There are so many things going on in my PC service right now. I only have 4 months left! I am trying to complete my projects and I'm helping out with a lot of trainings in the next few weeks. Some new projects I've started: working on a website for both the kindergartens, trying to get a computer at K2 so they can market their handicrafts, helping translate and get a public bathroom grant at the soccer field, and trying to design a reusable shopping bag to sell for a Sports Camp fundraiser.

The bathroom remodeling & sanitation project is almost finished- by the first week in April the construction should be complete and we'll have our final 2 parent health seminars! I've been meaning to send out postcards of the progress to all the donors, but the photo machine is broken at our local Kodak store(coincidentally, they've had me over a couple times to call the parts store in CA). Expect mailed updates soon though! In the meantime, here are some pictures of the progress!

i started painting rocks. well. a rock. so far.

it has a couple layers of acrylic on it then i was playing with watercolor randomly dripping it on top for fun. took a picture. found something interesting. atleast to me, it looks like an angel:)

Despite the cold weather we've had here- for the past 2 weeks my sitemates and I have done great hikes around town! I'm part of a volunteer/staff Biggest Loser challenge so I'm fighting the urge to stay inside though I've found so many things to do inside lately. I'm reading through the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series like no ones business. I've decided to go through the 15 days worth of music on my Ipod to get rid of the songs I always skip. I rearranged all the furniture in my house. I'm making postcards for all my friends back home. And painting rocks. And researching health projects and english lessons for my students. Crocheting a hat. Making a board game. Experimenting with chicken recipes. Watching moviestar repertoires in entirety. Studying for the LSAT... Plus I'm addicted to Google News. HAHA.

So, it's good to have motivated sitemates who can get me outside:)

i havent made the Facebook page yet for K1, but here's some more from our health lessons until then! (PS the music teacher was my host mom!)

They are singing: (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star tune)

Lavanank mer zerkera (We wash our hands)

Lavanank menk amen or (We wash everyday)

Josheluts aroj (Before eating)

Hahahuts hato (After playing)

Lavanank menk amen or (We wash everyday)

Amen or, amen or (Everyday, everyday)

Lavanank menk amen or

Amen or, amen or

The kids at K-1 are already 4 lessons into their lessons for the bathroom remodeling project! We asked,"how do we stay healthy?"during a lesson, and answers were "drink tea!", "drink mint tea!", "wear slippers!", "lemons!", "yogurt!", "don't be cold!". Then Arrevik and I talked about exercise, washing their hands with soap, personal hygiene, the food pyramid, and being happy with friends and family.... ;)

Two days later, we had them draw everything we talked about during "how do we stay healthy?" on a couple posterboards. They drew basketballs, toothbrushes, soap, soccerballs, fruit, fires, houses, families, friends, hearts, flowers, and happy people.

So how am I staying healthy?.... Well, that's something I'm trying to work on right now:) Some of us PCVs & some Staff are planning to do an office version of the Biggest Loser starting February 1st. Exciting!

sketch for what I'm working on now! ^

practice piece ^

my first steps in Armenian woodcarving:)

Everything about the Art School in Koghb inspires me:) The picture is from an event they held this past week. For 3 days they hosted a traditional Armenian dancing group to teach the local children(/local Americans) the dances. The ladies I've met at the school are some of the most free-spirited and talented people I've ever met.

other inspiration (cheesy delight):

"Catch Your Star"

Catch the star that holds your destiny-

the one that forever twinkles in your heart

Take advantage of precious opportunities

while they still sparkle before you

Believe that your goal is attainable

Commit yourself to it

Though barriers may stand in your way

remember... your destiny is hiding behind them

Accept that not everyone will approve of your choices

Have faith in your judgment

Take pride in your accomplishments

They are steppingstones to your dreams

Don't let your mistakes discourage you

Value your capabilities and talents

for they are what make you truly unique

The greatest gifts in life are not purchased

but acquired through hard work and determination

Find the star that twinkles in your heart

You are capable of making your dreams come true

Give your hopes everything you've got

You will catch the star

that holds your destiny.

-Shannon M. Lester

:) in Kirovakan

Alaverdi- a mosaic face on the hill. I think it's Hovannes Tumanyan!

It's too bad Peace Corps Volunteers can't be placed in Alaverdi (well it's good they can't because of the copper mining and arsenic dump)... but the surrounding areas are very beautiful and everyone I met was nice. I only spent a couple hours in Alaverdi waiting for a taxi to come get me because there is no public transportation from Kirovakan to Noyemberyan on Sundays. I saw the cable cars running, ate a really good meal at a restaurant for 1000 AMD (about $2.50), and watched kids playing on the large sports fields.

My bus trip was so long going from site to Kirovakan on Saturday I had to resort to playing with my camera. I thought this guy's shirt was funny to look at on the 3 1/2 hours I spent sitting behind him. On a good day, it should have been almost 2 hours. It says "Never confuse fashion with personal style expression". Sir, I agree. But which one are you trying to accomplish?

Check out the (very basic) webpage called "Give a Squat" I made for the Kindergarten's Bathroom Renovation project here: https://sites.google.com/site/giveasquat/

This is a picture of Austin, the brains and brawn behind the Goris Leadership Camp, stapling in the final row of soda-bottle-patio-lights on our bookshelf.

As an activity at the Goris Leadership Camp last week, within just (4) 2-hour lessons children created artwork to decorate a "leadership bookshelf" which would remain at the school as testament to the camp.

Materials needed to decorate the entire bookshelf:

2 strings of Christmas lights, 15 soda bottles, scissors, markers, glitter, glue, paper, ribbon, printing paper, transfer paper, box cutters, stencil paper/cardstock, cut 8x10 cardboard lengths, pencils, masking tape, paint, paintbrushes, paint thinner, play-doh, craft wire

Day 1- Patio Lights

We decorated Jermuk sparkling water bottles with markers, glitter, glue, paper, and ribbon to make the patio lights from this link: click here .

(During working time we compiled a list of the children's heroes. Later, we found the heroes' pictures online, uploaded them to picnik.com and edited the pictures with the "posterize" 2- color tool. For the next day we had these pictures printed out)

Day 2- Stenciling

Children were given their black & white pictures of their heroes, and instructed on whether they will be cutting out all the black areas of the photo or all the white areas (based on which I thought would make a better stencil).

Transfer paper was sandwiched, black side down, underneath the top layer printed photo and the bottom layer of the cardstock. Children traced all the black (or white areas, depending on the photo) with a pencil- the image of only these areas was transferred through to the cardstock.

Students taped the cardstock to a section of cardboard and were given small boxcutters to carefully cut the areas out which they traced.

example of student's artwork: Charents

Day 3- Painting on the Stencils & Origami

Student artworks were chosen, arranged, and carefully taped onto pieces of the disassembled shelving before the children arrived.

Katie's origami flower lesson took place while pairs of students were chose to leave the origami to paint stencils. Students each chose a color of paint, and painted over the stencil as a team (whether they had cut that stencil out the day before or not, due to the unequal number of finished stencils and present children). We started painting from inner-most images and worked our way to the furthest towards the edges. When children finished painting the stenciled image they were led to a different activity by Michael to keep traffic away from the working area. The cardstock stencils were not removed from the shelving after being painted, they were left ontop to dry.

My example I showed the class: Martiros Saryan

Day 4- Superhero Day

Students were given ample amounts of play-doh to create their own superheroes. At the end of the lesson, students from teams gave short presentations about what superhero qualities and strengths their sculpture had and why they thought those were important traits.

Two of the camp's counselors had superheroes made of them- Alex and Austin :)

(Meanwhile, cardstock stencils were carefully removed from the shelving. Pools of paint which had gathered underneath wrong areas in some of the stencils were worked off with paint thinner and box cutters.) Other parts of the shelving were painted, and we prepared for construction of the bookshelf the next day.

Day 5- Bookshelf Unveil

On the final day of camp students conducted civil service projects in their community. During their final activities, I was inside the school with a couple handy Armenian counterparts and free PCV teachers assembling the bookshelf. After it was put together, the Christmas lights were strung through and the patio lights were wired into place, then stapled onto the shelf. Play-doh superhero sculptures were moved and placed onto the shelves.

When children entered the building for the final slideshow and announcements they saw the finished product! Pictures of Tumanyan, Charents, Shiraz, Cher, Saryan, Arshile Gorky, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Tyra Banks, Inna, Demi Lovato, Salena Gomez, Sirusho, Enrique, Putin, Pitbull, and more were stenciled onto the shelf blinking with decorated patio lights and play-doh superheroes!

i worked on a cinnamon peach jam this week. this was my first time canning without experienced help, so i think 50% success rate is alright! i only had 2 jars worth, and while sealing the first i was a little too forceful with tightening and.... fail! the other is cooling & waiting for me- i'm hoping the lid doesn't pop up and down!

this is a little woodcarving a guy at Koghb's Art Camp made for me when i learning the basics from my new teacher, Artur. i've took a couple stateside woodcarving/woodworking classes in my time but Armenians really seem to have a specific, direct way in which they teach and expect a student to learn. i'm sort of used to "anything goes", and find its a bit refreshing to learn a process from step 1. everyone seems to think its funny i plan to make a stone hotchcar before i leave, because women usually do not carve. the kid who carved my name above was carving in stone and i was carving little X like nautical stars like the two above but in a row and much deeper... should have took a picture of what i did, but there will be better things in the future!

Please help Noyemberyan's Kindergarten #1 update their bathrooms!

Would you want your 2-4 year old using the facility pictured above?

Click on the link below to get more information about our project and how you can help (donations are also tax deductible and all recorded donors will receive a thank you letter from a Kindergarten student!):

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=305-076

(From our June 30th English recital)

we did:

Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes

the ABC's

& we read the Very Hungry Caterpillar then colored the paper butterflies:)

This event is my most favorite accomplishment to date!!

believe it- this video is from July 5th in Lake Sevan! huge hail, and a vague rainbow.

i spent most of this week enjoying the previously beautiful weather at Lake Sevan with many of the other Peace Corps Volunteers:) most places were closed down on Monday and Tuesday because Armenian Constitution Day is July 5th, and the new group of volunteers found out their sites on Wednesday- so i had most of the week off of regular work. the 3 new volunteers coming to my town & the surrounding villages are very nice and i'm excited for them!

i had a real good time with my friends this week- even wandered around a childrens' art museum in Yerevan before coming home again (Somehow we were a day too early to see the Surrealist exhibition going on at the National Gallery). the Childrens' Aesthetic Museum had an exhibit of childrens' artwork from 120 different countries- i definitely recommend it! (Though the drawing from Iraq will haunt me...)

at K1 last week we started growing various types of American flowers in little cups- and already some are almost ready to be replanted in bigger containers! depending on the growth and the weather, we will either plant them around the Kindergarten or send them home with the kids (most are perennial).

i thought it was probably too late in the year to do this project though we did it anyway, but it seems like it's going to be OK!:)

this weekend i went to Sevan to celebrate the coming of summer weather with my buds Kathryn, Maggie & Hayley:) i am so sunburned- AGHGH

last night i watched the lunar eclipse while i was chatting on skype with Ashley & baby David, & took some pictures throughout the process... this is what i took put all together!:)

if i had photoshop & wasn't using a netbook i think i'd make a lot of these kinds of pictures...

this is a picture of Lisa's cat with her kittlings- the lilun in the middle is my favorite- i named him Steve (there is a facial expression that accompanies his name) and i want to adopt him... i know i can't- there are too many reasons why that is a bad idea... :/

this weekend i also made & canned strawberry jam for the first time:) it turned out so good i'm trying to find more strawberries to buy and make more this week!

Here are some pictures of the all the kids at K2 doing an exercise routine & the K2 playground

Love these kids:) Since graduation, not as many of the older kinders are coming... but the teachers have a lot more free time for me to give my silly English lessons.

We're still mostly doing the alphabet on keyboards... but...!!... one of the older groups and I are planning a little English recital for the end of June. It will be a short line dance to a country music song, a presentation of "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" and "the ABC's", plus they will all introduce themselves in English to the rest of the kindergarten. Pretty much sums up what I've done here in the last few months:) Exciting!

i spent my morning making this big tree with apples, kind of like "the Giving Tree"...

someday if i can get my hands on a copy of it, i'll try to translate that book and read it to the kids!

all the apples will have pictures of my youngest students at K#1 on them and it will be hung up and hopefully used again next year. not as exciting as the birthday cake poster- but i had a good time listening to the band "fun." and watercoloring paper that's not meant for it:)

after making this then bringing it down to the kindergarten #1, i made my rounds throughout noyemberyan and finally had a meeting with the head of the environmental/forestry NGO called "Verelk". it's funny, by now you might think i'd have met just about everyone and met with every organization in this town-- but i've been meeting new people weekly who have great ideas for projects... apparently, i can't say no. (and i wouldn't want to- this people have had really good ideas and even plans of how to do it)

so, with today being the last day of school for a lot of the kids- i see many peace corps volunteers getting ready for their break of class routine and getting geared up to do summer camps and the "Border to Border" initiative- me, i think summer is going to be my busiest time right here. with 3 youth english clubs starting next week and the kindergartens being open during the summer, a new womens NGO starting up, and possibly a grant... it'll be a really needed vacation when my moms come to visit this july!

here is a link of a travel resource i found online for the "Marz" i am in- Tavush. 72 pages of interesting places, pictures, and facts about the region i'm living in=

http://www.tacentral.com/tavush/TAVUSH_Region_compress.pdf

translating childrens books for the kindergarten... with this book, we are learning the word "goodnight". i read the book in Armenian all except the word "goodnight" which comes up 20 or so times, i say that in English.

i should be packing...

instead i made this (kind of) elaborate birthday calendar for kindergarten #1, with the help of some james taylor & procrastination. sometimes i like rainy days;)

The Noyemberyan Regional Poetry Recitation Competition took place on Sunday, April 3rd! Students in 6th-11th grades memorized english poems by famous greats then recited them aloud to PCV judges! This contest is organized by volunteers and happens all over Armenia every year. Judging was based on memorization, dictation, and interpretation. Winners from each grade in regional competitions move on to the national competition in Hrazdan.

(Though I only lent my handwriting and a little time to this effort) I'm glad we do things like this.!

At Kindergarten #1, this is my English shelf. Though lessons are short, (and few and far between)- in the month of March we have learned about a couple places in the US. New York, California, and Washington DC. On the shelf there are little picture booklets of New York City that I made before I came. The stuffed bear has an American flag on him, he is my counterpart, "Mr. Blue"! Tomorrow I am expanding my work, and starting to also teach at the other Kindergarten, Kindergarten #2!

Twice a week, usually Mondays and Wednesdays (and if there has been a lot of rain Sundays sometimes too) around 6-7PM I hear something that sounds like demon snakes coming from the bathroom. I've had a couple friends not understand what I meant when I said "when the water comes.." so here is a better explanation.

The only times that water comes out of the faucet in the town are scheduled by the local municipality. A "water schedule". They turn the water on and residents must be ready in their house to collect the water in water drums, buckets, (a cistern if you are lucky), sinks, and bathtubs. Often times, families fill up the bathtub and use that water to flush the toilet throughout the week. Seeing as bathing is usually a 1-2x/week occasion, this causes no major problem. The wealthier areas of town and the villages surrounding have water more frequently.

I still panic (but am joyful) when I hear the hissing noise- because I remember not having water at all for the first summer month I lived in Noyemberyan or the many times during those 7 months my family would run out. It was certainly harder to live with a family because of the water issue.... when the water got too low to bucket-flush the toilet, things got tense. I stopped bucket bathing for months so that I could wash my clothes instead; going to the bath-house with my sitemates as an alternative. During training I had a hot shower with almost constant running water and it seems most everyone I know in other parts of the country have running water now at their permanent sites. My advice to newcoming PCVs- never live on the top floor of an apartment building (the water won't reach your floor as often plus it will be impossible to heat). I'm so grateful that my new apartment is NOT on the top floor!!

The sound of water coming here is followed by the sound of me running around for the next hour with buckets to fill my water barrel and bins, water the plants, rince out my handwashed laundry, and wash only the dirtiest dishes...

A couple years ago a Doctors without Borders family lived here and installed a hot water heater but took it with them when they left. What I wonder is if they waited in the house until Mondays and Wednesdays around 7 to shower, or if they had a cistern that they took with them too? hmm. Why would one move a cistern?...

Reading coffee cups is a tradition in Armenia- the coffee is boiled with sugar and water in a little pot called a jazzve and poured into small shot-glass size cups. Usually there is thick coffee that remains at the bottom of each shot-coffee cup, and it is poured onto the small coffee plate away from your body to sit and dry after you are done drinking. Later, someone else at the table will read into the images formed by the coffee. Then, the drinker sticks a finger into the thickest gathering of coffee and the reading is adapted and continued! This is something my family loves to do.

one of the neighborhood school-pigs

View from my new porch

Womens' Day celebration @ Tatiks! Womens' Day (Kon-onts Or) is celebrated on the 8th of March, even schools are closed to celebrate!

Yesterday I moved into my own apartment! Instead of posting pictures of the new place (because there are boxes everywhere), I decided to put up a couple pictures of my host family & old place. It's been about 9 months since I've been living with host families- 7 months with Gohar, Nodar, and the boys. I had a good time, but I'm ready to have a little extra space! I am already comfortable in my new place and I hear my brother Aren has claimed my own room, and I am happy for him too!

Harut, Gohar, Aren!

Me & my little brothers!

Harut & his fish! (I had a difficult time getting those fish for him, riding in a taxi with a plastic cellophane baggie from Sevan...) He has named 2 of them "Beeline" because they have stripes, 2 "Orange" because they are orange, and 2 "ArmenTel" after the phone businesses.

Last look at my room!

The Armenian Jesus poster in my old room, I wanted to keep it...

My new apartment is in the same building that I already was living in, so I have great neighbors! Right now I'm taking a break from unpacking and watching the cartoon "American Dad" in Armenian on the tv here... strange that they would watch that. I've been alternating between Iranian cartoons, American cartoons in Armenian, and BBC World News just to have some noise in the house. I hadn't missed having a tv for the last 10 months until I turned this one on and couldn't figure out how to change the language to English. My first meal I made myself what my friends back home call "cracker tunes"- a packet of tunafish from a package from home with crushed Ritz-like crackers, pickles, pepper, and mayo. I had been waiting to eat that for almost 3 months! I have the beginnings of a well-stocked cabinet thanks to all you guys that sent me packages for Christmas! (And my host mother who has already come by a couple times to bring bean soup, pickled tomatoes, ramen noodles, and some sort of dried braided greens...)

Once I am all settled-in, I'll put up some pictures of my apartment. I think you'll be surprised, it's very nice! (The Ritz)

a giant footprint. or exclamation mark!

a giraffe & its calf walking downhill->

a little snowy house with smokestack

the bow of a ship & it's reflection seen from water level

A mushroom

A dolphin flipping out of the water (still feeling bad about buying golfish after watching the Cove)

Louisianna

Today I saw a little bird that looked like it had been run over by a car many hours before and was literally turning to ice, hopping along on one leg. My first thought was to find a flat surface to scoop the bird up with and set it out of the sidewalk so it would die in a more peaceful place, but I didn't do it- I'm kind of scared of birds. I stared, walked past it slowly, looked back, then continued while another man saw my interest and came to pick the bird up, with no gloves! That guy ended the bird's life with his bare hands. How can it be that I would have thought the best thing to do is let the bird suffer in a quieter place? (and I couldn't even do that) A coincidental bird fable. 20 minutes later at the Kindergarten, a sad fable was read about children who wouldn't bring their thirsty mother water. The mother beckoned and beckoned but the children were complaining and not listening. So, the mother grew wings, turned into a bird and flew far away where she could drink as much water she wanted. The moral of the story was undoubtedly, "listen to your mother". Ever since I've been thinking about... what I think might be irony.

in anticipation of a lesson about germs/sickness spreading, i have been keeping a small packet of opened glitter in my wallet. glitter + lotion on kids hands, then having them shake hands = visual demonstration of germ sharing. opened glitter in my wallet = a celebration every time i buy something (with sparkly money)!

the interesting swimming pool, funded by USAID SPA Grant years before

the fountain in the center of town

little red riding hood/wolf statues at the kindergarten

walking down to the kindergarten, under the grapevines

they'll wear heels in every type of weather...

outside of schools #1 & #2

Milli, Gohar, Shushanik, Mehair

What it looks like outside from my porch & how far away I am from the Lindens

(they are in the building in the back middle)

So, I realized from reading my friend Kathryn's blog that you don't need a camera to blog on the same day I received my new camera. No more skipping out- I might as well share my stories or put in links;)Today was my little friend Milli's 6th Birthday. Her mother is my tutor, and she's also my "host cousin". I gave her an adorable little CareBear that Oakes had sent me in a package and she was so excited! I came to the party just in time to cheer her up with a present, at the time she was really sad about her father not being there. I can't imagine having a parent leaving for months or years at a time to work in another country. Losing a parent permanently is much worse- but unwillingly leaving the country out of necessity to provide for one's family is a sad situation. Things are expensive here, a normal sweater can cost the same as what most teachers make in a month or at least- half. Food prices are a major topic of conversation- especially since the most recent price hikes of everything flour related.

If you want to know what the holiday season was like for me living in Armenia, then this long post is just for you... :)

Literally the day after my last post I took a week long trip around Armenia to get some work done with friends. My first visit was to Vanadzor and Stepanavan. In Vanadzor I went to a weaving with plastic bags event at a local childrens' center. Upcycling! The children at the event were very motivated to learn and problem solve about the problems plastic waste causes in the ocean and in landfills. I regret I could only stay one day of the week-long event! I definitely brought that project back to the Bridge of Hope with me, the first picture above of a girl crocheting plastic yarn- is my friend Gohar! If you are interested in a similar event, I have contact information for the lady who travels the world teaching environmentally sound lessons. And if you look at the pictures of the products made out of plastic bags above, I made the snake puppet! Haha.

A day spent at a WorldVision office then an entire season of Glee in two nights with my friend, my first trip back to Charentsavan since training to visit a friend and have a glass of wine with our old translator from Practicum, a trip to Sisian for a birthday, a night of making a football cake and then a visit to a friend's new apartment in Goris... the week was great! I learned a lot, saw friends, and got a lot of new ideas!

Thanksgiving Day consisted of a whole roasted chicken and some delicious garlic mashed potatoes at my sitemates' house, the Lindens! Sadly, another event was soon on my mind. My host father's contract ended with the military and he decided to immediately move to Russia for work. A lively going away party was thrown for him, as you can see my sitemate above flinging his shirt over his head, haha. It was wild. Nodar's last day in country I had to leave for Yerevan. I hope that he decides to return within the 19 months I have left...

December was a month of celebration here! To start off the month, I was in Yerevan for the All-Vol conference. All-Vol is a yearly event for all volunteers where we get together for training and a big Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner is where traditional Thanksgiving food, which is a bit hard to get together from the Armenian marketplaces, is made by the best cooks and bakers in the PC. It was really really good! I was supposed to be the one who stood up to say thanks for everyone's work from those who didn't help cook.. but it turned out to be more like a one minute maroon-colored rambling squeak with one of those "i'm rooting for you, son" arm gestures. (if you know what i mean HAHA)

My birthday was on the weekend following All-Vol, but before I even got to it- The sweetest thing ever. My friends threw me a surprise party on the last night of All-Vol! It was yet another instance of pure maroon panic attacked awkward Nelle... couldn't have appreciated it more though! It was one of the best nights ever. I received some interesting presents like a hollow cow-horn thing that I had to drink out of all night... We did some dancing, some cookie and peanut butter eating, and the few of us who made it through ended up karaoking. It was almost exactly what I would have ended up doing at home. maybe. HAHA.

Turned out 5 birthday celebrations were in store for my 26th. I have 2 workplaces whom each threw a little party in my honor, my host cousin and I had a joint party and I had a separate one. It was all sorts of crazy. I'm thinking people were itching to start holiday celebrations early! I think I am birthday-ed out for the next 10 years!

A birthday celebration for my host nephew then a very interesting and fun Marz Party with all the PCVs from my area, going away parties for my host uncles who also decided to head to Russia for work... later... began the parties for the closing of my workplaces until after the Armenian New Year. Unfortunately the Kindergarten and Bridge of Hope had to close for the entire month of January, so my last day with the kids was December 23rd and 24th. That is when they had their seasonal recital where they danced, sang songs, and recited skits for their parents. It was incredibly cute! Even Santa decided to show up. However fun, I remember the exact moment when I thought "I am sick", as the teachers sprayed the tree-snow aerosol cans into the stuffy room.

That is how I remained, sick with a heck of a cold/infection type thing.. until just a couple days ago. I took a trip to Tbilisi Georgia and had a wonderful time with my friend Maggie. All while scaring people at the hostel with the ferociousness of my snoring at night. It's funny to me now that I literally carried around VapoRub and just kept putting it on like it would cure me. I love that stuff. Anyway, in Tbilisi, what else but McDonalds and sulphur baths, beautiful Christmas lights, great botanical gardens, and delicious food. I pretty much ate a burger every night and an iced coffee drink everyday! Maggie and I caught up with my sitemates randomly on a street and then a day later we were joined by more PC Armenia volunteers at our hostel, so it was a good group! Somehow we ended up playing Jenga while we were out??!! Very random. Even a few were at the hostel from Azerbaijan- one living very close to me, but across the border.

Things didn't calm down after my Georgian vacation, but I sure did. I barely could stay awake to celebrate the New Year, which had a lot of fireworks and tons of food. I blame the Benadryl. The Armenians prepare a huge table, then celebrate for 13 DAYS.! The first of which, I took part in and had a great time! The rest I stayed in bed and slept for almost a week straight. During this time I missed a wedding, the Armenian Christmas (Jan 6th), and most everything that happens on the social calendar here. I'm just starting to come back to normal and I have had a lot of catching up to do with my Armenian friends! That, exactly, is what I've been doing this week while also travelling to a couple villages over to visit my bud Lisa. We started an arts and crafts club at her school and are getting local schools to participate in the upcoming English poetry contest!

As soon as I get my new camera, I'll make sure to post more! Regretfully, I don't have many good pictures of the Armenian celebrations, but I hope you get a good idea of the craziness that happened from what I have here:) "And that, is what you missed last season on Me."

In celebration of the warm weather sticking around this November, my closest sitemates and I rent out our buddy's taxi and head on a day roadtrip...

Haghpat Haghpat is one of the most famous temples in Armenia, located in Lori Marz near Alaverdi. The area has produced artifacts from as old as the Paleolithic Era.

If you look hard, you can see what's left of the huge fresco painting of what I would consider a depiction of God on the topmost part under the arch. We luckily came on a Sunday- heard and saw a bit of a mass!

These holes held all the precious items at the Temple. At one time there was a concealing fake floor laid on top of them. It is now a tradition to drop dram into the small safes, like wishing wells.

Sanahin

Sanahin is easy to miss, though you would not want to.

Lisa, Armen (the taxi driver who seems to know every past volunteer), and I lit candles next to eachother!

The flooring of Sanahin, or many monasteries and temples, must be made of gravestone markers. I don't know much about it, but these pictures show some very primitive depictions of humans. I've seen a lot of similar gravestone-like stones in many of the other places I've visited, but none like this. Maybe they were made later on, they are a little too well preserved to be as old as that style of drawing. Right?

Artifacts! Listening into a tour guide's speech (but in Armenian), I heard that the room held a great deal of precious cultural materials from various places (I caught Greek and Latin) as well as Armenian. They studied and preserved the artifacts at Sanahin.

My "slumdog millionaire"

If I really have to explain what happened, then you probably also don't get the movie reference. It hurt, but atleast the hole wasn't full of waste. I took the door and the whole floor a couple feet under with me, from trying to skip over the boards in front that looked weak. (The inside looked strong!! Kind of) Haha. It hadn't been used in a long, long time and a butterfly could have caused this. I don't know what I was thinking, I will have to remember to lay off the honey and that I don't weigh 10 pounds! :)By the way, this kind of thing could probably only happen to me....

November 10th is "Action Day".Today the Bridge of Hope used all those paper hands I've been cutting out for the last two weeks! Between the schools and community members of Noyemberyan, and by the help of an ambitious group of volunteering pre-teens, hundreds of these paper hands were hung on a banner in support of the handicapped. Wishes were written on the hands by all who came except those not old enough to write. The event took place in all the surrounding villages as well as in front of the park here, in Noyemberyan. A successful event, beautiful weather, music in the park... today was a good day.Kindergarten #1 showed their support by participating! (How interesting it was to help move a group of 2-6 year olds down a path and across a street- it was terrifying actually.) Afterwards, our kindergarteners had a bit of time to relax in the park! At lunch, with our lentil soup, we were treated to some candy by the Bridge of Hope!Today is one of those days I couldn't be happier to be where I am.

Change is... well... Change is change.We could talk about change all day-Our brains and voices pattering away. Beautiful things like forested mountains are ignoredWhen our mouths are busier than our eyes and legs.

The Bridge of Hope

My Paper Crafts counterpart & my buddy Gohar

Nodar & Gohar helping gut the pumpkin

Nodar cutting the pumpkin

Me also getting in the Halloween spirit

All the kindergarteners and teachers with "Mookey" and Donald Duck for a birthday party celebration at the Kindergarten.

I was forced to dance with Donald... HAHA. They actually took a video of it too...

The birthday boy, Nrek, 2 years old! His mother, a teacher at the kindergarten and his fantastic friends!

what i see looking off the balcony

half my room on the cleaniest of days...

Today was one of those days I feel it's a miracle I survived. quite literally.! My sitemates and I hiked a couple mountainous kilometers away in the forest to see an old monastery. If you know me, that just sounds ridiculously false, but it's true. I was told we planned this trip out weeks ago, but by the seat of my pants already hungry and tired, I met up with my friends after coming from town with absolutely nothing hiking related except my hiking shoes. In exchange for a couple hours filled with anticipated peril of rolling down a gorge or having a lung collapse, I made it up a... what I will proudly call a pathless mountain... and I feel really satisfied and blessed with the result. Now things hurt on my body that I didn't know could hurt but I got to see something hidden and beautiful that very few people on this Earth will ever know. Of course, I was the excessively muddy one that had to stop a million times and got pissed when my sitemates tried to help me or hurry me along because it was getting late and starting to rain. I think all was forgiven when we got to the top of what one sitemate called "the fun part" HA-HA-HA.I don't always in hindsight thank myself for the Art History minor, I remember lonnnngg classes where attendance was necessary and I had to write lonnngg structured papers all the time analyzing things that in my opinion, may not need to be analyzed (atleast not by me). Despite what my mind initially remembers, it's nice to have an eye for what's around me. Now that I'm in Armenia I often see old artworks, especially carvings and architecture. I appreciate that I am educated to appreciate and read into these types of things. The newer part of the monastery had an occulus, a lot of very interesting biblical carvings in profile, and little perfectly kept rooms for the monks. The older part was less preserved but had an altar and a couple nooks where we all lit candles. It's peace was well worth the grueling hike.Taking a different way back, we had a grand ole mud-sliding dirty time. Again, quite literally. But... atleast it was funny! Here I am now, alive and dry and happy to have spent this time with my sitemates, to have seen the Tavush nature at it's best, and to have seen something that predates just about everything but JC himself. Next hike- Aragat... (um, no).

School has started and I couldn't be happier with the little kids I get to work with this year! Kindergarten in Armenia is optional and it is more like a daycare than a school. The ages range from 2-6 years old! So far there hasn't been any planning involved with lessons- I'm fairly sure my physical exercise lessons will consist of bouncing around, stretching, and dancing to Raffi music and Armenian songs I have not learned yet. I don't understand a word the kids are saying, but I don't think the Armenian ladies do either, so it's ok for now!My mood has been great after each of the 3 days the kids have been coming! Sure, there has been a lot of crying for mommy and daddy with the younger group, but I feel like I've already seen growth within the kids who have opened up and started to play with others or respond to their teachers. Mom, I think I finally understand maybe just a bit about how it must have been in your classes... especially during the first week! Two of the pictures above are of some of the older group playing on the playground, which has the potential to be a wonderful space for the children. Aren't they cute? Now, the playground is a bit broken down and there are quite a bit of dangerous things floating around that would never be allowed back home- but hopefully I can help figure out a way to update a bit. However, I'm thinking what they really need are some new toys and a new bathroom for the younger group. The toys are mostly various plastic toys that in the US we get for free in Happy Meals, or we buy for our dogs. The dolls are matted and I'm a bit scared to touch the stuffed animals because it's obvious they haven't been washed in years. The older group's room has a brand new bathroom thanks to a grant, but the younger group has an old squat facility, no running water in the building. Overall, it's so close to being perfect despite the things that are lacking. The mayor's office supports the kindergartens, I believe there are 4 here in my city. Thursday the mayor visited our building and I finally met him!. I can tell he is very charismatic and friendly, but he spoke so fast I only caught half of what he said... it was nice to be introduced, though. Most everyone here has a story to tell about atleast 1 past volunteer because they have done so much.. I listened to his story about past volunteers Stephanie, Kyle, and Elaine, then I went in the cafeteria/kitchen and ate some soup. Haha.

With the Kindergarten starting up, going to the Bridge of Hope, tutoring, learning to cook and can with my host family (above!) and a variety of unplanned socializing trips in town- I have had a BUSY week! Earlier tonight I got together for an evening of gouging pizza, chicken wings, and brownies at my sitemate's house with some A-17s from my Marz and the Lindens!. An abandoned game of Trivial Pursuit and a house full of dirty dishes, then later leaving with a big jazz guitar... it was a wonderful end to my already great week. Thanks mom for the hot sauce, thanks for the guitar David !!

So! The first few weeks here I have experienced a mixture of emotions ranging from excitement to frustration, confusion to enlightenment, and boredom to busy, busy, busy. Every day isn't completely different, but it's crazy when two weeks feel like a month or more.Some days I have a hard time with self-motivation, and if you fully understood my living conditions you might just get why. Things are not terrible here, I'm certainly not in a hut in the middle of a desert without food. Actually, the food is always good and the people are really nice and supportive of my being here, especially my family which I ranted on a bit about in my last post. The hardest adjustments for me have been the lack of water in my city, not understanding the language very well, and living on the top of a hill on the small top floor of an apartment building. I know when I found out where the Peace Corps wanted to send me, I looked around the internet for blogs about people's experiences here to find out more. If someone happens to read this blog in the future for information, I will tell you now so far everyone is experiencing different hardships. This country is diverse, like New York State. While I am having a hard time with water- our family hasn't gotten water out of the faucet in almost 2 weeks- others are having a hard time with work situations, climate, language (especially re-learning the language to accustom to local 'bar-bar'), or isolation. Some people must travel a long ways to a store or their workplace, while I am a very close in a small city. I have a married couple from the Peace Corps, the Lindens, living in the building next to mine and a volunteer that has been here for a year already, David, so I am very lucky to have other volunteers close. While some of my group seem to be living very posh, others are in drastic or dirty conditions. The winter weather is supposed be be mild here, quite different than other parts of the country but I dread walking down the hill I already trip down as it is to get to work. The part of the summer I experienced was humid and very hot, the humidness a special characteristic of this region. The weather changed from summer to fall in literally one day, the sky turned darker and it hasn't been bright since. It looks like it is going to rain- which I hope for with all my heart because we maybe have 1 gallon of water in our apartment and that is about enough to "bucket flush" the toilet once or twice, depending on...I have a dual assignment, one at a kindergarten teaching health-related lessons and physical exercise, and one at the Bridge of Hope, an excellent NGO which helps children with disabilities, but also many of the local children come to participate in classes or use the computers or art room. I started at the Bridge of Hope last week, only going in about 2 hours a day to help with arts and crafts and prepare for the 5 year anniversary of the office which was yesterday. The video above, is one I took at the ceremony yesterday they had at the cultural center. The event was great, despite a couple flaws here and there I hope I am not responsible for. It takes a while to post a video, and I can't watch it online to make sure it works, so please tell me if it doesn't! Later I will post a couple more, they are really adorable and the children did a great job!Tomorrow I will go into the kindergarten for the second time since I have been at site. Next week school starts so my next post will probably have quite a bit about that!

so, it's been a while since i have written!. to tell the truth, i ran out of positive things to say about my first host family, we did not get along to say the least. i guess i was trying too hard to be positive, but leaving out the bad... from now on, maybe i should just say it like it is! i probably should have wrote about the awesome times i had with my fellow trainees/volunteers, but i was a bit busy and lazy about it. i'll stop apologizing now and just write a damn blog entry, haha.

so, today was my first real day as a Peace Corps volunteer! i am finished with training although man, i still have quite a few questions. Swearing in was such a blast, i helped sing a song in Armenian and a song in English, "Hayastan im chicknah" and "Imagine" (cheesy but true). We had ourselves a nice little celebration afterwards followed by intensely packing everything we own to move the next day. What a fun 24 hours. I already miss my Fantanites & my teachers, my auk-berrrrs. AUKBEARR..!

So... I've been here a day and a half and i have slept quite a bit, ate an unbelievable amount of delicious and very salty food, talked about heaven, hell, Jesus, fate, psychic vampires, energy, positivity, Azerbaijan, gender roles, and what a woman must do to make sure her watermelon is tasty when she cuts it (it means you must stay a virgin) all in Armenian by the way. It's strange, when my host mother talks if i look her in the eyes I can understand exactly what she is saying. I still can't talk very well though, it requires too much fast thinking, or maybe no thinking is involved I can't tell.

My family makes me feel a bit clostrophobic, but the funny part about it is that I kind of like it from them. Maybe its all because my first host family was so miserable i would love anyone who shows interest and treats me like a part of the family, this i don't know. But I do know my host mother and I watched City of Angels in Russian and we both cried the same way, then she turned on a BBC tape of monkeys stealing food from humans... then we laughed the same way... that is always something that would cheer me up. she drew a diagram that i swear my mother would have drawn about the energy a person has, with positive and negative signs. it's so freaky, i normally don't believe in fate, but it's an intensely complicated process how i ended up here- where i feel like i actually fit in more than anywhere i've ever lived except my moms home in small old htown, NY.

not only did i have that connection, but i got in some awesome father and brother bonding time. my military man father cut and blow dried my hair today, turns out he used to be a barber in Yerevan... for men, of course.... don't worry it actually turned out quite awesome, no huge mullet involved. (like Michael's). then we had an english lesson, which during site visit and now has always been interesting. :) i learned a bit of russian, but i have already forgotten. i let them listen to the grateful dead on my ipod, because it's very important for them to know about the best music from the US.

but... i've come to the conclusion that i am living amongst Armenian equivalent of the coolest hippies ever. :) :) YEAAAHHHH! not only that but i've got the Lindens next door and David just a hill away, the best site assignment ever, and 3g internet. so.....who needs running water????

Hey guys!Above are pictures from my family trip yesterday to Garnik, where there is a very awesome old monastery-like church that was carved entirely from one stone on the side of a huge mountain. There was a little stream running through the church which we all washed our hands in. My sister explained it to me as "doctor water". haha. the language barrier is still somewhat limiting.Although the church experience was amazing, I feel like I must wait and update you all with better information later!Things have been CRAZY! I have been very busy. below are a couple of pictures of the sports/arts/cultural day map that I made... That happened this last Saturday. I'm running out now so all I can say that it was an absolute success!- will edit this later tonight or tomorrow with more- :)

It's very weird for me to think that i've only been in Armenia for 3 weeks! In fact, I've been having major deja-vu since I've been here and I feel like I've known alot of the people for much longer...

Yesterday I received a package from mom and Gwen -THANKS SOO MUCH! The hand sanitizer is a valuable bartering item between volunteers, lol. We have not seen it for sale anywhere!

So, a big reason to be psyched- all the villages are working on projects to enhance our community right now- it's so important and very exciting! We are doing a sports/arts/cultural day. Of course, I will be involved in some arts and crafts, LOL. I'm having the children put their handprints on a backdrop that I'm going to paint a map of our village on. I will teach the children a couple English words like "house", "family", "school", "street" and then have them mark the area where they live with their print! I'm thinking of getting some copies made of sheets with transliteration in E. Armenian to English for these words, so they won't forget what they've learned.

Each volunteer is in charge of a different section of the day, there are a lot of sports activities to promote healthy activity and even a compass-using navigation class. Luckily we found the materials for my project in one day and they were relatively inexpensive!!

The purpose of the village map with handprints is to show a collective investment of the children in the community, among sooo many other things. It sounds like a fun activity where I can incorporate TEFL and awareness of surroundings! It also leaves a finished product which hopefully turns out nice enough to be presented as a gift to the community. What do you think?

So, a couple funny things for the people I haven't talked to yet:

My name "Danelle" translates into a verb in E. Armenian. It means "to put".

The small town gossip in Hornell, NY is NOTHING compared to gossip here. I hear when one of my volunteer friends won't eat or gets a sunburn before I even see them! (And I see them about 5 hours out of each day). I guess this is one of the big differences in culture- Americans value privacy way more than people in my village do! I've found if you stop thinking altogether the language sort of makes sense. When I clear my head of anything I actually think I know exactly what everyone is talking about... weird.

Another funny tid bit- since I've been here I've been wearing a piece of snowflake obsidian tied on a chord as a necklace. What I didn't expect is for the streets to literally be lined with obsidian, it's everywhere. That in itself is pretty awesome- to think that at one time there was lava all over the place here. So, Ryan says my wearing the obsidian is the equivalent of someone back home wearing a pebble necklace. I bet it's just one more strange thing to them:)

Anyway, my trip to Yerevan was great. I went with two other volunteers from my village and one of my LCST's. We were very short on time, but from what I saw I can't wait to see some more next weekend! (The picture is of me at the Square in Yerevan:)

These are a couple more pictures of my village's holy day! On top is a picture of only a part of the feast table before it was completely set and jam-packed with food.

Next, my host sister (and language tutor, hehe) Ani making a type of hard cookie.Then, a picture of a part of inside the church where we lit candles.Last, my host brother, Matso, with our family's sacrifice.

I wish I could upload all the pictures that I would like to! It takes a very long time to do so. A very very longggg time!So, life in Armenia. What can I say other that it's amazing here. I really love the picturesque landscape and they are keeping me very busy here... very very busy. The people are great and I have a wonderful host family. (Above) are my host parents, Ashot and Jemma. They have been very patient with my crazy Amerikatse ways. I also have a tatik (below), a sister, a brother and a bunch of cousins and uncles and aunts. They love to cook, eat, and dance!Many of my co- "commovores" volunteers in my town, have "bucket list" goals for their time in Hayastan. I haven't really thought of many yet, but I think that it might be a great idea. I will keep you posted on some short and long term goals other than my main reasons for being here.

Let me know if you can think of anything I should add to the list:)

So much has happened in the past few weeks I wish I would have been able to keep up with this blog during those times. I wrote a bunch of letters but then when I got a phone I told everyone almost everything I had wrote. So... sorry guys! I haven't sent out any letters quite yet.

I am in a small village with 8 great volunteers, and 2 Language and Culture Trainers. I am surrounded by mountains, some of which my friends have already hiked. (Maybe this should be a goal... I need to work up to something like that....) But, when I say mountains I mean that I've seen snow capped mountains and majestic green mountains. Cows grazing on them: aplenty.

Yesterday was the yearly town holiday. The entire village drove or hiked in fairly hot and dusty weather to an extremely old church on the side of a mountain. The drive itself was somewhat... interesting. It may be that vehicles in rural Armenia have no suspension or probably anything working in their cars except tires and an engine. I say this because I remember how easy it was to hit a pothole and bust a spring, when this road was something I don't think I would have wanted to have Ryan drive an ATV on. (and he's talented)... So, I guess my clunker back home would be hott stuff on these mountainous backroads.

Anyway, when my host brother, Matso, got us to the church, we were immediately swarmed by people selling candles and small gifts. They actually opened up my hands and put candles into them, then closed my hands and wanted money. Haha, it's ok though- I wasn't the only one this happened to- there were 7 more of us at one point or another:) Someone from the family, maybe an uncle??, who is visiting from Moscow bought me some rosary beads which was very kind, but humorous at the same time. I'm not sure what to do with rosary beads but I know there are lots of pictures floating around of me wearing them around my neck because he insisted...

The candles I had bought didn't really light... they just ended up being more wax next to other lit candles. But it was interesting to see the inside of this church ablazen, and I took a couple pictures I hope to share someday I have more time to upload. When we walked out of the church, we rang a bell and walked backwards (because you never turn your back on the altar). Down a small hill is a small "lake", no bigger than a large inground swimming pool which the locals were quite fond of. I believe it is rooted in the legends and origins of the town.

An interesting aspect of this ceremony was the animal sacrifice ritual. Matso had put two tied up chickens in the trunk, and I was surprised I was unaware of that fact (I would think I would have heard them!!) until he took them and brought them near the church. We volunteers had been told that animal sacrifice was a part of the town tradition, but did not know really what to expect. My brother shallowly cut the chickens then smeared a cross of blood on his sweet little cousin's forehead. I'm not sure if this is normal, I didn't see anyone else with this blood cross, but she was happy with it. He put the chickens back in the trunk of his car, and I don't know what happened except we headed back and had really great chicken for dinner.

Actually, dinner was a feast. There were about 30-40 people who came to my "entanik", family's, house. It was a carb fest, with "horovats" which is barbequed meat, chicken, a ton of fresh vegetables, fruits, cheese (my favorite), candy, cakes, breads, (lavash is the main bread.. it's like a wrap), soda, wine, vodka, coffee, tea... After eating for what seemed like hours we did some Armenian dancing. I am a horrible dancer... but I will elaborate on that some other time:)

And so was our town's yearly celebration. It was fantastic! I will catch you up on everything else when I get a chance!

This is my tatik in my host family, Valya. Here she is braiding ganachi (greens?) presumably to save for the winter. In 2 years, I have promised to pack her in my suitcase and bring her home with me:)

i had been thinking that 2 years is such a short time.

i can remember what happened 2 years ago like it was last month...

individual memories, what was said, who was there.

they say "time flies when you are having fun"- but time also erases blank moments.

yes time sure can fly by,

actually when you linger, time seems to fog into a warp zone.

it's sad to think the past year of my life has massive time-loss where i may have been sort of lurking on the outside of what could have been something entirely different.

everything you put out there sends a message and has a reaction.

when i went through the motions...

when i knew i was on the cusp of moving on to something i felt will be unmistakably greater for me...

it took a irreversible toll on some of the everyday "what could have been(s)"

because it's people who light up my world, not just accomplishments and goals.

i don't know what it took to wake me up-

i needed to be solid so i partially turned myself into a rock

then hallelujah!! i suddenly re-realized i don't need to be anything at all but good and happy and it was unfair to myself to hold back at a time, an age, i'll never be again

i do regret the late development of this re-realization and that i could have initiated the making of many more beautiful memories.

there is some sort of beam of light from somewhere else

that must be shining me down, because i know i am incredibly lucky.

even with all this time standing still in my comfort zone and i am STILL allowed my hand at this amazing opportunity, completely outside and larger than myself!!

it's impossible not to feel at least a bit unworthy.

2 years might be longer than I thought... especially if i savor each moment.

taking into account how unexpectedly we die, get married, reproduce, and fall out.

how great is it that in the future, looking back on these next couple years I may have newly installed fog-lights... even if the lights shine on different people than those I have always loved.

how great it will be, to feel like 2 years ago was not just yesterday.