Finally Internet...crappy internet, but internet

A lot has happened in the last month, fortunately I have not had the opportunity to get on a computer with internet to update my blog or add more photos to Facebook until today.

My average day in Armenia consists of language class from 9am-Noon then I go home for lunch and then in the afternoon we generally have a meeting or business technical training. My Armenian is coming very slowly, which is a bit frustrating. The everyday words I need I have a handle on but understanding to an actual Armenian when they speak to me is very difficult because of the speed in which they speak. We had a practice oral language exam a few weeks ago and they told me I need to work on speaking in more complex and complete sentences which is can be difficult. I have to study a lot in the next month though because I must take another oral exam in August before I am sworn in as a volunteer and my work counterpart doesn’t speak much English (about as much as I speak Armenian).

I found out about two weeks ago where my permanent site would be (i.e. where I will live and work for two years beginning on August 15th). I just spent five days at my site and with my new host family, kind of like a sneak peak at the next two years. I will be living in a village called Aygepat, which has about 1,500 people who live there. It is not on many maps I’ve seen, but it is 6km from Artashat, which is the capital of my marz (region) Ararat. Artashat has a population of about 35,000 people so that is where I will do a lot of my shopping and can use the internet. My village is in the Ararat Valley of Armenia, which is known for its fruits and vegetables. We have apricot, peach, apple, pear, plum and walnut trees, as well as grapes, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, watermelon, and many types of herbs.

My new host family is made up of my host mother, Anahit, who is a 40 year old housewife and is recently widowed, her three children, and her 87 year old mother-in-law Lusik. The children are a girl, Ani, who is 15 years old and two boys – Garnik, 10, and Davit, 5. They don’t speak any English because the school in m village teaches German as its foreign language.

My work assignment is to work with the Aygepat municipality and YCAP. YCAP stands for Youth Community Action Plan and is a nation-wide initiative that is sponsored by AED (Academy for Educational Development) and USAID to increase volunteerism and community development efforts by the youth of the villages and towns in Armenia. My village’s mayor signed up to be a participant a year ago and my role is to help organize events, contribute new ideas and skills, and help with the management of the organization. All Peace Corps volunteers are assigned to a counterpart at their partner organizations to work with and my counterparts name is Vika. She is 22 years old and recently graduated from college in Yerevan. She is a member of the youth group. If anyone is interested you can check out http://aed.am

The marz-wide director told me they are working on getting internet on the computer in the office so hopefully soon I will have much better access to the internet, but until then I will be able to take the bus to Artashat to use the internet. My office is in the village center, down the hall from the mayor’s office and next door to the post office. As soon as I know my new address I will post it. The address currently posted is good for mail sent before the end of July because of the lag time in it arriving in Armenia.

I really love my host family and everyone from work I met. It was extremely hot while I was visiting but I was told it should be better when I return. Luckily because of the hot summers the winters are not as harsh as other parts of the country. In some sites winter begins at the end of October and can last until April or May, but in Aygepat winter starts in December and is over by March.
While I was visiting my site my host family took me to a historic site called Khor Virap which is an ancient church where St. Gregory was held captive for 14 years by the King because of his faith. It was really beautiful and behind the church you could see Mt. Ararat. I will have to go back because I did not have my camera to take any photos. My family and I had a miscommunication – they told me on Saturday that tomorrow we would all go to church together so the next morning when we were getting ready to leave they asked if I wanted to bring my camera, but since I thought we were going to an actual service I said no, but come to find out we were going to a tourist attraction! It is not far from my village so I plan on visit again when other volunteers come to visit me.

I could tell plenty more stories but I will save those for another time because I can’t write anymore at the moment (I just got done with a day of school, which leaves me brain dead!). Keep your fingers crossed that I have internet in my office and I can post every day.

I tried to post photos on Facebook but the internet wasn't cooperating!

Սեր Հետ (With Love),
Սառա (Sarah)