Well I haven't updated in a while... The first week I didn't update because nothing had happened. I wasn't thrilled about writing a blog post about my new foot fungus so I just let it be. The second week SO MANY things happened it was too daunting to write about in one sitting so I kept procrastinating. So now... week three of 2014 and I'll do my best to update what's going on in my crazy life.
My most exciting news is that my host mom is pregnant! She came to visit me at work after being sick for a few weeks to tell me on one chaotic Monday. I'm thrilled and majorly excited that there will be a baby in the house in July and that Bella and Louiza will have a new brother or sister. Christine seems more nervous than excited. She brought up that it's a surprise and that she's worried about her age (she's 37). The girls haven't been told yet but they'll be told when the pregnancy is farther along. Already I've learned a lot about the baby culture here so I'm thrilled to find out what more I'll learn. For example, it is majorly bad luck to buy gifts or get too excited about a baby until it has actually arrived (because then you know "It will live.") Miscarriages are very common so nobody gets too excited... Learning this was yet another slap in the face about how privileged we are in America. Of course there are miscarriages, but it's an abnormality, not a "well it's a probability...." Despite this, I'm still looking up how to crochet baby slippers and baby hats and baby blankets. That's going to be one spoiled kid!
That week David Lillie, my country director came to visit. We went to the new Pizza place in Noyemberyan, which was AMAZING and he came back to my house after words to chat with my host family for a bit. We were chatting about Armenian football (soccer) when my host mom starts to noticeably sniff the air. She whispers something to Carin and he gets up and goes to check on the stove which is in the first bedroom. I didn't pay attention to this much because I was struggling to translate for David and couldn't afford the distraction. The translating came to a halt though when Carin opened the door to the bedroom and a cloud of smoke came into the living room. He turned right around, ran to the bathroom and started filling up buckets. We all run in there and see that the ceiling is on fire! There's a good amount of smoke and flames coming from the pipe in the roof that goes to our wood stove. I begin to help with the bucket transfer from the bathroom to the bedroom to be thrown on the ceiling when David Lillie says "Don't you have a fire extinguisher?" Whoops! Kind of an important thing to remember.... We got the fire out and eventually had a good laugh about the whole thing but it was crazy! I also learned that the word "Adrenaline" is the same in English and Armenian!
So the wood stove that heats the house is in the bedroom that all 4 of them share, and that room was unusable because of the smoke and ash from the flames. I left the next day to go stay with a friend so they could stay in my room, which turned out to be a blessing. I hadn't left Noyemberyan in a few weeks and I was starting to go a little stir crazy so my venture 2 hours south to the popular tourist destination of Dilijan was really needed. 6 girls ended up coming from Tavush Marz and Lori Marz. We had a nice weekend eating banana bread, watching chick flicks and crocheting. (I started making a blanket which is turning out REALLY well.) There was only one downside to this trip though...
I love Noy. I have a fantastic site and I wouldn't change it for the world. I always commenting on how beautiful it was and how nice it was, but after coming back from Dilijan I saw the trash, the crumbling buildings, the poorness. Somehow I had been blind to it before... It doesn't change the way I look at Noyemberyan at all, but it was just odd to realize just how poor the city was despite living there for 6 months! Tavush is the poorest region in all Armenia but it never really occurred to me until that moment coming back. I never gave a second thought to having no indoor plumbing at work, or having to bucket bathe because of the lack of water... Heck, I never even mentioned it on here. I suppose it never really hit me until that marshutni ride back. Once I got over the crushing depression and hopelessness for Tavush, I was hit with a wave of motivation! I didn't join Peace Corps to be in a rich area. Starting small gives us somewhere to go!
So Monday we set to work editing our video we filmed before New Years for our window campaign and it went live last Tuesday. Here's the link if you want to check out what we're doing:
http://igg.me/at/ywcaarmenianewwindowcampaign
We've got $150 so far, which is an amazing start! Our goal is to raise $7,000 to replace all the windows and doors in the YWCA and kindergarten. It's freezing cold in there constantly because of the poor insulation and decaying windows so this will be a great way to use our resources more efficiently and hopefully the first of many projects to improve the quality of the school. I also began writing a grant proposal for a kitchen renovation/nutrition program. I should find out this week if my concept was accepted and we can go ahead and submit the actual grant..... Wish me luck!
Friday, I took off for Charentsevan (the city closest to Karashamb, which was my home base for 2 1/2 months during PST) for the Volunteer Safety Council filming of our first safety video. We picked up a few people along the way, got a camera and went to Meewa's house to begin filming "Safety situations surrounding alcohol" video. It was successful, but we shouldn't have used real alcohol while filming... Near the end things began to unravel. But we got a good video out of it (with some hilarious scenes) that we'll be showing to the new group coming in August. We hope to film several more about fire safety (I'm advocating for this one!), marshutni safety, host family safety and things like that. I love this committee! It's been a great creative outlet and I'm excited for our next filming. As soon as our council president, Adam, edits the video I'll put it up here to show off our hard work.
No photos for these weeks, unfortunately. I've been too broke to buy batteries for my camera but next week I'll try to include some visuals! 19 days until Scott gets here!
My most exciting news is that my host mom is pregnant! She came to visit me at work after being sick for a few weeks to tell me on one chaotic Monday. I'm thrilled and majorly excited that there will be a baby in the house in July and that Bella and Louiza will have a new brother or sister. Christine seems more nervous than excited. She brought up that it's a surprise and that she's worried about her age (she's 37). The girls haven't been told yet but they'll be told when the pregnancy is farther along. Already I've learned a lot about the baby culture here so I'm thrilled to find out what more I'll learn. For example, it is majorly bad luck to buy gifts or get too excited about a baby until it has actually arrived (because then you know "It will live.") Miscarriages are very common so nobody gets too excited... Learning this was yet another slap in the face about how privileged we are in America. Of course there are miscarriages, but it's an abnormality, not a "well it's a probability...." Despite this, I'm still looking up how to crochet baby slippers and baby hats and baby blankets. That's going to be one spoiled kid!
That week David Lillie, my country director came to visit. We went to the new Pizza place in Noyemberyan, which was AMAZING and he came back to my house after words to chat with my host family for a bit. We were chatting about Armenian football (soccer) when my host mom starts to noticeably sniff the air. She whispers something to Carin and he gets up and goes to check on the stove which is in the first bedroom. I didn't pay attention to this much because I was struggling to translate for David and couldn't afford the distraction. The translating came to a halt though when Carin opened the door to the bedroom and a cloud of smoke came into the living room. He turned right around, ran to the bathroom and started filling up buckets. We all run in there and see that the ceiling is on fire! There's a good amount of smoke and flames coming from the pipe in the roof that goes to our wood stove. I begin to help with the bucket transfer from the bathroom to the bedroom to be thrown on the ceiling when David Lillie says "Don't you have a fire extinguisher?" Whoops! Kind of an important thing to remember.... We got the fire out and eventually had a good laugh about the whole thing but it was crazy! I also learned that the word "Adrenaline" is the same in English and Armenian!
So the wood stove that heats the house is in the bedroom that all 4 of them share, and that room was unusable because of the smoke and ash from the flames. I left the next day to go stay with a friend so they could stay in my room, which turned out to be a blessing. I hadn't left Noyemberyan in a few weeks and I was starting to go a little stir crazy so my venture 2 hours south to the popular tourist destination of Dilijan was really needed. 6 girls ended up coming from Tavush Marz and Lori Marz. We had a nice weekend eating banana bread, watching chick flicks and crocheting. (I started making a blanket which is turning out REALLY well.) There was only one downside to this trip though...
I love Noy. I have a fantastic site and I wouldn't change it for the world. I always commenting on how beautiful it was and how nice it was, but after coming back from Dilijan I saw the trash, the crumbling buildings, the poorness. Somehow I had been blind to it before... It doesn't change the way I look at Noyemberyan at all, but it was just odd to realize just how poor the city was despite living there for 6 months! Tavush is the poorest region in all Armenia but it never really occurred to me until that moment coming back. I never gave a second thought to having no indoor plumbing at work, or having to bucket bathe because of the lack of water... Heck, I never even mentioned it on here. I suppose it never really hit me until that marshutni ride back. Once I got over the crushing depression and hopelessness for Tavush, I was hit with a wave of motivation! I didn't join Peace Corps to be in a rich area. Starting small gives us somewhere to go!
So Monday we set to work editing our video we filmed before New Years for our window campaign and it went live last Tuesday. Here's the link if you want to check out what we're doing:
http://igg.me/at/ywcaarmenianewwindowcampaign
We've got $150 so far, which is an amazing start! Our goal is to raise $7,000 to replace all the windows and doors in the YWCA and kindergarten. It's freezing cold in there constantly because of the poor insulation and decaying windows so this will be a great way to use our resources more efficiently and hopefully the first of many projects to improve the quality of the school. I also began writing a grant proposal for a kitchen renovation/nutrition program. I should find out this week if my concept was accepted and we can go ahead and submit the actual grant..... Wish me luck!
Friday, I took off for Charentsevan (the city closest to Karashamb, which was my home base for 2 1/2 months during PST) for the Volunteer Safety Council filming of our first safety video. We picked up a few people along the way, got a camera and went to Meewa's house to begin filming "Safety situations surrounding alcohol" video. It was successful, but we shouldn't have used real alcohol while filming... Near the end things began to unravel. But we got a good video out of it (with some hilarious scenes) that we'll be showing to the new group coming in August. We hope to film several more about fire safety (I'm advocating for this one!), marshutni safety, host family safety and things like that. I love this committee! It's been a great creative outlet and I'm excited for our next filming. As soon as our council president, Adam, edits the video I'll put it up here to show off our hard work.
No photos for these weeks, unfortunately. I've been too broke to buy batteries for my camera but next week I'll try to include some visuals! 19 days until Scott gets here!