June 19, 2012 (Tuesday)

My older brother was supposed to leave tonight but he missed his flight somehow! I couldn’t understand the full story, but he’s still here! Haha I told him God didn’t want him to go cause then I would have zero brothers, meaning zero chauffeurs, meaning not so much a “princess status” anymore… right?! Also, my sister and I can do less things because we’re not really allowed to go to a lot of places without one of our brothers… just because it’s a “rule” with the family and because it’s “safer” as well. I can say I agree and disagree, but it definitely was a lot more fun having brothers taking me places and always telling me they’ll beat up any man who calls me out in the streets HAHA

My family. Left to Right: Garageen, Mom, Pop, Gaeraum, Me, Tateek, Gayane

June 18, 2012 (Monday)

My baby rabbit is getting so big! I’m excited. He’s MINE and the whole family knows it. They always ask me how “Pbo-pbo” is doing hehe J

I just found out both my brothers might leave me in a day or two! They both don’t want to go but in order to make money for the family, themselves, and their future families they have to because Armenia doesn’t provide enough job opportunities. Imagine how difficult it must be. They’re so used to having their mother and sister take care of all their household needs and now they have to go to Russia alone and work every single day in rough conditions. I think I’m sad FOR them and not so much because they’re leaving. I might not see them for a year! Crazy how this is a very common/normal thing for the boys of these families… sad. Makes me sad. I think I already got so attached to this family and I’m worried for the upcoming month to come when I have to leave them to go to my permanent site, which BY THE WAY I find out this upcoming Monday! AHHH Peace Corps tells me where I’ll be for the next two years! Like I said, this training is intense, but a sort of vacation compared to what we most likely will be placed in for the next two years. I will let you know ASAP!

First and only real picture with my older brother before he left

June 17, 2012 (Sunday)

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! Sorry I have to miss out on your birthday, father’s day, and anniversary! Haha Sad L

Called my “America dad” to wish him a good day and he told me it looks like I’m on vacation and not Peace Corps, which is sort of true… for now haha but he’s not lying! It is kind of true!

Anyways, I can’t believe I’m going into my fourth week! Almost our one-month anniversary in Armenia! It feels like it’s been super slow and super fast all at once. I can’t believe I’m in the state I am now after only three weeks. It’s crazy! How does one get to know a language like this and become a part of a community like this in such a short period of time?!

For example, I went to the market with my mom and brother today and everyone was asking my mother who I was because we were clinging arms everywhere and I could converse with her and understand what was going on so I obviously wasn’t just a tourist. Her answer to all their questions was “she’s my daughter.” I loved it. Everything about it was so heart warming to me. The way she always made sure I was clung on to her, the way my brother went back and forth from us to the car so that we didn’t have to carry much, and just everything in general … I’ll cry if they place me too far away from this family after training. Armenia is small but BIG! It would suck to live so far from them!

They don’t have liquid gas gas, they have actual air gas gas! Their car runs on the air gas?? Everyone has to get out of the car, the car has to be completely turned off, and the “gas” (or whatever it is) goes in through the trunk of the car in this little tube. It takes a long time too, but apparently it’s really cheap and goes for a long time.

My Sunday surprise this week was apple crumble! I bought ingredients from the market and Kate and I made baked a delicious (super sweet ><) apple crumble! They don’t have brown sugar in Armenia so that’s why it was way too sweet, but it didn’t turn out so bad and I bought ice cream to go with it so it went pretty well. I really hate watching people eat food I make haha I need to marry a man who will cook for me cause I can eat anything, I just can’t stand eating my own food in front of others… it’s weird, I know.

June 16, 2012 (Saturday)

OUR PAVEMENT IS FINISHED! “VAERCH!” It’s amazing what the men here can do, especially compared to the men in America. I think after living in Armenia for two years my standards will be so much higher of men than it used to. I think I’ll expect men to be too handy dandy… way beyond “American man standards” haha

Anyways, COWS SCARE THE POOPERS OUT OF ME! When they’re far away I’m super interested and it looks cool, but when they’re anywhere close to me I get spooked and feel like they’re going to charge. That’s another video I have to show you!  

I went to a couple villages over to the city of Abovian by the bus system they have here and ended up going to a café with some other Peace Corps volunteers with my brother and two of his Armenian girl friends. Afterwards we headed out to this famous church with some amazing craftwork. Apparently this really rich Armenian guy’s daughter is going to get married in it in a few months so they’re fixing it up. When we got there it was closed but my brother talked with the security guard and since we were Americans he let us in and was more than happy to spend time with us “Americans” haha . IT WAS GORGEOUS. I love everything about this country. I can’t say enough how lucky I’ve been and I can’t wait for this training service to be over in another two months and finally start my two years of service here in Armenia. 

June 15, 2012 

I should NOT have said what I said yesterday. I come home and find this man and my two brothers getting ready to kill our second and last fat pig. And of course, being as curious as I am I had to sort of kind of watch … ahhh!

They took a rope, went inside the pen, chased the pig for a good couple minutes, tied the top of his mouth and his tail, walked him out, tied him to a tree, and then… I turned my head, screamed, and did the whole girly thing. I could hear the squeals, shrieks, and then silence. My brothers kept saying “ari ari” meaning “come come” but goodness I was clutched up next to my mother and she just kept telling me it’s nothing and that it doesn’t hurt, “vocheenj, chae heevaund.”

Again… cutting, skinning, cleaning, bagging, and selling of this poor huge fat pig. That was the end of it.

I guess on a brighter note, I had some really good BBQ “horovauts” and the baby pigs get to see sunlight for the first time soon! They’ve been kept inside since they were born and have never been out! I can’t wait to help bring them outside to their new outdoor pen (still sad, but I’m trying to see it positively).

Random fact I just learned from my sister: you have to be baptized three days before your wedding and for those three days after you are baptized you can’t shower. Then you shower the day of your wedding! Kind of interesting I guess. Also, if you’re pregnant you can’t go to church apparently? That’s what I understood from what my sister was telling me.

June 14, 2012 

We had a “Central Day” today where we (A-20’s) got to meet the A-19 group and got to play flag football with them. It was exciting to see how excited they were to see us! Haha they really wanted to get to know us, hang out with us, answer all our questions, and be somewhat of our mentors since they’ve been here for about a year now. It was really encouraging to see how enthusiastic they were to be with us.

So that was all fun and games… then on another note, I come home and…

There’s a dead pig in our garden… blood and cut-up pig limbs all over the place. These men from the capital city, Yerevan, came to buy our pig cause it’s from a village and is super fresh and “juicy” apparently. Then my brother would taxi them back for less than $20 when it’s like an hour away, but that’s a lot of money here. My sister said they get a lot of money for one pig. And let me tell you, this pig was HUGE, so I’m sure they really got their moneys worth.

Later, instead of feeding me the actual meat of the pig, they fed me its heart and lung in a sort of stew haha eeeks not really my “cup of tea.”  I had a tiny piece and ate other things instead. But I did get to watch my mom cut the meat and it was really scary! I’ll try uploading the video of it later, but she basically took this knife and this hammer-like tool and hammered into this meat and its bones and everything. It really was an interesting sight! You had to be there.

Last note, I’m really glad I didn’t see the pig get killed. Would’ve been traumatized.

June 11, 2012

My one brother went to wash the car at the football field, because water from home is apparently really expensive, and he came home with about 20 bug bites all over his back! Eeeks! My other brother came back from working and had a swollen hand from a bee sting! They both acted like it was no big deal and I offered ointment but neither wanted any haha these boys, I swear! He said bee stings are good and that it doesn’t hurt at all, and that in fact they’re actually good for your body cause it helps the blood circulation. Really? I mean, either way, his hand was SWOLLEN, but he could care less haha

I got one bug bite so far and it’s basically by my butt, WHAT THE HECK?! Haha I wear long pants all the time, how in the world does that happen…

June 10, 2012

Thank God It’s Sunday! My only day off of the week! Woke-up late, did my first batch of laundry (which it was super awkward to have to hang-dry my undies >< haha), did homework in the garden, and got ready for my first day out of the village with my family!

Went to a church named Hor Virap that looks over the Turkey-Armenia border today! ANDDDDD sort of/kind of saw NOAH’S ARK LANDING! Although technically it’s now in Turkey (bad Turkey!), Armenian’s still consider it their own and it was so good to see their pride in it. The church was BEAUTIFUL and I got to see a wonderful view of Ararat Mountains.

My mom and sister packed a picnic for our family and we met-up with another Peace Corps volunteer’s family, Marisa’s family. It took us about 40 minutes to go through Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, and go all the way to the Ararat Mountains. My dad loves his loud music haha it was even better when a Selena Gomez song came up and I got to sing along to it and explain that Justin Bieber was her boyfriend (because apparently he’s quite famous here too haha) his name was carved in the walls at my school with a heart next to it HAHA.

As you can see in the pictures, the view was just breath-taking and the Ararat Mountains are super high! 5165 meters high! (Sorry, can’t calculate that for you, but it’s HIGH! You can see the snow at the top).

We went down into this tiny little underground cave(?) Not really sure how to describe it, but anyways, the story about this deep down tomb type of thing is that this man, whom they consider a Saint, was the first man to bring Christianity to Armenia. At the time, he was not allowed to be Christian or say he was, but he did anyway so they put him in this deep hole for 8 years as punishment and only gave him this tiny peephole of sunlight way at the top. The only way he survived was because this woman would drop down water and food down the little peephole for him, and of course, he had God watching over him. After 8 years, the King or someone (?) released him and realized that he survived and that maybe God was real, and then VOILA! Christianity became Armenia’s religion and Armenia was basically THE FIRST country to adopt Christianity AGES ago. COOL, RIGHT?!

Afterwards, we went to this real pretty fish restaurant and had a picnic in one of their outdoor rooms. I had a beer with my dad and had to “cheers” every time I took a sip from it cause the Armenian’s really like their cheers.

Had a perfect Sunday. Came home. Skyped with my parents and friends! Then went to bed happy J

June 9, 2012

Welcome my new baby boy “pbo-pbo”! (‘Kiss’ in Korean). He’s only about 12 days old now and I watched him grow from Day 1. His eyes only started opening about a day or two ago and he is just THE most darling thing keeping me sane from all the studying. He sleeps in my hands and when my brothers try to touch him he hates it ^^ YESSSS. Womanly power.

Took the Marshutini for the first time today! They have this “van” system you can take from town to town for less than 25 cents and people just love to squish all up in them haha in a van for maybe 12 people they fit about 20 HAHA can you imagine?! It felt like Mongolia all over again J Anyways, my friends and I took the Marshutini to a couple towns over and got to buy a bunch of items today. I got to finally buy some toothpaste, shampoo, and art supplies! I planned to make dinner for my family tonight so I bought a cake as well and was super excited to go home and make Curry Rice J

Making curry was no easy task with my lack of cooking skills as well as the lack of good quality cooking materials, I guess you could say. Peeling potatoes and carrots never took me so long and getting a gas stove on was never so frustrating! I even called Ester this morning to make sure I knew how to cook curry correctly haha that was the only reason I made a call to the US … to make sure I knew how to make something as simple as curry haha L

I hate watching people eat anything I make … it’s just a “thing” of mine. I can only enjoy my cooking when it’s just for me ONLY haha anyways, I finished the curry and fed my mom, dad, sister, 2 brothers, 2 cousins, and 2 friends! I really REALLY hope they enjoyed it. Other than my 2 friends no one else ever had curry before and curry is a very “one-way-or-the-other” kind of food. They kept saying “shaut hau-mauv, après” meaning “it’s really good, good job,” but I just got shy and my ears turned red, like usual
-___-  haha. Then we had the cake and my mom & sister asked me why I bought it and I said “inchoo-vouche?” They laughed and were surprised I knew how to say something like “why not?” (I was proud of myself hehe) “Yes siroomem eem euntaneek” ~ “I like my family” <3

Anyways, tomorrow is my one-day of the week off and I can’t wait to wake-up later than 7am, finally do my first batch of laundry, and have a picnic with my family in the mountains later.

June 5, 2012

My brother took us rollerblading today! I had the impression he was going to take us somewhere where they have a roller rink or some sort of flat area, but no, we started driving out and he just stopped on the side of the road where it was sort of better paved and had us skate there! Haha. It was fun nonetheless. I don’t think I’ve rollerbladed since I was like 10 years old. The skates were a bit big, but I can’t complain cause we got to skate next to cows and sheep! Haha when can you ever say you rollerbladed with cows and sheep?!

Afterwards, my friend Trevor happened to see us and invited us to his family’s new restaurant right around the corner. We got there and were offered a beer and ice cream haha great combo. I had a sip of beer and gave the rest to my brother. Then we saw more cows and a lonely donkey pass by. I got to pet the donkey. They all kept telling me to sit on it and I wasn’t sure why, but later I found that sitting on a donkey is good luck and it says you will get married soon or something… haha apparently I should be getting married soon ><

All in all, it was a great ending to a long day of school!

June 1, 2012

I had the previous volunteer who lived in my home stay family come visit today. Her name is Ashley and she’s been in Armenia for about a year now. A couple funny things I realized when she was over was that

1. She really helped me out in a sense that she showed my family a lot of “American ways” and how we like our space, our showers, and that we don’t like a gallon of oil or salt on our food. Also she really helped soften them in the area of letting me help them in the house like putting my own dishes away or helping with dinner and doing my own laundry, etc. Armenia is a very “let me do everything for you cause you’re the guest” culture and they go to extremes to make sure you have it ALL.

2. It was funny to see that she was able to wash-up in like two seconds and jumped right into bed with the same clothes she came here with! Haha no need to change pants or shirt and just comfortably slept in what she had. She laughed and said I would get used to it and would have to sooner or later especially if I want to travel light haha she wore basically the same things the next day except with a flannel shirt on top haha love it.

3. Lastly, I was really encouraged because she said my Armenian was really coming along and that when she first started learning it was such a pain and that she could only speak a few words here and there for the first couple weeks. I guess I’m not as terrible as I think I am in language! It’s just a lot to take in for a short period of time and classes almost every single day is such a drag! BUT the teachers are really great and again, like I said, I can’t believe I can speak as much as I can, read and write a little, etc… it really is amazing.

Today it will have to be bullet points. Haven't had much time to write ....

* Hilary Clinton came to Armenia!
* The US Ambassador came to speak to us for an hour. That was cool (?)
* I went rollerblading on a street next to hills, cows, and sheep.
* I pet a donkey and if you sit on one it's apparently good luck... but I did not do that.
* My Armenian is surprisingly sort of coming along. Yay me.
         [This is how you say Thank You: "shno-la-ka-loot-syoon." Long right?!]
* I saw a baby calf who was less than 24 hours old. SO CUTE.
* Saw a fish get beat-up... then ate it.
* My sister and I made a pizza with bread, ketchup, cheese, meat, and veggies. (pic to come)
* Played soccer or "football" with the kids who beat the crap outta me.
* My middle brother's leaving to Russia for work in a few days. SAD! :(

THE END! Til next time :)

May 31, 2012

I was walking to school, which is only a 3-4 minute walk, but my brother happened to be driving out so he drove me to the front of school where we were all meeting, I come out and all my peers say “whoa, little miss princess rolling up in a Benz” haha we have a Mercedes tehehe J Now I’m picked on for being the “princess.” The End.

May 30, 2012

My parents own a market (“hanoot”) down the street and our class had a homework assignment to find market items and ask how much they are so I brought all my peers to the market and my mom was more than happy to help us. She kissed me goodbye when we were done and ONLY me so I felt super special ^^

My new friends and I started to take 30 minute walks in the morning just to get some fresh air and some English in our systems haha it gets stressful being silent and unable to have conversations for a whole day! The first morning we went to the “left” of town and saw just endless fields of green and lots of cow poop on the streets. The next morning we went to the “right” of town and found this graveyard with an old grandpa guarding it. He came up to us and asked if we’re the Americans, we said yes, he looked at me and said “chae Americatsi” meaning I’m not American, so I said “yes Koreatsi-em” à “I am Korean” and he looked so much more satisfied HAHA then he kept saying I was Buddhist, but I assured him I was Christian and even gestured a cross… he was insisting I was Buddhist even after all my words and gestures… apparently Asians have to be Buddhist? HAHA it’s cool~!

We get a lot of “what-the-heck-are-these-girls-doing” looks when we take our walks cause Armenians don’t really “exercise” or “take walks,” but these walks have really helped us bond and get our morning “health” walks in before our long language classes so we have decided to make them a daily thing J

This is what I see five minutes from my house! BEAUTY. pure beauty.

May 29, 2012

I WAS WRONG. We don’t have a dog, a cat, and a rabbit… we have a dog, a cat, about TEN rabbits including two GIGANTIC mama & papa rabbits, two grown pigs, two piglets, two doves, and a bunch of chickens/hens. SUPER AWESOME! (*cough* Dasom be jealous! *cough*) I even got to get our morning eggs from the hens right from the nests (do you call them nest? I’m not sure haha)!

Trevor and the kid rabbits. Big papa rabbit on bottom left (HE'S HUGE). baby piglets on top right. and Gucci on bottom right!  love that dog. I miss my Romeo! 

                                  

I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M LEARNING ANOTHER LANGUAGE. It’s been fun but frustrating feeling like I can’t speak with my family or have deep conversations with my sister. Gestures and one-word answers just don’t get you far! I must say dinners have been quiet… But this is me complaining when I have NO RIGHT to whine! I really have the best of situations and OF COURSE language is going to be tough! Who was I kidding?! Like my new mom keeps telling me, “one month, you will be good.” I want to believe her! I just can’t wait to get there…

Papa told me today he wants me to eat a lot so I can tell my real papa back home that I am being well-fed haha isn’t that the sweetest?! He came back home later with a handful of yellow and purple flowers for me… took out a knife from his pocket, cut the bottom of the bouquet, and put them in a glass of water so I could put them in my room. I really feel like the princess J He went to the mountains with my uncle and aunt to pick these special herbs and greens for food and tea and said he thought of me when he saw the flowers. Papa is hardly at home cause he’s always at work, but when I see him every morning before I wash-up he says “Balee-louise” and “Vonts-aek?”… “Good Morning! How are you/sleep well?” Our conversations have been short, but he tries so hard to have conversations, jokes with me, and stuffs me up with lots of food!

Flowers on my drawers from my papa :) 

My sister and I did our nails together while listening to Rihanna and Eminem on my laptop today haha apparently Armenians are really into Eminem and Tupac haha. Anyways, as I was doing her nails, I realized all her fingers were callused and her hands worn… she is only 22 and the youngest of 3 and yet has to do all the household chores… culture shock?!? I think YES. The girls in an Armenian family are responsible for most or all household chores: cooking, cleaning, laundry, sewing, serving, guests, etc etc. The boys of the family work outside but when they’re home they have no responsibilities. If they need their socks from their room they’ll ask the girl to go get them. Things like that are somewhat similar to the American culture where little siblings are bossed around to do things by older siblings, but it is so much more intense here and in a very different perspective.

First day in my village. My mama and sister took me to this small church thing on top of the mountain. 

I still can’t believe I’m here! And I still can’t believe I can shower tomorrow morning! Who knew I would be so lucky as to shower whenever I want?! I even brought dry shampoo thinking I would be in desperate need of my hair looking somewhat decent haha but like I said… this is an easy transition. My situation won’t nearly be as nice after my training haha

May 28, 2012  HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY! 

Aren't they the greatest <3 

I’m in the “Princess House!”

When I got the names of my host family there were rumors going around that my house was like the “princess house” and that my family was super sweet and the mother spoke very slow and clearly so we could understand better.

THEY WEREN’T RUMORS! All true. I really do live in THE Princess House and my host mom is the most precious of all moms! BE JEALOUS. I have a grandma and grandpa who live next door, a mom, a dad, one sister who is 22, one brother who is 24, and another brother who’s 25. And guess what?! I’m 23! Isn’t that perfect?!         

22, 23, 24, 25. IT WAS MEANT TO BE.

I complete this little sequence of theirs J I only hope I’m worthy enough to be a part of this family and to live like the princess they have been treating me as. My grandma took my face and kissed me! She took my hand and just kept looking at me with a smile… we couldn’t say a word to each other, but it was such a warm feeling.

We had SO MUCH FUN doing these. Mama told me she has never laughed this much :) 

After a 40 minute “marshutini” van ride my group of 12 trainees finally made it to our NEW HOME for the next 3 months. When we made it to our school all of our host families were waiting outside for us with anxious smiles, excitement, and even some with flowers and balloons! We found our families, went our separate ways, and our journeys began!

I came to this brick wall house with a bunch of gardens in the back not knowing what to expect and when I stepped inside I thought to myself, “this can’t be real.” I never thought I was signing up for such luxury! There’s no way I get my own padded bed, closet, desk, and hot-water-no-hole-in-the-ground-toilet bathroom!

WHAT THE HEEZY?!

I almost feel like I’m cheating something. Don’t get me wrong! I love it. But this really wasn’t what I was expecting! I had so many images in my mind and this didn’t even come close! But then again, who knows, after my 3 months training when I have to move out and go to my permanent village of 2 years, it might be a different story. Most volunteers live in places with no electricity, hot water, or actual toilets haha that’s where the real crazy fun begins :p

Anyways, I have a pet dog named Gucci outside and a cat from Russia named Kooka inside. We also have a white rabbit with HUGE ears I can’t remember the name of. I can’t wait to bond with my sister like a best friend especially since we’re basically the same age. My mom and dad seem very happy and try everything they can to talk to me (with hand gestures). My brothers smoke outside for my sake even though smoking inside is the norm! Neighbors came from all around to say hi to me like I was some “prize” haha. THIS WILL BE GREAT.

Now if only I can become fluent in Armenian by tomorrow… that would be great J

All the kids haha so cute