Since I last wrote, my life here has continued to be a mixture of excitement, disappointment, culturally challenging moments, success, and a roller coaster ride that I seem to have been on since I arrived and one that clearly is not going to end until I leave. The biggest and best news I have to share, is we were awarded the grant that we at Good Hope NGO have worked so hard on! From working on questionnaires starting back in February, to building a project based on beneficiary needs and requests, to spending a day at a toy store playing with and developing a list of appropriate toys and resources for rehabilitation treatment in the home, the 1.8 million dram that I found to be in my bank account this morning has made all of our work worth it. Even more, the amount of dedication I have seen from my counterparts, the Director of Good Hope NGO, and the specialists who are developing and will be giving the trainings to the parents has impressed more than I thought possible. From the second we found out we were being awarded the grant, my co-workers and I have been busy cleaning, moving furniture, dancing to the music I have insisted on keeping on as we have been completely changed the current layout of the resource center, building powerpoint presentations, taking pictures, and doing everything else you can think of to prepare for the opening of our new Resource Center and the Rehabilitation in the Home Training classes which will begin October 1st. Despite the fact that some of the other projects which I had been working on have fallen through over the last couple of weeks, resulting in a lot of disappointment, the last two weeks preparing for our project have really lifted my spirits and given me something huge to look forward to over the next 6+ months. Which has been really good for me as I had to drop mom off at the airport this past Saturday after an amazing and totally eventful two weeks together.
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| The day my counterpart and I sent in our completed SPA application |
Over the course of the two weeks mom and I spent together, I fell in love with Istanbul as mom fell in love with one of our tour guides, realized I have a terrifying fear of heights when climbing a mountain with a path the size of your foot with no guard rail protecting you from a fatal fall with one mis-step, jumped from the top of a boat into the Black Sea, turned mom into a fan of red wine, found ways to use a new word mom accidentally made up, monopulate (mix between monopolize and manipulate), tested moms intense fear of heights a few more times than I should have which resulted in me losing the "favorite daughter" title (Dorrie this little tid bit is just for your entertainment:), exposed my backside to an entire table of Armenian men only to be told by our waiter, who, in reaction to my apparent embarrassment, clearly displayed by ever increasing red face, came out with a red fan to cool me off and continued to do so for a solid two minutes, much to the enjoyment of my mother and the whole table of PCV's who came to join us for dinner, exposed mom to a true view of Armenia, complete with the realities of living in a patriarchal society, the lack of planning which occurs here, the deliciousness of grape leaf dolma, the way an Armenian family can fall in love with you during your first meeting, how Armenians celebrate and dance, the incredible friends I have, a glimpse into what life is really like over here, and so much more. By the time I dropped mom off at the airport, I was exhausted, but so pumped about how incredible our trip together had been, it was so much more than either of us could have asked for and as mom said, an incredible memory to put down for our history together. And in true McGovern/Engel fashion, in our rush to say goodbye, mom managed to dump out some of the items from her carry on causing me to chase down a bottle of yogurt as she ran the other direction after a bottle of diet coke, much to the delight of the other people in the airport, it's a wonder where I get some of my mannerisms ;) I think our trip together has made our relationship so much stronger, her understanding of my experience over here is so much greater and will make our conversations and understanding of each other so much more significant as a result. Having mom here also made me realize how many things on my to do list that I need to get started on as I kept putting them off saying, I'll get to it when mom leaves:)
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| and by special request, our tour guide, who became known as Alfredo because mom and I both missed his name the one time he said it and Alfredo is what mom thought he said, pretty sure the only similarity between this and his actual name is that both started with an A. Over the course of our 8 hour tour, mom somehow managed to point out every amazing feature this wonderful man had, starting with the pajama pants he picked to wear for the day |
So, with a countdown of only ten/eleven months left here in Armenia, I am starting to look at that list of to do's and, along with continuing my work, I will start to check some of those things off. Can't believe it is time to say that I have less than a year left in country, this experience has been not at all what I expected thus far, which I am oddly grateful for, and, as things have really started to pick up, I am eager for all that is to come, well besides winter, could do without that minor detail:) As always, sending love to all back home and thanks again for all of your support!
