Armenian wedding

December 22, 2007

Last Sunday, I saw my first Armenian wedding. Emma's daughter's son. Once again Emma and Susanne and other women in the family have spent hours and hours baking to prepare for the feast following the wedding. I did not attend the big dinner at a local restaurant that followed the wedding. I understand over 200 people came and it was quite the event. Here's the part I saw.

After a pre-ceremony activity at the bride's house, the party arrived in numerous cars and the ubiquitous limo at the main square. The old church bustled with activity. While a few of us were waiting for the wedding party (they were over an hour late), two weddings happened and I'm sure there were earlier ones. Once the cars arrived and family unfolded themselves, everyone trooped into the church. See pic. Little Armine had a special dress for the occasion. At least in this wedding, no bevy of bridesmaids accompanied the couple.

Little Albert and a little girl I didn't know preceded the bride and groom with candles.

The church is quite old and similar to European churches of a certain age had no seating.

You can see in the pics the sanctuary was smoky with incense, a big part Armenian Apostolic services.

Guests gathered on each side of a roped off aisle. The service was brief.

Towards the end, the bride and groom were given crowns

and as part of the ritual, bowed their heads toward each other til they touched. This symbolizes the couple of king and queen of the family and a new generation. The touching of the heads represents unity.

There is no kiss at the end of the ceremony. After, the guests go up to the nave and greet the bride and groom.

As they leave the church, they are each handed a dove. They have the two doves "kiss" and then release them.

That is Susanne (Armine's mom) holding the bride's bouquet for her.

After the church ceremony, everyone piles in the cars and drives around
the square 3 times, honking furiously. Then, on to the groom's house. Typically, newlyweds live with the husband's family, sometimes for years. Before they enter the house, lavash is put on their shoulders (staff of life) and the groom's mother gives them a taste of honey (sweetness in their life). As they cross the threshhold, they each step on a plate (chasing the devil away). After some toasting at the groom's house, people change clothes and go the the restaurant. I'm now sorry I missed this part of the celebration as I left right after the wedding ceremony. Lesson: never say no to an opportunity for a cultural experience.

Meanwhile, schnor havor surb tsnund (Merry Christmas, lit: congratulations on holy birth)

picture correction

Ok, the pics didn't upload to where they were supposed to. The first one on the left if the bedroom, then the living room. The kitchen is lower right.

Here's some pics of the new place:

kitchen bedroom living room

The people in the shot are the vols who helped make the job so easy.

December 14

December 14, 2007

Didnt post the Dec 8 blog so thought I would add a bit. Pics will come later.
I moved in a couple of days early. It is a nice feeling, like being a grown up again. Last night I cooked dinner for a vol, then another dropped in later. It is so comforting to be able to ask anyone to visit me and to be able to have a drop in. Not to mention going to the bathroom with the door open. Little luxuries. Last night it snowed briskly for awhile. Around 9 pm, we heard loud noises and looked out the window which faces a little gathering area (basically a patch of dirt edged in concrete) . We saw a couple of dozen people, mostly young, some very young, taking advantage of the snow – snowmen, snowballs were the main elements of the fun. It felt very neighborhoody. More about the place w/ a few pics later.

December 8, 2007 – Today is Armine the granddaughter's birthday. Once again, the classic Armenian feast has occurred. As I write this, the living room is the scene of a huge table, over 20 people seated and eating. The table has room for about 20 with no extra space. As new people arrive, and there seems to be a constant flow, space is created, an extra chair is found, dirty plates are removed and clean ones added. Emma and Susanne (grandmother and Armine's mom) have each had about 10 minutes at the table, in two minute increments, spending most of their time seeing that new food finds a place on the table and old food and empty plates go away.

As is standard, the majority of the guests are adults. The only children are relatives. The habit of inviting friends to birthday parties does not seem to be an Armenian custom.

Susanne was up until 3 am this morning making a beautiful cake, complete w/ white swans and lovely blue icing flowers. I'm taking a break from the dinner. As soon as the men finish, all who smoke light up so I tend to excuse myself at that point. There is so much noise and confusion, I'm not missed.

One of the best illustrations of the Armenian's almost obsessive adherence to their own traditions is the celebration meal. It is always the same no matter whose house you visit. Dolma may be prepared a little better in one than another, but it is still dolma. Khorovats are still khorovats. The difference in the side dishes between winter and summer is that summer always includes tomatoes and cucumbers and in winter, the sides are grated beet salad w/ lots of onion and garlic and mayo and grated carrot salad made the same way. Its a reflection of what is available at the shooka. God forbid someone should decide to make some lasagna or a pot roast or do something with a potato other than fry or mash (in oil and with butter, respectively). No dark greens darken their tables. I've seen spinach a few times in the shooka. It has never appeared at a celebration dinner. While first farms are active here, I've been served fish once since I've been in Armenia.

This same scene with the same participants and the same food will be repeated continually during Nor Taree, their 6 day New Years celebration. As the women at my NGO explained, Armenian women cook for days and days preparing an even bigger feast than other celebrations. No expense is spared and people will go without food the rest of the winter to put on this elaborate show for relatives and friends. The women at the NGO describe this as a huge strain on them. I am sure you will never hear a complaint from the stay at home wives. Its a very 50s mentality in that sense. Many women here see no discrimination in the very strict role assignment here. That's just the way its supposed to be – its not discrimination.

The New Years Eve and New Years Day meals are for closest family, then over the next few days, they start rotating to each other's houses (first the older relatives host younger, then vice versa, same food, different locations,. And when I say same food, I mean same food. What isnt finished on day 1 sits in a cupboard overnight and is served on days 2-6 as long as it lasts. I am intriqued to find out how this works. Continuous traveling as well as continuous preparation and continuous serving and cleaning is required. So how do you travel and entertain at your table at the same time? I'll find out as I'm committed to go to Sveta's in Shahumyan for New Years Eve and the next day. If I don't spend the night, I'm sure I'll be stricken from the family bible. Then, when I get back to Gyumri, I'll have to drop in at Emmas and I'm sure there will be plenty of other invitations.

Tomorrow I move to my new apartment. I've been bringing a few bags over every day for the last couple of days and tomorrow the vols will come help me with the big move. Logistics are a challenge. I wish you could have seen me two days ago strugging w/ my wheelie bag, a bag on top of that one, a backpack and another bag on each shoulder, through 3" of newly fallen (and falling) snow, making the trek from Emma's to the new place. Here is something I learned: wheelie bags become snow scoops when the snow is fresh. Ditto when the snow has turned to slush.

Its interesting trying to get the hang new living quarters when you don't know how anything works. This apartment has "central heat" (not like we know it in the US). But there is no thermostat or easy method. There is some kind of water/gas/electric combo housed in a unit the directions for which were included but unfortunately in Russian. The owners have left for Russia and the woman next door speaks no English and is not sure how it works herself.

Because there is a water tank in the cellar that must be filled during the two or three hours a day when we get water from the city, there are an elaborate system of valves, some of which much be open when the pump is turned off and closed when it is on and another of which has to remain partially open at all times. I think I screwed it up this morning and opened when I should have closed and basically drained the water tank so there was no water when I wanted to take my first hot shower in Gyumri. I think I have now fixed it so tomorrow, when the water comes, it will go into instead of out of the tank. Of course there is no way to tell. I finally figured out how to start the radiators heating (from the same Russian-direction appliance that controls hot water as well as heat).

Just had to interrupt this narrative to rejoin the festivities for birthday cake and singing. I will try to upload a photo or two so you can see for yourself. My handy little camera takes mini movies. I'll turn the pics and movies into a CD for Robert, the father, when he rejoins the family next week. I'm sure he will want to see his little girl turning 10.

The need for heads of family to earn their livings outside Armenia is one of the tragedies of this country. The economic "recovery" touted in all the reports about Armenia really refers to a very small portion of the country, a few lucky individuals and quite a few profiteers. The rest struggle, from extremely primitive conditions in the villages to getting along with the help of remittances from abroad. I've heard as many as half of the Gyumri families depend on people outside the country for their support.

Keep your fingers crossed that I'll get my first hot shower in Gyumri in the next few days.

Now, I've finished editing the pics and showing them to the family. Its very satisfying to watch their smiles as they see their "kino".

November 24 - new apartment

Dear readers,

I think I have a place to live now. One of the vols heard about this apartment and told me. The owners are moving to Russia for a couple of years. I went to see it Thursday and while it is quite small, I am taking it. It is about a 5 minute walk from where I live now. It puts me farther away from Caritas and the other ngo for which I work, but not too far. Still walkable. The apartment is on the first floor in a big plain building (think homely white box) - looks like about 5 stories – in an area with several other big buildings. Off the main street , but still accessible. Close by post office where I pay my utility bills

The picture above should give you an idea of the basic layout.


Notes about the apartment:
- entry way has a small hall tree with drawers
- for the safety nuts: the front door is heavy metal (steel?) and has a triple dead bolt as well as a peephole and the windows have bars
-bedroom is not fully enclosed. There is a curtain between a double door sized opening and the "living room". Bedroom has a bookcase/storage unit along the wall opposite the bed. There is a wardrobe beside the bed.
-there are windows all along the living room wall
-.there is a TV on the cattycornered item, which is a small bookcase. The TV will probably not be turned on except to show movies from my computer (its new enough to have jack inputs). I've seen enough bad soap operas to completely satisfy any TV urges for the rest of my stay here.
- the sofa folds out to a twin bed.
- here's the good stuff:
§ the house has a brand new water and heating system, central heat via gas hot water radiators w/ good control mechanism. 24/7 hot water in kitchen and bath from big tank in cellar. The city water comes on about 3 hours a day in the morning. While Emma has a tank, she doesn't have a water heater, thus the bucket baths. This place will provide luxurious showers and the astonishing ability to have hot water in the kitchen.
§ The burners and oven all work (a rarity).
§ The refrig is new and while small, has a separate freezer compartment.
§ The cabinets and counters are all new.
§ The most amazing feature of all _ I HAVE A WASHING MACHINE!!!!

The owners are leaving most of their furniture including linens for the bed and dishes, pots, pans, etc. I'll still have to buy some but not as much as many places would require.

My sisters will love this next part: In the cellar where the water tank lies (and its really a cellar – maybe 5' ceilings) there are shelves w/ canning equipment and at least 100 glass jars!

It is a very small space. However, I am so excited about the amenities. Stove that works. Hot water all the time. A very non-peace corps experience and while I should be embarrassed at all this convenience, I'm willing to live with a bit of shame in order to avail myself of hot showers whenever I want. And I can't begin to tell you what a good deal the washing machine is.

We had our first snow today (Saturday). Only a light fall – about 2" at most. More is predicted tomorrow. I realized I was not in the US when I slid on several of the sidewalks. They are not sanded or salted here and there is no requirement for shop owners to maintain the areas in front of their shops. Clearly not enough lawyers here.

The cars on the road slid about as much as I did. The snow on the road packs down immediately and is as slick as grease. There may be some big snow removal equipment but I haven't seen it. Maybe we need more snow action before it appears.

Another difference from the US is that the tires on most of the cars and all of the marshutnis are old and balding. The marshutni tire maintenance method seems to consist of driving til there is a blowout, then replacing it with a spare tire in similar condition and driving to a roadside stand (shop would be a great euphemism) where the blown tire is patched and becomes the new spare. The passengers watch this process with resignation and calm. The operative word is "vochinch" which means something like "oh, well" or "what can you do".

People here will "vochinch" at any opportunity. Food is cold or the wrong order – "vochinch". Power goes out three days in a row – "vochinch". The oven in your stove doesn't work – "vochinch". The social security clerk who is supposed to give you your pitifully small check expects a 1000 dram "gratuity" to provide you with that to which you are entitled – "vochinch". I understand the Armenia airline has vochinched an unsettling noise while the plane was in the air. I dont think you should "vochinch" an airplane. That's about one too many "vochinches" for me. Again, where are all the lawyers when we need them? Obviously labbying in Yerevan for the tobacco companies. (Armenian men have the highest rate of smokers outside Asia – 62%). Cigarettes are barely taxed even though this government is in great need of revenue and proposed new taxes are defeated as if this were North Carolina. 1 out of 3 male deaths are attributed to smoking related diseases and that percentage is increasing. How did I get on this topic from talking about my apartment and snow. Oh, well. Vochinch.

November 15, 2007

The latest from your correspondent:

My dropshots site (www.dropshops.com/elizpou) has some more photos – a few from life around the house and a few that poorly illustrate the extremely mountainous journey to Kapan. More about that later.

As you can see from the pics, Albert metz (large Albert – the grandson is Albert pokr, small Albert) loves the jigsaw puzzles. A new one came in a box from home this week. I showed it to Albert, he snatched it from my hands and had the table set up, the box opened and all the pieces out before I finished going thru the box. He will sit for hours working the puzzle. It reminds me of earlier Christmasses when either mother or my sister Bobbe would sit for hours over a holiday-time puzzle. I would drop by and put in one piece so I could say I helped. Now, they have become a favorite winter evening pastime in Asheville. I lure friends over with an offer of soup and then entice them to the puzzle table. But enough about Asheville. Let’s hear about Armenia.

I took my first road trip last week. I was invited to a roundtable conference hosted by a women’s business NGO in Kapan, a city of about 30,000 in the southern part of Armenia. It’s a 7 hour trip by Marshutni from Yerevan, so I went to Yerevan the night before to give myself a break in the travel schedule. I spent the night in Yerevan at the Envoy Hostel. My first experience in a hostel. This one is used to Peace Corps volunteers and gives us a special rate. 5000 dram per night (about $15).

The place is very clean and there is 24/7 hot water in the showers. The rooms each have 2 bunk beds, a 4-unit locker and nothing else. They give you sheets when you register. You make your own bed. I don’t think you get a whole lot of choice of roommate, tho they try to keep PC vols together. Since I was there in the middle of a week, the place was not full at all. I had one roomie, an older vol whom I’ve wanted to get to know for awhile. It was a nice experience. Because she has already been here a year, she helped orient me to the place. One shower each for men and women. I’m sure it’s a zoo when the place is full (usually when there is a big PC event going on) but this time I had no problem getting to the bathroom and shower when I wanted. If you want a towel, its 500 dr. extra and worth it. The employees are very nice and very helpful, not always true in Armenian service establishments.

The bus trip was 7 hours as advertised, not counting the 45 minutes I spent at the station waiting for the marshutni to fill. Marshutnis here don’t depart on a set schedule. They take off when every seat is occupied. Interesting concept – based on pleasing the operators with little regard for the convenience of customers. Can you imagine the riots if busses in the US started this practice?

We stopped at a “rest stop” for about 20 min in the middle of the trip. The trip goes thru country which looks very much like the Arizona/Utah mountains. 49 switchbacks going and coming. Up the mountain. Down the mountain. Repeat. The pics in drop shots are not a good representation as I took them while the marshutni was moving and it was very bumpy.

I stayed with another volunteer – my age again – in her very nice apartment on the 8th level on a big complex (no elevators). We went to an Armenian dinner party one night and fixed Indian food for other vols the next night. Penny (the vol I stayed with) has a beautiful cat, still a kitten. She is taking it home w/ her. It made me realize how long I have been pet-free. I don’t like that state. I may not be able to resist acquiring a pet when I have my own place.

Speaking of which, no real news on that front. My lead candidate is still the overly expensive one that is very convenient. It is small so that means it will be cozy. If I can get my program manager from the PC to come up here and convince the landlady to reduce her price, I don’t mind paying a modest premium on top of the PC allowance. And it needs to be modest or it will cause trouble for future volunteers. An alternative is staying at Emma’s and working out a different arrangement for food and entertaining.

I miss cooking. Last week I practically begged a vol I was working with to let me cook dinner for him at his place. By the time we ate, there were 4 of us and plain ol roasted chicken tasted just fine. Tomorrow I have a few vols coming over. I found lettuce in the shooka today and am making pasta puttanesca and Caesar salad. Emma and entourage will be dining elsewhere tomorrow so I have the run of the kitchen.

Starting Friday, I’m attending All-Vol, a PC conference, the title of which explains everything. All 80+ of us will be there. Several agenda items, including an all day language camp and a development day that gives us the opportunity to meet and exchange cards with most of the big development orgs in the country. Good networking. The big event is a Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday for us and the PC staff. I’m tapped to make cornbread stuffing so will be spending lots of time in the hotel kitchen. This is held in a Yerevan hotel – another multiple roommate “opportunity”. Should be fun. One night will include dinner at the country director’s house. She is hosting 3 separate dinners in order to accommodate all of us – Indian, Italian and Mexican nights. I’ve signed up for Indian night. On another night some of us over 50s are going to the only sushi restaurant in Armenia. Fingers crossed. I’m thankful for my hard to upset stomach. It may get put to the test.

One of the Gyumri vols is in Yerevan right now buying an ersatz washing machine – not one like we know. This one is sort of manual with some kind of power-boosted wringer. We still have to hang the clothes up, but at least there can be a little better agitation than rubbing the clothes by hand. 4 of us are splitting the cost. We think it will cost about 40,000 dram, ($120 more or less). I’ll definitely have to post pics of this operation.

Readers, I love to hear from you. Let me know what you would like to know or see.

pictures, pictures, pictures

Dear Readers,

Rather than torture myself more with trying to upload pics in the near future, I've put lots of Armenia pics at www.dropshots.com/elizpou. There are even a couple of videos of the grandchildren dancing to Elvis. There is also a video of the lavash making process in September. The bulk of the pics are in October. Please let me know if you have any problems finding the pics above or navigating that website. It should be a piece of cake.

Halloween party update. It was cold and raining that evening and I decided I would much rather wash my hair than go to a party. I guess my age is showing.

PS for those who want to email me, use my gmail address (elizpou@gmail.com). AOL continues to be less than friendly. Sometimes attachments dont open. Sometimes the mail itself won't open.

Elizabeth

I have several more pictures to upload but blogger is behaving badly. I've been trying to upload this blog update for about 7 days now. All of a sudden, I was able to put pics on and just as suddenly, the uploader stopped working. It has disappeared this post already one time when I tried to publish. I think I'll publish what I have now and send the rest of the pics another day.

Tonite is Halloween and I'm going to a party at one of the other vol's house. I'm going as a gyumri tateek (grandmother). I borrowed a navy blue and white print dress from Emma. This dress or one like it is worn by most older women in Gyumri. I don't know why. Maybe a pic of me in costume will be forthcoming.

October 22, 2007

The fall weather in Gyumri has been beautiful, those crisp autumn days we all love, almost no rain during the last few weeks. Cold mornings and nights, warm days. Confusing clothing choices. A box with two sweaters arrived last week, just in the nick of time. It also included a jigsaw puzzle. What a great treat it has become. It happens that Albert, my 70+ year old host “father” is a bit of a jigsaw nut and the 10 year old granddaughter, Armine, is quite good at matching pieces. I’ve learned the Russian work for “perfect”. If any of you readers have an extra jigsaw puzzle you don’t mind donating to Armenia, I’d love to have it.

:ast week I conducted a focus group in a village near Gyumri.

What follows are several thousand words of pictures:

Here’s the approach to the village. Yes, it had snowed about 3” the night before (not in town).










Here’s the group of villagers I met with. The man in the leather jacket on the end is the mayor.









Cow traffic jam. I love getting caught in one of these.













Scene leaving the village. The black things are cows.









I'm sorry you are not going to get to see the rest of the pics. I'll try blogger again in a few days and see if it is more cooperative.

random musings

Hello readers, I just took a look at the last post and it looks like the pics did not come thru. Here is a pic of the lake site mentioned in the post. The very small building in the background closest to the lake is where I stayed.

The next shows our conf room.







This is class in session.








Last night, I was sitting in the TV room w/ the family when the grandchildren decided they wanted to show us their dancing chops. They put on an Armenia cd w/ music videos and were so cute I had to do two things: get my camera, get Elvis. I have Elvis's '68 comeback special on dvd with me. The combination was perfect. I took some mini-movies w/ my camera while the kids did the twist and all sorts of other dancing. Everyone was laughing. And a good thing too, because Emma's son had left to go back to Russia today and she was very sad about that. He will come back in November for a family wedding. After a short stay he will take his wife and children back with him and it will really be a sad day in our house.

Weather has turned colder and rain has moved in. I'm waiting for the remainder of my winter clothes which were shipped last week.

I took the grandchildren to an American embassy-sponsored tap dance performance. Before the event, I had my language teacher give me several important phrases (hold my hand, wait here, stay close, do you want to use the bathroom, etc.). I practiced for a couple of days, then we were off. Another volunteer came with us, so each of us had a hand to hold. We walked to the performance from home - about 20 min - and took a taxi home. The kids were wonderful - well behaved, listened, seemed to enjoy the performance, were patient when we had to wait for the show to start, no complaining, just good children.

Later, maybe w/ some dancing children pics.

Sunday, October 7

Wednesday, October 3

Its been awhile since I updated everyone.   I've finally gotten busy.  Nothing here seems to work on an advance schedule so I spend a lot of time rescheduling activities I'm trying to plan.   One day last week, between my language teacher and I, we rescheduled our lesson for that day 4 times. 

 

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a strategic planning workshop w/ Caritas and  the members of 6 villages they work with.  The villages all have community groups and the purpose of the seminar was to give them some help w/ recruiting volunteers, fund-raising and strategic planning.   

 

It was held at Sevan Lake, the biggest lake in Armenia, sometimes called its "blue eye".    The blue eye is beautiful but since raw sewage flows into it,  I wouldn't go swimming there w/ a gun to my head. 

 

Here is a pic of the camp where we stayed.   The small building near the lake is the room where I stayed w/ 3 other women.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a pic of the conf room itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It was very small for the 25 people at the workshop, but unlike American attendees, the villagers did not complain a bit about the tight quarters or the fact that most of them were in rooms without bathrooms so had to use the camp's outhouse.   Caritas wanted to save on expenses so the September rental was off season.   The rent for the week from Tuesday morning through Saturday morning w/' three full (and delicious) meals a day cost about $22 a person.   Not $22 a day.  $22 for the whole week. 

 

I was curious about how a group of very unsophisticated villagers would take to a fairly high level planning session led my two women (my counterpart here and her boss, who frequently conducted her sessions holding her 4 mo old daughter).   I can report they listened, took it seriously and worked as hard as any group of executives I have ever facilitated.    Their clothes weren't as nice, they didn't complain and they had more gold teeth, otherwise just like an American corporate group.  

 

One assignment I have taken on is teaching conversational English to a group of computer programmer trainees.   These are all university graduates who are in this special two year program, market-driven, that will result in full time employment by one of 4 software companies who have set up branch offices in Gyumri.   This is an amazing program as jobs are so scare in this country, especially for professionals.    While the students may have had years of English training in school, it was mostly academic in nature – learn grammar, memorize, and their ability to actually speak in English or to understand what an English speaker says is extremely limited.   The course is even more challenging because the director of the school wants me to introduce western business values.  So things like coming to class on time, listening, participating, willingness to make a mistake are all new to these students and hard for them to absorb.  

 

Yesterday,  I spent the afternoon in 3 different villages watching some local consultants work w/ a few participants per village on business development.   All the participants have identified a possible business and are in various stages of financial analysis and business plan development.   There is very little advertising here and the basic concepts of marketing are foreign to most people.   When asked to whom they will sell their products (meat, wool, honey, milk, etc), they just look perplexed.   70 years of a closed market system where whatever was produced was shipped somewhere, without regard to quality, price, service or anything else.  And all the workers got paid.   So the change required is radical.  Next time I go out there, I'll try to get some pics so you can see a glimpse of what life is like for these villagers.  

 

 

The above was written several days ago.  Today is Sunday, October 07, 2007.  It is Gyumri day and I have just finished watching the fireworks at the end of an afternoon and evening of local entertainment at one of the main squares.   Several thousand people must have sauntered down to the square because it was jam packed by 7 pm.  Not at 4 when the show started.  The first two acts were children from what is probably a local dance studio.  The first group did a routine to rap music, dressed appropriately.   Then,  4 cute little girls danced to cotton eyed joe.  On the sound track, someone had inserted "vonts es" (how ya doin) at appropriate points.  Most enjoyable.  

 

The square is called church square colloquially because there are big churches on opposite sides.   One is in use.  The other was seriously damaged in the earthquake and is currently being restored with diaspora money.  In front of the working church is a little kiddie car ride, about the size of a whirl-a-gig if anyone remembers those.   The ride is powered by an ancient man pedaling a stationery bicycle.  A long rubber belt connects the cycle to the ride.   Today is the first time I've seen it working.   Another photo op missed! 

 

When people get married in Gyumri, it is customary for the entire wedding party to ride around one of the main squares (church square or peace circle, ok its not a square but its not exactly round either) 3 times honking their horns frantically the whole time.   This is a Yerevan tradition also, most annoying when one is sitting at the Yerevan Marriott in their lovely outdoor café, sipping fizzy water and being blasted by yet another barrage of stretch limos and ordinary cars going thru their routine.  I mention it here because it was happening this afternoon at church square when I was hanging around watching the crowd build.  

 

On a completely different subject,  I had a root canal on Friday.  And yes, it is preferable to the boot camp that PST was (my colleagues and I debated frequently about PST vs. root canal).   The tooth started acting up on Wednesday and I had it fixed on Friday in Yerevan.   Fortunately,  I anticipated tooth problems here and brought two Rxs of antibiotics so I was able to keep it from getting too painful before the scheduled appointment.    A PC doctor came with me and stayed in the office the whole time.  As far as I can tell, the dentist did a good job, drilled right thru the crown on the hurt tooth, thru the gold filling to the root, took x rays before and after to be sure he got everything and finished off making a very smooth bite surface on the refilled tooth that fit perfectly.  And of course, plenty of Novocain.   The PC paid about $90 for the procedure- it was considered expensive because of the difficulty w/ drilling thru the crown.   I would have paid at least 10 X that in the US --- and with my own money.  

 

Ok this is enough for this episode.  Please let me know what you would like to hear about and what pics you would like to see.

 

Thanks, Elizabeth Lynne

 

 

 

Elizabeth Lynne Pou
U. S. Peace Corps
Small Business Development Advisor
Gyumri, Armenia

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the house dog, Gosher

Here's a pic of gosher, the dog that lives in our house, actually outside the house, but with a doghouse. He looks fierce, but isnt.

I'll send some more pics in the next week or so that show more of Gyumri so you can get a flavor of the city.

a couple of pics - September 11,2007

This is a pic that shows some of the earthquake results which remains after nearly 20 years.

The adjacent pic shows some of the really pretty iron work on the balcony and rain spout.

Saturday, August 31

Dear faithful readers,

Several of you have asked for information about what I do during a typical day. Well, there are no typical days, so I’ll give you a couple of examples:

Friday, 8/31

Breakfast of cream of wheat with raisins. Quick check-in at the lavash bakery downstairs then off to American Corner to use the internet (3 computers and DSL – free – supplied by Amer. Embassy- also good library). Ran into a couple of vols there also checking their emails. I was there right at 9 am when they were supposed to open. 25 minutes later, the only employee with the key to the computer room showed up. At about 10, I walked to a main square to my next meeting.

The meeting was w/ a young woman who works w/ a local NGO in the area of domestic violence. Armenia has no separate laws governing domestic violence – they are probably where US was in the 60s – police don’t wont to get involved, consider it a family problem, etc. We had a very interesting conversation about what they do and the problems they face trying to find some help for abused women (and occasionally men). Their president spoke in Armenian and my contact, who is quite fluent in English, translated for us. They are looking for someone to lead a session during a police training course about what US does in the domestic violence area – how various interested groups interact, legal framework, etc. I assume this info is available on the internet so agreed to do it. Then we walked to a business expo conducted in an open area near the shooka. On the way, we stopped at a stationery story that can make business cards and she helped me explain what I wanted to the non-English speaking staff – essentially my name, phone no and email in English on one side and Armenian on the other.

We ran into several other vols at the “expo” which consisted of about 20 booths with people giving information about their businesses. The pickings are pretty lean. A couple of honey vendors, the local brewery, a couple of textile shops and a few others. I bought a decent bath towel from one of the vendors for about $4.50. What Americans think of as basic marketing and advertising activities are not widely employed in Armenia. That may be a good thing given the high annoyance level of American ads. However, it might help your honey sales if you had some marketing or packaging that differentiated your product from all the other honey being sold in plain glass jars. And the only way I found out about the expo was word of mouth from other vols.

Met some USAID people – important to know as that organization is a big player in Armenian assistance programs.

A few vols and I went to another vol’s office in a newly restored building. It was great to see one of the earthquake “victims” rebuilt and functioning in a new way. The before and after pics in the hallways showed the extreme decimation the renovators faced.

Ate lunch in a Georgian restaurant w/ 6 other vols.

Went home. Studied my Armenian text book to prepare for my language lesson.

Went to the lesson. I’m taking it for granted that you understand I walk almost everywhere. From time to time I’ll take one of the marshutni’s a few blocks. Mainly its gunoom votkov (go by foot).

The lesson occurs in the tutor’s shop in the shooka area. She sells baby products, cloth and notions (buttons, ribbons, etc) and on a lower floor, bridal gowns and paraphernalia. Our class is on the third floor. There is no separate classroom, so we are frequently interrupted by browsing customers. We are reviewing my PST textbook from the beginning. It’s much more understandable now that I have a base. At least, I can pronounce the words and the various grammar rules, while not internalized yet, don’t seem as indecipherable as they did initially.

Dinner at home w/ several family members (there are always lots of relatives and sometimes friends around so I’m not always sure who is at the table). A nice soup with potatoes and chicken, salad (basically cole slaw), and a combo of peppers, onions, tomatoes and eggplant cooked together. Of course, lavash and lots of fruit. Peaches are good now as well as plums, grapes and apples.,

Saturday, among other things, I had my first haircut and a pedicure. Both well done. The hairdresser speaks Enlish and is used by other vols. Who should I see when I went in but my counterpart and her boss, the program director for my NGO, getting groomed for their trip to Georgia this week. Small town. Went back to the stationery store to review the sample of business card. Spent quite a while getting the font and colors I wanted. Dark red name, medium gray other info, simple font, thick white card stock.

Sunday, Betty and I went to Yerevan to visit vernisage, the huge weekend open market. We rode the marshutnis there and back and the less said about that, the better. Just one hint – many Armenians think open air will be bad for you, so windows stayed closed --- and it was a very hot day. Not only were all 15 seats in the bus filled, the driver stopped to pick up extra passengers (apparently not allowed but done anyway).

The vernisage is filled with vendors selling everything you can imagine – lovely rugs, beautifully paisley fine wool shawls (I was tempted but didn’t buy anything), folk art, Russian dolls, jewelry, used and new china, glassware, etc., beautifully made wood chess/backgammon sets with exquisite inlays, fine crochet work, embroidered linens, dental and medical instruments(!), and precision tools.

Today (Monday), Emma made my coffee and heated water for the bath. I like my time with Emma in the mornings. As the day goes on, she gets very busy with her family responsibilities. She reads my fortune from the coffee grounds left in the cup. Its always a good one. I had a bucket bath and washed a few whites in a bleach/soap solution and hung them on the outdoor line. I made my own breakfast burrito w/ eggs and ham and lavash. That’s one flexible bread. I picked up a small chunk of ham at one of the stores on Saturday and have been nibbling on it every since. My first ham since I arrived in Armenia.

I was at the American Corner on the internet (where you can find me most mornings) when I received a text message from one of the vols asking if I can help him teach an English conversation class at 11. I received the text at 10:15. Flexible, adventurous me said of course. We met at 10:45, put together a quick lesson plan and dove in. The class was great fun. Close to 20 students, all of whom are involved in computer training courses at this NGO (the restored NGO I visited Friday). It provides market-driven computer training to interested young adults. The average age was about 25. Their English was much better than my Armenian and many had studied it for years in school. Unfortunately, the method of teaching here does not involve conversation so this class is important for those who want to have the best job opportunities. I think Armenia would be ripe for some call centers and help centers. While there are a lot of barriers, a great many underemployed people here would love to have those jobs.

After class, I walked home, made a ham, lettuce, tomato sandwich on lavash (I found lettuce at the market on Saturday - a rareity - and quickly grabbed it).
A quick review of my textbook and off to another language lesson.

A stop at the stationery store revealed they printed my cards w/ incorrect colors. It took awhile, some patience and finally an examination of the proof they gave me on Saturday for them to agree to reprint them correctly. Hopefully, I pick up the good ones tomorrow.

Home, a little rest and for dinner a salad with buckwheat, tomato, peppers, cucumber and salad dressing I made myself. Joined others in the household later on for some fruit.

This has turned out to be a very long entry. Let me know your questions and anything else you would like to hear about and I will try to address them in future posts. I’ll get some pics of the shooka and a few other places to give you more of a flavor of the place.

Elizabeth

lavash bakery

I was unable to get the videos onto dropshots.com. I will need my own computer hooked up to the internet to make this possible. In the meantime, here are a few more pics of the lavash bakery and a couple of shots of a door in my courtyard. First, the dough gets mixed up in this huge container.

Then, it is rolled out by one person (Emma's sister), tossed by another who puts it on a mold and then into the fiery oven.

This is a door to one of the downstairs rooms that opens to the courtyard. I really liked the glass design on the door and hope you enjoy it.

Dear readers,


I’m attaching some pics of activity in the lavash bakery that is on the first floor of my new house. I’ve also put a couple of short film clips at dropshots.com. Go to dropshots.com/elizpou and look at August 27, 2007.

This is the whole room. One person rolls out the dough which has been rising since 5 am. Another puts it, pizza like, on a slightly rounded form and puts it in a very hot cylindrical oven. The third, takes the just baked lavash, sprinkles it w/ water and stacks it for packing.

This is Emma, the bakery owner and my host "mother" stacking the lavash for packing.

Today I am visiting a center for youth “at risk”, a facility in Vanadzor that works with children (teenagers mostly, many of whom are already on police department lists as troublemakers) to give them marketable skills such as hairdressing, cooking and shoe making and self-confidence. I'll write more on that later.

Sunday, August 19, 2007
Greetings from Gyumri,

I moved here on Thursday with 2 large suitcases, one small suitcase, one big box, and several bags, all stuffed to the brim. Fortunately, the PC van took us right to the door and I had much help getting all the stuff upstairs into my new bedroom.

I think I have mentioned before that Emma and Albert have a lavash bakery on the first floor.

4 PCVs already reside in Gyumri. With this year’s batch, there will be 8 of us. One of last year’s group is my age (Betty). She has been most generous with her time, taking me all around the city to show me the markets, shops, museums, bus station, etc and has introduced me to the language tutor several of the vols use. I have my first lesson scheduled for tomorrow evening.

Gyumri used to hold over twice its current population. The ’88 earthquake devastated the area. While there is some reconstruction happening, and much that has already occurred, evidence of crumbled buildings are on every block. It lends an air of faded glory to the place. Jobs are scarce. Many former Gyumri citizens joined the Diaspora. Others work in Russia several months during the year to provide an income for their families.

It is a walking city. I can get to about everywhere I need to go by foot, a real treat for me. The market area (shooka) is quite large – hundreds of mom and pop kiosks selling a lush selection of fruits and vegetables. Not to mention many other items for sale from hardware to underwear and lots of shoes with pointy toes and high, high heels.

Right now is about the most productive time of the year for produce and fruits so the stands are piled high. The things that are missing are what surprises me – no celery, tho I understand it is available in the fall. Almost no lettuce. I found one stand out of the hundreds here that had a couple of heads of romaine. Only one variety of tomato – its delicious and I think says something about the culture that the many different kinds of tomatoes available in other countries are missing here. Limited selection of spices. No sweet corn. There is some corn available, but not the kinds that will taste the way our sweet corn does. No anchovies, not that many will care about that.

The city has a historic district dating back to the late 1800s. Many beautiful buildings were destroyed in the earthquake; however, there are still some lovely ones left. I’ll send a pic of a beautiful church that was ruined and is in the restoration process. I have temporarily misplaced my camera. I think I left it over at the house of the PCV who sponsored a welcome to Gyumri gathering last night, but he hasn’t seen it yet. The A-14s (I’m an A-15- get it?) have really given us a nice welcome – many sincere offers of help, both for work and personally.

My host family, Emma and Albert, usually live alone. When I arrived, there were another 6 people in the house, relatives visiting from Russia. We’re down to 3 or 4 now (I’m not exactly sure – there are a lot of comings and goings and its hard to tell who is here overnight). I’ve had one bucket bath and will take another tonite. Its actually not bad. The arrangement is very functional and there is plenty of hot water that Emma heats on the stove and dumps into a wide, deep sink adjacent to the tub.

I’ve bought a length of rope with the idea of teaching the house dog, Gosher, to walk on a leash. I have never seen a dog in Armenia on a leash and my sister has warned me not to make him look foolish in front of his friends.

I’m very excited about work, which starts tomorrow. My counterpart is supposed to be my guide, community integrator and interference runner while I am here. I’ve mentioned her in earlier posts. She has already been a help and I’m sure will continue. More about work as I start to learn more.

Before I finish, I would be remiss not to mention Shahumyan. It was hard to avoid tearful scenes leaving Sveta and Grigor. I have grown close to both of them. I think what saved the day is my promise to come back frequently. I don’t think Gyumri at its very best will be able to take the place of the sheer beauty of those lovely green mountains and the peaceful village pace.

Gyumri’s splendor will lie in the resources the city has to offer. It has several reasonably nice open areas that I am sure were fabulous before the earthquake and ensuing economic disaster. I spent some time at a lovely park just a few minutes walk from my house. Many nice shady benches that are perfect for a book on a warm afternoon.

Now time to start the bathing process.

August update

Its 9 pm on Thursday August 9, 2007. It is raining. I just finished a very long break from studying for my language exam tomorrow morning.

I spent the break making lavash chips and watching the sky darken on our balcony. I think the Armenian lavash is wonderful. I don’t recall seeing anything this good in the states. The bread is very fresh and made into thin sheets about 16” x 8”. Put a teaspoon of oil in a baking pan, rub the lavash on the pan, add a little salt and some herbs, bake for a few minutes until it crisps up and there is a treat that is as good or better than the best potato chip and much healthier.

I ate the chips on our balcony watching the storm come up and savoring the opportunity to look at the brilliant colors of the flowers that begin one of the
gardens. The rain makes their colors supersaturated. The background are the mountains. And then there are the animals. Today I saw our fierce watchdog trying to play with the pig who was allowed to run around the yard for several hours. Very cute.

The geese are always fun to watch. The little ones are almost as big as the mothers – not as big as daddy goose. He’s definitely the man of the house. If you have ever looked at geese for any length of time you will notice that a considerable amount of their weight is in the back. When they walk they look like slightly plump, cute 16 year old girls who are well aware of how cute they are and walk to show it. It’s a wonderful sway.

If I don’t get the pics up this time, I will with the next post. The flowerbeds look like color bombs. I’ve taken lots of pics, but none do justice to the real thing. There is a big row of dahlias that line the yard from my window to the gate. They look like a receiving line of queens.

The mountains are a constant reminder of how beautiful nature can be. Also, how hard it is to make your living from it. This is haying season and many of the local farmers are spending days in the fields, scything the hay, packing it into rickety trucks piled so high you can’t imagine how they are navigating the roads and loading it into their storage barns for winter feed. It is hard, hard work and there is little in the way of mechanical help.

I have really enjoyed the last two months in the village on a working farm. Instead of traffic noise, we have cows, roosters and donkeys making their voices heard early every morning. I’ve been caught in a couple of cow traffic jams. Much more interesting that freeway traffic jams. I like walking to school each day for the language lesson, passing more chickens than cars and saying good morning to villagers out starting their day. I love this pic of the mother hen and her babies. There are about 10 of them underneath her.

Tomorrow after the test some PC friends and I are celebrating the end of language class with a leisurely lunch in a local restaurant with a great outdoor patio, raised above the street and covered with umbrellas. Great for sun-free dining and people watching.

Next week, we get sworn in on Wednesday and leave for our new sites on Thursday, August 16. While I am looking forward to starting my actual PC job and living in a city again, I know I’m going to miss Sveta, Grigor and the village ambiance. This family has made me a part of theirs and it is nice to know that I now have a large family. I am sure I will make return visits to this nice farmhouse and the warmhearted people who live here. If anyone wants my address in Gyumri in order to send letters or packages(!), send me an email and I’ll give it to you.


I don’t really have the words to describe the intense ups and down of this 11 week boot camp. For 11 weeks our schedules have been tightly controlled and our work load (mainly learn the language and lots of other study thrown in the mix) has been substantial. We have been severely limited in where we can go and what we can do. Internet access has been infrequent and often frustrating – rushed for time and dealing with much slower connections than we have become accustomed to. As we go to our permanent sites, we will have a good portion of our schedule under our control and the opportunity to make our own plans about how to accomplish our goals – exhilarating and frightening as we are responsible for creating the activities that hopefully can result in improvement of some of the lives in this developing country.

I’ve made some friends I think I’ll keep for a long time. I’ve just started to get acquainted with this country, its people and its customs and know I have a lot more to learn. Actually, learning new things all the time is a welcome challenge. I will be glad when I know the language well enough to understand most of what I hear and speak it well enough so I am understood outside the classroom. Sveta and I have managed communicate pretty well between her very limited English, my very limited Armenian and the bararan (dictionary). It’s very funny to see both of us running for our reading glasses when I get stymied in mid-sentence and have to look up something. Not a kid anymore.

Speaking of which, this break has gone on for about two hours now. Time to finish up studying.

Addendum - its now Friday afternoon and the language test is over. I'm sure I made the minimum and doubt I did much better than that. Relief!!! No serious schedule and no homework til swearing in on Wednesday.

Trip to Gyumri

This last week has been a blur. We started off on Tuesday with a two day conference where each volunteer met his or her counterpart. That's the local person who is supposed to be your colleague at the new workplace. Mine is a bright committed 28 year old woman who reminds me of the pioneering feminists. She has already forged a good career path for herself. Without regard to the fact that few jobs are available in Armenia, she has "made her own luck" and found opportunities where none existed.

After two days filled with planning for the future, we took off for Gyumri, the 2nd largest city in Armenia. I spent the rest of the week there. On Friday and Saturday, my counterpart, Zhanna, took me to some of the villages Caritas (our NGO) has worked with on a community building project. We attended the dedication of a new church and a service at the old one which the community restored. This village was one that was completely destroyed by the earthquake of 1988 - only the bare bones of the old church remained. The village rebuilt itself about 2 kl from the original site. This is a pic of the church that was rebuilt. The fields surrounding the church allowed for a couple of Wyath type pics. That one comes next.

Doesn't this look like an impressionist painting? Its amazing how a site of such destruction can be so beautiful. The wildflowers are gorgeous now. Everywhere I ride these days, my vision is filled w/ a blur of white, yellow and purple against a bright green background. The area where I live now is especially pretty. While this shot of the Gyumri area looks nice now, the hills are without trees and I understand the area looks pretty grim once the winter gets its grip. My new host family is very nice. I am living on a street in the middle of town (short walks to everything important) and about 20 yards from the entrance to my house is my worksite. Such a deal! And the work is going to be challenging and rewarding - at least as far as I can tell after two days with work colleagues. I'll expand on this after I move there mid-August.

My host family has a lavash bakery on the first floor of their house. Wonderful smells and hot lavash right out of the oven is amazing. This is a pic of the courtyard inside the entry gates. The family has another property across the street w/ additional outdoor space and lots of fruit trees (apples, pears,cherry), berry bushes -the raspberries are ripe now and delicious-and a walnut tree.

The host husband raises birds. The cages are in this picture. They look like parakeets and cockateels. There is a family dog that is an actual pet. The house is nice - most conveniences. Two bathrooms - very clean. The one drawback is no hot water and no 24 hour water, so bucket baths in the bathroom. However, the sink in the bathroom is the size of about three sinks put together and since it is raised up, there is not much bending involved. Emma, host wife, heats up two big pots of water, pours them into the giant sink, then I stand in the tub and proceed to clean everything with the help of a couple of pitchers. Time consuming but not too bad at all. Emma is an excellent cook and the three meals - 2 breakfasts, one dinner were delicious.

Gyumri has several restaurants - I joined other volunteers (there are several of us in the city) for dinner at a Georgian restaurant. I'm not sure I can tell you that much about the cuisine except that its tasty and there is alot of cheese involved.

Another night, the program director of Caritas invited me to her house along with several others for a lovely afternoon and evening of eating and talking. The next pic shows something completely anomolous to me - this man came into the dinner followed by this cute little poodle who then proceeded to jump into his lap and stay there the entire time. This is not culturally typical. Everyone there seemed to take it for granted so I did too.

Now, I'm back "home" and except for two city days this week, back to the regular schedule of language classes and studying.

Love, Elizabeth