I hope you like jammin' too!

Listening to a little reggae while I write this, helps me pretend it's warmer than it is:)

Time for a little update from sometimes wintery, sometimes springy Gavar!  The weather doesn’t seem to ever know what it feels like doing, so sometimes there is a blizzard outside (by Maryland standards) with a ton of snow and wind which seems to come out of nowhere and some days it feels like Spring, all of the snow and ice melts, the streets flood because there is no drainage system here, and I realize how good it feels to walk without being worried I am going to fall every step I take on the super icy sidewalks!  That being said, it is only 10am in Gavar and I’ve already seen sunshine, snow, and gray skies.  Good thing is, I think I have actually gotten used to the cold as it doesn’t really seem to bother me at all anymore.  I do look ridiculous when I go outside, all bundled up and wearing snow boots rather than the high-heeled black boots that the Armenian women still wear to truck through the snow and ice in winter, but I’ve gotten over the laughing and staring that seems to be a part of every walk into town, and I quite enjoy when I do get a compliment on my choice of winter attire for the day (Aunt Sally and Mom, they love my flowered headbands!).

View of Mt. Ararat Super Bowl morning

So, yet again, a lot has happened since I last wrote!  First things first, Ravens won the Super Bowl!  And of course, since my favorite team was in the big game, I decided to arrange our own little Super Bowl party here in Armenia.  The Enovy Hostel, located in Yerevan, was wonderful in helping with my planning and agreed to let us watch the game, which started for us at 3:30am local time, cook snacks, and three of the staff even stayed up all night with us to watch!  One of the other PCV’s, Trent, sat with them to explain all of the rules and they were almost as into it as the rest of the us by the time the game ended, pretty good exchange of cultures I’d say!  There were about 15 of us total watching the game and I am proud to say I have recruited 12 new Ravens fans!  The other two already had B-more prideJ  We finally got to bed around 8am, and got a whole 45 minutes of sleep before our days had to begin, but it was definitely worth it.  I must admit, I am feeling my age, it took me at least three days to recover from staying up all night!  So until next season, time to cheer on those O’s hon!  One of the best parts was, I got into Yerevan early the morning of Super Bowl and decided to walk into town from my marshutni stop, which is a little bit of a haul.  But on my way in, I got to see the most extraordinary view of Mt. Ararat I’ve seen yet, the way that mountain towers over Armenia’s capital is something else.

PCV's and Envoy Staff cheering on the Ravens!

Work continues to be pretty amazing, I am still just so pleased with my NGO’s and counterparts.   Gevorg and I completed the needs assessment for Good Hope NGO and last week passed out a questionnaire to the parents and staff from the Child Development and Rehabilitation Center asking about trainings which may be beneficial for them, what kinds of resources they need, what problems their children are having both personally and socially, and more.  Our intention is to use these answers to build Good Hope’s strategic and project plans.  One of the goals for the NGO is to create a monthly calendar of trainings both for staff and parents.  One of the biggest problems for the parents currently is that they do not have the knowledge nor resources to continue care for their children at home. Our hope is to be able to work with them on this, in addition to other issues which we identify through the surveys.  In addition, we are talking about doing an awareness event for members of the community.  A common misconception is that if there is a child with special needs in a family that all of the members offspring will also be born with special needs.  So a great deal of a child with special needs siblings never are able to marry because potential partners are afraid of what would happen to their offspring.  Our hope is to hold discussions and/or informational sessions with the community to discuss these fears and other stereotypes which very negatively affect these children and their families. Today is also the Presidential Election for Armenia and Good Hope was one of the NGO’s selected by the Human Rights Protection Center in Yerevan to monitor handicap accessibility at the polls. I unfortunately was not allowed to assist with these efforts due to safety reasons, but am just happy that Good Hope may be a part of helping with reforms in this arena.  Since today is Election Day, I will share the following article with you just for a glimpse into what is happening here.  I did go, with my two other site mates, and Gevorg, to see the current president speak last week, so have tried to keep up with what is going on here politically.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/02/armenias-bizarre-campaign-season/273233/

Caritas has also just identified a new office space and will be moving on April 1^st!  This new office provides a great deal more space and will allow for the expansion of the Little Prince Program.  While it was initially planned that the Little Prince program would re-open on March 1^st as they had hoped to find a space in enough time, it has been decided that the kids will come to the old office during the interim and will be a part of the transition process into the new space.  So the later move date won’t take away from the after-school program for the kids, which is good.  Tatevik and I continue to work together on the seminars I had mentioned previously, but we are also starting to move forward with other projects, including a Talent Show- we just received approval from Caritas HQ for the event, which we hope will be held at the beginning of June at Gavar’s Cultural House ( with the hopes of not only including all NGO’s in Gavar serving youth and the schools, but also including the whole community in Gavar in terms of attendance- Gavar does not have a great deal of events for the community to socialize with each other, so we hope this may encourage them to come together), a scavenger hunt throughout Gavar which will highlight some of the unique traits of the community (I just learned last week that the HQ for Caritas in Gyumri is going to ask each Little Prince program to do a presentation on what makes their community special, so we are hoping this activity will compliment that presentation), and a celebration for International Women’s Day, which is one of the biggest holidays/celebrations in Armenia.  For this celebration, we are hoping to videotape all of the kids in the program talking about a woman who has made a difference in their life.  We then hope to have a party, where we will invite many members of the community, to air the film and also to just celebrate women!  And last but not least, for the Aramazd program, I am currently putting together a presentation/workshop on the realities of fundraising in Armenia and what an NGO needs to do to make themselves attractive to potential donors.  Diana and I have also met with the Activities Coordinator from the Orphanage and will be starting up with the girls again next week.

I also feel very fortunate that Peace Corps gives you an opportunity to get involved with other projects outside of your primary assignment which I have decided to be active in.  First, I am part of the Gender Equality Steering Committee and we are currently working on the agenda for the Training of Trainers conference which will be held from March 18-20 in Yerevan.  So far the topics include Gender Equality 101, Domestic Violence, Leadership, How to give presentations (as each group has to return to their communities to present on gender equality with a minimum commitment of 10 hours), a panel discussion from NGO’s addressing Gender Equality, and more.  I am also going to be giving a presentation with fellow PVC Kim at the American Corners in Gyumri in celebration of Black History Month at the end of February.  And I am also a part of the committee to work on The AIDS Pledge Quilt project.  For this project, there will be a presentation given by PCV’s to their communities and then each member will put together a patch for the quilt and making a pledge to increase awareness about HIV/AIDS throughout Armenia.  Our hope is to film this ongoing project and to air the film and put the quilt on display next World AIDS Day.  I am really excited about this one!

Some other exciting news, my former counterpart, Gegham, has been accepted to a Master’s Program in Italy and is actually in route as I type this post (I was iming with him right before I started writing and he is in Moscow for a layover).  I am thrilled for him that he has this opportunity and it has been kind of cool being able to talk with him about my experience of leaving home both the challenges and positive experiences.  While we may no longer work together, Gegham has become one of my dearest friends in Armenia and I am certainly going to miss him for the next 6-10 months (he is not sure how long he will be gone yet), but I really couldn’t be happier for him!  Two weeks ago, we had a Peace Corps conference called In Service Training (IST) and one of the sessions which stood out for me was a discussion on looking at Peace Corps and having a volunteer from the point of view of your counterpart and it was incredibly effective.  Matt, the leader, read us a paragraph or so talking about the challenges they go through having to take care of us, help us integrate, being patient with our transitions, frustrations, challenges with the cultural differences, etc and it just made me appreciate the things Gegham had done for me when I first arrived to Gavar.  At the time, I was frustrated because I was here to work and get things done and he was more worried about how I was settling in, integrating, and adjusting to life here.  He tried to help me by introducing me to people, taking me to birthday parties, helping me move into my apartment, answering and coming to help me anytime I needed him (even when it was something as ridiculous as me thinking my hot water heater was broken when, in fact, I was turning the wrong valve), and looking back, I am just so grateful for all of his time and effort.  My transition professionally, personally, and socially was tough, as is the case for most PCV’s, but Gegham really did what he could to help me in that and tried to be the best friend to me he could.  Now that I am starting to really “get” Peace Corps, the work, the relationships, the things I am learning about myself, and the friendships and relationships I am building in my community, I realize how lucky I am that I was placed with him my first few months at site.  I continue to reap a lot of benefits from all he did for me.  That all being said, I can’t wait to be in touch with him during his time in Italy and to see all of the things this experience does for him!

Celebration lunch with Gegham

I finally had some of my Armenian girlfriends over for an “American style” dinner and it was so much fun!  We had hummus, tacos, and chocolate/peanut butter no-bake cookies and it was all a hit to my relief.  Dinner was delightful and something I hope to do fairly frequently and our conversation really surprised me and helped me realize that my relationships with these women continue to get stronger and stronger and that we are developing a trust that I am not sure I was expecting.  

Our financial manager for PC Denise had a wonderful idea to start a book club and I am loving being a part of it, it is my first one!  It is interesting, I have so many unique experiences with my fellow Peace Corps volunteers, but a lot of our relationships are built on common experiences and things we are dealing with and going through here in Armenia.  Because there is enough to talk about it and work through with just those topics, it is interesting how little a lot of us know about our lives before Peace Corps.  But through our conversations before, during, and after book club, I have gotten to know a lot of them in such a different way and I am really enjoying that opportunity.  The first book we read was Wild, by Cheryl Stayed, which was not my favorite book, but made for some interesting conversations and now we are reading Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver which I have really gotten into and would recommend to those interested in a new book.  Our next meeting is March 2^nd and I am really interested in what others have to say about this one.

Other than that, life is just going really well here in Armenia.  I have gotten really into yoga and eating well, even treated myself to a juicer the other day, and am just feeling really good about my service.  The snow and cold does get to me sometimes, but I recently decided to start my mornings with a little reggae music and pretending I am at the beach and it is amazing how much of a difference that has made.  So happy to report, I am doing well living and working in Armenia and, for the moment, I am where I am supposed to be!

Hope all is well, send me updates when you get a chance.  Lots of love and hugs from Gavar!