And More Bits and Pieces...

Earlier this week we met one of the NGO partners, a man from the south. He talked about his town, which was about half Armenian and half Azeri. One day during the conflict all of the Azeris left - yes, they all left in one day. One of the young men who used to play with his kids came back to the town as a soldier from the other side. Tim had first come here to help build housing for Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan - and years later, some of them still haven't moved into their housing - that would be admitting they aren't going back. The most successful resettlements happened in places where an entire town of people relocated as a group - the social structure was in place.

Tim gave us some more background - some of this I might have said already, and some I will supplement as I read or learn more. Armenia has lost 40 percent of its population since independence. There's so much unemployment. But many of this recent diaspora don't get along with the people of the older wave of diaspora. There are many Armenians in Russia, in certain professions such as asphalt and bread baking. In Western Armenia and other parts of greater Armenia, the Armenians were the businessmen and merchants; they've always been a strong people.

I hear bells! I'm not sure where they come from, but they chime every half an hour, on the :23 and the :47. So far I've woken up to them - I've set my alarm for just after, in case I am sleeping soundly. I've also heard them in the middle of the night as I'm still adjusting to the time - and when I'm having trouble getting back to sleep I might hear them three or four times in a row. And speaking of adjusting, I'm enjoying my iPad more now that I've been using it more. I have to correct the auto-correct sometimes, and it's hard to type on it for long periods of time, so I've come back to the Peace Corps office this weekend to go through email. It has other limitations (can't access categories on the EvEx blog, for example - and of course having to be near wifi to get Internet), but I do think that if I were traveling, I could take only it and be all right. The Peace Corps library has been an interesting place to be today - I think I have now met most of the 99 volunteers in country, coming in and out! Still, I have managed to get a lot done. All right, I admit it, I'm stressed without my computer! I'm beginning to think that when I get it back I'll still be stressed though.... The hotel where we stayed when we first arrived (and which is near my home stay) has a pool that people who aren't hotel guests can use. It's a little more chlorinated than I'd like, and Gordon and Jeanne went over to check it out and it was crowded, but maybe I can use it occasionally anyway or find another pool that is close. At least I am walking everywhere so far!

I've also heard and read about oligarchs, corruption, three sets of books, hiring based on who you know rather than what skills you have, taxes being such a problem that there's a big underground economy, people who can't work cooperatively because they don't trust each other.... I think I can say all of this since it's generic enough. I've met some of the regular volunteers in the business sector who seem somewhat frustrated by their inability to get something done here, or they're resigned to it and they're doing something else such as teaching to make their service meaningful. It seems easy to tell Tim that in order to grow he has to form a real organization, a legal entity, but in the developing world it's never that simple.

And for the mundane - my favorite breakfast so far is still eggs with the tomato preserve Zina made over the summer, but I know I can't have that every day. On Thursday she made rice with potatoes - not a lot of protein in there, or fruit/vegetable, so my least favorite so far.... Yesterday I had a bowl of oatmeal, which is more oatmeal than I have eaten in my entire life (that wasn't baked into cookies, that is). I don't care for cereal, hot or cold, but I ate it. She said we have to have it once a week because it's healthy. On the other hand, I am very, very happy to have a hot shower every day!