Hi All,
I’m looking at the date above and can’t believe that I’ve only been here 2 ½ months, because I feel like its been much longer just in terms of how much I’ve been through!
On the 14th we had our “graduation” ceremony from PST (pre-service training) and the US Ambassador to Armenia swore us in as official Peace Corps Volunteers. The ambassador is a Princeton graduate, and a graduate of the US War College. (I didn’t know we had such a thing!) She speaks fluent Russian and French, and is studying Armenian. I would guess that she is in her late fifties. She spent a lot of time as a State Department Officer in Kiev, and in many other overseas areas. It was a nice ceremony, though I was thinking that I hadn’t “graduated” from anything in 35 years, and I’m at the point in my life where most ceremonies I attend are recognition events for people who’ve made exceptional contributions, not events for people who have yet to do something.
That evening my Arzakan host family threw a big party for me. We had khorovats, a traditional Armenian barbeque. Mild peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes are grilled in flames, and the charred skins are then removed. Then chicken (though no white meat) and potatoes were grilled over embers. In typical Armenian fashion dinner was not served until 10:30 pm, and we finished up at 1 am because all the neighbors came over to say goodbye, and then they were invited to eat! The neighbors gave me a few “tourist” type gifts, and then my family gave me a pair of Armenian pajamas, which I think was a comment on my oversized LL Bean flannel nightgown. The pajamas are very fitted in lime green with silver sparkles. When I tried them on, they were so happy. I suggested that I might need a larger size so that I’d have some more room, but the crowd of women was adamant that they were perfect! We had what felt like thousands of toasts (vodka and wine) to my family, my health, my future, etc., and then to their families, health, ancestors, etc. Toasting is another huge Armenia tradition, and an excuse to drink lots!
The next morning I got up early to follow my host mom to the chicken coop to rob the hens of three eggs, then to the neighbor’s barn for a jar of milk. I left tearfully after breakfast for my trip to Gyumri, where I’m now living.
After a very scary trip (high speed and blind corners over pot-holed roads with cows or sheep crossing around every bend) by taxi to Gyumri, I met a current Peace Corps volunteer for lunch. We went to a shop that sold a spicy ground beef sausage wrapped in lavash (flat bread). They also sell sheep heads (skin-off) that have been cooked, a dozen of which were sitting on a tray for display. My already distressed stomach forced me to turn away. Then several hours later when I went back to my new home, my host dad was sitting at the kitchen table with a bottle of vodka and a sheep head, having a feast! Several hours after that, I was in the courtyard, looking at jaw and skull bones, and a very happy dog!
(Albert, host dad, with his very tasty sheep head!)
Today is a holiday in Gyumri, so I spent the day walking around this city, which included an hour at the Berlin Hotel. The German Red Cross built a medical facility here after the devastating earthquake of 1988 when 60% of the buildings were destroyed and 25,000 people were killed. Then several years ago Germans funded a hotel to fund the ongoing costs of the medical clinic. Another volunteer told me about this relationship, and about the fact that the hotel supports Gyumri artists with a gift shop and displays in all the hallways and rooms. So as another new volunteer and I were walking around, the manager asked where we were from and we told him that we were new Peace Corps volunteers. He was so excited. He has worked with Peace Corps volunteers before (a current one designed his web page) and he heard that a finance person was in Gyumri. So he was thrilled to meet me, and I have another part-time job! He needs some help with a budget and proposal for tours to artists’ studios, which would include dinner at an artist’s home. For any friends who visit me (and don’t want to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor), this is the hot lodging place!
Tomorrow I begin working. We are only committed to 15-20 hours per week at our primary jobs, and are then expected to find a secondary job. I have had several requests from other volunteers to help their organizations, so I expect to be very busy. I also have to work on my Armenian language. We are given a substantial amount of money to hire a tutor, and I would really like to become semi-fluent. Needless to say, studying a language takes a lot of time!
I met a young woman in Arzakan who trained to be a travel guide in Armenia. She knows a lot about Armenian history and is semi-fluent in English. She has not been able to find a job. And there are very few tourists in Armenia. She raved about how beautiful the country is and about how proud she is of Armenia, its history, its religion, and its people. 97% of the people who live in Armenia are of direct Armenian descent. I asked her if she had ever traveled any place else. She had not. This pride in all things Armenian is so common. But Armenia is not beautiful. And it is a very difficult place for a non-Russian or non-Armenian person to travel in. To rent a car in Armenia costs $100 per day because the car includes a driver since rental companies will not allow tourists to drive themselves; the roads are too dangerous. Armenia is very interesting; but I sometimes think for the wrong reasons. Two environmental disasters come immediately to mind. In 1949 the Soviets began draining huge Lake Sevan, in the center east of the country, for irrigation and hydroelectric generation. The plan was to reduce the perimeter of the lake by 70%, and the volume by 91%. In 1962 when the lake had dropped 60 feet, the Soviet government realized the devastation caused by this plan. Algae blooms occurred, the trout population became nearly extinct because of a rise in temperature of the lake, and construction around the perimeter of the lake made it nearly impossible to undo what had been done. Today the murky lake looks windswept and bare, though the beaches are still an attraction for the land-locked Armenians.
The second environmental disaster was partly the result of the collapse of the bankrupt Soviet Union, partly the result of shutting down an unstable nuclear power plant after the earthquake, and partly a result of the border dispute with Azerbaijan. From 1992 to 1995 most Armenians did not have electricity (heat) or gas (disrupted service from Georgia). As a result the northern part of the country was largely deforested as people cut and burned anything that would keep them warm during their harsh winters. 19 years later much of the northern part of the country remains bare. About 15% of the entire country is forest. Much of the country is high desert plateau with fertile soil, but severe irrigation problems.
(Railroad car home in Gyumri)
I live in a neighborhood of many abandoned and run-down looking buildings. The street out front is a real challenge. Mostly it is dirt and rocks with some remaining asphalt. What few cars go by madly drive left and right desperately trying to avoid potholes, and worse. (Missing sewer covers where the drop is three feet.) It is not pretty. But it is a very busy neighborhood with lots of families and kids playing in the streets. There are no abandoned cars, because very few people have cars, and because parts are so valuable. There are several very small (10 ft X 5 ft) family run stores which all sell the same things; potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, peaches, onions, etc. Several of these small stores are right next to each other and they are totally oblivious to the fact that they are cannibalizing each other’s markets. These stores seldom have signs, unless the sign says “honute” (store). These storeowners work seven days a week and twelve hours a day. There is 70% unemployment in Gyumri. There is nothing else.
(Street vendor in Gyumri)On that cheery note, I’m going to bed!
Love to all,
Barbara
