Nico's Notes

The two volunteers in my town and I are planning two events for Peace Corps week, the first week of March.

I'm doing my Development Fair at the university that week.

The other event is short films in Armenian about history of Peace Corps and the program in Armenia. The entire Gavar community is invited (although I think we'll have a turnout of 40 to 50 people...shooting low). For this, we are also having a speaker talk about study abroad in the States, and we are talking about our own projects.

So we went to the mayor's office to ask to borrow his auditorium. The mayor and I are working together on the park, and he's been extremely generous with donations. So yesterday I asked about this auditorium as well as a projector, and he said "100%" (yes). Then he said, check with Karine, the admin assistant, if this really will be okay. So we sat down with Karine and maybe the maintenance man, Grigor, at the office, and they started telling me that the auditorium was really messy and would need to be cleaned up. I offered my services, and they said, no no.... so then they asked us if we wanted to go see it.

We went to check it out, and 2 more workers came with us, telling us the whole way they really wanted us to use this space. Opened the door, and there are wooden boards stored ALL OVER the front of this place. It really was dirty, but Karine really loves PCVs so she is ensuring that this will be cleaned out in time.

Then we went to have a little coffee with Karine and Grigor, and I reminded them about the park and told them I have put a down payment on the equipment. They got so excited, and Karine told me that Grigor had a duduk (like an oboe) ensemble of kids that he teaches elsewhere, and that those kids will come and play the opening of the park, and that they will invite every child in my community. Hahaha....how nice!

Then she asked if the ensemble can also play our Peace Corps week event, and I thought about it and said.... "in the opening, for three minutes." (this could be much longer than 3 minutes, but really I'm thinking she caught my drift...really, just three minutes.) "Three minutes. OK."

Interactions and excitement from the community members who see and understand what we are doing here are what makes me happy to be here.

America was an amazing vacation! Seeing my family, my friends...what a wonderful pause in time to get to be there with them for Christmas and New Years. HOME was the most comfortable place in the world. It was all magic.

I have six months left of service to go.

It recently snowed at least a foot and a half in my town this week. The days are definitely getting longer though, which makes winter much more bearable.

Work has been good, this week the two other PCVs in my town and I are planning events for Peace Corps Week (March 1 through 7). I am doing a development fair at the university where representatives from NGOs, the municipality, and of course Peace Corps, will set up at tables. Students will have an opportunity to go around and talk with them about what kind of development projects they have done in the community, how they got involved in the field, etc. They will be able to network and establish contacts in the realm of "kazmakerputsyuns." Hopefully this can also spark the idea of volunteerism in the students.

Working still with translation of business plans into English (this is more than translation - it is really understanding poor translations and re-conveying their meanings in better English), but this time from the region of SHUSHI (from Nagorny-Karabakh territory).

Spent the afternoon handing out applications for the new group of new volunteers around town.

Basically I am just going through daily life now of what has turned into normalcy. Getting by without the things that would be nice to have has also become normal, and they are things you would never think about. I suppose it is strange that normal is now doing dishes and laundry and showering every morning as soon as the water comes on before it shuts off while giving myself pep talks, blow drying my hair in my reflection in the kitchen window because there is no outlet near my mirror in my apartment (that is a long story). Etc. Crafty. Mostly I have reached a whole new level of patience (although it does still break) but it takes quite a bit to reach my threshold.

So that is the general gist, I will try to stay more updated as my service is coming to a close.

This picture was taken in Sevan, it is the location of an old amusement park. The only thing left is this ferris wheel and the little building on the right. Note Soviet-style buildings afar. That is what my town looks like. New buildings have not strayed, for the most part, from this style of architecture.

The idea that I'm on my way home in one week and a day is incomprehensible right now. America!!!!! I'm thinking it is in my top 5 most exciting moments I have had so far. It's going to be nice to be home at Christmas time, when people are happy (get away from the constant depression), there are delicious holiday beverages (our attempt at home made egg nog last year was, well, kinda gross...), where you can go inside a building and instantly be warm, bathe twice a day (!!), and there is life and bustle and brightness every where.

It comes at a good time.... it just hasn't exactly been easy since September (several of my good friends finished their service and went home), but I do have good work going on which makes up for the difficulties.

I'm going to breakup my updates into categories, because I feel like my life is very compartmentalized right now.

Winter

It snowed November 17, the first real snowfall that brought about 6 to 8 inches. It has been sunny ever since then, although the snow that is in the shade has turned to a thick layer of ice. The rest has melted. I'd like to say that I live in a tundra, and basically there is permafrost on the ground at this time. The temperature does not rise above freezing. Yesterday I was on a bus ride, and circulation stopped going to my fingers, and it was quite miserable. It took two hours to warm up! I think this year might be a real harsh winter, compared to last year which was reportedly mild.

I got a kitten from Varduhi in November (the last one was a failure, but it was street-sick), and this one is really good. His name is Eddie, and I can pass him down to Bryan when I leave. This is part of winter, because Eddie keeps me warm and is somebody nice to get through the winter with, and he breaks the loneliness.

One of the difficult parts right now is that my office is not heated by gas this year (very cold at work), and now I have a thermometer at home so that I can see my kitchen is constantly 40 F - last year, eggs froze on the window sill, so I know it is going to get colder. My gas bill will probably be very expensive, as the price of one unit has doubled since April.

Work

A nice accomplishment for the end of 2009: our essay contest "Anti-corruption: how does it affect my community, and what can I do?" finished. We had 400 final entries, from 10 to 12 grades throughout the region, and our awards ceremony is going to be December 9, International Anti-Corruption Day. There are 11 winners in different categories, and our regional chapter of World Vision is donating prizes, and we'll have trophies and certificates.

(If unaware, corruption is one of the largest problems affecting development in Armenia)

My other work is happening, but is extremely slow. Such as the opening of our career center, and plans surrounding that. The park was moved to be installed in April/May due to the cold weather affecting a cement pour. I am searching for tools on Social Development for a program I'm helping in one of our local villages (got any resources?).

And, when I return from the States, I am going to finish my resume and begin searching for the next step.

Life

On a great note, I have just started up taekwando lessons, and I am loving it! It's very beautiful, and kicking pads feels amazing, especially right now. The teacher is an Armenian man who's a black belt. He doesn't know English, and I am taking these with an A-17, so I am translating for her. And he wants to learn English so that he can help the kids he takes to competitions in Europe.

I'm reading Anna Karenina, just finished Black Garden (a narrative that relates both Azerbaijani and Armenian sides of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in conjunction with the breakup of the USSR. This is a must read in order to understand the region I'm living in). Anna Karenina is fabulous. And in the reading of this, I'm especially beginning to realize how very important it is to be reading such classic, well-written Russian novels. It's easy to be down on things Russian (really, things Soviet) in this region, but when you get a good piece of classic Russian literature, you can learn a different side to the people of Russia, and it's one that I do enjoy. It helps bring up the positivity level. If you want my opinion on things Soviet, I will give it to you in person.

Every night I am having the longest dreams, the nights feel as long as days. I think my brain is on overdrive about this upcoming holiday. In my dreams, it's like going on a full, warped, third-world-meets-americans adventure.

I think that is all for now. I have my Christmas tunes on, my little plastic tree decorated and on display. I miss my family, and my friends, and my home city. I am a very, very lucky volunteer to get to come home these holidays. Can't wait to see you soon! WOOHOO!!!

September 4 - At the end of August, Arpine and I wrote a Small Project Assistance grant to build a playground in the center of my town [in Armenia]. It is across from the orphanage and next to one of the schools. We received news that it has been awarded, so hopefully it will be completed by the end of October. It's going to be very nice, and the equipment is pretty similar to a playground you would find in the States. It will be the only nice playground in our town, and every time we tell a townie about it, they light up and are really excited. We have been working with our mayor, who seems to be a great guy, and he has donated about 30% of the total project cost. As soon as the playground is completed, it will probably begin to snow. But, it will be all set up for the springtime, and in April we will have tree plantings and create a garden around the benches we're having built, plus a spring party in the beginning of May. I guarantee you this will be by far one of the most colorful places in my town.

Right next to the playground is a run-down basketball court that we are revamping, painting the goal posts, and installing nets. This Christmas I will be in my US home, and I am writing to ask you guys for donations of basketballs, old or new, for the school and orphanage children. There are about 300 children who could potentially benefit from the balls. I can just put them in my suitcase to transport back, and we have pumps here so I can deflate them and refill them with air once I return to Armenia.

If you are interested in donating a ball or two, or know of an organization that I should write to, please comment here or e-mail me at nico@fiveforks.com

Thank you,

N

August 5 - Happy birthday, Gramalie!!!! I hope you guys are having a great time, I love you, and I am celebrating your birthday with you in spirit.

Summertime in Armenia is treating me well. At first, after coming back from London it was pretty hard to settle into things and getting used to being here again. We had a mid service conference about a week after that at a really nice hotel. It was a great conference and was very motivating for the year coming up. Plus, we have these initiatives that the volunteers participate in as a group - PR, Gender and Development, HIV/AIDs, and Environmental Action. Peace Corps is giving my group a brand new initiative - Volunteerism (V2) and $50,000 to start it. How cool is that? So for the fall, we want to plan festivals in a few of the larger cities, and in the summer have a new V2 summer camp for kids where we actually do direct volunteer projects such as taking them on field trips to play with kids at an orphanage or help seniors. The PC admins gave us full creativity for these projects too, which I think is great.

GCCI and I decided to write a SPA grant (Peace Corps' Small Project Assistance) for a playground across from the orphanage. We'll turn that in on August 27. September 1, school begins as well as applications for my business club. We are also going to try to begin a big brother - big sister program at the special school and the orphanage, and I want my business club to volunteer once a week to be a big brother - big sister.

Yesterday we had a round table discussion for our Anti Corruption NGO. We had representatives from people all over our marz. My language is finally getting good enough where I can understand about 75% of the basis of such a discussion. It got very heated when they started telling little stories about what they have experienced, and every body was laughing about the discussions.

Our group started at 48 and now we are all ready down to 35.

Love to everybody,
N