Some weeks I have absolutely no idea what to write. I really have to stretch to find something interesting (like the story about cooking macaroni and cheese). Then there are other periods of time, like the last two weeks, where every single day could have been an epically long post about the absurdity of my life and my experience here. I wish I could write everything down as it happens because some memories I just want to hold on to forever. Since I can't do that, here are four highlights of the past two weeks:
So... Job Changes. I am currently placed with two organizations, the YWCA and Support for Noyemberyan. As of February, I'll be working full time with the YWCA. Nothing against Support for Noyemberyan, but I just feel more fulfilled with my work at the YWCA, feel more of a connection with my coworkers and feel that there's a perfect fit when it comes to skill transfer. I want to spend as much of my time there as possible and the ladies I work with have such amazing ideas that we want to work on together but just don't have enough time there. So after a quick talk with my boss, we agreed that my service would be better used at the YWCA. So I'm thrilled. The more time I get to spend there, the better!
- Job Changes
- Luna the Pushik/Pishik
- The Beginning of Nor Tari
- Louiza's New Dance Moves
So... Job Changes. I am currently placed with two organizations, the YWCA and Support for Noyemberyan. As of February, I'll be working full time with the YWCA. Nothing against Support for Noyemberyan, but I just feel more fulfilled with my work at the YWCA, feel more of a connection with my coworkers and feel that there's a perfect fit when it comes to skill transfer. I want to spend as much of my time there as possible and the ladies I work with have such amazing ideas that we want to work on together but just don't have enough time there. So after a quick talk with my boss, we agreed that my service would be better used at the YWCA. So I'm thrilled. The more time I get to spend there, the better!
We've got three major projects going on right now at the YWCA. The first (and my passion project) is a health series for women over 30. We want to do one topic every month for a 1-2 day seminar. Some of the topics we're going to cover in 2014 is dental health, heart health, reproductive health and diabetes. Eliza has amazing skills at writing curriculum so she's taken on the reproductive health for January. (It was originally scheduled in December but we failed at organization so January it is!). I'm also spending a lot of my spare time looking for grants to help us fund that project. The second project (and most important) is rehauling our budget. Our only real goal for my service is to get them "affiliated" with the World YWCA. This will make them legal, and allow them access to practically unlimited support and organizational development help. We filled out our application and worked on our strategic plan, activity plan, budget and about a million other things for that submission. We had a big call with the headquarters in Switzerland and their only complaint was about our budget. So we're going to be working really hard in getting that into shape by pretty much starting from scratch. It doesn't sound fun at all, but I'm learning so much so I'm really enjoying it. Thirdly, our building is just awful. Its rundown, falling apart and worst of all, freezing cold because we have broken and faulty windows. The windows in our office are 60+ years old and provide next to zero insulation from the elements. So we've been working on creating a crowd-funding platform for that. (So when it's done, I may advertise it on here...) We had a professional camera crew come in and made a video for us, that I edited. We'll put the finishing touches on it after the holidays and hopefully we can at least get a few new windows in some rooms that will allow us to work without being bundled up in coats, hats and mittens. We can work through it, but since we also share a building with the kindergarten... its a big deal. So getting to spend more time on those projects (among 4-5 other projects there) is a major Christmas blessing!
Secondly... Luna. Little Luna is the kitten I found on the way home from work 2-3 weeks ago.
Secondly... Luna. Little Luna is the kitten I found on the way home from work 2-3 weeks ago.
Well, Lissa decided that she would come and adopt her but we needed cat supplies. (Notice: This story results in the most I've laughed in a very very long time. It's a little long, so hang in there!)
So we go to Yerevan to buy cat supplies. Since no one has pets here we had a heck of a time finding a pet store. We finally found one in a back alley behind our favorite cafe and she bought a litter box, flea shampoo, ear drops, cat food, litter and a cat carrier. She paid a small fortune, but it will be worth it. So we're walking down the streets back to the place where we're staying and people keep stopping to look in the carrier. We say "It's empty. She's getting a pushik but we don't have her yet." Most people just gave us stupid looks and kept walking. We had just learned that morning that the word for kitten was pushik and we were using it a lot (since that's how you remember!)" Well people kept looking and we kept saying "We don't have the pushik yet, but we'll get one when we go to Noyemberyan! It's so little and cute!" One lady asked why we got the carrier for a pushik and we said "To keep it safe, of course!" More strange looks came out way before we made it back to Noyemberyan. We had probably had... 5-6 interactions like this. We get to my house in Noyemberyan and chat with my host mom for a bit before Lissa said "Can I see the pushik?" Well Christine gives me this look that says "What the heck is she saying?" So I repeat it, "Is the pushik outside?" She looks like she's about to burst now with laughter and repeats "a pushik?" My accent hinders my communication a bit, so I put up tiny ears and start meowing. That was it. She started laughing and says, "You want the PISHIK! Not a PUSHIK!" Lissa and I look at each other like "Oh god.... what have we done! What is a pushik???"
A pushik is a balloon! A pishik is a kitten!
"We bought this carrier for a balloon!" "It's a cute balloon!" "We don't have it yet, but we'll get it in Noyemberyan." "We need to keep the balloon safe!" We had been saying stupid stuff like this all day with an absurd amount of confidence! I had a similar mistake with papanak and parparak (condom and ice-cream) over the summer and was almost equally as mortified! No wonder those people were looking at us like we were absolutely insane! I'm sure somewhere there was gossip about two weird American women who were REALLY excited to get a balloon.
So we go to Yerevan to buy cat supplies. Since no one has pets here we had a heck of a time finding a pet store. We finally found one in a back alley behind our favorite cafe and she bought a litter box, flea shampoo, ear drops, cat food, litter and a cat carrier. She paid a small fortune, but it will be worth it. So we're walking down the streets back to the place where we're staying and people keep stopping to look in the carrier. We say "It's empty. She's getting a pushik but we don't have her yet." Most people just gave us stupid looks and kept walking. We had just learned that morning that the word for kitten was pushik and we were using it a lot (since that's how you remember!)" Well people kept looking and we kept saying "We don't have the pushik yet, but we'll get one when we go to Noyemberyan! It's so little and cute!" One lady asked why we got the carrier for a pushik and we said "To keep it safe, of course!" More strange looks came out way before we made it back to Noyemberyan. We had probably had... 5-6 interactions like this. We get to my house in Noyemberyan and chat with my host mom for a bit before Lissa said "Can I see the pushik?" Well Christine gives me this look that says "What the heck is she saying?" So I repeat it, "Is the pushik outside?" She looks like she's about to burst now with laughter and repeats "a pushik?" My accent hinders my communication a bit, so I put up tiny ears and start meowing. That was it. She started laughing and says, "You want the PISHIK! Not a PUSHIK!" Lissa and I look at each other like "Oh god.... what have we done! What is a pushik???"
A pushik is a balloon! A pishik is a kitten!
"We bought this carrier for a balloon!" "It's a cute balloon!" "We don't have it yet, but we'll get it in Noyemberyan." "We need to keep the balloon safe!" We had been saying stupid stuff like this all day with an absurd amount of confidence! I had a similar mistake with papanak and parparak (condom and ice-cream) over the summer and was almost equally as mortified! No wonder those people were looking at us like we were absolutely insane! I'm sure somewhere there was gossip about two weird American women who were REALLY excited to get a balloon.
As much as I loved here and was so sad to see her go, she'll have a much better life in Chambarak with Lissa. My host family didn't mind her, but she had to live outside. With the most recent temperature that I saw being -15 (yeah, it's awful) I just couldn't keep her outside. She's blissfully happy with Lissa and Lissa is happy she's got a buddy. So it all worked out for the best, plus we both now know the differences between balloons and kittens.
Oh boy... what can follow that... Maybe a story of me getting out-drunk by a grandmother?? Ladies and Gentleman, Nor Tari has arrived in full force! Nor Tari is the giant celebration of New Years that occupies more than a week of celebrations, feasts, visiting friends and gorging yourself on crazy amounts of food.
I wasn't expecting it to start until actual New Years, but Thursday night as I'm sitting in my room, in my sweat pants watching a nature documentary Carin, my host dad, comes in and says "Emily, we're going to a party in 10 minutes." "Ok, have fun!" "No, you are coming. Hurry." I just look at him like are you freaking kidding me? So I said, "I don't want to. I will stay." "No! It is Nor Tari. Hurry." So I braved the cold (and rode in a car for the first time in months!!) to the party where we ate absurd amounts of food, drank a lot of alcohol and toasted endlessly for our health, for peace and for family. I sat next to Christine's sister's mother-in-law and we had a great time. She was a fun lady with knowledge of a few words in English. A few minutes into the meal the homemade wine and vodka came around and I opted for vodka, a rare choice for women. The lady looked at me in surprise and then reached for the vodka herself.
Now, I can hold my liquor. In America, I had a very high tolerance and vodka was my drink of choice. Its hard to deviate from your drink of choice, but when I got here Russian vodka is a whole new ballgame, especially when its homemade straight from potatoes. It's essentially rubbing alcohol and my tolerance has completely plummeted. 3-4 shots and I'll be drunk. After 1 I'm tipsy. However, since I never drink wine I have worse reactions to wine so I usually still go for the vodka.
Side note: I'm not randomly doing shots at parties. Everyone, young and old, toasts and you frequently find shots at work, with breakfast and with any special occasion at all. Its tradition. So this is social and not a frat-party style binge drinking.
So I've had about two and I cut myself off. But the problem with this is that the Armenian language is hard enough when totally sober. When you're a little tipsy, it's almost impossible. Thankfully for me, they know this and find it absolutely hilarious. So even though I still have all my wits about me, I'm practically incapable of forming sentences. So they keep pouring me more and more and more (because apparently they have the tolerance of an elephant!) and I have to pause the table and say "I KNOW WHAT I WANT TO SAY, JUST GIVE ME A MINUTE" So they pause until I can remember the words for "I don't want anymore. I've had enough." Needless to say, they were very disappointed. But the buzz lasted long enough for me to accidentally agree to fly 20+ people to America for my wedding. Whoops!
We stayed until the early hours of the morning, eating, drinking and dancing. Apparently now we repeat this for a week and a half for lunch and dinner! I love the Armenian style of dancing so so much so Louiza has been showing off her dance moves to me since I totally pay attention and try to remember them. She asked how people dance in America, so I took her hands and kind of swung her around, spinning her some and dancing like one would with a kid at a wedding (I am at a loss for words how to describe it). Well she absolutely loved it! Three times since the party, she's held her hands out and asked for me to dance with her and three times, I've obliged. It's been so entertaining for me, I love it!
So that's my past two weeks in a nutshell. As many saw on my facebook page, I woke up Christmas morning to an e-mail saying that Scott had bought tickets to visit me in Armenia for Valentines Day! It's going to be cold as heck, but it will be far warmer with him in the country. I am reading the Lord of the Rings, which is a fantastic way to keep my mind occupied and out of the harsh weather (Did I mention it's -15?) I also started watching Dexter. So far I really like it, but it's not the kind of show to watch before bed, just FYI!
I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas (Soorp Tsunund) and will have a wonderful New Years! This will be my last post for the year, but I'll write again next week with the epic tales of my first Nor Tari! Until then, I'm resting (not so warmly) in Yerevan.
See you in 2014!
Oh boy... what can follow that... Maybe a story of me getting out-drunk by a grandmother?? Ladies and Gentleman, Nor Tari has arrived in full force! Nor Tari is the giant celebration of New Years that occupies more than a week of celebrations, feasts, visiting friends and gorging yourself on crazy amounts of food.
I wasn't expecting it to start until actual New Years, but Thursday night as I'm sitting in my room, in my sweat pants watching a nature documentary Carin, my host dad, comes in and says "Emily, we're going to a party in 10 minutes." "Ok, have fun!" "No, you are coming. Hurry." I just look at him like are you freaking kidding me? So I said, "I don't want to. I will stay." "No! It is Nor Tari. Hurry." So I braved the cold (and rode in a car for the first time in months!!) to the party where we ate absurd amounts of food, drank a lot of alcohol and toasted endlessly for our health, for peace and for family. I sat next to Christine's sister's mother-in-law and we had a great time. She was a fun lady with knowledge of a few words in English. A few minutes into the meal the homemade wine and vodka came around and I opted for vodka, a rare choice for women. The lady looked at me in surprise and then reached for the vodka herself.
Now, I can hold my liquor. In America, I had a very high tolerance and vodka was my drink of choice. Its hard to deviate from your drink of choice, but when I got here Russian vodka is a whole new ballgame, especially when its homemade straight from potatoes. It's essentially rubbing alcohol and my tolerance has completely plummeted. 3-4 shots and I'll be drunk. After 1 I'm tipsy. However, since I never drink wine I have worse reactions to wine so I usually still go for the vodka.
Side note: I'm not randomly doing shots at parties. Everyone, young and old, toasts and you frequently find shots at work, with breakfast and with any special occasion at all. Its tradition. So this is social and not a frat-party style binge drinking.
So I've had about two and I cut myself off. But the problem with this is that the Armenian language is hard enough when totally sober. When you're a little tipsy, it's almost impossible. Thankfully for me, they know this and find it absolutely hilarious. So even though I still have all my wits about me, I'm practically incapable of forming sentences. So they keep pouring me more and more and more (because apparently they have the tolerance of an elephant!) and I have to pause the table and say "I KNOW WHAT I WANT TO SAY, JUST GIVE ME A MINUTE" So they pause until I can remember the words for "I don't want anymore. I've had enough." Needless to say, they were very disappointed. But the buzz lasted long enough for me to accidentally agree to fly 20+ people to America for my wedding. Whoops!
We stayed until the early hours of the morning, eating, drinking and dancing. Apparently now we repeat this for a week and a half for lunch and dinner! I love the Armenian style of dancing so so much so Louiza has been showing off her dance moves to me since I totally pay attention and try to remember them. She asked how people dance in America, so I took her hands and kind of swung her around, spinning her some and dancing like one would with a kid at a wedding (I am at a loss for words how to describe it). Well she absolutely loved it! Three times since the party, she's held her hands out and asked for me to dance with her and three times, I've obliged. It's been so entertaining for me, I love it!
So that's my past two weeks in a nutshell. As many saw on my facebook page, I woke up Christmas morning to an e-mail saying that Scott had bought tickets to visit me in Armenia for Valentines Day! It's going to be cold as heck, but it will be far warmer with him in the country. I am reading the Lord of the Rings, which is a fantastic way to keep my mind occupied and out of the harsh weather (Did I mention it's -15?) I also started watching Dexter. So far I really like it, but it's not the kind of show to watch before bed, just FYI!
I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas (Soorp Tsunund) and will have a wonderful New Years! This will be my last post for the year, but I'll write again next week with the epic tales of my first Nor Tari! Until then, I'm resting (not so warmly) in Yerevan.
See you in 2014!