Getting Ready for Valentine's Day

On Monday we met with the people from OSCE, the focal points for the artisan groups in the south, and the PCVs - that is, those who could make it through the fog. Two focal points were delayed, so we had another meeting on Tuesday. Both were productive but exhausting - we reviewed new products, had a progress report on each group, introduced Brian and myself, and heard what they might need from us. It was the first time Tim heard our backgrounds in detail too, and he seemed pleased with how well we fit HIS needs. At the end of the second meeting, I turned to one of the PCVs and said that if I were in Morocco that would be enough work for the day - and then I would have gone home to read, cook, or play cards, or maybe done some challenging errand such as going to the post office or buying vegetables. But both times we went back to the office and kept working!

Valentine's Day is a big holiday here, in part because it is Western, and in our craft fair we have many products with hearts on them - go to the Homeland Handicrafts Facebook group to see them, because they are not on the web site (and will they be? Seasonal items vs. a standard product line is one of the strategic questions we will work on). Heart key chains, stress relievers, magnets, heart-adorned tote bags, pillows and cosmetic bags, rose-covered candle holders, vases, picture frames and stemmed glasses, crocheted heart bookmarks, scarves and garlands, and, as of the meetings, candles, fingerless gloves, and items made out of crocheted plastic bags. Plus we picked some items out of "inventory" that we can sell at Sunday's craft fair.

Yesterday was more work on the fair - price sheets, tracking sheets, some advertising and promotion to get people to the event. Still in progress - table and other room decorations, tagging and packaging the items. One thing discussed at the meetings was getting the artisans to tag and package the products before sending them up to Yerevan. That doesn't work in every case because the sewing skills are not adequate, so things such as pillows and bags are finished here. We encouraged each group to apply for a grant for a sewing machine and training so that they can get their skills up and keep more of the labor costs (and therefore more jobs) in the regions.

Another thing that came out of the meetings is our first field trip (well, our second, if you count the one the day we swore in). The OSCE people are going to visit the Women's Resource Centers in each of these cities; that is the partner NGO. While they meet with board members and beneficiaries, we will meet with focal points, PCVs, and the artisans. This will be the week of the 21st - a little sooner than we might have gone on our own or with Tim, but it'll be nice to go with the OSCE people and in their vehicle.

Sunday is also St. Sarkis Day, an Armenian holiday (that moves with the Church calendar). The Artbridge owner told us that on St. Sarkis Day, women eat a very salty version of a sweet roll and they don't drink anything. The saltiness makes them thirsty, of course. The first man to offer them a drink of water is the man they will marry. For more serious information go to saintsarkis.net/about/Who-is-St-Sarkis. There's a lot of history here!

And More Culture

I was invited to go skiing this past weekend; there's a ski resort in Armenia and some PCVs were going. I thought it would be fun - never had the chance to go in Morocco, after all - and then I remembered the ballet tickets and didn't want to worry abut getting back in time. On Saturday I met a PCV with a big knee brace and crutches... Yep, she had been skiing. Now I think I can wait until I get a chance to visit my friends in Utah or Colorado....

Yesterday we did go to a museum after all. The Cafesjian Center for the Arts (www.cmf.am) has some beautiful glass sculpture. Chihulys that seem to be everywhere, but also some edgy glass done by Czech artists. There was also a mural that depicted important points of Armenian history, and a Model N Ford, a model ship and a model train. The Cafesjian Center has weekly concerts; I hope to get to some of those. The museum is inside the Cascade, with galleries at each of the levels; the Cascade itself was a neglected relic until Mr. Cafesjian helped to rebuild it. The sculpture garden outside has, coincidentally, works by several of the artists whose works I just saw over Thanksgiving in the New Orleans Museum of Art Sculpture Garden - Fernando Botero, Jaume Plensa (who, I just learned, also did the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park), Barry Flanagan (I think also I saw some of his work in the Smithsonian's National Sculpture Garden earlier this year). It was nice to be with art and to feel inspired.

The day wasn't without work though, so I never felt completely relaxed. While I did Internet, Brian came to Artbridge to brainstorm. He didn't mind that I didn't give him undivided attention, but I felt bad about that. And then we had the dinner with Tim and the PCVs - it was good to get their perspective and important to get some background prior to the meeting, but it was still work, and as I said sometime last week, I need more downtime. We had a crunch last week and we have a crunch this week, and we may have a crunch through the beginning or even the middle of March, but if it goes much longer than that I will burn out and start to be really cranky if not downright unhappy. At least I like the project and the challenge and the opportunity and the people, and at least I feel imbued with the volunteer spirit and the belief that I can make a contribution, and I'm learning and experiencing some of Armenia. That'll keep me going for a while.

Actually, we met with only two of the three PCVs - the third couldn't get over the pass because of the fog. And in addition to learning more about the way business is conducted here we learned more cultural things - how if people have fewer items than you they will cut in front of you at the supermarket, that they think there are earthquakes because during the Soviet era the Azeris tunneled under Armenia to drill for oil and drained the country and now it is settling, that they have a close sense of personal space, that they think you will die if you open a window in a taxi or in the minivan "marchutny" (sounds familiar), and (even more familiar) that a little store is called a hanut (same as in Morocco! As Tim said, one less word for us to learn). And speaking of words, I'm using some more Armenian, for greetings and the like. I've been studying the transliterated lessons at home. Most of the Peace Corps language book is in the alphabet, so I can't get too far without the tutoring. The funny thing is that as I try to use Armenian, my Darija is coming back to me - it must be in the same part of my brain. And of course it doesn't hurt that Brian knows it too.

Culture and Culture

On Friday we went to a section of town called the Iranian Market, where you can buy fabric, foam and other raw materials for crafting. You can get materials in the regions, but the supply is inconsistent and the prices more expensive, so Tim has been doing a lot of the buying here (where the supply is also inconsistent) and sending the materials out to the artisans - with someone going back and forth, or with a taxi willing to take it as a favor, or via another transport option that works on a given day. Not necessarily sustainable, but so far that has been the reality. My daily walk goes past some fancier stores, and it was good to see a more lived-in area. We also passed the Blue Mosque, which is used by the Iranian embassy personnel and is open as a sign of good relations between Armenia and Iran (so much gets shipped from there that they have to have good relations). I want to go back there and see it - on a warmer day.

I also want to go to the Vernissage, the outdoor flea/craft market, but can wait for a warmer day and for no more ice on the ground. Our day of climbing the Cascade was sunny and warmish; since then it rained a couple of days and then it snowed and then it has been colder and icy. I can wait; I'm also eager to visit the tourist shops in town to see what craft items they sell. I've passed some antique rug shops too - I should check them out, no? Just to see what they have?

Friday night a group of us (Gordon, Jeanne, some of the mid-career and older PCVs and a Fulbright scholar one of them knows - it just happened that way; we heard that the other PCVs in town were at the new Pizza Hut) went to an Armenian restaurant that also had traditional music. The food was great - eggplant salad, bulgur wheat pilaf, dolma (stuffed grape leaves), chicken with rice and apricots, and a dish made of beef, garlic, yogurt and mushed-up lavash. And the music was good too; it was especially enjoyable to see Gordon, who stayed in India after his Peace Corps service to learn the Carnatic flute and who plays it still (including at the place where I did my yoga retreat...small world), enjoy it so much.

Last night we went to the ballet! Peace Corps paid for one museum visit/tour, last weekend, and for one cultural event, this - but it's not so pricey that we can't go again on our own. The ballet was Gayane, one of Armenia's treasures; it includes the Sabre Dance, music that is well-known to us. It was a great performance - the sets, costumes, music and dancing were great. The crowd was mixed in age and in dressiness, given to outbursts of applause at spins, lifts or other displays of ballet excellence. What a treat!

I'm at Artbridge right now, for lunch and internet. This week I'll buy one of those Internet sticks, and then when I get my computer back I can do Internet from home. More culture is on tap for this afternoon; Gordon, Jeanne and I have tentative plans to go to a museum. There are a lot of them in Yerevan and a lot of weekends! We were planning to go to one last Sunday, but then I fell. Who knows; I could end up here all afternoon, talking and doing internet.... Tonight Brian and I are having dinner with Tim and three PCVs from the south who work with the NGOs and artisans there. Tomorrow we'll be meeting with those PCVs, the NGO partners, and their financial sponsor-to-date, the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe). The funding is for three years and it is halfway through; the NGOs have to start thinking about what will happen when the funding ends.

So I posted about the bells yesterday, and then last night and this morning they chimed on the hour and the half hour, no longer on the :23 and :47. Not nearly as much fun, but probably better for noting the time.

And elsewhere in the world, there's this thing called the Super Bowl later today. I asked one of the PCVs I met yesterday if and where they were planning to watch it; she said somewhere north of town. She also mentioned a place in town where she thought the Marines might watch, but she described it as hard to find. It's on in the middle of the night here anyway. Perhaps if the Bears or Jets were in it I might make more of an effort to see it, but since I haven't seen one since 2006, I can skip this one too. And a final cultural note for today, on Peace Corps culture - here, the PCVs call each other on the phone, as opposed to texting. Brian and I text, but maybe I will get used to talking on the phone again!

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!

Random thoughts

Did I mention that there's a lot of park space in Yerevan? It'll be full of cafes in the spring, but it's pretty now, too. On one of the hikes at my yoga retreat, I learned that there's one tree - is it the beech? - that doesn't lose its leaves in the fall; its branches have brown leaves all winter. There are a lot of those trees here! And the birds! Armenia is a bird-watcher's paradise. I read that there are something like 365 species that come through here, vs. 450 in all of Europe. There's also a lot of great sculpture here. I think I'll start a photo series. I had Doors of Morocco and Jeepneys of the Philippines (well, that was more a concept than a reality). Sculpture of Armenia seems to make sense.

On our field trip last week (which you'll read about when I get my computer back...), we climbed out of the valley that nestles Yerevan and into the southern Caucasus. It reminded me a bit of the Middle Atlas - the treeless part, that is. It might be a microclimate and it might be deforestation and it might be some of each. Maybe it looks more like farmland in the spring, but now it looks barren, with the occasional quarry or non-operating factory. We overshot our destination and ended up in Sevan, the biggest town by Lake Sevan, but didn't see the lake. Our destination, Charentsavan, has old Soviet apartment blocks and no village charm - at least we didn't see any. The PCV there said that it was her seminar site in training, and when she got it as her final site she cried. I could relate to the seminar-site-being-final-site, but of course I was thrilled to get Azrou. I look forward to seeing other parts of the country, and I know there is some beauty to be found, but if I end up in the office more and Brian ends up in the field more, that's okay too, and I can do weekend day trips to tourist destinations.

I thought couscous would be found everywhere every day in Morocco, only to find that it was a Friday lunch and only-special-occasion-other-times food. Well, in Armenia I expected yogurt to be plentiful, only to find that it's a once-in-a-while evening thing; perhaps an accompaniment to borscht or another dish, or mixed into a beverage called tan that I have not had yet, or used as a soup base. Also, what we think of a lavash is not the lavash eaten here. Here it's soft - more like a thin wrap - and you tear off pieces and either roll your food into it or you eat it with your food. And while you can get American coffee and sometimes fancier drinks such as cappuccino, true Armenian coffee is what we might call Turkish coffee (but don't call it that here!), finely ground with a thick sediment at the bottom.

We met with our tutor yesterday. She's been one of the Peace Corps language teachers for years and loves to teach. We'll have tutoring twice a week for now, 20 minutes on the alphabet and then an hour lesson and then time for questions and practice. The PCVs get three months of four hours a day, and we won't have that time to spend on it, but I look forward to learning what I can. For now, Brian and I will do it together, and at some point we may switch to solo lessons.

This is a culture where people don't want to say no or to ask for something - because they don't want to bother you. It is also a culture where if you order something in a restaurant and they bring you something else, they will say, "this is better."

One final cultural note for today - we were advised not to make eye contact or smile at strangers who we pass on the streets, lest that be misconstrued. People here don't greet or smile at each other. I find that I have to make a conscious effort to look unfriendly...

It's Still Just the First Week...

Computer update: I called the Apple Support Center yesterday and they said they had to order a new screen for me; they don't have one in stock. So it'll be at least a week. I'm working out of the Peace Corps office today - we're aiming for one day a week here, to regroup and plan ahead. I may come back again this weekend to catch up on email and on the news. So much is happening in the world right now! I've gotten small updates on Egypt but want to read more about it.

There hasn't been much downtime so far. I've had a lot of downtime in the past - oh, eight years? Twelve? I need downtime - including more exercise time. This week so far has been the crunch of getting the airport order ready; we spent a couple of hours putting tags on yesterday, and then we delivered it to Artbridge, where the buyer also buys for the airport. She had seen some prototypes but this was the first time she had seen the completed product, and it was a learning experience to see her reactions.

We also started going through the inventory of existing products, so that we can build a database. Town, province, artisan, local NGO, local PCV, hours to make, materials, pricing, a product photo, how many sold so far and in what venue, and any particulars about the artisan. We made it through a box and a half out of six or seven total boxes. And we talked about the upcoming Valentine's Day fair - that'll be the next crunch. There's also a fair for International Women's Day, which is March 8. And I still haven't quite adjusted to the time difference. There's definitely going to be enough for two of us to do! Oh, and our counterpart is going away for a week, leaving us to do the fair!

The posts in the computer talk about the rest of orientation, an introduction to work including a field trip that we took, and my home stay and host sister. When I wrote that last one I hadn't decided what to do about dinner. We've all decided to pay our hosts to cook dinners for us, at least for a while. Breakfast was part of the rent negotiation; we'll eat lunch out and that's going to add up. Tuesday she made a lovely lentil dish, and yesterday she made pumpkin with rice, milk, dried apricots and cinnamon. Tonight will be borscht. Food costs a lot here - this was a bad weather year for the fruit harvest. And I think an oligarch tried to corner the market on eggs, so eggs are twice as expensive as they were last year. Everything's expensive here, because it's all imported. I didn't bring common toiletries because they're heavy - but they're expensive here; maybe twice what they cost in the U.S., or more. I thought I might get a bathrobe - I saw a not-very-nice one at the supermarket - maybe one that you might get at a CVS at home - for the equivalent of $82. No bathrobe! Maybe that's why I think $350 for an Apple computer screen seems reasonable!

Today we went to the U.S. Embassy, a fortress-like building on the outskirts of town, on the river, with a nice view of Mt. Ararat, for a briefing with the regional security office. Nothing we hadn't already been told, but more detail. For example, if there's a leak in the nuclear reactor, stay inside and put duct tape and plastic on all the windows until they send notice at it's safe to go outside. And if there's an earthquake? Usually it's good to be in a doorway, but maybe not in Armenia. On the Eurasia plate, there's an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 every three years - in Armenia, Turkey, Georgia or Iran. Note, he also said that our biggest danger here is the traffic - so I'll just go with that for now...

The Week Begins, The Work Begins

The good news - there is an Apple support center in Yerevan. I took my computer there and they said that they could fix it. I have an iPad to use in the meantime, and the Peace Corps computers, and other options. The bad news - they said they would call yesterday with a quote, and they didn't. As my counterpart said, Welcome to Armenia. I hope it is fixed soon.... About all I can do is hope! I'm thinking that at some point I can post the blog entries that I wrote before my computer (literally) crashed; so what if it's not in chronological order? I'll add photos, too. In the meantime, my back is bruised and feels more sore than it did on Sunday, but I think it's nothing serious. It snowed yesterday - unusual for Yerevan, they say, with several inches on the ground - and I was very careful as I walked!

Monday was our first day at the office. The Norwegian and Finnish Consulate, where we work, is actually our counterpart's apartment. But a nice place it is - vintage on the outside and modern on the inside. The apartment block was used by artists, composers and other cultural figures during the Soviet era. Tim bought it from a Bolshoi ballerina. Our first morning was spent listening, asking questions, taking notes - lots of information! The business has grown organically to this point, and now it is time to set a mission, vision, strategy, plan for the future. We spent the rest of the day and most of today putting together product and packaging for a big airport order that is due tomorrow and also for a Valentine's Day trade fair. Valentine's is one of the big gift-giving holidays here. I sewed together sets of crocheted hearts into bookmarks - I'm quite proud of how they turned out, since I don't think I'm much of a seamstress! I also tied ribbons on packages of frames, glasses and boxes filled with chocolates and decorated with artisan-made foam roses. And Brian and I set up a workspace for ourselves in Tim's former guest room. It's quite nice!

Last night my host sister and I did laundry. She describes her machine as semi-automatic. You put the clothes into the machine along with soap and then fill it with water from a hose. You agitate it with a stick, and when it's all stirred, you plug it in and it automatically agitates for 12 minutes. You move it to the other basket and send it through one spin cycle, to remove excess water (which goes back through the hose into the sink). Then you hand-rinse in a bucket in the shower corner (with warm water - so much better than the ice-cold hand-washing I did in Morocco; in the Philippines, I had brought it around the corner for women to do by machine - wash, dry, iron, fold). Another round in the auto-spin cycle and it's mostly dry. Hang it (we put a clothesline in my room for the unmentionables) and voila! I didn't have a lot of laundry, but what I had turned out to just about fill the machine and the space for hanging/drying.

We also made the front page of the Peace Corps web site with a link to its Facebook page and twitter feed, celebrating the swear-in of Armenia's first Response volunteers. Earlier versions referred to Brian and me as the married volunteers rather than Gordon and Jeanne! Oops.