Tonight I sat with two new good friends, Victoria and Paul, on the hill behind my house staring up at the sky dotted by clouds and stars as they lit up the surrounding mountains and valleys beyond which are a great view from my back yard. But what stood out in particular was the moon in its almost fool phase lighting up the hills and mountains for miles around. As I laid on the ground gazing up at such an incredible sight listening to my friends talked and reflected on our past two months I couldn’t help but marvel at how incredible it is that something so far away could make us here on earth feel so close. As Peace Corps Training draws to a close it is inevitable that we as a village would begin to reflect on our experiences and how incredible it is that in just two months our friendships have grown to bonds that run so deep. I can honestly say that the people who I spend my days with, all seven of them, are people who I care about, who in the next two years I will stay in touch with and take an honest interest in what they manage to achieve. Tonight was also a chance to look at what we as Peace Corps members think we have an opportunity in obtaining. For me I am thankful because I have a sight of my own. At first this was a point of consternation for me because I wanted very much to be near my new friends, but I now see it as the opportunity to help impact a community on my own and not on the merits or constant reminder of other Peace Corps Volunteers work. I also have the opportunity to serve a special school. Special in two ways, one that kids are all special because they are impressionable and I can impart what I think is wisdom and healthy lifestyles upon them. And two because they are mentally and physically handicapped and many of them actually live at the school during the school year so they do not get the one on one family attention that every child needs. So already without meeting the kids and by using my past experience of serving in orphanages I have brainstormed many ideas of how I am going to help not only serve the kids but work along side them to make life happier, more fulfilling, and more impactful then perhaps they expected it could be. What an opportunity that lies ahead of me and all of us Peace Corps Volunteers. I am excited and thankful for the opportunities and I look forward to in two weeks taking an oath to serve my country abroad in a way that will better the lives of people namely children abroad in this fascinating, ancient yet ever modernizing country of Armenia.
Also this week, we celebrated my host mother’s birthday. She turned 43 but already she has 3 grandchildren. It was a lot of fun we had horavots (Armenian barbeque) and the un-escapable toasts (Armenians toast with a lot of Vodka which is all but in-escapable) and I got to invite my best friend Danny and my neighbor Lisa both Peace Corps trainees in Solak. I’ve grown close with my host family. They are great people who work hard for what they have and each of them puts in a lot of hard work everyday. Every morning my host mother wakes at seven and she doesn’t go to bed until late. She is a nurse by profession, but being a woman in Armenia also means that you are the house keeper, cook, laundry doer and in charge of the garden. That is a lot of work and my host mother does it with wiliness and a good attitude which I have to appreciate. It will be difficult to leave such a great group of people behind but in just one week I will be doing just that. I will say goodbye to the people of Solak as I am sworn in as a member of the seventeenth group of Armenian Peace Corps Volunteers.