My New Favorite Graffiti

I found this during my last trip to Yerevan. Roughly translated, it says "Some people are gay. Get over it".

Marshutney Has Seatbelts

This is amazing: we have a new marshutney to Sisian, and- wait for it- there are 2 seats with seat belts in it! I'm sure it's only a matter of time until they break or are removed, but for now, the Sisian PCVs can ride is style and safety. 

Dried Fruit

We have a pear tree in our yard that has been dropping copious amounts of pear all over the place. Hazel seems to enjoy chewing on them, but in an attempt to find a more productive way to use this fruit, we're attempting to make some Armenian Chir. I built the drying racks myself out of empty pringles cans and some stuff we found at the hardware store (total cost: 200 dram, plus pringles). I think it's going to work pretty well- but I guess we won't know until we come back from MST. 

Our Faucet is Broke (Adventures in Armenian Plumbing Pt 1)

Our faucet is broke. And it's not a leaky junction or anything like that- it seems a crack has developed in the actual metal of the faucet itself. Yesterday, it sprayed water across the kitchen for about half the day before we saw what was happening. We used a strip of cloth as a bandage and stopped it from spraying all over the place, but then the water which went down the back of the sink had started to flood the floor.

Today, we seem to have found a temporary solution which prevents the water from spraying everywhere and directs all leakage safely down the drain. 

Which is good, because we have PC training coming up, and we're going to have to figure out how to really fix this when we come back from that. 

Overland Ev@c Drill Pt 2

Well, I made it to Tblisi! It's been a whirlwind trip, and we only got one evening out on the town, but it's a pretty enough capital- I understand why so many PC Armenia volunteers vacation here. 

Overland Ev@c Drill Pt1

Well, I was home for a little while... but now I'm on the road again.

This is the first time that PC Armenia has tested its procedures for moving PCVs via roads out of country, and it's been an interesting experience. Each of the PC regional wardens was woken up yesterday morning and told to travel to their consolidation points and await further instructions. Slowly, it emerged that they were bringing us all together, and this morning we were told to come to a central meeting point. From that meeting point, we all piled into a bus and traveled to Georgia. It was a fun surprise, but it meant about 20 hours of near-continuous travel for me. Note to self: add more snacks to Go-Bag...  and possibly some adult diapers.

Still, it was a really pretty drive. Here are some pictures of Georgia.

A Vard by Any Other Name

There are a few words in Armenian which bug me, but 'vard' has to be one of the most frustrating. Maybe it's the phonetic similarity to the English 'fart'... I don't know. Still, the  roses, or 'vard's, here are beautiful.

That Moment When

You know you're going to get dirty no matter what...

It's good to be home.

GCNF dinner

And so my week in Yerevan with GCNF is coming to a close. I'll miss the sense of professionalism and productivity. We celebrated the last night of the conference with a dinner at one of the most beautiful event venues I've seen in country. It was a blast. At the same time- I've been away from Sisian and Sam for a whole week: it'll be really nice to just be home for a while after this.

GCNF School Visit Day

Today was School Visit Day at the GCNF. I traveled with participants to the village of Vedi, where the school director had arranged for us to watch- and even 'help'- the school children plant peach trees which, in years to come, would augment the school meals served to students there.

The day was so typically Armenian that I felt like all the participants finally got a view of the 'real' Armenia outside of the capital city. We were greeted with a song and dance processional:

This children were all still wearing their First Bell Ceremony Black-and-Whites (fancy clothes, usually reserved for the first few weeks of the school year), but that didn't stop all the boys from lining up in the field to plan these peach trees.

I'm not sure how much actual help we were...

But in the end, one way or another, the peach trees got planted.

Afterwards, we were treated to a tour of the school's cafeteria facilities:

We got to see the students eating their lunches- and were even treated to a school meal ourselves. 

The kitchen facilities were gorgeous- I need to find out how to help School #4 get a kitchen space like this. 

GCNF Workshop

Today was a day focused on small group workshops at the GCNF- the discussions were amazing. It was humbling to listen to the points and opinions of individuals who had committed their lives and professional careers to improving the health and well-being of children across the globe. 

GCNF

Today I find myself in sunny Yerevan, volunteering as note-taker at the Global Child Nutrition Conference. Seriously, the GCNF is amazing. It consists of delegations from all over the world, with representatives from Armenia to Zimbabwe all in attendance. During the conference, the participants discuss ways to create nutritious school meal programs in their countries to better promote school attendance and healthy growth in children. In Armenia, where approximately 1 in 5 children suffers from malnutrition-related stunted growth, school meals are an important part of national development. 

The conference itself is being held at the Marriott in Republic Square. The view is amazing, and really showcases the most impressive urban center in Armenia.

For the past few days, I've mostly been working to help participants check in and get registered for the conference, but today we had the opening ceremony, and I got a taste of what the next week will hold for me.

And while most of that taste involves me frantically typing away, trying furiously to get through the often-times confusing simultaneous translations. But, it also involves amazing conversations and small group work,  for which I'm really excited to be a fly-on-the-wall.

Of course, I was super excited to see that my family's favorite international aid organizations, Mary's Meals, had a representative at the Forum. And, I'd be remiss if I didn't direct you to my cousin's beautiful movies detailing the great work that Mary's Meals does, Child 31 and Generation Hope

I'm really excited for the next week. The GCNF is an amazing organization, and I already know that being allowed to volunteer at this forum is going to be one of the highlights of PC service for me.

This is why you should dog sit for us.

Back when Hazel was first delivered to us, there was a week long period when we had to be away from site, and no one could look after Hazel. Our awesome site mate Sasha took on the role and once a day made the long trudge from her apartment up the hill to our house to make sure our little puppy didn't starve to death. Sasha was the backup of the backup of the backup of the backup, and seriously if she hadn't been able to do this, Hazel would have died. So, we owe her. (Plus, we like hanging out with her anyway)

So, when the rest of the avocados that Sam brought back from his last trip to Yerevan ripened, we invited Sasha over for some Breakfast Burritos. Sam's an awesome cook, and so this, my friends, is why you should dog sit for us:

First Bell Ceremony

Fist Bell Ceremony...

All the students are dressed in their fanciest black and white clothes. Girls wear their hair in pig tails, with ribbons and bows. The first graders- for whom this is their first First Bell Ceremony- are dressed the fanciest, the boys sporting little suits which make them look like very tiny old men and the little girls apparently competing in a fierce "Who Can Wear the Puffiest Dress and the Biggest Bows In Her Hair" contest.

The parents, too, are dressed for the occasions- or at least the mothers are. Fashion here is heavily influenced by Russian tastes, and the outfits worn by young mothers would look more at home in a night club in the US than at your child's elementary school. 4 to 6 inch stiletto heels abound, and the makeup is on point for a night out on the town back home. 

Oddly, given the intense preparation that has gone into dressing for this event, no one seems to care a great deal about what is being said in the actual  ceremony itself. Students and parents alike have gathered in the front of the school building where they mill around and talk with each other, seemingly oblivious to the various members of the community who stand on the steps of the school- barring entry- and speak into a microphone at length. Finally, about an hour later than I was told the schedule had planned, there is music, doves are released, and everyone is allowed into the school.

I had expected that this would lead to the first day of school. But how very wrong I was. Turns out, each student goes to their homeroom where they get their school books for the year (there is much scheming and swapping at this point as each student tries to get the best, least worn out, copy of the books most important to them), and then each classroom has a little party at which the teachers are given flowers by the students and their parents.

Finally, in our class, we took a group picture, and all the students went home. The teachers stuck around and had a party of their own (yes, cognac was involved and I'm only grateful that this party happened *after* the students had all left the building). Everyone packed up and headed home by noon. All in all, definitely not what I was expecting, but I guess not a bad way to being the school year.