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 

Our LAST NIGHT! before we all separate into our own host families. How exciting and intimidating all at the same time! It really all begins tomorrow...

We have been prepared, told what to expect (sort of haha), and are ready to pack-up, AGAIN, and move into our new homes with new families for the next 3 months! We have had only two language classes so far and yet we will be dropped off to our new homes tomorrow afternoon and will live with an Armenian family in our villages during our Pre-Service Training (PST). How in the world am I going to say ANYTHING to them?! I love getting to know people and finding out about their lives and what they're interested in, but I have a strong feeling there will be a lot of silence, hand gestures, and maybe even some miming going on tomorrow for dinner haha GOTTA LOVE IT! Like Peace Corps says, we gotta be flexible!

Just a few interesting facts they taught us about Armenian families today:

~ Children are THE center of attention in the Armenian family. I will be considered a child of this family. Therefore I'll be getting TONS of attention (which I'm used to HAHA just kidding :p)
~ No shoes in the house, no flip flops to work, no laying on top of bed covers, no jackets or jeans on bed.
~ I will be fed A LOT. If my plate is slightly empty, it will be filled. If I say I'm not hungry, my plate will be piled on with food. If I'm on the table for dinner, there WILL be a shot glass filled with vodka... ARMENIAN vodka... very strong potent stuff that you ALL know I can't handle haha
~ You can't wave or talk for long periods of time to the opposite sex in public or it will be considered taboo... or they'll assume "something else."

There were loads more that we learned but those were the few that stuck out to me. I'll let you all know more about my family and village and situation as soon as I figure it out! I can't wait to tell you all about it. For now, I will leave you with a picture of my dear family back home cause starting tomorrow I will be a part of another family! hehe
I CAN'T WAIT

Me, Mom, Dad, Lil' Sis Jeanie, my baby Romeo.
(Yes, I had long hair. Always did except for now!... Armenia will soon see it that long again!)
 I LOVE YOU FAMILY YU!  I'll jump back into this family 2 years later! hehe

WELCOME TO ARMENIA!

We arrive at the airport at 4:30am and Peace Corps staff were waiting outside with signs for us, a huge shuttle, and a truck for all of our luggage haha. LOTS OF LUGGAGE.

They take us to the ruins of Zvartnots Cathedral from the 17th c. AD to see the sunrise at this breathtakingly beautiful historic location, have breakfast, and meet all of our new PC staff.

It was dark for a good while before the sun rose haha it was way too early.
See the sun rising on the top right?! Those are the Mountains of Ararat in Turkey... which they stole from Armenia :(

We were tired, cold, excited, in awe, nervous, and a bunch of other emotions all at once, but we all had this adrenalin rush and just had a good time while enjoying the view. For Example.... lol

New friends. Such blessings.
We went down to the torture chambers underground haha funnn
Top left: David's "myspace picture" which I called "FOB picture" haha
Bottom Left: my first roommate Marisa who is just so darling!

We got back onto the shuttle after a few shpeels here and there and headed off to resorts somewhere about an hour away. Blah blah blah blah blah. Food here is GREAT. Instead of losing weight, I think I will be gaining according to the Armenians and PCV's already here... haha SAD. I got placed into a village of 5 villages with 12 other trainees. I will be in small village and with 3 wonderful teachers (Hasmik, Anna, and Inga) who will help us, train us, teach us, and be with us for the whole 3 months of training in our village. I've been told I will be living with a host family on my own and they will most likely have children! Yipee. Just what I wanted. We had our first language class today for just an hour and learned all about safety, health, and what to expect.

Alright, well it's way past my bedtime. I am exactly 12 hours ahead of y'all so my 8pm is your 8am haha Okay! One last picture :)

The view outside our resort. All mountains. All green. Such beauty.
(NOTE: Thanks David for letting me steal all your pics AGAIN!)

May 23-25 shuttle, flight, layover, flight, shuttle, ARMENIA!

After a long two days we finally arrived in Armenia. An hour shuttle ride to the airport from our hotel in Washington D.C., 4 hours in the airport, 12 hour flight to Vienna, 14 hour layover in a day hotel, another 3 hours in the airport, 3 hour flight to Armenia, FINALLY a 1 hour shuttle ride to our hotel! Kind of intense, huh?! haha but we all made it safely and we were all so enthusiastic about finally arriving that we clapped as the plane landed. It was 4:30am, most of us haven't showered or slept in basically two days and we were clapping with excitement!

Here's a little bit of what I saw in Vienna, Austria for the 14 hours I was there... well, technically only about 6 hours or so because airport security takes FOREVER and etc etc, BUT I did have time to explore Vienna for a bit and it was GORGEOUS. The buildings, sculptures, gardens, museums, streets, ahhhh <3

A few snapshots of this beautiful city.  And of course I took a few polaroids, but I'll have to post that next time.

In the city we got to explore for a few hours in Vienna we saw this astounding "show?" I can't explain it, I don't know how it was done, but my mouth was WIDE open for about 5 minutes and we all stood there trying to figure it out haha take a look for yourself! My friend took pictures from all angles :)

No string, no wire, no mirrors... just floating in the air with ease. FLOATING! Real people too. No fakes. He was blinking and smiling and everything. Explainable?! You tell me...

We didn't all go out and explore Vienna because we were kind of told not to... but how can you not when you're IN Vienna and have more than half a day to venture out?! haha so here we were, we figured out how to take a subway train kind of thing, and we just walked around the main city for a few hours together and took lots of pictures !

We had a map, exchanged some money, went out, and explored the city.
Oh, and I stole all these pictures from others :)

So much to share but I just feel like it's IMPOSSIBLE for me to really share all and have you feel or read or see what I'm feeling and seeing and experiencing!

I will try my best. I miss you all. I love that I'm able to do this and really try and share my experiences with you all. This might be the most I will be able to do for a while, but I will definitely at least try to write little snippets here and there whenever I can ^^

Staging in Washington D.C. from May 21-22 ...

My first night in D.C. and my first time in D.C! Flew in okay, hauled my luggage to a shuttle just fine, found my way to the hotel easily, and got help to my room with no problem! I even gave tip like a pro. It was GREAT. About an hour after I arrive to my room, my roommate and fellow Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) for the next two nights came in and we just bonded so swimmingly ^^

Her name is Marisa, she has 2 sons and 8 grandchildren! She used to live in Burlingame on Trousdale Drive in the 1980's while her son attended Mills High School! Isn't that crazy?! What a small flippin' world! I just wasn't born yet while she was there HAHA I was just so happy to have a connection with her and she was just such a great blessing and a perfect partner to start this new adventure with. She has wanted to join the Peace Corps since she first heard about it when she was in college so this was a big deal for her and she just kept telling me about how commendable I was for wanting to do this now in my lifetime. Her encouragements were just so comforting to hear and it really put me at peace. 

Staging began the next morning. Papers papers PAPERS to finalize myself as a PCV and then hours of orientation and getting to know each other. It was tiring and a lot of "extrovertedness" that I haven't done in a while, but it was so worth it and so good to know that almost everyone was as lost as I was and didn't study any Armenian either! :) 

Here are my fellow 43 PCV's that I will be training with for the next 3 months and serving with in Armenia for the 2 years afterwards. We're such a diverse group of people of all ages, ethnicities, talents, etc from all over the U.S!

A-20's Group. The 20th group to serve in Armenia for the Peace Corps! 43 volunteers.

We are all ready for this new turn in life and we can't wait to get trained and use our knowledge, skills, and passion for two years to serve the Armenian peoples. 

Experimental.

Cool! Thanks to my cousin Alex I am able to create this blog.
blah blah blah etc etc etc


daddy. mommy. me. SF Twin Peaks! <3