Friday, July 31, 2009

Thursday, July 30, 2009
Yesterday we found out that 2 of us are leaving the Peace Corps. While we’ve only been together for 2 months, it’s amazing how close you can become in that short space of time. There has been a bond formed by all of us, even those we don’t know that well. We’ve been going through a tough, but amazing experience in our training, an experience that few others go through. So when 2 leave the group, it makes a difference.
Neither one of the two live in the same village as I do, nor are they in the same sector as I am. Yet I would see them on central days and occasionally talk to them. I do remember spending one evening with them having coffee at a house across the street from the hotel we first stayed at. None of us spoke Armenian at that point, but it was a good experience and one we laughed about later on.
In a way it was good that yesterday was a central day, so we were all together and found out together. We had the chance to say goodbye to them, and to process the whole thing. Some of course were closer to them than others, but it still has an impact on us all. For me, it made me re-think my decision to join the Peace Corps, and reaffirm my decision to stay in Armenia. I admire the two of them for having the courage, first of all to join the Peace Corps, and then to leave when they knew it wasn’t for them. While they are each going their separate ways, I think they will always be a part of us.
We’ve finished our second week of model school, which was another good, but challenging experience. Going from the oldest to the youngest students was a hard switch. While they understand some English, their speaking ability is much less. We were able to play some games with them to reinforce the lessons, which was fun. Next week we switch to the middle age group.
At this point there is also a lot of paperwork to finish up with. Most of it is to check that we’ve been trying to integrate into our communities and sectors. Some is to see if we’ve understood what we’ve been taught in our tech sessions. With lesson planning and language lessons, it’s just very time consuming to add one more thing to the mix. But it will get done.
We have our last language proficiency interview two days before swearing-in, which is on August 13. We are supposed to reach a certain level of proficiency, which I think I’m at. It definitely is harder to learn a language the older you are. My mouth just doesn’t want to move in certain ways to form certain sounds. Our language teachers are being very good about scheduling individual lessons to help us review what we each need. In a way I’ll be glad to get the LPI over with.
For those of you who I gave my address to, check with your post office for the proper way to write the address. Most times you use the correct form for the country from which you are sending it.

Thursday, July 30, 2009
Yesterday we found out that 2 of us are leaving the Peace Corps. While we’ve only been together for 2 months, it’s amazing how close you can become in that short space of time. There has been a bond formed by all of us, even those we don’t know that well. We’ve been going through a tough, but amazing experience in our training, an experience that few others go through. So when 2 leave the group, it makes a difference.
Neither one of the two live in the same village as I do, nor are they in the same sector as I am. Yet I would see them on central days and occasionally talk to them. I do remember spending one evening with them having coffee at a house across the street from the hotel we first stayed at. None of us spoke Armenian at that point, but it was a good experience and one we laughed about later on.
In a way it was good that yesterday was a central day, so we were all together and found out together. We had the chance to say goodbye to them, and to process the whole thing. Some of course were closer to them than others, but it still has an impact on us all. For me, it made me re-think my decision to join the Peace Corps, and reaffirm my decision to stay in Armenia. I admire the two of them for having the courage, first of all to join the Peace Corps, and then to leave when they knew it wasn’t for them. While they are each going their separate ways, I think they will always be a part of us.
We’ve finished our second week of model school, which was another good, but challenging experience. Going from the oldest to the youngest students was a hard switch. While they understand some English, their speaking ability is much less. We were able to play some games with them to reinforce the lessons, which was fun. Next week we switch to the middle age group.
At this point there is also a lot of paperwork to finish up with. Most of it is to check that we’ve been trying to integrate into our communities and sectors. Some is to see if we’ve understood what we’ve been taught in our tech sessions. With lesson planning and language lessons, it’s just very time consuming to add one more thing to the mix. But it will get done.
We have our last language proficiency interview two days before swearing-in, which is on August 13. We are supposed to reach a certain level of proficiency, which I think I’m at. It definitely is harder to learn a language the older you are. My mouth just doesn’t want to move in certain ways to form certain sounds. Our language teachers are being very good about scheduling individual lessons to help us review what we each need. In a way I’ll be glad to get the LPI over with.
For those of you who I gave my address to, check with your post office for the proper way to write the address. Most times you use the correct form for the country from which you are sending it.

Thursday, July 30, 2009
Yesterday we found out that 2 of us are leaving the Peace Corps. While we’ve only been together for 2 months, it’s amazing how close you can become in that short space of time. There has been a bond formed by all of us, even those we don’t know that well. We’ve been going through a tough, but amazing experience in our training, an experience that few others go through. So when 2 leave the group, it makes a difference.
Neither one of the two live in the same village as I do, nor are they in the same sector as I am. Yet I would see them on central days and occasionally talk to them. I do remember spending one evening with them having coffee at a house across the street from the hotel we first stayed at. None of us spoke Armenian at that point, but it was a good experience and one we laughed about later on.
In a way it was good that yesterday was a central day, so we were all together and found out together. We had the chance to say goodbye to them, and to process the whole thing. Some of course were closer to them than others, but it still has an impact on us all. For me, it made me re-think my decision to join the Peace Corps, and reaffirm my decision to stay in Armenia. I admire the two of them for having the courage, first of all to join the Peace Corps, and then to leave when they knew it wasn’t for them. While they are each going their separate ways, I think they will always be a part of us.
We’ve finished our second week of model school, which was another good, but challenging experience. Going from the oldest to the youngest students was a hard switch. While they understand some English, their speaking ability is much less. We were able to play some games with them to reinforce the lessons, which was fun. Next week we switch to the middle age group.
At this point there is also a lot of paperwork to finish up with. Most of it is to check that we’ve been trying to integrate into our communities and sectors. Some is to see if we’ve understood what we’ve been taught in our tech sessions. With lesson planning and language lessons, it’s just very time consuming to add one more thing to the mix. But it will get done.
We have our last language proficiency interview two days before swearing-in, which is on August 13. We are supposed to reach a certain level of proficiency, which I think I’m at. It definitely is harder to learn a language the older you are. My mouth just doesn’t want to move in certain ways to form certain sounds. Our language teachers are being very good about scheduling individual lessons to help us review what we each need. In a way I’ll be glad to get the LPI over with.
For those of you who I gave my address to, check with your post office for the proper way to write the address. Most times you use the correct form for the country from which you are sending it.

Thursday, July 30, 2009
Yesterday we found out that 2 of us are leaving the Peace Corps. While we’ve only been together for 2 months, it’s amazing how close you can become in that short space of time. There has been a bond formed by all of us, even those we don’t know that well. We’ve been going through a tough, but amazing experience in our training, an experience that few others go through. So when 2 leave the group, it makes a difference.
Neither one of the two live in the same village as I do, nor are they in the same sector as I am. Yet I would see them on central days and occasionally talk to them. I do remember spending one evening with them having coffee at a house across the street from the hotel we first stayed at. None of us spoke Armenian at that point, but it was a good experience and one we laughed about later on.
In a way it was good that yesterday was a central day, so we were all together and found out together. We had the chance to say goodbye to them, and to process the whole thing. Some of course were closer to them than others, but it still has an impact on us all. For me, it made me re-think my decision to join the Peace Corps, and reaffirm my decision to stay in Armenia. I admire the two of them for having the courage, first of all to join the Peace Corps, and then to leave when they knew it wasn’t for them. While they are each going their separate ways, I think they will always be a part of us.
We’ve finished our second week of model school, which was another good, but challenging experience. Going from the oldest to the youngest students was a hard switch. While they understand some English, their speaking ability is much less. We were able to play some games with them to reinforce the lessons, which was fun. Next week we switch to the middle age group.
At this point there is also a lot of paperwork to finish up with. Most of it is to check that we’ve been trying to integrate into our communities and sectors. Some is to see if we’ve understood what we’ve been taught in our tech sessions. With lesson planning and language lessons, it’s just very time consuming to add one more thing to the mix. But it will get done.
We have our last language proficiency interview two days before swearing-in, which is on August 13. We are supposed to reach a certain level of proficiency, which I think I’m at. It definitely is harder to learn a language the older you are. My mouth just doesn’t want to move in certain ways to form certain sounds. Our language teachers are being very good about scheduling individual lessons to help us review what we each need. In a way I’ll be glad to get the LPI over with.
For those of you who I gave my address to, check with your post office for the proper way to write the address. Most times you use the correct form for the country from which you are sending it.

Thursday, July 30, 2009
Yesterday we found out that 2 of us are leaving the Peace Corps. While we’ve only been together for 2 months, it’s amazing how close you can become in that short space of time. There has been a bond formed by all of us, even those we don’t know that well. We’ve been going through a tough, but amazing experience in our training, an experience that few others go through. So when 2 leave the group, it makes a difference.
Neither one of the two live in the same village as I do, nor are they in the same sector as I am. Yet I would see them on central days and occasionally talk to them. I do remember spending one evening with them having coffee at a house across the street from the hotel we first stayed at. None of us spoke Armenian at that point, but it was a good experience and one we laughed about later on.
In a way it was good that yesterday was a central day, so we were all together and found out together. We had the chance to say goodbye to them, and to process the whole thing. Some of course were closer to them than others, but it still has an impact on us all. For me, it made me re-think my decision to join the Peace Corps, and reaffirm my decision to stay in Armenia. I admire the two of them for having the courage, first of all to join the Peace Corps, and then to leave when they knew it wasn’t for them. While they are each going their separate ways, I think they will always be a part of us.
We’ve finished our second week of model school, which was another good, but challenging experience. Going from the oldest to the youngest students was a hard switch. While they understand some English, their speaking ability is much less. We were able to play some games with them to reinforce the lessons, which was fun. Next week we switch to the middle age group.
At this point there is also a lot of paperwork to finish up with. Most of it is to check that we’ve been trying to integrate into our communities and sectors. Some is to see if we’ve understood what we’ve been taught in our tech sessions. With lesson planning and language lessons, it’s just very time consuming to add one more thing to the mix. But it will get done.
We have our last language proficiency interview two days before swearing-in, which is on August 13. We are supposed to reach a certain level of proficiency, which I think I’m at. It definitely is harder to learn a language the older you are. My mouth just doesn’t want to move in certain ways to form certain sounds. Our language teachers are being very good about scheduling individual lessons to help us review what we each need. In a way I’ll be glad to get the LPI over with.
For those of you who I gave my address to, check with your post office for the proper way to write the address. Most times you use the correct form for the country from which you are sending it.

Thursday, July 30, 2009
Yesterday we found out that 2 of us are leaving the Peace Corps. While we’ve only been together for 2 months, it’s amazing how close you can become in that short space of time. There has been a bond formed by all of us, even those we don’t know that well. We’ve been going through a tough, but amazing experience in our training, an experience that few others go through. So when 2 leave the group, it makes a difference.
Neither one of the two live in the same village as I do, nor are they in the same sector as I am. Yet I would see them on central days and occasionally talk to them. I do remember spending one evening with them having coffee at a house across the street from the hotel we first stayed at. None of us spoke Armenian at that point, but it was a good experience and one we laughed about later on.
In a way it was good that yesterday was a central day, so we were all together and found out together. We had the chance to say goodbye to them, and to process the whole thing. Some of course were closer to them than others, but it still has an impact on us all. For me, it made me re-think my decision to join the Peace Corps, and reaffirm my decision to stay in Armenia. I admire the two of them for having the courage, first of all to join the Peace Corps, and then to leave when they knew it wasn’t for them. While they are each going their separate ways, I think they will always be a part of us.
We’ve finished our second week of model school, which was another good, but challenging experience. Going from the oldest to the youngest students was a hard switch. While they understand some English, their speaking ability is much less. We were able to play some games with them to reinforce the lessons, which was fun. Next week we switch to the middle age group.
At this point there is also a lot of paperwork to finish up with. Most of it is to check that we’ve been trying to integrate into our communities and sectors. Some is to see if we’ve understood what we’ve been taught in our tech sessions. With lesson planning and language lessons, it’s just very time consuming to add one more thing to the mix. But it will get done.
We have our last language proficiency interview two days before swearing-in, which is on August 13. We are supposed to reach a certain level of proficiency, which I think I’m at. It definitely is harder to learn a language the older you are. My mouth just doesn’t want to move in certain ways to form certain sounds. Our language teachers are being very good about scheduling individual lessons to help us review what we each need. In a way I’ll be glad to get the LPI over with.
For those of you who I gave my address to, check with your post office for the proper way to write the address. Most times you use the correct form for the country from which you are sending it.

Thursday, July 30, 2009
Yesterday we found out that 2 of us are leaving the Peace Corps. While we’ve only been together for 2 months, it’s amazing how close you can become in that short space of time. There has been a bond formed by all of us, even those we don’t know that well. We’ve been going through a tough, but amazing experience in our training, an experience that few others go through. So when 2 leave the group, it makes a difference.
Neither one of the two live in the same village as I do, nor are they in the same sector as I am. Yet I would see them on central days and occasionally talk to them. I do remember spending one evening with them having coffee at a house across the street from the hotel we first stayed at. None of us spoke Armenian at that point, but it was a good experience and one we laughed about later on.
In a way it was good that yesterday was a central day, so we were all together and found out together. We had the chance to say goodbye to them, and to process the whole thing. Some of course were closer to them than others, but it still has an impact on us all. For me, it made me re-think my decision to join the Peace Corps, and reaffirm my decision to stay in Armenia. I admire the two of them for having the courage, first of all to join the Peace Corps, and then to leave when they knew it wasn’t for them. While they are each going their separate ways, I think they will always be a part of us.
We’ve finished our second week of model school, which was another good, but challenging experience. Going from the oldest to the youngest students was a hard switch. While they understand some English, their speaking ability is much less. We were able to play some games with them to reinforce the lessons, which was fun. Next week we switch to the middle age group.
At this point there is also a lot of paperwork to finish up with. Most of it is to check that we’ve been trying to integrate into our communities and sectors. Some is to see if we’ve understood what we’ve been taught in our tech sessions. With lesson planning and language lessons, it’s just very time consuming to add one more thing to the mix. But it will get done.
We have our last language proficiency interview two days before swearing-in, which is on August 13. We are supposed to reach a certain level of proficiency, which I think I’m at. It definitely is harder to learn a language the older you are. My mouth just doesn’t want to move in certain ways to form certain sounds. Our language teachers are being very good about scheduling individual lessons to help us review what we each need. In a way I’ll be glad to get the LPI over with.
For those of you who I gave my address to, check with your post office for the proper way to write the address. Most times you use the correct form for the country from which you are sending it.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Water Day
I just survived my first Water Day today, July 19, 2009. This is a national holiday of sorts in Armenia, and I personally think other countries should adopt it. It is like a day long water fight and almost no one is exempt from this. They also throw the water at cars and buses.
In my village, at about 10 AM, a group of boys gathered at the corner by my house, with buckets and started throwing water at one another and every car that passed. They also threw at almost all the other people who braved going outside that day. I could safely watch from my balcony, and I thought I could play the tateek (grandmother) card. I think because I was brandishing two waterpistols, I was fair game. At one point there were probably 20 kids throwing water. They tried getting us on the balcony, but weren’t able to reach, although we had buckets and were able to get them. At one point I did venture out, but only to run across the street to the store, where I was safe. I only got a little wet on my run back.
At one point there was actually a water fight in my house! Later in the afternoon, the grandmother in my house started throwing water on those of us on the balcony. After that it was all out war on the balcony. Needless to say by the end of it, we were all soaked. It was a lot of fun.
My village also has the greatest taxi driver. Since we don’t have any other form of transportation to or from our village, we use the taxi about once a week. He has gotten to know all our names and he buys us things. Two weeks ago he was driving some of us into the city and he stopped and bought us all ice cream. Another time, he came to pick us up from another village and brought a bag full of apricots. And last week, he again stopped on the way into the city and bought us all ice cream. He’s just so nice. It’s another part of small village life that I like.
This past week, those of us who will be teaching English, have been involved in what they call “model school. “ They bring in children from the surrounding villages, between the ages of 9 and 16, and split them into 3 groups. There are 12 of us, and they have paired us up so we team teach. We teach each group 3 or 4 times. Kyle and I finished teaching the oldest group, 14-16 year olds, Wednesday and now have the youngest group, 9-11 year olds. We have to come up with our own lessons and hand in lesson plans. For the older group, we started out on personal adjectives, and had them fill in part of a character web on themselves. We then talked about 3 simple tenses (past, present and future) and had them fill in another part of the character web with their plans for the future. They then did a timeline of their life. The last day, they wrote a short autobiography. It really went pretty well, given their limited English and our very limited Armenian. Going from that group to the youngest group today proved a bit of a challenge. These children have limited English, if any, but are very eager to learn. They are full of energy and loved it when we played a game with them. We don’t meet with them for a few days, so we have some time to come up two more days of lessons.
These last 3 weeks of training are going to be super busy. Besides model school, we still have 3 hours of language lessons every morning and the homework that goes with it. And I still want to spend time with my host family. I’ll be glad when this part is over, but sad to leave this host family. They have truly made me feel a part of their family and I will miss them when I move.

This will be the last post on this blog address. My new blog address is:
suesadventuresabroad.blogspot.com

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

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.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Tuesday, July 7, 2009
This past weekend was very full. The other PC trainees and I planned a July 4th party for our host families. The mayor of our village has a pavilion overlooking the river and a fish hatchery and he offered it to us for our party. We had hot dogs, hamburgers, and all sorts of American salads. The host families provided the deserts, which included a lot of fresh picked fruit. Since we are the first trainees in this village, they had never experienced this before. We had games for the kids, as well as a tug of war for all the families to participate in, and volleyball. The only thing missing were fireworks, but we did have sparklers. Everyone seemed to have a good time and enjoyed the food. It was fun planning this and a good way to say thank you for all they have done for us.
On Sunday, there was a gathering for the over 40 trainees and volunteers. One of the Peace Corps staff hosted it at his house in Yerevan. Besides the 6 of us trainees, there were about 15 volunteers present. It was nice to talk to them about some of the “senior issues” that are not necessarily covered in the training sessions. Four of them have just completed their first year, and the others will be leaving to go home in a few weeks. It was interesting to hear about their experiences and what their plans are for the future. There are a few older volunteers near my permanent placement, but they weren’t able to get up for the gathering. I met most of them the day of the placement announcement.
One of the women I met yesterday, Marilyn, is originally from Oyster Bay, NY. She graduated from Oyster Bay High School two years after I graduated from high school. We talked a little bit about Long Island and other things we have in common. She’s Catholic and has not been to Mass since coming into Armenia. There are no Roman Catholic churches, I found out. She did say there is a group of Catholics who meet every now and then, but I think they are all up north. Marilyn hasn’t left Armenia in the year she’s been here, preferring to stay in country and travel around Armenia.
Yesterday we went into Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. It is a very crowded and bustling city. We spent most of the day at the Peace Corps offices. They have a computer/resource center for the volunteers’ use. Besides technical books, there is a sizeable fiction collection, mostly donations from volunteers on their way home. We were able to take books out, but not use the computers since we are not officially Peace Corps volunteers. But it is nice to know what’s available, although I’ll be so far away from Yerevan that I doubt I’ll ever get to use it.
They had about 4 guest speakers come in and meet with us. Most of them are involved in education in one way or another. They have quite a few initiatives going on in this country, but unfortunately they are mostly around Yerevan. There is a German group that is very interested in promoting life long learning and adult re-training. Another group, Armenian, is sponsoring a series of workshops around the country for adults. They at least gave me something to think about for my secondary project. There is a series of American Corners Armenia scattered around the country, with one in a town very close to me. These are places that have small American-style libraries and sponsor programs about the United States to help foster relations between Armenia and America. I think it will be a good place for me to visit and get acquainted with.
It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here for only a little over a month. The people, especially in my village, are so warm and hospitable. The grandmother in my house told me that her house is my house. Now that I know what their routine is, I help around the house as much as I can. At first they didn’t want me to do anything, but then I explained that it made me feel like part of the family. I know it will be hard to leave this family and move in with another. They keep telling me they want me to stay. I will come back and visit them, especially after I’ve become more proficient in the language.
We are going to our permanent placement sites this week for a 5 day visit. I’m anxious to see what my new host family is like and what the village is like. I’ll also meet my counterpart, the teacher I’ll be working with. Since I’m right outside a large town, I hope to be able to use the internet while I’m there. I just hope that the new family is as easy to get along with as the one I live with now is. I’ve finally gotten to the point where I’m comfortable walking around this village and I have to go through the whole process again. But at least then I’ll be done with training and getting on with the work I came to do.