Weekend in the West - Part III

At JFK I saw an inspirational billboard – coincidence? I boarded the plane and it sat there for a while – but that only meant more dozing on the way to Frankfurt, so it was a good thing. I had heard that there isn’t much to Frankfurt, but I had a great afternoon there – somewhere new, somewhere European. Another easy train ride from the airport to the city (and no left luggage there either – some of the things other PCVs had requested were liquids over 3 oz…. somehow I had confidence that my bag would be there when I arrived in Yerevan three flights later, and it was – thank you, Star Alliance) and my first stop was the Main Tower, for the panoramic view from the observation deck. I then walked past the old opera house to the Romer, the historic main square, where I paused for lunch (Frankfurt is known for apple wine – I had delicious apple juice!). I climbed the tower of the Dom, the big church – and realized I was low on energy. Strolled along the Main River and then it was time to go back to the airport. Most museums were closed since it was a Monday, so if I am ever there again, there is more to see! And if I am ever there again on a Monday, I could do a boat ride on the Main. Okay, I will grant that there are more interesting cities, but I thought Frankfurt was just fine. Yes, I did consider having a frankfurter (I haven’t had a hot dog since high school) but I resisted.

A short evening flight to Vienna and a brisk walk from one end of the Vienna airport to the other and I arrived at the gate as the next flight was boarding. I dozed a little on that one and arrived back in Yerevan at 4:40 am local time; slept back in “my own bed” for a few hours and then got right back into the swing of things!

Well, sort of. It’s often hard to get back to the real world from Reunions – I usually have so much fun (and so little sleep) that I crash afterwards. And with the COS “conference” and Reunions as my 2/3 milestones, I started to feel overwhelmed about finishing up – still more to do and more to see! – and unoptimistic about the future. Another job hunt looms, and I feel no closer to figuring things out than I did when I started wanting to do something else – which was about the time I graduated from Princeton in the first place. Being tired this week added to the blues. But I’m already feeling more chipper – it was a good week. And I have to remember to live in the moment – sure, I can start making travel plans, working on the COS paperwork and even sending out a few resumes, but being 2/3 done means there is 1/3 left and therefore more of Armenia.

Work was mixed this week. For the article on the recipient of the 1000th loan, I was sent out with a camera crew to observe interviews with the lending agencies. But it was a very hot day and the interviews were in Armenian and I was just back – so it was tough to stay awake. Still, I was glad to be sent along – what I did understand I found interesting. Then my counterpart made a lot of changes to the bridge article, which was somewhat deflating, but she told me she kept the core of it, which is true – and now it’s a better article, which is good. The workweek ended on a good note, as I wordsmithed the English translation of several articles for the quarterly bulletin – this I know I did well. I also wrote an article about my work for Impact, the Peace Corps Response newsletter; summarizing it reinforced how much I enjoy the assignment.

Social was mixed too. On Tuesday I put the Reese’s in everyone’s mailboxes, which made me happy; at the end of the day I was tired though so I went home, napped, flipped through a magazine and then went to bed. Oh, and it was hot. Wednesday I had dinner with a friend and felt energized; we then walked to the Cascade, where there was an outdoor concert for International Children’s Day, and enjoyed listening for a while! Thursday there was a dinner for two volunteers who are transfer-extending (i.e. leaving for another 27 months!) to Mongolia; I wanted to attend but the restaurant was just too smoky so I gave them each a hug and then went out to dinner all by myself (since I had told my host mother not to make anything). Friday morning at Artbridge I saw some of the people I had abandoned the night before, so that lifted my spirits, and they were lifted further when I had dinner with other PCVs and with the MCC person who has been my conference-room-mate for the past two weeks. We went to Dolmama, the restaurant where earlier this year I had the best meal I’ve had in Yerevan (and one of the best meals I’ve had anywhere). So – the week ended on a good work note and a good social note, and then I had a good weekend!