Site Visit
I just spent the last five days at my permanent placement site. I had asked for a small village, and I got a really small village. There are only 125 families in the village. It’s on the side of a mountain, 5 ½ kilometers up the mountain from the nearest town. The views are spectacular. From the one side of the house there is a gorgeous view of Mt. Hustrup. While the land is quite rugged, there is a certain serenity about the village. The people work hard to grow some vegetables and raise some animals. They are very proud of their village and don’t go down to the town very often, only for necessity.
The family I’ll be living with has 3 young boys, ages 4, 10 and 13. They are really nice, not as outgoing as the family I’m living with now, but very hospitable. Their house is near the center of the village and about a 10 minute walk to the school. The school is also very small, with only 50 students, grades 1 through 11. The school only has 6 rooms, so they are on a split session, with some going 8:30 to 12; and the others 12:30 to 3:30. However, they do have 4 computers with one of them connected to the internet, so I will have access to the internet on a daily basis.
My counterpart, the teacher I’ll be working with, is really nice. Taguhie is about 28 and has been at this school for 5 years. She actually grew up in the village. I don’t think we’ll have any problems working together. The school director (principal) is probably in her early 50s, and she’s the one who brought in the computers and new desks. I met with her on Saturday morning and she even let me use the internet that day. They don’t have a lot of new materials or resource books, though. Their “library” is in a storage cabinet in the hallway. There supposedly is a publishing that will mail me a shipment of books each year I’m here. I have to research that further.
Currently, there are 4 other volunteers in the nearby town. One of them will be leaving the end of this month, having completed her two years. Barbara, one of the one’s staying, is also an English teacher. On Friday, Shannon and I went to the camp she and her counterpart ran last week. It was at a school and the kids had sessions in English, ecology, psychology, writing, and sports. Barbara made a video of their activities and showed it to the parents who came to the closing ceremony. It was neat to see how excited they all were and how well they speak English. This was one of Barbara’s secondary projects. I’m glad Barbara will be here another year because she has some great ideas and is fun to be with. We went to her apartment for dinner that night and then I took a taxi up the mountain.
I walked back down to town Saturday afternoon to meet up with the other Peace Corps volunteers. It was interesting and very informative to listen to their stories and experiences. Since Barbara is my age it was especially helpful to hear how she has adjusted and how she’s doing with the language. I’m sure I will have many more sessions with Barbara and the other PCVs.
Sunday I spent on the mountain trying to get my bearings in the village. The two older boys in the family, David and Narek, took me on a hike in the morning. We went up this nearby hill to where there’s a radio tower and could over look the whole valley below. It was awesome. On the way down, we met a mother and 3 young children having a picnic. David helped her make a fire so she and I could have coffee. I’m learning to drink the coffee here, I put a piece chocolate in my mouth while I sip it. It cuts down on the bitterness of it. It was nice to meet someone else from the village and talk to some of the kids. After lunch, David and Narek took me down to the river, so they could go swimming. The river starts up in the mountains and is really the rain and snow runoff. There is a “swimming hole” at one point and while they went in I sat in the shade. It was probably a good 2 mile hike to this spot. After a while they decided to go to another spot and so we took off. At one point we had to cross the river, but there was no bridge. So I rolled up my pant legs, took off my sneakers and socks, and waded across. The water was freezing, but felt refreshing. I think the boys may be part mountain goat, the way they were jumping from rock to rock going up and down the mountain. And they seem to think I am too! Luckily at the first swimming hole a local man came along with a walking stick. At first he reminded me of the grandfather in “Heidi”, and he stood on this rock and started singing. When he saw how gingerly I was making my way from rock to rock, he gave me his walking stick. Chivalry is still alive and well!
All in all it was a very good visit. I know I will get to do a lot of walking and hiking, so I won’t have to worry about gaining weight. This family’s house has a wonderful patio, where we spent most nights until dark, which was about 10 PM. I am excited about my placement and anxious to start teaching and living there, in less than 6 weeks. For now it’s back to 4 hour language lessons every day, and practice teaching.
Tuesday
We had an all day conference with our counterparts today. Most of the Armenian English teachers have not worked with Peace Corps volunteers before, so they are as nervous as we are about all this. There was a lot of information given out today, so I’m glad we have a few weeks to digest it. We collaborated on a lesson plan and that went really well.
The village I’m going to was supposed to get a TEFL last year, but he left training after the site visit. So they are nervous about my doing the same. I assured her today, that I will be back in the village in August and they will have me for 2 years.