“The ultimate measure of a
man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he
stands at times of challenges and controversy.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
This last week has felt like a month in itself. We had our
community project on Sunday. We interacted with the children in our training
villages and towards the end we were able to give small gifts and prizes to the
children. It was a glorious success. Thanks for everyone’s participation!
Monday, I found out my permanent site for the next 2 years. I’ll be in the
Armavir Region in a village called Karakert. It is West central of Armenia
(supposedly, we can see parts of Turkey from our village). Tuesday and
Wednesday we had mock language interviews. At the end of training we have a
language assessment and this determines our status as volunteers. Thursday and
Friday we attended our Counterpart Conference. This was an interesting
experience. Apparently, Armenians are do not hesitate to answer their phones
during these sessions and workshops. Furthermore, they would have these
ridiculously loud ringtones. My counterpart is pretty young. She is 32 years
old and has one son who is 11 years old. She’s been teaching for 12 years or
so. Then for Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, we visited our new
villages. I am so incredibly blessed to have a current peace corps volunteer at
my site. Our village is pretty big, population size is approximately 5,000 ppl,
but these are all estimations. We have two schools. One is being renovated this
summer by COAF and the other was renovated a few years ago. I’m really excited
to have a relatively new school. Also, we have a community center. I really
want to have a foreign film club with community members…but we will have to see
what the community wants to have first. My new host family is very young. My
host mom is 26 years old. We have a one and three year old girls. We have an
outhouse near the garden. Water is scarce in Karakert. Drinking water is delivered
on a big truck daily. Water for around the house use is stored in huge
containers..but I noticed that my host family is very careful about the amount
of water they use. The family owns an apricot orchard and I took advantaged of
this and ate so many apricots! Yum. Going back to Akunk, I am determined to
make the best out of the time we have left here. A few of the volunteers and
language teachers are going out to a local restaurant in the village to
celebrate America’s Independence Day today. I miss all of you at home. Remember
to send me letters! My address is on the right! I’ve gots to go to practice
some yoga. Toodles for now!
<3
Phi Fi Fo Fum
No comments:
Post a Comment