Catch-Up

Hello Babies,

Sorry for my extended delay in writings, things have been quite hectic. Every time I sat down to write, I found it difficult to gather my thoughts or decide upon the topic/ theme. I am going to attempt to briefly summarize some of the goings on since my last post.

New House/ Neighbors:

I am absolutely loving being in my new place (which I feel you are all aware of anyways…). One of the unexpected adjustments to moving is managing relationships with my neighbors. At this point, I have only gone for coffee with my neighbors directly across the street. The brother and sister that live there are both of my students. The boy, Tigran is in the 4^th grade and while he’s not a great student he is a very sweet little boy. His sister, Ophelia is in the 7^th grade and equally sweet.  Their enthusiasm to be close with me is pretty adorable, but sometimes can be annoying. They come knocking at the door nearly everyday. I decided that to balance things, I would agree to tutor them once a week – hoping that 40 minutes of my undivided attention would mean less house visits. This hasn’t exactly been the case, but to a certain extent.

All of the other neighbors have expressed interest in being guests at my house. Yet, the idea of strangers coming in and going through my house and things, asking questions and expecting to be ‘guest loved’ is not my cup of tea.  One of the challenges as a Peace Corps Volunteer is dealing with a lot of unwanted attention. We are so accustomed to being more or less anonymous in America, that having everyone in town know who you are – whether or not you have met them- can at times be overwhelming. Anyone could enter (the bottom half) Malishka, ask about the American girl living in the village, and be pointed in the direction of my house.  I hope to one day meet more of my neighbors, but I am taking it one step at a time.  At the moment, I’m perfectly content with the amount of neighbors I have met.

Poetry Contest:

The National Poetry Contest was held last Sunday, May 5^th. I can’t say exactly that it went off without a hitch- but in general it was a success. I was lucky to have the priceless help of my friends Phi and David the morning of the Contest. It is because of them that I was able to get through that very long day.  It was really cool seeing all of the kids recite their poems. All of them did an amazing job, and while the two students from Malishka did not place – it was a proud moment to watch them recite their poems. I have a lot of plans next year on how to makeover the Contest and look forward to implementing them with the help of current and new volunteers. A special thanks also, to my site mate and friend Elisabeth for helping my kids get safely to the capital in my absence. 

My favorite part of this day was riding on the bus home with my friend Phi and two students.

Softball:

Recently, the American Embassy softball games have been opened up to the public.  Two weekends in a row I was able to attend and play in these games. The first weekend, there were only a few volunteers, some other non-embassy people and a group of Armenian men. The Armenians had never played softball/ baseball before and it was pretty comical watching them learn how to play. It was like watching a t-ball game, but all the players are grown men. Afterwards, the man who organizes the games invited us back to his gorgeous home for my first American style BBQ since living in Armenia.  That whole day was perfect, with beautiful weather, good company and good food. Hopefully I will get a chance to play again!

Birthday:

Two weekends ago I celebrated my 26^th birthday. This is the first time that I have celebrated a birthday outside of the country, without my family. While there have been years I wasn’t with my family day-of, we were always able to have dinner and cake a week before or after. Luckily, my best friend Phi was gracious and kind enough to take a weeks vacation from her site to stay with me throughout the week. I give her a lot of credit for having patience with my birthday blues self. Throughout the week she cooked, cleaned, made me breakfast in bed and gave massages! Woop, woop! It was wonderful not to be alone on my birthday and I’m grateful is here with me in Armenia. In total, I had four birthday celebrations.