The first week is over and the second week begins. Already it feels like I’ve been here for a longtime, the time definitely merges into something unremarkable and a routine? That’s something best left in the states. It also feels like I’ve known a few of these people for ages. Perhaps it is our backgrounds, aspirations or life callings that make us feel so connected but then again maybe its just the fact that we were all crazy enough to sign up for a two year stint in a country very unrecognizable from our own!
The journey began two Thursdays ago, May 28, my birthday, it brought 47 volunteers to Philadelphia for a half a day where we learned some different facets about what we were getting into and what we could expect. The next day we flew out of JFK airport in New York City. The plane ride was long and there wasn’t an empty seat to be had. I was lucky enough to have a seat on a middle aisle next to the bathroom sandwiched between two men who did not care much for “personal space” or the rule of the armrest, which is: “if my arm is on the arm rest then there’s no room for yours!” But finally we arrived in Vienna, Austria and to our excitement we had fourteen hours before our next plane was to leave for Yerevan. We were also lucky enough to have hotel rooms directly across the street from the airport, so after a quick rest and shower we set off to explore what would be our last glimpse of a western city. That same night we boarded one final plane for our last leg into Yerevan. As a group we arrived at 5:00 Sunday morning. We went to an ancient church ruin dating from the 5th century AD for a group picture and framed behind us was Mount Ararat (Noah’s mountain). We then went to our hotel where for three nights we had hot water, showers, flushing toilets, plenty of drinking water, and constant electricity. But on Wednesday of last week the true Peace Corps experience began. The group of 47 was broken into groups of 7 and sent to villages around the country. Now I’m living with a host family on the side of a cliff over looking a valley often populated with roaming herds of sheep. Every morning I wake up, fill a bucket of water to wash my face and brush my teeth, I fill my water purifier for the day, then join my “host mother” for breakfast usually consisting of hatz (bread), what looks like a hot dog wiener and tzoo (eggs). I have language class from 9 to 1:30 and everyday from 4 to 7 my six classmates and I walk the streets of our new village or the surrounding mountains. The lifestyle is a major adjustment, I can tell the next two years will not be quick, but everyday is a new adventure! I’ve begun to pick up the language and I know that the experience we 7 Amerikazes are sharing in this village will make us closer friends a lot faster then would otherwise be possible.
