Weekend in the West - Part I

I was stressed about the travel and the potential jet lag, so the all-important night-before-the-night-before, I was wide awake for three hours in the middle of the night. That didn’t make it any easier to wake up at 2:30 on Friday morning (not even with the knowledge that it was 5:30 pm EDT when the alarm rang). At least the packing had gone smoothly – I had a small souk bag of things to leave at Howie’s in addition to my carry-on bag. The ride to Zvartnots airport is not far, especially at that time of day, and my host mother had negotiated the taxi fare for me. I didn’t realize that Austrian Airlines would charge for the extra bag – had I known that I could have brought the big suitcase, though it seemed silly to lug it for a four-day trip – and that they would deem my carry-on too big to carry on, but then I didn’t have to worry about finding the left luggage room at the Vienna airport.

I was able to doze through most of the three-and-a-half hour flight and had time for an early-morning stroll in Vienna. The train to the city takes about 18 minutes, and from there it was about a 20-minute walk to Stephansplatz. I had been to Vienna once, years ago, and this walk was from a different direction from the walks I took then, so other than the plaza itself, nothing was familiar. Nor was anything open – but the weather was nice and the buildings are impressive and I had a little walk in the Stadtpark on the way back and drank water out of a public water fountain (I don’t dare do that here) and took the train back to the airport. The A-19 group is in Vienna right now! They have the better part of a day there before flying to Yerevan tonight. Why didn’t I get that itinerary, instead of my short layover at CDG?

The VIE-to-JFK leg was long – I read everything I had brought with me in the bag I did carry on and wrote all the postcards I had brought with me (ever since I discovered that my Morocco postcards never made it to their intended recipients, I haven’t been as enthusiastic about writing, but after writing these, I felt invigorated, so I will be writing some more before I leave here!). No sleep. The hardest part of the journey was the shuttle from JFK to EWR. Stop-and-go all the way – for almost four hours – on Friday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend! No sleep, even though at that point it was bedtime in the Armenian time zone. At least I pulled another magazine out of the carry-on I had checked!

EWR to Princeton went smoothly; when I wondered where I might find a taxi, the driver offered to take me to Howie’s for the bag drop-off and back to Nassau Street. I was so relieved when I dropped off that bag that I didn’t realize quite how tense I had been about it – but I know that figuring out what to put in it (the few winter things that I decided not to leave behind here and some of the purchases I’ve made here) was stressful and not knowing if it would arrive when I did and arrive intact was stressful. Plus, Howie went away for the weekend so I had to figure out how to open his door (which required a phone call – glad he answered!) and having the driver wait – well, anyway, once that was done, I could just be happy to be back at Princeton!

Holidays and Observances III

There are holidays I will not be here for but it is interesting to read about how they are celebrated in Armenia! This is from a combination of Culture Smart and Lonely Planet:

New Year’s is the start of the winter holiday season, which continues through Armenian Christmas on January 6. On New Year’s Eve, there are feasts, and apples and coins are traditional gifts. At midnight, lights are extinguished, the family recites the Lord’s Prayer together, and then the home is made as bright as possible. On New Year’s Day people visit each other and welcome guests and there’s a flurry of phone calls and text messages. On the doorsteps you will see pomegranates lying about the pavement, a symbol of hope and abundance for the coming year. The more food there is and the more guests eating it, the better the year ahead will be.

Pomegranates hold a special place in Armenian culture as symbolic of the cycle of life and renewal. Legend has it that a whole pomegranate has 365 seeds, one for every day, and if you eat one seed a day, it will bring you good luck. This in contrast to the Moroccans, who said each seed is a little piece of heaven. They are also red, a color revered by the Armenians, symbolizing all the blood that has been shed.

On Christmas Eve, there is either a quiet celebration with family or a church service. Traditional families light lanterns or attend church; they bring home a church candle to fill their homes with divine light. On Christmas morning, families attend church again. A large basin of water is put in front of the altar and a cross is submerged in it to symbolize Christ’s baptism. Then everyone approaches the basin and takes home some holy water. For the next week, through January 13, every day is still considered part of the celebration. Families and friends visit each other and not a lot else gets done!

Weddings are big celebrations here too – they can last for days and the entire family – or the entire village – participates. Armenians are encouraged to marry not only other Armenians but local ones – though they cannot be related, going back seven generations. Generally, the groom’s family pays for the wedding while the bride’s family pays for a more limited engagement party. The church ceremony is short but filled with ritual. The couple approaches the altar and the priest puts crowns on their heads. They stand forehead to forehead as they receive the blessing. Then they drink wine from a shared goblet and are pronounced married. A godfather, chosen by the couple for this honor, leads the wedding and provides guidance throughout their married life. There is dancing and toasting for hours. Unmarried friends are given small gifts by the wedding couple as good luck tokens to wish them to be married soon; if one puts it under one’s pillow, his or her future wife or husband appears in his/her dreams. Some wedding superstitions – it’s a bad sign if two brides see each other on their wedding day. Getting married in May may bring sadness later in life. And the bride and groom are supposed to ward off evil spirits by breaking two decorated plates upon entering their new home; the plates must be broken on the first hit for this to be effective.

More from Culture Smart - Tidbits

A phenomenon of some supermarkets (such as the one I usually go to!) is the retail “hoverers” who shadow you up and down the aisles (I am glad I read about this so I knew to expect it!). Although they are there to help you find what you want, their presence can be distracting to those accustomed to shopping without assistance. In the mom-and-pop grocery stores, there is usually a woman assigned to each specific area of the store – the bread, the cheese, etc. She won’t help you with an item from outside her area – so you have to go to several areas, get served, and pay each time. For produce, there are the big markets, the shukas (sounds like souk, the Arabic word). I go to a little produce store near where I live – right now, the strawberries are coming in, and might be the best I have ever had!

As for the Vernissage – this open-air market was originally a place where local artists could show their work to the general public. The French word vernissage (varnishing) is used to mean a private display before the opening of an art exhibition. When crowds gathered to view the paintings, local merchants saw an opportunity to sell their own wares. It now sells both everyday items and books, both new and used (mostly to the local market), and tourist-oriented items. Bargaining is the order of the day, and once again I am honing my skills.

Have I talked about dress? People here are very fashionable, though they may wear designer knockoffs rather than actual labels. It seems everyone wears black. And the women wear high heels – even in the snow, even with many steps to negotiate. With all the emphasis on appearance, gyms are still not very popular. People walk everywhere to stay fit! And most people do seem fit, though I have seen plenty of non-trim people as well. And where do all of these people go? In the summer, the cafes. The book says that 65 percent of Armenian men smoke – that seems about right. I am glad that Millennium Challenge Account-Armenia is a non-smoking workplace! (And, I just found out, it has air-conditioning).

Young people in Yerevan often find work in civil service or for an NGO. Older Armenians hark back to Soviet life, when there were jobs available for almost everyone. People in rural areas want to go to Yerevan to work; the other options are government jobs for the fortunate and small-scale agriculture for the rest. Many long to leave the country and find work elsewhere. Young men between the ages of 18 and 26 must give two years of military service – if you are enrolled in a university you are exempt, so many men stay in school until they are 27 and no longer eligible. This exemption may go away as the country attempts to draft young men born in the early 1990s, a period of sharp decline in the birthrate and massive emigration. Not mentioned in the book, but discussed, is the ability to buy one’s way out of military service. Some of the TEFL volunteers also talk about the students buying grades, a common practice. I hope I haven’t written something I shouldn’t have! As for sports – chess is a national pastime, and backgammon (nardi) is common here. Soccer is popular, and individual sports include weightlifting, wrestling and boxing.

Some lavash notes (also known as why I have no recipe for it). It is made with water, flour and salt. It is different from and much thinner than the lavash sold in western countries. It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare, and is almost always made by hand. The dough is rolled out flat and cooked against the hot walls of a traditional lavash oven (similar to a tandoor oven). The length of the lavash must be between 24 and 28 inches and the width 12 to 15 inches. Anything can be rolled in lavash and called a meal; at the buffets I’ve been to, I usually roll up salty cheese and greens. In Gyumri, Judy, Barbara and I were transfixed as we passed a lavash bakery and watched the master at work.

Family names – yes, they almost all end in –ian or –yan. But they can begin with a variety of names, indicating geographic origin, occupation, father’s first name (many of which are biblical), aristocracy or another trait. Interestingly, names that indicate the occupation of an ancestor were often given by tax collectors, who had to identify people for tax purposes. Since the collectors may have been Turks, Persians or Arabs, the names often have roots in languages other than Armenian, and can differ between eastern and western Armenians, as the eastern names have their roots in Persian, Georgian or Russian, while the western ones may have theirs in Turkish, Arabic or Greek.

From Culture Smart Armenia - Values and Attitudes

Back to Culture Smart! Now that I have been here a while and have talked to more Armenians and to PCVs who live in towns and villages, I can confirm that what I read about is also what I or others have experienced.

Some values and attitudes noted in the book – family, education, hospitality, and intense national pride. The typical family maintains conservative, traditional values. Women marry in their early or mid-twenties and men only slightly later (my tutor notes that women tend to have their first child nine months after marriage…). They typically have two to three children (my tutor notes that unless they have three, the population will continue to decline) and marriages tend to last for life. Divorce exists, but is somewhat taboo. Young married men often bring their wives home to live under the parental roof. “An Armenian is not supposed to be alone.” Aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives are near, and children are doted on. Sound familiar? It is like the other countries in which I have served! Well, except for family size – though in Morocco, families are now about the same size, but for economic and not cultural reasons – the generation currently having children there has many siblings. Back to Armenia - abortions are legal, and tend to be a well-used form of birth control (the pill is available, but expensive). Although birth rates have declined, Armenia is a relatively young country.

Gender roles sound familiar too – in traditional families, a boy is treated differently from his sisters. He is not expected to do chores; a female relative will clean up after him. The man of the house is responsible for the family income and for major economic decisions. Women cook, clean and raise the children. My tutor says that the man is king but the woman is queen – that she is important too, in her domain. Then again, my tutor is not married. Nor is my host mother, nor Gordon and Jeanne’s host mother – she says that due to migration, there is a generation of older unmarried women. I think I have mentioned before that many men have been forced by unemployment to leave the country and work in Russia – so there is even more of a burden on the women who remain behind. People of the same sex often hold hands or kiss, but this is considered part of tradition; gay life here is difficult – and public displays of affection between men and women is frowned upon (again, this sounds familiar). In Yerevan, though, I often see couples necking – on the Cascade, in the back corners of the non-smoking rooms in the tea salons and the gelato place. Since they live at home, they have nowhere to go….

There are vast differences in wealth across the country. Yerevan, with one-third of the country’s population, produces more than half of the gross domestic product. About half of the rural population lives in poverty. An enormously wealthy class of oligarchs has made its way to the top of society and, since independence, this new elite has hampered economic reform. Influential businessmen not only control key industries but also sit in parliament. Why does some of this sound like the United States to me? In recent years, the value of the dram has grown dramatically (now about 360 to the dollar), affecting local producers who want to export goods, but benefiting the few oligarch importers. In general, it is a cash society. Armenia has socialized medicine, though quality of service is sometimes lacking. Retirees have pensions, but the money is barely enough to buy groceries. Dental services are known to have high standards, and many diaspora Armenians fly in to get high-quality dentistry for a reasonable price. I can attest to the quality of the dental care!

Armenians are affectionate (the suffix –jan is used as a term of endearment – e.g. Sharon-jan). They tend to be very inquisitive about family backgrounds and personal life (again, same in Morocco and the Philippines. But here nobody has tried to marry me off; Armenian men want Armenian brides). They are used to keeping in touch with Diaspora family. They have strong nationalistic pride; that’s part of what has enabled the culture to survive for so long.

At the Two-Thirds Mark...

This week I have been working on a story about a bridge that MCA-Armenia built. It wasn’t in the original scope of work, but the existing bridge was falling apart and dangerous. The bridge spans the drainage system that MCA-Armenia was rehabilitating, and it connects nine villages to Yerevan. The mayor of one of them – coincidentally, the one where I planted the tree – requested the bridge, and the Environmental and Social Impact team agreed to build it. It does have a big social impact – without it, farmers would have a harder time taking their crops to market and students would have a harder time getting to school; they would have to go several miles out of the way, costing precious money and time.

We visited the construction foreman and the bridge itself. We talked to the mayors of two of the villages and then went out to meet some beneficiaries. It was a chance for me to experience authentic village Armenian hospitality – everywhere, cups of coffee and trays of sweets appeared, and we couldn’t leave without sitting and visiting for a while. It was fun to talk to little kids, too – I haven’t had much of a chance to do that! The story of the bridge is compelling but so is the context of the larger project. Without the rehabilitation of the drainage system, the beneficiaries had standing water not only in their backyard farms but also in the ground floors of their homes – we could see the water line on the walls and I would say it was several feet high. We visited a site where the drainage system is still in the works, and the “before” is a little ditch with standing water that clearly overflows frequently, whereas the latter is a substantial ditch, with a levee-like wall, through which water flows briskly. And it was nice to see “my” tree, and to once again pass many storks’ nests. I’ve been writing the story this week and also reading background info for the next environment article and working on revising fact sheets now that I have more information to include. And I have another new assignment, writing an article about the credit component of the program.

I’m also sharing my office these two weeks, with another MCC person from DC. She’s had some free time at night, so we’ve gone out to dinners, and I introduced her to the A-14s and to other PCVs and PCRVs. She hadn’t had authentic Armenian food, so one night we went to the place with live music. Here is a duduk and a kanun, the instruments featured in the concertos last week. I am no longer sharing my home space, on the other hand – Zina decided that Will’s schedule (out late, sleeping late) and mine (in early, up early) were too much work for her, and she told him to find other accommodations. I also wanted to mention someone who shared our hike – an Israeli backpacker who is solo traveling the Silk Road; he showed up at the fortress with no real way down, so the group leader invited him to join us on the hike and the bus ride back to Yerevan. I think I am somewhat adventurous, until I meet someone who really is! Also – MCA-Armenia decided that the people who wanted English lessons were too across-the-board in their needs; I may have conversations one-on-one with the people most motivated to learn, but I won’t do lessons. I’m glad they decided that and told me, since that’s what Jeanne and I were thinking too, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to tell them!

A note on the sweets – in every home, there seems to be a never-ending supply of Grand Candy. Grand Candy, locally made, is amazing (but won’t allow indoor photography in its stores…). The chocolate ranges from okay to great (priced accordingly), and they have so many varieties of sweets – individually wrapped, bars, wafers, cookies, coffee, ice cream, cakes – it’s impressive. It might be the most successful manufacturer in Armenia! And Grand Candy joins lavash on the not-yet-really-being-thought-about list of things I will miss.

Though it is almost time to think about it – on Tuesday we had our PCRV “COS conference,” a meeting to review the (pile of) paperwork we have to fill out before leaving here. We didn’t have one of these in the Philippines: it was nice of staff to take the time for us, and a rare occasion for all five PCRVs to spend some time together. Lots to do (work-wise – and now, paperwork-wise) and see (weekend-wise) before I leave!

I may have ended my formal tutoring, too – my tutor is going to be an LCF (Language and Culture Facilitator) for the A-19s, who, amazingly enough, arrive in the country at the end of next week. So this week, training-of-trainers started for her. I may go through the language book and study on my own during the tutoring time slots - or maybe I will call it a day. I’ve gotten a lot out of it but I don’t really study or practice. I use Armenian sometimes, and I do like to read, but tutoring was getting more challenging. Once we finished the alphabet, she started to write everything in Armenian rather than in transliterated English. Armenian is hard for me to read upside down, and I don’t read it as fast as she writes it, so the last few tutoring sessions were overwhelming. Working at MCA-Armenia tires me out too – maybe instead of tutoring I can use the time to rest!

I should also mention that this weekend I am missing Republic Day, the anniversary of the date in 1918 when Armenia first became an independent republic – though it didn’t last very long. They’ve been setting up some big concert stages for celebrations. But it’s okay – I will hear music of my own culture, the Princeton University Marching Band, and maybe “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”! Last item for today – Yerevan is abloom with roses everywhere! Even the tiniest patches of dirt seem to have some, and they line some of the sculptures and the main walk across the Opera Square. Beautiful!

Weekend Walks

I went to the orchestra again on Friday night – this time it was a concert of Armenian classical music. Two concertos featured traditional instruments – the kanun, which is like a zither, and the duduk – which, though I have been likening it to a flute, is actually probably akin to the oboe. Wonderful music. And then there was a Khatchurian symphony, full of drama. Went over to Republic Square afterwards to watch the fountains for a short while; it was drizzling and I decided there would be non-rainy evenings to come.

On Saturday I went to the slopes of Mt. Aragats with the hiking group, to see a fortress and a couple of churches, as usual in beautiful locations. First we stopped at an alphabet monument – fun with letters! And then it was up to Amberd, a fortress/palace built in the 1000s, uphill from a church overlooking a gorge at the confluence of two rivers. Fun to explore the ruins of the fortress, and the church architecture continues to impress. We started our hike from there, and as we did, a cold rain started to pelt us, and the wind picked up. We hiked down into and then along the gorge, wet and cold. I found myself in something of a zen state – not having fun per se, but not dwelling on how soaked I was – just hiking along and aware that I was surrounded by wonderful scenery. And just when I thought it would be like that all day, the sun came out! My shoes and socks never dried, but the rest of me did, and then it was a wonderful hike! We went to another church, this one overlooking a valley full of farms and villages. On the way back we stopped at a monument where the bones of a succession of kings were stored. The Persians stole the bones so as to steal the spirits of the kings; the bones were rescued and then the pagans were re-buried separately from the Christians. Eventually the bones of the Christian kings were moved to Etchmiadzin. Interesting little bit of history.

There are two A-14s in town – i.e. volunteers who served here from 2006-2008. One, Will, is staying at Zina’s for a month, though he will be in and out. He’s been mostly out, so I haven’t seen much of him yet, but he seems like a nice fellow and I know Zina is happy to have him here. Another, Betty, is also a friend of Zina’s and would probably have stayed with her if Will hadn’t shown up the day before. She’s the current PCV in Ain Leuh, Morocco! She came over for coffee yesterday, and she and I went to the Vernissage and to dinner. Interesting to compare notes on Armenia and Morocco – and the changes in the former since she’s been here and the latter since I left there. In between the Vernissage and dinner, I had lunch with Gordon and Jeanne and then we walked around town for hours. Jeanne had also been on the hike and we just wanted to keep on walking! We went to some parks at the south end of town, which had some big trees; the ones closer in have much smaller trees. By the evening I was exhausted, but I loved being outside and hiking and walking!

This coming weekend I have some ambitious travel planned, to put it mildly. I leave early on Friday morning, and about 24 hours later (including enough time in Vienna to take the train into the city, have coffee and take a stroll, as long as the flight leaves Yerevan on time) will find myself on the Princeton campus. About 38 hours after that, I leave Princeton for New York City – restocking my toiletries (and, to fill whatever room remains in my suitcase, buying goodies to bring back to fellow PCVs) and, if tentative plans don’t change, seeing the Mets and the Phillies at Citi Field. Then it’s back to JFK – a long layover in Frankfurt and a short one in Vienna (not the most efficient route, but I used miles) later, I’ll be back here in the wee, wee hours of Tuesday morning! I hope I can get by on adrenaline and the joy of seeing friends and not be in a jet-lag fog the entire time. My trips have neatly broken my (now-shortened) service into thirds – tomorrow marks four months to the day since my arrival, and there are only two months to go! Time is flying.

When the World Calls

This week I read the book “When the World Calls: The Inside Story of the Peace Corps and its First Fifty Years.” I had read several books on the history of the Peace Corps when I was in Morocco, and I’d been waiting for the “official” 50th anniversary book. This one was written by a journalist who was an evaluator for Peace Corps in the sixties. About half of the book was about that first decade, the formation of the Peace Corps and the legacy of Kennedy and Shriver. I knew already about the Nixon years, when he tried to more or less eliminate the Peace Corps entirely. I didn’t really know about the Carter years – basically, he continued Nixon’s system, where Peace Corps was combined with VISTA. Reagan appointed a strong director and, well, it seems that things have been more or less the same ever since, with about 8000 volunteers in the field. The author’s perspective on the numbers of volunteers was interesting. The early years had the largest numbers – they kind of threw a lot of volunteers into many countries without meaningful work. The Vietnam war and the Nixon era saw a plunge to what has been more or less the steady state ever since, despite more-than-occasional calls for increases. What I thought was particularly interesting was that in the 60s, numbers in Latin America were high as a counter to Castro’s Cuba. The numbers in Honduras went up in the 80s as a reward for that country allowing the contras to stage there. And then in the post-Soviet era there was a mad rush to pump volunteers into Eastern Europe (which, I suppose, is still on!). The book answered a question I always wondered about – why the Peace Corps building and World Wise Schools program are named after Paul Coverdell, one of the Peace Corps directors (and not, say, Shriver). After he was director, he served in the Senate, and when he died suddenly while in office, his fellow (Republican) Senators were moved to name things after him. There are also some country-specific anecdotes. The book ends by asking whether the Peace Corps does any good – and I don’t think I need to tell you the conclusion.

Speaking of World Wise Schools, I have been writing to the same class that I’ve been partnered with before – the seventh-grade class at my niece’s school. Only now she is in the seventh grade! When I write to them, my priority is not to embarrass her! And also to give information about Armenia and Peace Corps, of course. The class asks good questions; I am happy to be involved in this program. All you teachers out there, or parents, or students with influence on teachers – sign up for this program and get partnered with a PCV! www.peacecorps.gov/wws - that web site has a lot of fun information, too!

The photographs here are of khatchkars, the “cross-stones” that are endemic to Armenia. There are 40,000 in the country, and no two are alike. I hadn’t posted any before, because they’re a tad on the religious side, but as I was putting together a photo montage for my partner class, I realized how crucial they are to Armenia – and of course they are works of art.

From When the World Calls to World Wise Schools to Lonely Planet – quite a theme for this post! I knew that at some point I would write to Lonely Planet to tell them about Zina’s bed and breakfast. The bed is comfortable, the shower hot, the food delicious, and more, Zina is really caring and loves to host guests. It helps that she speaks English so well. And the price is right! Then, a couple of weeks ago, a PCV in Goris mentioned that the Lonely Planet writer was headed down there and asked if we had any suggestions – I told him to mention Zina. Earlier this week I emailed him to see if he had mentioned her; he said he forgot, but gave me the email address of the writer. I emailed him – and he said he had just been to Zina’s the day before and she told him she wasn’t interested! She had told me about some man knocking on her door and that she had told him there was no room. So – I clarified with her that she wanted to be listed in the book and made it clear to him that there was a misunderstanding. He had asked her if she wanted to be in it and she had told him only that she wasn’t in it; she had told him she had no room (because I am here!) and he thought she was saying she didn’t want tourists. Timing is everything – he’s traveling around now but will be back next month, and I hope he will stop by and check out the place; either way, I think she can be listed in the next edition. That would be big for her! When she gets internet I’ll help her with email, and maybe I will make a web site for her. Secondary project! Small business development!