A Guest Writer! (Also, my first visitor)

Hey Babies! I hope you're enjoying your last licks of summer, soaking up those rays and shameless wet breakfasts. The following post was written by my dear friend Arielle Schecter. I asked her if she wanted to write a guest post as I thoroughly enjoy her writing and also because it makes me feel special to do so. I haven't edited or altered anything beyond adding pictures to the narrative; it's pure Arielle! I will update ya'll on other happenings next time. Meanwhile, enjoy a fresh perspective!

8/21/13

Church, Yerevan 

We were in Yerevan yesterday and the day before. I jogged across a tall bridge yesterday morning, over and back, over and back. I pretended in my head that I was an elite athlete training for the Olympics, hoping the gawking men would understand my fiction and be proud for me. I don't think it worked.

There's a park underneath the bridge where smooching young people go at night, but not too late. Carolyn tells me that women in Armenia are virtuous, or they're considered 'bad girls'. I don't think you're allowed to be a combination of both. The men all have tattoos on their thumbflesh webs indicating blood type - a souvenir from army conscription.

Lots of women wear high heels here. Carolyn admits this doesn't make sense in the villages, where the roads are bad, but they do it anyway. That's why the old women have smushed-up feet and backs.

Yesterday we saw a radiant pregnant lady in a white dress. She walked with her cautious-looking spouse through a park near the biggest church in Armenia. I got dizzy just looking at the arched ceiling in there. Carolyn got propositioned by an elderly gent who at first scolded her for taking photos of a janitorial worker. "I think they think it's shameful to do that to her while she's doing that kind of work," Carolyn explained.

Piano, Yerevan

We lit orange vigil candles in a side room and walked over to the park, where a man in a striped shirt made conspicuous circles around us on his child-sized white and red mountain bike. We didn't like that, so we left for an outdoor cafe near a giant wading pool guarded by a set of honking black swans. There was also a piano made out of fake grass. I bought my niece a coloring book from a vendor who shook his calculator at me when I failed to understand the 200-dram (50-cent) price quote. I think people assume I'm Armenian not because I look like one but because they're not used to foreigners. I'm getting a lot of practice for my smile-and-nod routine.

As the Clouds Roll In, Lake Sevan

8/22/13
It rained yesterday at Lake Sevan. We sulked in a tented cafe while Euro-pop blared from the speakers. I think I had five espressos. A fly-covered dog tried to befriend Carolyn, but she wasn't having it. "He's probably dying," she pronounced.

I've already broken my watch and dropped a towel in a muddy puddle. Things are going well otherwise. Carolyn picked a rose flower from her yard to put on the table alongside the almonds, coffees, and German yogurt cups. She's on the phone planning a poetry recitation contest for her students. She's already informed me that if we wanted to smoke cigarettes or have a glass of wine while I'm here, we'd have to do these things in secret.

Carolyn and Dog, Lake Sevan

There is a pear tree in Carolyn's yard, and also one with figs. There is a nice view of the garden from the outhouse doorway.

Judging by Carolyn's stickered pantry items, olive oil is nearly three times more expensive than sunflower oil. Tomato paste is a popular Armenian cooking ingredient; it comes in large jars. The water tank suspended over the sink is a great conservation motivator.

The requested imports of peanut butter and Papermate Flair pens are displayed prominently in the kitchen. I've never seen Carolyn as excited as she was when we found pesto in the SAS grocery store in Yerevan. "You don't understand," she enthused. "This is unprecedented." I smiled encouragingly. "And tuna!" she almost shouted. "Ari, they have tuna!"

(I asked Ari if she wanted to wrap-up her post; she declined. I can not leave the post in the middle of the highway...so...this is where I say "To Be Continued" and you anxiously await the next episode!)

One Month More Of Summer

With the month of July behind me, I look forward to the upcoming events of August. First on the agenda is the Swearing In ceremony for the incoming group of volunteers in a few days. Most of the current volunteers will travel to capital for this event. It will definitely be interesting to be a part of the audience this time around. I look forward to officially welcoming our new site-mates to the Vayots Dzor Region. I am looking forward to some fresh faces in the area and the official start of Year 2.

A few days after Swearing In, I will travel to my friend Branwen's site to help out with the sports camp that she has organized for the kids in her community. I am so excited about this day because I get to share basketball with Armenian children! Though I quit after 9th grade, I still love this game with a passion. Give me a good, fresh Spalding and I'm a happy girl. The plan is to teach them some fun drills, so everyone is moving all at once. I don't know if we'll be able to play an actual game... but it will be funny if it ends up happening. It might be something like the softball game back in April with Armenian men who had never touched a glove in their lives. All I will say is that it was more entertaining than any MLB game (especially a Mets game).

Then, on the 19th of August my dear friend Ari will arrive in Yerevan. Quick story about my friendship with the one and only Arielle Schecter. We met three years ago in Seattle, Washington during an AmeriCorps VISTA training. Like with all other large social gatherings - I slowly ease my way into finding like minded folks. At first, I like to sit back and watch people pretend with one another. This social phenomenon never ceases to amaze, and I imagine that as I get older and this trend continues, I will still continued to be entertained. Anyway, there I was in a large conference room of other 20-somethings who weren't quite ready for big real world jobs and opted instead for AmeriCorps.  I was keeping to myself and scanning the room for potential husbands as people flowed around me. One individual (gods bless their soul) struck up a conversation with me. Upon learning I was a New Yorker, they pointed at a young brunette across the room saying, "She's a New Yorker too." "Oh, really?" I responded, and promptly walked away to introduce myself.

From the moment we introduced ourselves, Ari and I spent the rest of the conference trading witty and sarcastic remarks about the shenanigans of events such as the one we were made to suffer through. Unfortunately, she was headed off for her year of service in New Orleans while my job was located in Boston. After three days we were both certain we would keep in touch, which has become a fact over the last three years. Since our time together in Seattle, Ari and I have only had two other opportunities to spend time together face to face. On both of those occasions, we were in New York. While I consider myself a New Yorker , in truth Ari is far more New York than I can ever claim to be. She grew up in the city, lives and breathes and knows the city.  The two times that we've had a chance to meet up, she took me to low key places she's familiar with. We sit, talk and laugh and there never seems to be enough time. Well now - there's going to be plenty.

Ari will be in Armenia for 9 nights and 10 days. I have lots of things in store for her and she's compatible for me in that she's going to go ride the Carolyn wave. Hopefully, by the end of our 10 days together we will have discovered more common interests and grown closer than before.

p.s. Ari is an amazing talented and entertaining writer. Read about her life happenings down in New Orleans here: http://arielleschecter.blogspot.com/ 

Quote Of The Week:

Me: "I watched a bug come to life for 8 hours the other day."
Country Director: "Okay..."
Site Mate: "So he was too big to be killed by the electric fly swatter?"
Me: "Yup. Anyway- it was fascinating. I wrote a poem about it."
Site Mate: "HA- what did it say."
Me: "Nothing- I'm lying. I didn't write a poem. But I did think about writing a poem. HEY! Have you guys every watched a cat stalk and kill a butterfly?"
Country Director: "I think I'm going to require more secondary projects..."

Things We're Not Taught

     The list could go on forever. So much of what makes us individuals comes from things we learn outside the classroom. Yet, what we are not exposed to in the classroom can be a disadvantage. Today, the term 'disadvantaged' is often used in conjunction with 'youth', commonly referring to large groups of black and latino low-income families. Their disadvantage lies not in their color or household income, but rather the lack of education they've received.
     I had the privilege of working with such a group of about ten teens whom qualify for this label over the summer in Providence, RI at Goodwill Industries. My work as an AmeriCorps VISTA contributed to the education and betterment of this group. At YouthBuild, the goal is to strengthen both the character and skills of individuals. Most are high school dropouts seeking their GED or high school diploma and job skills. They all dropped out for their particular personal reasons, but generally (in my opinion) it is because with their life experience and knowledge they could not see the value of staying in school. Essentially, they didn't know what they were missing out on.
     Lacking the opportunity and encouragement to gain a college degree, my mother raised my brothers and I to value our intelligence and pursue whatever we chose. My father did the same, and with their combined support we all think we're the greatest thing on planet earth. Just kidding... but not really. My point is, I can in no possible way be considered a disadvantaged youth and yet, when I commenced reading about Armenia ( beginning with a book entitled "A Shameful Act" focusing on the genocide) I was embarrassed to realize I know jack shit about everything outside of Western Civilization.
     The Ottoman Empire. Sounds familiar, right? I, like many people, often pretend I know things that I truly only have a vague idea about. I've learned this is how to get people to like you by impressing them with your worldly knowledge. So, the Ottoman Empire, or the OTEP as in my new marble notebook, was a vast Muslim empire the offered it's protective services in exchange for taxes and discrimination. Non-muslims in the OTEP were treated much like black folks were in America after slavery. They were not equal, made to know and accept this, in return for some semblance of rights. The fall of the OTEP, and emergence of independent states resulted in the modern Middle East.
   
This was all news to me, about a week ago. A college graduate. Pathetic.
   
     Oh, the joy in finding a new reason to despise the Western Civ. program enforced upon all Providence College graduates! When unsupportive professors (because those are really the only ones I cared for) joked that the program was the "history of a bunch of dead, white men", they were spot on. It feels like my fellow classmates and I - in a time of war with Middle Eastern countries, no less- were robbed of a full education. Wouldn't it be beneficial for American youths to understand (or even begin to) that the Christian and Muslim communities have been at odds since the dawn of day? That Hitler was not the only man behind a genocide? Or that the British Empire wasn't the only wide spread Empire? It's almost like anything outside Western culture is deemed of no importance or influence in American public education. Well, that's gotten us really far, hasn't it?