I thought I should explain the meaning of my blog address and why it is what it is. The word moksha is a Hindi word meaning wisdom. I thought that I could use my blog as a way to impart the wisdom of what I learn in Armenia onto those back at home. This blog is also a portal into what it is I’ll be doing for the next two years.
Back at home people would ask what it is I’m going to be doing in the Peace Corps. Well, certainly while I was at home I didn’t have a clear picture of what this Peace Corps experience would be about. Now that I’m here I’ve got a clearer picture. For example, in August I will move to my permanent site where for two years I will teach health education within a secondary school setting. For now I am learning Armenian so that I can be an effective teacher. Once I get there I will need to create a secondary project within the community, such as an exercise group or some sort of hygiene related project, but more on this when I’ve gotten situated in that community.
This week has been busy. Even though were still just on the second week the classes are getting long. We had a Peace Corps “party” the other day and had our first experience as the “rich American” stereotype. We took a taxi to a nearby town and paid 18,000 drams for a ride that normally cost 2-3000 drams. We didn’t know we had so drastically overpaid until we saw our LCF’s facial expression. But it was a learning experience and now we know better what to expect. Also, I live in a farm setting and we now have fresh chicks running around the house! I guess for the first few days they live in the house with us and the other day I went to a birthday party where we ate lamb. As I began to eat the lamb I remembered a fresh lamb skin hanging on the fence and a patch of wet mud, it didn’t take long to realize that we were eating very fresh lamb! In fact I shouldn’t become too attached to any animal that I see here because I know that when I eat chicken for instance it means there’s one less chicken in the yard that day.
