PST is now drawing to an end. I’ve been building up to this moment in my last few blogs and after Thursday I will know longer be considered a Peace Corps Trainee but instead a Peace Corps Volunteer. I will move to my permanent site on Friday and begin my twenty four months of Peace Corps Service. We finished our practicum teaching last Thursday and after three weeks of teaching I think I got pretty good at expressing my message to my students and I think they had a good time as well, but my last lesson I didn’t prepare with my partner as well as I should have and it was embarrassing! Because for forty five minutes we stood in front of the classroom and basically didn’t make sense in Armenian or English, but it was a good thing to experience because from now on I’m definitely going to prepare and practice my lessons before I teach them, but at least the other nine lessons went well. And yesterday we all went to Garni and Geghart two historical sites in Armenia. One was an old Pagan temple which had a beautiful view of the surrounding gorge and the other was a medieval monastery partially carved out of the side of a mountain. A few of us, about 15-20, are singing a song in Armenian for our swearing in on Thursday and we got to sing it in the sanctuary at Geghart which was really cool because of the echo it made. But I’ve been told I don’t sing so well so I mostly just move my lips and leave the talent to the others. And after visiting these two cultural sites my friend Dave invited us, Danny and I, to his home for dinner. After dinner Danny, Liz and I had to return to our village Solak and Liz on to Charnetsavan. During the drive there was a really cool lighting storm that was lighting up the sky all around our taxi as we sped down the road, but then we heard a loud crack and a bright light on the left side of the car. Our taxi actually got struck by lighting! Which was both scary for the reality of it and cool because who can say they’ve been struck by lighting? Don’t worry Gimme I will never go out in a lighting storm again. And one final thing to add so that you know I’m healthy. For those who remember I’m not a big fruit and vegetable fan, but Armenians all grow their own veggies and fruits so every day I have at least some kind of fruit and vegetable. And mom, believe it or not, at least once a week I eat sautéed eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers I even go back for seconds usually, its really tasty and I’m probably eating healthier then I have in the last couple of years. Cheers!
(This picture is of the Solak 7 and our two LCF (language teachers in the middle)
Love, Michael
