Tzavet Danem...

The weather is still mighty hot here in Yerevan; a heat that can only be cured by the consumption of ice cream. Before heading to Armenian class one Thursday afternoon, a few friends and I stopped to buy some ice cream from a local vendor on the street. He noticed that we are foreigners and asked for more than 2x of what the normal price should be (He wanted 700 drams for 2 ice creams!). Of course, we aren’t stupid and didn’t end up buying from him but from the guy one street over. He sold us the two ice creams for a total of 250 drams (less than a buck!). We went back over to the jerk who tried to rip us off and told him what happened and he just started cursing at us in Armenian. Quite a memorable guy.

I witnessed my first car accident in Yerevan! Zebra stripes are relatively new here, and pedestrians are still considered inferior to the mighty auto or marshrutka. I was walking across the street when a taxi came to a slamming halt. The guy behind him didn’t realize he was stopping and swerved, but hit him anyways. I was shocked and couldn’t move for a minute! Nobody was hurt, but it was quite the scary experience. Of course I was honked at to walk so the other cars could get by. After all, it’s only a car accident.

My Armenian language skills are changing – though I’m not sure for the better or for the worse.  I have become close friends with several fellow Depi Haykers who speak Western Armenian, like I do. The challenge is however, that my Armenian language teacher refuses to accept Western Armenian as ‘Armenian’ and insists that I should forget all Western and learn Hayastanci Armenian. She is very insistent, which makes two hours seem like 6.

Yesterday, we went to Etchmiadzin on our holiday, the 21^st anniversary of Armenia’s independence. Our taxi driver drove a really crappy Lada that looked like it would explode any minute. Naturally, it was hot outside and the cab was like a sauna. What’s even better is that our cab driver got pulled over by the police for speeding with 4 foreigners in the car, intrigued by the situation. We sat in the car for 20 minutes while our driver smoked his trusty cigarettes and argued with the two police with big soviet hats. Somehow he got out of paying for a ticket…bribery?

Today the marshrutka I was riding broke – Like the trunk flew open and oil was leaking from the bottom. Quel surprise. I wonder how these rickety things will work during the winter season…

New photos, check them out!

To EPEBAH and beyond!

Hey all my JMUers, family, and DORTMUNDERS! I miss you all, and think about you guys all the time :)

This work week opened up a new insight into the Armenian education system. So kids here are taught their English lessons using a somewhat old-fashioned Russian textbook.   The kids’ knowledge of extensive grammar is really quite impressive, however they aren’t given many opportunities to speak English and use their knowledge. They were taken aback when I suggested using…a game(!) to practice new vocabulary. The 4^th & 6^th graders are really interesting and well-behaved. The 8^thgraders…not so much. It really reminded me of my Armenian school class at Hamasdegh Sunday School (A lot of yelling and ‘char’ behavior). Some of my funniest childhood memories took place at Hamasdegh…Neva & Tamar, I am thinking of you!

I was honored to be present at the ‘Climbing the Mountain’ presentation at the Moscow Red Theatre, to listen to Arsinee Khanjian (Diasporan Armenian acress/activist) and Fetiye Cetin (Turkish-Armenian lawyer and activist). Fetiye was born and raised as a Turkish Muslim but found out when she was about my age that her grandparents were Christian Armenians who converted to escape the Genocide. She researched into the family history and made it her mission to denounce genocide denial and be proud of her Armenian origin. Her testimony was incredible – it brought me to tears to hear her talk about how hard it is to feel the guilt that the Turkish nation continues to bring upon itself.

My first excursion with Birthright Armenia was fantastic. We began by driving for about an hour, ending up at the Alphabet Field. About half of the volunteers had either not been there before, or hadn’t been in a long time (my case). Of course I climbed around on my letter, the A letter in the Armenian alphabet. Check out my new album on facebook to see some of the pictures from here. 

We continued in ‘richtung Berg’…direction of Mount. Aragats. Our crew was equipped with trash bags and gloves – mine were definitely dentist gloves because they smelled like mint and fluoride. In any case, the group of 35 picked up loads of garbage that had been left from summer picnics and parties. I think we found more empty vodka bottles than anything else but Armenia doesn’t recycle glass. We all wondered why there wasn’t a regular garbage collection service, or even garbage bins for that matter. The local Armenian who tends the area says there isn’t enough money for gas to regularly travel up and down the mountain with trash. It was such a fun climb to one of the peaks near the Kari Lake. I enjoy physical activity and adventure, so climbing around on rocks was quite fun for me. We even found some snow that was left from LAST winter! The one ‘outhouse’ designated for us non-restaurant guests (who just cleaned up restaurant property) was shockingly putrid. I had low expectations to begin with…but my my my was this a stinky surprise. I assumed at an outhouse one was supposed to go IN the toilet. Not on it. Or around it. All in all, I roamed around like a dog until I found the perfect place to empty my bladder. The scenery throughout was breathtaking – mountain peaks topped with snow, and green hills that were Hyrule Field/LOTR-esque. And it helped I was wearing my Zelda t-shirt. My entire body is sore today…but not just from the labor! Read on…

After the mountain, we visited an animal therapy center for a while, and I got to ride around on Epona (nerds catch my drift?). I met a nice girl from Argentina, and we both discovered each other’s interest in gymnastics and enjoyed cartwheeling around the farm. The yoga retreat at the end of the day was incredible. The views from the compound were picturesque and the air was so clear and refreshing. I wonder how people actually get there, because it seems far from any ‘larger’ city. The food was delicious – organic Armenian food that is vegetarian. Afterwards, we had a 45 minute yoga session. It was my first legitimate yoga session; as I am relatively flexible the yoga itself was fun, but when it came to meditation I felt like a 5 year old. While many of the other volunteers were sitting Indian style with their eyes closed, I was rolling around on the mat looking at Yerevan’s lights and thinking about how I really wanted to shower. Our evening came to a relaxing close at Calumet – where the cigarette smoke made enemies with my contact lenses and my throat. I hate smoking, especially in closed spaces. Cancer sticks are really cheap here, which is why I assume they are so popular. Just the other day, I saw two Armenian policemen smoke cigarettes and then throw the butts on the ground, leaving them for someone else to take care of. Oh, and apparently the bigger a policeman’s hat is, the more important they are. These guys were scrubs, but they set a terrible example for everyone! 

My language skills are becoming stronger – it is relaxing to communicate with other Diasporans from Lebanon and Syria. Our language and pronunciation is the same, and the rhythm is so much more familiar. Locals speak differently, and the intonation of syllables makes it even harder to understand what they are talking about. 

Let’s see what this week brings :~) Liebe Gruesse!

One week in

Eine Woche später…

I’m officially one week into my program with Birthright Armenia and the Armenian Volunteer Corps.  I have to say, I couldn’t have been more pleased with the way my flights turned out. I got awesome seats on both, and my luggage *gasp* even made it to Yerevan with me! I didn’t really have any expectations of the lifestyle, mentality, or language so landing in Zvartnots was quite literally a wake-up call. Rapid fire Eastern Armenian at the visa-checkpoint was surprising and intimidating. I began to notice the differences between Armenians, diasporan Armenians, and the occasional tourist. 

Let me begin by saying that it will be hard to organize my thoughts about this first week; whether it be chronologically or emotionally. I’ll do my best, but I know random memories will pop up in between my normal rhetoric. I can see Mt. Ararat from the apartment window. Epic.

My host family was waiting for me on the fourth floor of their apartment in the district of Ajapnyak. I was in a zombie like state, after having traveled for about 24 hours with a few hours of sleep in between. My room had a pleasant breeze coming through, and to my surprise, a piano. The piano has always been a great coping mechanism for stress and anxiety. I learned that my host mom was a former piano teacher, so she was thrilled when I sat to play Mozart’s “Rondo alla Turca” and Chopin’s “Minute Waltz”. Mornings have been different. I am a huge advocate of breakfast, however, it isn’t my largest meal of the day! My host mom would prepare sausages, eggs, bread, fruit, and cheese -  and for my adjusting stomach, just seeing all of it was intimidating. I eventually settled with my comfort ‘frühstück’ of yogurt, bread, and nutella. It’s weird. The habits I developed in Dortmund are creeping into my everyday lifestyle in Yerevan. More to come, natürlich. 

I must devote an entire paragraph to the marshrutkas, also known as minibuses. Yerevan’s public transport is unusual. The minibus system is quite extensive, however somewhat disorganized. With over 100 different routes, it is quite a challenge to figure out what goes where and at which time. The buses are designed to hold approximately 12 passengers seated, but usually there are up to 20 people inside of them. Luckily I’m short enough that I don’t have to bend over if I’m stuck standing up. I know my dad, who is 6’4’’ would have a really hard time riding around in one of these!  One the one hand, they are mega cheap at 100dr (about 25 cent) - on the other hand, they are smelly and essentially rolling metal death traps. 

So time for some oddities and thoughts I’ve collected about Yerevan, the food, and everything in general. 

  

•   50 year old woman at the grocery store wearing a t-shirt saying “Kiss me, I’m pregnant"
• Eating pasta for breakfast.     
• The marshrutka etiquette doesn’t compare to the DC metro…obviously. Apparently it’s not a thing to shower in the morning before getting on a crowded bus.
•  It doesn’t matter where I am, I will end up smelling like cigarette smoke by the end of the day
•  People are extremely nice and helpful when it comes to getting lost, at which I am an expert.
• Any genuine effort to speak Armenian will be rewarded with a confused smile and enthusiastic response.
• People like to stare.
•  The mentioning of Pokemon or videogames (my favorite things!) is also met with confusion.

It has been interesting switching my though processes from German-English, to English-German, to English-Armenian. When I have a hard time responding to a difficult question with vocabulary I’m not familiar with, German just comes out. Ich weiss nicht – es ist einfach so! Die Leute hier sagen das ich “come to life” wenn ich deutsch spreche. Ich grinze sogar jetzt nur weil ich auf deutsch schreibe. Ich würde mich freuen wenn ich etwas mit deutsch machen kann….mal sehn. Und an alle meine Dortmunder…ich vermisse euch und den BVB!