Weekends in Yerevan

Initiatives
A couple of weekends ago I went to Yerevan for the Peace Corps Initiatives Meeting. Peace Corps has five different initiatives: IT, PR, HIV/AIDS, Environmental Action, and Gender & Development. The purpose of these initiatives is to allow volunteers the opportunity for cross-sector work. Saturday was a meeting for all the new volunteers to find out more about these initiatives so we can decide which ones we would like to participate in. It was also the first time most of the volunteers had a chance to hang out since we finished training and moved to our sites. Despite my broken foot I hobbled my way around Yerevan with my friends and had an amazing time. On Friday we went out for Indian food then to the Irish Pub for drinks and dancing at Aftershock. We all stayed at the hostel, which is really nice and in a great location. Saturday we went to breakfast at Artbridge Bookstore Cafe where they have french toast, bacon, and lattes!!! It was amazing! Then it was off to the Peace Corps office for the meeting. After the meeting we had shwarma and hung at a cafe (a favorite past time of everyone in Yerevan) then another great night of dancing. Sunday we went back to Artbridge for more bacon and good coffee before heading back to site(where sadly there is no bacon or lattes...)

Armenia vs. Spain Game
Last weekend I went to Yerevan to see the Armenia vs. Spain soccer game with a bunch of other volunteers. Armenia was expected to lose like 4-0, so in the end the fact that they only lost 2-1 was kind of a miracle. After the game we all went out to the Irish Pub in Yerevan. Of course by Irish Pub I mean a normal bar decorated like a Bennigian’s Restaurant and playing U2 music videos. But I did get more bacon, french toast, and lattes. Yerevan is nice but it's way too easy to spend money there so I need to stay away for awhile.Yerevan can feel like a completely different country than the rest of Armenia. Armenia receives a ton of international aid money especially from the United States, but the majority of it stays in Yerevan. The disparity in development is really striking, but I guess that happens in a lot of countries. But the amount of U.S. money flowing into Armenia is crazy, but that’s what happens when your country has a powerful diaspora working for you.

Work
Work is a little frustrating at the moment. Originally my festival was supposed to be on the 20th, but all the people helping me kept saying it was too late and that the harvest would be over so we moved the date to the 16th. Over the next two weeks I kept asking my counterpart and boss what we needed to do, how we should invite people, and when we were going to buy supplies. We would make lists and I would keep asking the same questions without ever getting a clear answer. Then yesterday I show up to work (I’ve been making masks and decorations with the kids) and my co-worker comes in freaking out saying that we don’t have enough time and that the 16th is too early and we need more time. After a minor freak out on my part because I was trying to explain why I was frustrated that we weren’t ready, but no one understood me we changed the date. In the end I decided that I would just agree to change the date back to the 20th if it meant that the festival would be better. Intellectually I know that frustrations like this are part of the game and part of why you do this because eventually you hope you’ll learn to adapt and work in a new environment, but that doesn't always help in the moment. I mean these are the skills that are supposed to come with this whole crazy mess and make it all worth it.

In other news…my life includes lots of time spent watching old episodes of ‘The Office on my computer, reading, and listening to music. Although my new obsession is ‘The Wire’! And my little brother now likes to run around the house trying to rap like Jay-Z!