Site Announcement!!

So today I got my final site announcement. This is the location of where I will be stationed after my 10 weeks of training, and where I will be working and living for the next 2 years, needless to say, we have all been on pins and needles on where we are going, and more importantly, who will be close to us. SOOO, on to the great news.

I will be placed in the most southern region called Syunik Marz, it a town called Sisian. This is a town of about 18,000 people, and is in a beautiful area. I am excited about it, and I am looking forward to this location. And yet it still gets better….

They told us that all of us CHE volunteers (community health education), that we would be placed in schools. So that is what I have been planning on hearing from them. HOWEVER, I have been posted in a Non-Governmental Organization called the Sport and Art Development Center. It is not a school. It is a training and education facility for sports. They mainly teach and train in boxing and kickboxing, however from what I can understand, they are looking to expand. And that’s where I come in. I will be helping in everyday office work, as well as planning and logistics for summer sports camps. We host and participate in sport competitions not only in the region, but also at the republic level, so we will be going around Armenia to different tournaments. THIS IS AMAZING NEWS FOR ME. My major in college was World Comparative Studies (international studies) and Sports and Fitness. And now I have been placed in a Sport Organization in an international setting. Sounds like I fell into something perfect for me!!!

I am very excited ready for the next step. Thank you to those of you that prayed for a good posting for me. I also have great volunteers around me, and have 2 in my same town, and about 6 within 15km in small villages close to my town. So tons of people to hang out with and share this experience with. I am completely happy and amazed at how great this has turned out. I hope you are as excited as I am and continue following my journey.

I have 2 posts coming soon. Ill give you a little taste of what they are about. The first is about the night all Fantan Americans went into Yerevan and learned traditional Armenian dances under the moonlight with a national professional dance teacher. And the other is my cultural trip to the Armenia Genocide museum. That post will be interesting since I have spent time in Turkey during a study abroad, and Turkey is the country that Armenia is trying to hold accountable as the perpetrators of the genocide. That one may take some time. Keep checking back and I will check updating you!!

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

-Mark Twain

Naked Ginger Sheep

So last week I had the honor of becoming a man. It felt good. It even smelled good. I think my voice even got deeper.

I was on the top porch of my house, which has an amazing view of a local mountain or Sarr. And yes I will slowly initiate Armenian Words for you to learn as you read. So, back to my becoming a man. Anyway, I was up there looking at the beautiful view (geghetsik teseran), speaking with my mother in the US on the phone, when my host father walks out, puts a giant tarp down in the middle of are little area between the barn and the house, and walked back in to the barn for a bit longer. I kept on with my conversation like nothing was going on. Little did I know what was about to happen. The hair on my chest was perked and ready to grow. So when I saw my host father walk out, he was dragging/wrestling/forcing a sheep into the courtyard, he then plopped it down on its side, and pulled out what, as far as I could tell, something that resembled the hands of Edward scissor hands. I then said to my mother, “Mom I need to go, my host dad is either about to sheer a sheep, or kill one, either way I gotta go…” she was quite puzzled, but we ended the chat.

I then went down, and as I was hoping my host father was about to sheer a white, long-coated, smelly sheep. I knew right away this was going to be fun. I then smiled at him and nodded in approval. He nodded back. From what I understand this was him approving my move toward him and the sheep, and about me become a village man. I knew I was in once I got the nod of approval from him. So he handed me his extra set of big-boy sheers, and we went to work. Its kind of like cutting grass with scissors. You take your time, cutting one section at a time, and you don’t cut too close to the skin, but you get close enough that you don’t waste all the good stuff.

As you sheer, you roll it back like carpet, keeping it one big piece. O ya, this is all while you pin the sheep down your knees. Not forcefully or in a mean manner, but just so he doesn’t squirm and he cut himself on the sheers. I was very slow when I started, and my host father was like a Super Sheerer. If this was in the Olympics, he would most definitely represent Armenia. So after the first one, I was high on life and ready to go. So he had me drag/wrestle/force it back to the pen, and said, grab the karmir one. (Karmir is red). So I grabbed the ginger sheep, and had a good time showing him that I wasn’t taking no as an answer. So we struggled together all the way back to our barber station, cleaned and ready next for our patron. We repeated this process 3 times the first night, and 3 times the next night. The ginger sheep was a feisty one, he did not enjoy his yearly haircut, and really gave us a struggle for the entire time. He had a little fire in him….HA!

Anyway, I felt like me helping with this aspect of village life really showed them I wasn’t just some American there living on their land. I wanted to help in some way, and I think the only way I will be able to is if I join in random events like this. They wont let me have any part in the housework, barn work, or cooking. Although I think I have convinced my host mother to let me milk the cow. I will keep you updated on that one.

The 2^nd night, I invited some PCT’s (Peace Corps Trainees, that’s what they call us during training until we swear in as volunteers.) over to watch. Maggie, Katie, and Sam came over. My camera is broken, so thankfully Sam and Katie took photos of it, and as soon as I get those, they will be posted asap.

Things to get from this post:

1- Karmir = red

2- Sarr = mountain

3- Geghetsik Tesaran = beautiful view

4- There are such things as Ginger Sheep, and they are mean and feisty

5- I will soon be milking cows/goats,

So keep reading, I also have a great story of celebrating Founder’s Day in Fantan which we had just a bit ago. I hope you come back soon and keep reading my journey!

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."

A Nation Within Words

So I have realized something this evening. I was debating on whether or not to blog and if anyone would care what I wanted to write about. And I thought about how this blog is my connection with a lot of people back in the US. However, I had a larger revelation. I realized this blog isn’t for me. Not at all. Quite different actually, this blog is for you. This blog is how you can see how life is in Armenia. That may be my life, that may be my Host families’ life. Or that even may be just the description of the landscape and their traditions. But for whatever reason this blog is meant to be a resource for everyone not in Armenia, to see what Armenia is like. And I hope you know I will try to do my best and show you the true side of a life in Armenia. With that I mind I will try to describe more things in full that way you get a full feel of the situation here. I hope you will take even a little bit away from this, and see that even though most of you reading this don’t know where Armenia is, Armenia knows where America is. And they have their own inclinations and ideas about Americans. Obviously one of my tasks here will be to show them what a true American is like, and not this fake, airbrushed version of what they see and think we are all. So I will do my part. All I ask is that you do your part. Look up Armenia. Take a moment to realize who they are and what they are all about. I will do my very best to put into words what I see and do, but that can only be a part of it. I ended my last post with a quote saying "The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page", well I am here to at least give you a small caption on that page, or maybe a photograph that you can add to that page. Hopefully I can paint you a picture well enough that the scope of this nation and its people make you realize how great a small, landlocked, former-soviet nation can be. This is a country of tradition, belief, and they are a current state of transition. They are still trying to find their place in the region and in the world. With so many nations to learn about, why Armenia? Well being here 3 weeks, I can already tell you why. This country has some of the most stunning landscape, and if my picture loads, you can see that. The people will drop everything to help you, and wont even flinch to accommodate you. They invite you in to their homes every chance they have, and feel honored to have you at their house. They want you to learn about Armenia, but they also want you to learn about where they came from, which includes and long and dark history. But you cant know Armenia without knowing these things. And once you think you know about them, then you really see you will never understand what they have gone through. All you can do is observe from as a 3rd party participant. And it really is great to be in a country with so much history, because it draws you in, and you feel like with every story at each persons house you go to for coffee, you are walking in history daily. And you are constantly learning, questioning, and re-learning.
I hope that this blog is a informative, educational resource that whoever reads it can feel like they have experienced life in Armenia. Or that it may inspire you to even travel here one day. They say experience is the best teacher, and I cant teach you everything about this country, you have to experience it. Taste it, smell it, laugh in it, squat in it, speak in it, smile in it, play in it, and just feel it. Once you do that, then they will likely call you family. And no matter where you go in the world, you can always return to you Hayaren Entanik. (Armenian Family)

Hajotsutsun

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”

New Friends, New Family - Staging May 26, 2010

Sorry this is so late. I just got internet! I will be posting a few over the next few days to catch up!!

We all arrived at the hotel to a giant line waiting to check everyone in. The awkward hello’s began right away. After a few minutes things became a little better, but it is still slightly awkward for the first few hours. We had the honor of having the Peace Corps Director come and speak with us, it was a pretty big deal cause he hardly ever makes it to a staging event. We went over rules and regs, and the formal stuff, signed my life away, and went out for my last meal in America. We went to an Italian restaurant I ordered the steak, and it was perfect for a last meal. Then we all went out to a local hangout in Georgetown called Rhino’s. I had been there the evening before with 5 other volunteers that arrived early as well and my brother Arthur and his wife Amy. Good place, plenty of room for us to hang out and really get to know each other.

The next morning was full of re-packing and getting ready for a long plane flight to Vienna, followed by a 14 hour layover, with another 4 hour flight, making us arrive in Yerevan, Armenia at 4:45 AM. Surprisingly I wasn’t that tired when I arrived. I think it was the excitement of my year and a half build up finally settling in that I was in Armenia. Right when we arrived we went to a historic site where we were going to watch the sun rise with Mt Ararat in the background. It was supposed to be epic, but it decided to rain that morning, and although we still went to the site, Mt Ararat was no where to be found. I will brief you on the importance of Armenia and Mt. Ararat in another post, but it is basically their version of Mecca. The First day in Armenia, we traveled to our hotel that we would be staying in for the next 3 days of PST, Pre-Service Training. It was pretty good, nothing fancy at all, but I didn’t sign up for the Fancy Hotel Corps, so it was above what I expected. The rest of the day was filled with micro-naps, getting paperwork, giving back paperwork, and so much information.

But it was good to know that everyone there was in the same shoes I was in. We each took a leap of faith in joining, and we left behind lives, jobs, friends, family, and relationships. Putting into terms of we are all equal in this way, helps you realize you aren’t the only one giving up something for this. But we all believe that our return on investment with this will easily be worth it. Taking this step in our lives will forever change it, for the better, no matter what happens. And I now know that I am better for having even met some of the other volunteers. This adventure is one that you can’t find anywhere, and the opportunity to join was a great honor, and a privilege. I am glad that I get to travel in this time of my life, and I think everyone should. Until next time…

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page."