, and after being with my sister and friends for over a week, I really missed them and America. Power went back on after a day and a half but I still had to unfreeze my pipes, so for two days, I had heaters propped up to my hot water heater and pipes trying to unfreeze them. After a few bucket baths, you have no idea how amazing a hot shower is, possibly even worth the week of no water!...well maybe not:) But once I got through
that part, I realized my attitude and excitement for Armenia and Peace Corps is even
stronger than it was before I left.
After adjusting to life in Armenia, getting to know my community and
myself here in Gavar, switching NGO’s, making Armenian friends who are becoming
more dear to me by the day, and getting through some of the challenges of being
in Peace Corps and living in a different country with a different culture, I
really feel as though my life here has begun.
I have gone through a lot of the transitions and now things are really
starting to settle and I feel really good about what the next year and a half
of my service are going to be like.
I will say, two weeks of not speaking Armenian, you can lose it so quickly. When I got back, I went shopping, which is kind of a lost cause right after the Nor Taree celebrations because the stores are wiped out , literally, shelves empty, no bread, no dairy, and no cheese, which was exactly what I was seeking. So I went to five stores, no luck. Then ran into my friend Narine who took me to the store who apparently got the only shipments for Gavar after Nor Taree. I ordered a kes kilo of cheese (half kilo) and the woman said something back to me. I hadn't heard or talked in Armenian for two weeks so I just said yes. Turns out she said don't you want a whole kilo...so guess who has been eating cheese all week, and there is still too much left. First two days back in country and I spent $10, way more than my PC salary allows on cheese that I can't possibly eat on my own!
Last week I really started my work with my two NGO’s and my
work with them gave me new life. Monday
and Tuesday, I worked with Gevorg at Good Hope.
We began a needs assessment of sorts in preparation for developing a
strategic plan. We discussed ideas for
sustainable programs and trainings for the kids and their parents, ways to
engage the community, the background and history of Good Hope, and a lot about
the differences and similarities between non-profits in the US and NGO’s in
Armenia and what Gevorg may be interested in implementing based upon our
discussion. We accomplished a lot in two
days and I feel really good about working with him, it was a very encouraging
two days!
Then I was with Diana and Tatevik from Caritas on Wednesday
and Thursday and we also had a lot of success.
Diana and I are working with the two NGO’s in Chambarak and Vardenis on
how to become more sustainable organizations, developing their planning process,
and working to increase their donor pull.
Armenian NGO’s really very heavily on foreign aid and international
grants and donations, it is an issue which many are trying to address here in
country. Diana and I are trying to develop some new
strategies for these two NGO’s to diversify their funding both within their
community and externally as they both solely rely on Caritas for support at
this time. The Little Prince program
just received a renewal of their funding for the program which included an
increase in support, a very exciting time for them. So right now, Tatevik is
trying to find another location for the program. Currently, all of the Caritas programs are
located in the same office, and Little Prince just needs more space to serve
the kids and families they work with.
With the new funding, they are able to identify a new space, a process
which is currently ongoing. The hope is
to move within the next couple of weeks and have the kids back in the center by
the beginning of March. In the meantime,
Tatevik and I are working together to plan life skills and professional skills
training for the kids including, healthy lifestyles and decisions, exercise,
computer skills, business etiquette, gender equality, leadership and teamwork, etc.
as well as trying to put together a talent show which will involve all of the
schools and NGO’s which serve children as well as the entire community of
Gavar. |
| Tatevik, my counterpart for Little Prince |
I am also on the GenEq TOT (Gender Equality Training of
Trainers) steering committee. From March
18-20, there will be a gender equality training which will be held for Peace
Corps volunteers with two counterparts from their community, which I will be
helping to facilitate. The ultimate goal
is to have these PCV’s and their counterparts hold GenEq trainings for members
of their community. I will be bringing
Tatevik as well as a lady named Karine who works for an NGO called Women’s
Rights NGO, an organization which serves women and children who are victims of
domestic violence. Until I asked Diana
who she thought would be best for this training, I was unaware that this NGO
existed in Gavar and I was very pleased to know that this resource is available
for women here in Gavar. We will begin
planning shortly, so more to come on this!
So all of this brings me to the wonderful day I had
yesterday! Diana called to invite me to
the home of Araik and Irina (the driver and one of the social workers for
Caritas) to have lunch. I was hesitant initially
because my shower is broken, I can’t turn my water on right now because my
whole bathroom floods, and my sitemate was going to come help me fix it. But, especially having just come back from
vacation, I knew I needed to spend time with some of my friends from the
community and Araik has one of the best personalities of anyone I’ve met in
Armenia, I love the chances I have to be around him. What was supposed to be just lunch turned
into 8 hours of eating, dancing, drinking, laughing, and one of the best days
that I have had since I’ve been in Armenia.
Araik and Irina are one of the most fun and loving couples I have met
and their two kids share their amazing dispositions. Being at their home for 8 hours a few months
ago would have been too much for me, but yesterday I was just comfortable and
happy, wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else. And that is when I realized that I was in love
with Gavar again, being welcomed into their home the way I was and how much I
loved being there was just what I needed.
Araik can’t speak English so we communicate in the little bit of
Armenian I know and Diana helps translate a lot too. The day was made even better by the following
conversation as I was trying to explain the disaster that is my bathroom:
me (in Armenian): My shower broke, water sprayed all over my
bathroom and is everywhere.
Araik (in Armenian): That's bad, do you shower every day?
me (in my bad Armenian and apparently not understanding
Araik): Yes, my friends help me.
I had clearly not been paying enough attention to what he
was saying, I thought he was asking if anyone was going to help me and I also
made the mistake of replying in present tense rather than future…took me a
minute to figure out why the whole room couldn't stop laughing:) And he loves to laugh and give people shit,
so I know I will be hearing about this for the next year and a half, which I am
good with, makes me feel like I am a part of the groupJ
 |
| this picture doesn't quite do it justice |
 |
| Venera, me, Diana, Irina, and Araik |
So that is the latest from here in Gavar. Feeling pretty good about life these days and
really looking forward to what the next few months are going to bring my
way. Hope everyone enjoyed their
holidays and GO RAVENS! Yes, I, along
with two other volunteers, will be up at the crazy hour of 3:30 am to cheer
them on against the Pats…got to enjoy a little taste of home when I can!
 |
| my other counterpart Diana has purple pride too:) |
