Arrival in Armenia!

May 29, 2010

DC was a whirlwind of activity. Orientation was a long, but thorough, and comforting to find out that the nerves, anxieties and aspirations that I had were similar with everyone else’s. Photo at left is my table group with our drawings of our anxieties and aspirations. Jeffrey LeFrancois, a friend from Semester at Sea, came from NYC to visit me for my LNIA (Last Night In America) and we definitely had the best last night possible. After only a few hours of sleep I sent Jeffrey back to NYC and re-packed to better distribute my luggage weight. Our buses arrived at the hotel to take us to the airport and unfortunately I was on Bus #1 which apparently did not have any air conditioning. The 25 of us that were on that bus for an hour and a half were drenched in sweat when we reached Dulles. I can now say that that was the worst travel experience to date of my life. However, it only made the rest of the 30 hours of travel seem that much easier. After a 9 hour flight we arrived in Vienna and were given “day hotels” for our 14 hour layover. I took a quick nap and then my roommate and I headed out into the city to explore. Highlights of Vienna: everything is green, gelato, truffles pedestrian walk signs, traffic signs and graffiti.

We returned to Vienna International four hours before our flight to ensure we would not be sent back to America (the consequence if missing our connecting flight to Yerevan) only to find out that we couldn’t go through security until an hour before our flight. So we sat down for more beer and bonding time and tried schnitzels and Vienna sausages.

Arrival in Yerevan! Local time was 4:50am, 12 hours ahead of the west coast and we were all showing serious signs of sleep deprivation/exhaustion. But, as we began to walk out of the airport with our mounds of luggage we heard excited screams and a few even called me by name. What? How could these Armenian people know me all ready?!?! I later came to find that, thanks to Facebook, the current volunteers had successfully “stalked” some of us. The girl that knew my name had been particularly interested to notice that I was a Hasher and later told me that there is an Armenian Hash! Most of the participants work out of the US Embassy and she promised to forward me the schedule, unfortunately I can’t travel to Yerevan until November so hashing might be postponed until spring when it isn’t frigid outside…or all the more reason to run and drink some beer.

We were shuttled from the airport to the ruins at Zarnots, a 3^rd century temple, to watch the sunrise over Mt. Ararat (below). Unfortunately, unseasonal rain caused the mountain to be mostly covered by clouds and after a group shot we loaded back onto the buses and headed to our hotel in Charatsavan.

We drove through Yerevan, the capital, which is very advanced still from the Soviet era and I was shocked to see some things I recognized such as Porsche and Ford dealerships, Playboy, lots of casinos and even a legit water park. Thank goodness I packed a swimsuit! As we climbed out of Yerevan and toward our destination the green countryside became visible with wild flowers growing abundantly, a sharp contrast to the snow capped mountains that ringed the lush valley. Armenians have become experts at stonework and I was impressed to see detailed retaining walls all along the highway. There are many many unfinished and abandoned structures which is not a result of their independence from Russia but rather that for males it is an honor and rite of passage to manhood to build their own house. The family, however, doesn’t want to sell their old house because either their father or grandfather built it, hence, there are about twice as many structures in Armenia than there are families. This was very evident as we passed through smaller towns and villages on our way to the hotel.

Our hotel that we will be staying at for three days, although right off the main drive, is nestled into a crevasse of steep green mountains and seems deep in the wilderness. A river runs next to it with the occasional old car frame posing as part of the bank, or as support for a footbridge. I am in a room with three other girls and we decided to forego a nap and/or a shower to go exploring around the hotel. We didn’t find much except for more breathtaking views, playgrounds that were overgrown, volleyball court and soccer fields and, surprisingly, a large pool and hot tub. Both, not surprisingly, were empty.

We had a another orientation and formal introduction to more Peace Corps staff, and then shortly after met our Language, Culture and Society Teachers (LCST) and were told what village we would be staying at during our Pre Service Training (PST). My teachers are Meri and Satonik and will be staying in Teghenik. In my village are all Environment Education (EE) volunteers and we are told this is a great town with running water, hot water and every house has a toilet with the exception of one that has a squat toilet. Fingers crossed.

After being released for twenty minutes before dinner my roommates and I made the incredible decision to fall asleep, forego dinner and get a full 12 hours of much needed sleep. We awoke rejuvenated and for the first time in about 4 days I felt like a real human again. Apparently this was the decision of about 70% of the group.

Language training starts today along with more orientation, Safety and Security, and Medical Office info and on Tuesday we meet our PST host families and move in with them!

the mountain we hiked