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.