Making Plans

Friday was a big day – I bought the tickets for my plane flights home. That was surprisingly emotional – I’ll be sad to leave here, but also happy to get back to the U.S. I am not looking forward to the job hunt that lies ahead, but I am trying to have the mindset of looking forward to the job that will result from the hunt. It helped to make the flight arrangements from the Peace Corps office and have fellow PCVs with whom to process the emotions.

A friend of mine had sent me a coupon for California Pizza Kitchen the other day, and that started me thinking about having one of their salads. I’ve also been thinking about the salad at Suki Zuki in Water Mill (near Southampton), Aroma Coffee and my pre-Armenia breakfast, protein shakes. Plus, someone recently mentioned Indonesian food…. But I really haven’t been thinking that much about food - more about people I am looking forward to seeing. I passed a bicycle-rental place the other day; I have never seen people bicycling in Yerevan and I think there is too much traffic for me to want to, but now I am looking forward to biking when I get back. There was a 5K in Southampton last weekend that I’d participated in last year and the year before; I look forward to 5Ks and more events. The National Peace Corps Association has a 50th anniversary shindig in Washington, D.C. in September; I’ve signed up for that.

Even before I bought the plane tickets, I changed the address on my magazine subscriptions. For the Philippines, I had all the magazines go to my forwarding address, Edie’s, and was stunned at the pile that had accumulated in six months (especially since I’d eliminated just about everything except the New Yorker). I’m glad I’ve been receiving them here but know that not all of them have arrived. I’d brought a few books with me and picked up a few more while here; between the books and the magazines I’ve had just about enough reading material. I brought some DVDs to watch and haven’t watched a single one! I watched much more in the Philippines (maybe I read less? I’m not comparing to Morocco because in 27 months there was time for everything and then some!).

I’ll stop in the Netherlands for a couple of days on the way back. After I COS, I plan to go to Nagorno-Karabakh for a couple of days (I cannot go while I am a PCV – and given that the situation can change at any moment, I won’t decide for sure until that day. Here’s the latest - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/world/europe/12russia.html?scp=2&sq=karabakh&st=cse; this was last week’s one-sided story - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/world/asia/01azerbaijan.html?scp=1&sq=karabakh&st=cse). I’ll then go to Georgia – I’ve now gathered information from several people who have vacationed there, so I have a tentative route planned out. I looked at flights out of Tbilisi – no more convenient or less expensive; if I fly out of Yerevan I can keep my big luggage here while I travel. The question was how many days to spend there and will my relatives be available in Holland. Turns out that Armavia (the only option) flies direct to Amsterdam only on Thursdays – so that set the date for my flight out as Thursday, August 11. I emailed my aunt and uncle in Holland and heard back almost immediately that they would be available (now I have emails out to the cousins). Even though not much time passed, by the time I got back to the Armavia web site, the price of the ticket had gone up considerably! I had to make sure I had it though before buying Amsterdam to JFK. I promised my sister I would be home by August 15; I arrive at JFK on the evening of August 14. Now I have to look into accommodations along the way….

But first – more time here! Friday night I went to the orchestra – delightful as always – and followed that with a few minutes of watching the dancing fountains at Republic Square (almost a bonus concert!). And I went away for the weekend – more on that in the next post. My counterpart is on vacation through the end of the month, so I have time to work on my travel plans, start writing the COS documents, and maybe even send out a few resumes? I’ll also be going through the MCA-Armenia web site and making suggestions on the usage and grammar. And I’m available if anyone on the team has any projects for me.

Pride and a Postcard Shot

On Tuesday I had several opportunities to be proud. The MCC and MCA-Armenia team went to Garni for a little ceremony for the 1000th borrower. As part of the program, MCC allocated $8.5 million that will go (now in a revolving fund) to farmers to help them implement some of the improvements they learned about in the trainings. Most of the money is going towards new greenhouses and cooling units. This particular farmer was building a cooling unit, which will enable him to extend his season and therefore increase his income. When I went last week to the interviews of the lenders I took notes but didn’t feel any particular emotion. But seeing the farmer and realizing that these small loans at favorable terms can make a big difference in the lives of – well, now 1000 borrowers but their families as well, so thousands of people – I felt proud. And the credit component is one small part of the MCC program here in Armenia. The total program is projected to help 420,000 people! I came back and wrote the story, which sailed through without changes; it will be used on the web site and for the next quarterly bulletin.

That evening, I went to an Independence Day celebration at the U.S. Embassy – just a little bit before July 4, because the Ambassador is leaving office this week. I don’t think any other PCVs were invited – it could have been the MCA-Armenia connection, but I assume it was the Princeton connection. I knew some people there – MCA and MCC, Peace Corps staff, embassy people I’d met, Fulbright scholars. Listening to the Ambassador’s remarks, I felt proud to be serving here during her term as Ambassador – she is really impressive, and seeing her in action and sharing that special dinner have made an impact on my service. I also felt proud to be an American, independent for 235 years, where we have freedoms that people in other countries only dream of – or maybe don’t even know to dream of. You can read the Ambassador’s remarks here - http://armenia.usembassy.gov/news060711_1.html - and her farewell message as she leaves Armenia here - http://armenia.usembassy.gov/news060311.html.

I rode to the 1000th-borrower event with the MCC Resident Country Director, and he mentioned the strategic partnership agreement that MCC and Peace Corps have and said that publicizing the MCC to the PCVs is part of what he views as my assignment. So I then wrote an article for the Peace Corps Armenia newsletter – between that and the one I wrote for the Peace Corps Response newsletter and talking informally to PCVs I think that might be the extent of what I can do; I offered to do a more formal talk for the trainees and was told they are too new. My other work task this week was proofreading the English version of the quarterly bulletin (for which the gender article is the cover story!). I love proofreading.

Wednesday night as I was getting ready to leave work, I sensed the sky darkening. I got down to the lobby and a dusty wind was blowing. Storm a-coming! I decided to chance it and got half a block before being pelted by hail and a cold, hard rain. I took cover until the worst of it passed and straggled home. My reward the next day was the postcard view of Ararat I had been waiting for – it was spectacular. Which is the postcard and which is the postcard shot?

Three Marzes and a Market

On Saturday, I took another organized tour, this time with Mel, the PRCV who started most recently; I haven’t seen that much of her and it was nice to spend the day together. And to see more of beautiful Armenia, all green for spring. We drove northwest through Kotayk Marz, past good old Charentsavan, to Tsaghkadzor, the ski resort town. Turns out that this was the place that the Soviet Olympic ski teams practiced. Well, had I known that…nah, just as well. There was still some snow at the top of the mountains, but ski season is over. Kecharis monastery, in the same town, was our destination – now I’m coming around to the “you’ve seen one monastery, you’ve seen them all” way of thinking, but they are all in picturesque remote locations, so seeing them is still a good way to see Armenia. Most of our fellow passengers were Iranian, up for a four-day holiday weekend, and they were very nice.

We then went past Lake Sevan, the biggest lake in Armenia – and, if I understood it correctly, the second-highest lake in the world after Titicaca (can that be true?). We stopped for photos; there’s a separate tour that covers Lake Sevan highlights, but the photo stop alone counts for me as an activity in Gegharkunik marz. We then went through a tunnel and were in a completely different climate – Tavush marz, where most of Armenia’s forests are. Trees! Dilijan, in an alpine area, is known as the “Switzerland of Armenia.” I think that’s a stretch, as was Ifrane as the Switzerland of Morocco; if I ever go back to Vietnam I’d like to see the Switzerland of Vietnam, but maybe the thing to do is to go back to Switzerland! There were mountains and trees and maybe a bit of chalet-style architecture…and a couple of major monasteries. Goshavank was a major cultural and learning center for several centuries, before Tamurlane burned its 15,000 books, and Hagartsin is in a beautiful forested valley. Both have 800-year-old wishing walnut trees; since I spent some time this week fretting about the next chapter in my life, I made a couple of wishes and now everything should be okay.

Sunday morning I went to breakfast at Artbridge with another PCV whose company I really enjoy. And then it was on to the Vernissage – I had been looking at a particular artisan’s wood carvings, and a few weeks ago when I finally decided to buy a piece, he had sold it! I commissioned a new one, a three-tiered bird-shaped salt cellar, and picked it up; also started to buy some things that I think will make nice gifts for people back home. I spent part of the afternoon outdoors in the gazebo behind the Peace Corps office, listening to podcasts and writing postcards; it was relaxing and productive at the same time. And then I had tea with Brian; I hadn’t seen him in over a week! Zina made dolma for dinner; they were delicious! I’d been going out a lot lately and it was great to eat home cooking. That was followed by a powerful thunderstorm and maybe that orange glow in the sky (though I think it’s supposed to be a late-afternoon glow) and a rainbow!

Today I took a long lunch and went on a tour/tasting at a brandy factory; they’re open only on weekdays. One of the PCVs has his parents visiting, and he arranged a little group. Armenia is known for its brandies and it was important from a cultural standpoint to take the tour and to taste samples of various ages. If there’s room in my luggage, I may have to take some back to the U.S. with me….

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!

Weekend in the West - Part II

I won’t go through the details of Reunions but I will go through some of the highlights as they relate to my experience here. As I said from Morocco, Princeton Reunions is its own form of culture shock or alternate reality no matter where you travel from to get there, so the fact that I came to it from Armenia didn’t matter. I spent most of the time with friends, went to the Band concert, marched in the P-rade, and enjoyed the orchestra al fresco, and was wowed by the fireworks. All too soon it was time to say goodbye to people; it wasn’t too difficult, knowing that I’ll be back in the U.S. soon.

On Saturday morning, I went to an exhibit of JFK at Princeton (he was there for a few months as a member of the class of 1939, but when health problems caused him to miss so much school that he would have had to start over, he transferred to Harvard). I might have gone to see this anyway, but I thought it was a must given that I was here from JFK’s Peace Corps. I also saw a Kurt Schwitters exhibit, mainly because a friend of mine had lent an artwork for it, and even though I didn’t go with her, I did so in spirit. I saw one of the Armenian-American Princetonians that I know and had a chance to speak some Armenian with him (though I learned Eastern Armenian and they Western, and the two are different). Another highlight was meeting jazz-fusion guitarist Stanley Jordan, back for his 30th Reunion. I rushed to the tent when I heard he was going to jam with the band, and I bought one of his CDs. I just looked at his web site and he is playing in Georgia (the country) on July 23! If it were only a couple of weeks later, I could go! I hear he’ll be playing in New York in the fall – maybe I will see him then. Until then, check out one of the youtube or other videos to see how original he is and why this was a treat. My friend Erica (she of the Schwitters!) took the picture of him autographing my CD.

I didn’t feel I had to eat anything in particular (I had sushi for dinner, but that was more because I wanted to eat something light, and something quick – I had just had sushi in Yerevan, though it was too expensive for me to have it again while here). I did go to PJ’s for breakfast, but that was more out of tradition than a need for pancakes, and I never made it to Thomas Sweet (note, the earth still spins). It didn’t feel weird to be back – maybe because I had already come back twice from Morocco and maybe because Yerevan is a capital city and maybe because I’ve been in touch. What was more amazing to me was that I never felt the jet lag – I was able to stay awake when I wanted to and to fall asleep when I wanted to; I never felt as out of it as I was afraid I would (sometimes I have felt worse coming from much closer!).

Notable, though – I realized I had missed using the 3G on my iPhone to text friends and check email. I had resisted (if not avoided) becoming dependent on it before I left, but I sure enjoyed using it for the weekend! And I loved the music – mostly classic rock and roll, but just hearing a variety of American music was a joy – not that I don’t get variety here, with Armenian, Russian, classical and the same few American songs that play on Armenian radio, but it was nice to hear something than the same few American songs – more of a joy than I anticipated. I’ll schedule an infusion of music for when I get back (maybe some streaming radio or Pandora or last.fm or whatever the new thing is now – I’m out of it!).

On Sunday, my friend Carol drove back to New York City and I went with her; it was nice to get a ride! We then went to Citi Field for the Mets game, though I knew she would rather have just had a nice lunch. Going to this game was more important when I thought I was going to be in Armenia until September 30 and it might be my only game of the season, but the post-Reunions Sunday game is something of a tradition, so I still wanted to go. The tickets she bought got us into the Acela Club; we checked out the menu and decided to have lunch there – so she had her nice lunch and I had my ball game! Best of both worlds.

I then did some power shopping – a few toiletries that I had planned to replenish (mostly eye stuff) and fulfilling requests for PCVs, the health food store for something healthy for the plane ride back, some blank CDs. My friend Gary offered to get me anything I was running really low on, and I asked for Excedrin Migraine – as it happens, I took my very last one on the plane on my way over. I hope I don’t regret not buying an additional bottle – so far I’ve taken two every day since, but I hope that’s just readjustment; I have more than 50 days to go and there were only 100 in the bottle…. I also bought enough Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to put one in the mailbox of every PCV in Armenia! Why are Coca-Cola and McDonald’s all over the world and not Reese’s? Well, it makes the PCV heart for them grow all the fonder. And then it was time to go to JFK – a much easier trip on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend!

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.