In the Beginning...

Hey gang,

Sorry for the lapse between blog postings. I have been busy getting ready for school to begin and, with it’s actual beginning! And lordy lord, am I glad to finally get the ball rolling.

Here in Armenia, Sept. 1^st is considered a holiday. No matter what day of the week it is, students and teachers alike show up in their Sunday best to congratulate one another on the start of the new school year. Every school differs in their actual celebration of Sept. 1^st, but my school had a small awards ceremony to recognize student’s efforts from the year before. The event was held on the steps of the school, with the teachers standing behind the Director as he spoke and the students and parents watching from down below. (For some odd reason, it felt sort of like the opening scene of Hunger Games).  Once the Director was finished the students, overwhelmed with joy, ran into the school.

Afterwards a great majority of the staff gathered in the teacher’s lounge to sit around and shoot the shit about the upcoming year until the marshutni came, about two hours later. There was no teaching, no talk of schedules… it was interesting to say the least. I joined about 10 other teachers for a mini celebration complete with pizza and coffee at the café in Yeg., where I am normally throwing back beers with my site mates. It felt a little odd, but one of the things that I am getting pretty good at here is simply sitting back and going with the flow. For some of my acquaintances that might seem a little odd, that Carolyn Rodgers needs to learn how to go with the flow - but being here has opened my eyes to the fact of a certain little factor that assisted in my general 'go with the flow' attitude. I do not have access to it here and well, it has certainly changed things for me. One of the things that the Peace Corps application always talked about was flexibility. Now, it has come to take on a very, very different meaning.  Sometimes, that means getting over the union of your personal and professional life.

Monday was the first legitimate day of school, with bells and classes and everything. My counterpart had decided that I would be the focus of the day, which I was unaware of until after the first bell. Just a quick re-cap: In the Peace Corps Armenia TEFL program, PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) are paired with HCNs (Host Country Nationals) for two years in an collaborative effort to further develop the English skills of students and community members alike. I am to be working in conjunction with my ‘counterpart’ in the classroom, on a daily basis. I had previously thought it might be to my advantage that she had just spent the last two years with a different volunteer. This hypothesis remains unproved.

I am doing my best to reserve judgment and be open-minded. Yet, it has proven very difficult in the face of my day-to-day reality. I’m sure I have said it, maybe not on here – but definitely to friends and family- that while I am in an amazing post; one where I have daily access to internet, running water, the food groups I am accustomed to, and a taste of western life should I choose a 3 hour drive away – there is still much that is challenging about being here. I always need to remind myself to never forget why I choose to come here: to be challenged and to experience the sort of growth that can not take place back home inside the box.

So, you could say that I’m getting what I asked for.

 “So, you mean, I bucket bathed for this?” Jesse ‘Ger-a-lee-eh’ Garrison