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August 8, 2012 (Wednesday)

Last day of PST. First day in my permanent site. So many tears were shed it was ridiculous. My luggage was also a RIDICULOUS amount as well haha I don’t know how I collected so much in only two months!

Here are some pictures of my first home! I will miss it SO SO much!

The garden I've been eating from for the past 2 months. Our garage area....

 

Our main road that JUST got lined with white paint. And the Marshutini we always take! :) 

My store! The little green thing on the right in front of the huge tree.... But we got everything! :D

The road that always led my to school and of course... my school! Where I learned all my Armenian! They're remodeling it now but it still was a pretty nice school!

I will miss my village so much. It was so comfortable and everyone knew me. Off to a new start!

August 7, 2012 (Tuesday)

Swearing-in Day!

We made it through training! All 41 of us! CONGRATS!!!

August 3, 2012 (Friday)

Got a package today thinking it was from my parents… but NOPE! It was from one of my students in Taiwan! Isn’t that crazy cool?! He sent me postcards from his university and a little note. So sweet, no?! I just think it’s so amazing that we can keep in contact with people from all over the world so easily even years later.

I yelled at some kids for hitting and torturing a donkey today in Armenian and they were so confused. Told them…

1.     Stop. Please don’t do that. The donkey is hurting.

2.     I am sad when you do that.

3.     You don’t like donkeys? I really love donkeys.

4.     Here, do this to the donkey instead (started petting him).

5.     Watch me. Like this.

After my totally embarrassing attempt at model behaving how to treat animals, they kind of stopped and I walked away. I then started calling all my friends I knew would be coming my way and told them that if they saw the kids with the donkey to say how much they love donkeys and to pet the donkey if they can HAHAHA this was my little attempt at trying to change this terrible habit of children... and actually most of the people here in Armenia. Many of us volunteers try to model behave how we (well, most Americans ><) treat animals back in the states just by saying simple things like I did and being nice to animals, but that’s about all we can really do for the most part.

August 2, 2012 (Thursday)

Had my exam today! Received an Intermediate Mid. That’s pretty darn good for two months I think! That’s like something I never received even after three years of French in high school hahaha

I’m telling you, studying every day for HOURS and having to speak the language at home for everything was not easy and there were times that I really needed to just take a breather on my own, but couldn’t…. it was all worth it! It really was. I never imagined to have a full conversation in a new language within two months. It seemed like a ridiculous goal! But now my main goal is to become completely fluent within the next year and NEVER forget it even when I go back to America. But like I said, the only problem I have with learning a new language is that I’m forgetting everything else haha Korean is completely failing and English is slowly leaving me HAHAHA oh man.

August 1, 2012 (Wednesday)

BEST DAY EVERRRR!! Got THE most awesomest fantasmic package today and it seriously made my day… my week! I’ve been having it so rough lately and I’ve been so tired… the package seriously came at THE perfect time. Gave me so much more energy that I didn’t know I had haha

Annie, Ester, and Dasom sent me some treats! Way more than I ever expected plus some really expensive Pringles HAHA adding on the price of shipping these Pringles were ridiculously expensive! HAHA but take a look at what I got!

The big dog bone for my dog Gucci was WAY too crazy and my dog was super scared haha I don’t think he knew what to do with it. I don’t think dogs here in Armenia are quite the same as in America… he didn’t think the bone was cool at all HAHA but that’s probably because he gets real bones all the time from various animals haha eeww but it’s okay! It’s the thought that counts!

The cat toy that they got for my cat Kooka was real sweet as well but she didn’t know what to do with it! She just kept staring at it … plus she just had three kids so she had no time to play. Wrong timing hahaha :p

July 30, 2012 (Monday)

My last teaching day! THANK GOODNESS. It has been SO stressful lately and I haven’t had any time to myself. But it’s okay, this is all a part of the training process and we are all suffering together haha

Since we had a class full of girls we decided to do a lesson on fashion and have them describe different clothes while modeling them on the “walkway.” BUT the tricky part was that they had to dress-up in the random items we gave them HAHA just like this!

 

All the kids got awards today after class to show that they participated in our little program. They were all so excited and us, as teachers, had to award the children with their certificates, but let me tell you it was not easy haha Armenian names can be really hard to pronounce! We tried our best and if it wasn’t correct the kids would just correct us anyways LOL

July 29, 2012 (Sunday)

Went to my THIRD wedding today…. man these people only think about getting married and having a family! Ahahaha JUST KIDDING. But three weddings is a bit much isn’t it?! HAHA this time we just went to the dinner part and it really was no big deal cause I was SO used to it haha

Anyways, going to three weddings and recently finding out that three of my friends have gotten engaged back at home has been making me think WAY too much about my future and kids and etc etc! CREEPY but I’m telling you the honest truth and it’s SCARING THE POOP OUT OF ME! Everyone here is in love with kids and marriage is such a big deal… just all these things put together makes my head hurt!! Haha

July 28, 2012 (Saturday)

Went to Lake Sevan today… the only bit of water they have in the whole country haha but it was nice! They’re so proud of their lake and it’s such a prize for the people here to be able to go to the lake. It’s like one of their “vacation spots” you know? Anyways, Peace Corps took us to the lake, a church on the lake, then another location known for it’s famous wishing tree, also next to this beautiful church.

TAKE A LOOK!