Mid October several of us went hiking near the town of Dilijon, It is really beautiful there and the leaves were just starting to turn. The above picture is a tree that has a carved stone head sitting on top of it. Our guide said they called it the king of the forest. Hope everyone is well!Staci

September 25, 2008

Hi All, I’ve been at my permanent site over a month now and feel like I’m settling in. I’m working in a small village of about 1,000 people in the northwest part of the country. I’m teaching health classes at the school to kids in 6th-10th grades. This week I also started having English clubs a couple days a week after school. The kids really want to learn English and it isn’t taught at the school (they take Russian and German) so the easiest way is to have clubs after school. I decided to run these on Monday and Wednesday, because on Tuesday and Thursday I meet with a tutor to learn Armenian. On Monday only one person showed up and it was a little discouraging but, Wednesday there were about 35 kids ranging in age from 11 to 19. (now I’m not discouraged, I’m just scared!) Who would have ever thought I’d be an English or Health teacher (or both). The nice thing is that the Peace Corps has lots of books and resources filled with different ways to teach. It’s kind of fun to be able to do whatever you want in class and it’s nice for the kids too since most of their classes are about taking notes and memorizing.

Last weekend I went to the capital (Yerevan) for meetings, there is a fountain in the main square of the city. At night the fountains are timed with music and colored lights, it’s a spectacular show and after dark everyone comes out, people walk along the main streets, making their way to the main square or stopping at a sidewalk café. A group of us went to an Indian restaurant for dinner, then down to the fountain and out for a glass of wine afterwards. Yerevan is a very modern city but also very expensive. I probably won’t get a chance to spend to much time there, it’s about a 3 hr. trip by car but because of the transportation schedules the trip takes the whole weekend.

I wanted to get better pictures of the area where I live but the days have been overcast. It’s starting to get cold here and there is snow on the surrounding mountain tops. It won’t be long until it’s on the ground here. Everyone in the village keeps telling me how long and cold the winters are, when I tell them there’s snow where I live in the United States they seem to think I’ll survive here. The difference is the lack of central heating and heat in the buses and cars. The wind chill is also a factor here. On the bright side they make great quilts here that are filled with wool, not processed but actual clumps of sheep’s hair. They are really warm and even though the bedroom is cold sometimes, the blanket really keeps you warm. If nothing else I’ll just wrap myself in one of these all winter. Sorry about the lack of pics. I'm not able to upload them today.

Take care!

Staci

Hey everyone, sorry it's taken so long to post something new. We've been really busy, doing a practicum (teaching health classes to the kids at our village school) and also with language as usual. Our community project was a success we ended up cleaning up and painting the bus stop area in our community. It was a big success, we had around 30 kids helping us. So far the community has kept it looking good. The picture above is of the only standing pagan temple in Armenia. It's called the Garni temple and was built in the 1st century. The area surrounding is really beautiful. It sits on the edge of a gorge. We went there last Saturday

On the same trip we stopped at Gerhard, which is a monestary built in the 13th century. Didn't get many good pictures inside, really dark, exactly as you would imagine a church from that time period. I probably won't be able to post for a while, I leave for my new site this week and I'm not sure if I'll have access to internet very often. The volunteers from Georgia were relocated this week, so follow the news about the conflict between Russia and Georgia. Interesting that it's in a different country and yet probably only 3-4 hrs away. Hope everyone is doing well!

Last Saturday we went to Echmiatzeen, which is the religious center for the Armenian Apostolic Church (worldwide). The church has been added to throughout the centuries but is built on the spot where it was originally in the 3rd century. (1st picture)The next two pictures are the interior of the church, there is some renovation going on, to get ready for holy day in September.The last picture is of the seminary building, where the priest live, while in school. The religion is a form of orthodoxy, but separate from Russian and Greek etc. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as a state religion in the 3rd century A.D.

Armenia

We arrived in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia at about 10:00 pm on June 1st. By the time we got our luggage and made it into the customs area the staff from the PC office was waiting to greet us and we got to avoid the customs lines. It had been a long trip. At Kennedy Airport in New York the drivers took us to the wrong terminal and we had to transport all our luggage on elevators and escalators to a different concourse only to stand in line for almost an hour to check our bags. In Paris we had to go through security again and almost missed our plane. We were very happy to finally get to Yerevan and have the Peace Corps staff there to greet us. From there we drove for about an hour to a place called Hotel Alpine Violet, more of a camp, we stayed in cabins and had classes and medical sessions for the first three days. The camp is a beautiful area, where many Armenian’s vacation during the summer. Check out the pictures.

On Wednesday, we went into town and met our host families at a reception and then moved to our training villages where we’ll live until mid-August. Three people out of our group of 50 have left so far, for various reasons. There are seven or eight people in each small village, each living with a different family. My family is great. The mother and father are about my age, there is a 13 yr. old boy and a 12 yr. old girl. The kids are really a great help in learning the language. We have language classes 4 ½ hrs. a day usually 5 days a week. On Wednesdays we have a central day, when all 47 of us meet in the nearby town for Peace Corps related classes. We also have 3-4 hrs. of technical training in our villages each week. Everyone in my village is in the Community Health Education Program. There are three people living in one of the other villages, who are also CHE volunteers and come to our village for these trainings. Sounds like I’ll be working in a school, team teaching a health curriculum with an Armenian counterpart. Next week we find out where our permanent sites will be and in a couple weeks we get to visit our host families there. The language is difficult, but is making more sense. I sure understand a lot more than I did 3 weeks ago. Hope you are all doing well! Check out the pictures of my village.

Staci

Well today, as I did a couple weeks ago. I set out everything that I didn't think I'd need for the next week or so, and tried to make it all fit into my two duffel bags. No such luck. I'm going to have to eliminate some more, even using "space bags" for packing, it's not going to fit. I guess I'll get rid of some of the winter gear, hope that will give me enough room. Thanks to all of you who came to the party at Kari's house and also the Lunch at work. I really appreciate all the support!

I leave for Philadelphia on the 27th and for Armenia on the 30th. I'll try to keep you posted on the trip. I'll miss you all!

Staci