New Year’s, 2.0

Yes, technically today is March 1, which means I did not stick to my goal of writing one post per month, since February has come and gone. In my last post, I wrote about how I had the entire month of January off since there was no school due to the swine flu. In comparison to January, February flew by!!

When I first arrived to site in mid-November, I had a lot of free time, as I was just getting to know my students and not outright teaching yet. Additionally, Gyumri is pretty inactive during the winter, as many organizations and people slow down and “hibernate” because of the cold weather. As I had a lot of time to kill then, much of my time was spent catching up on TV shows and re-watching Gilmore Girls #teamlogan4lyfe. But ever since school started back on February 1, I’ve been super busy, picking up more and more projects and responsibilities as February wore on. Here’s just a handful of the busy changes and additions I’ve made to my workload:

1. I’m now more involved in the classroom, co-teaching with my counterpart, and we’re starting to co-plan lessons together too!
2. My school director wants to apply for a grant to build a language resource center at our school, so I’m starting to get the ball rolling on that.
3. I’m organizing the regional poetry competition in Gyumri for the National Poetry Recitation Contest that Peace Corps sponsors in Armenia.
4. I recently started volunteering at a Swiss humanitarian organization in Gyumri called KASA (Komitas Action Suisse-Arménie). One of their programs that I’m getting involved with is the Francophone program, so this may also give me a chance to brush up on my French!
5. I agreed to help the French teacher from my school learn some basic English (her daughter recently moved to the US), so imagine teaching English in French to an Armenian. Yep, it’s a doozy.
6. Having formed more established relationships with my students, I’ve started three English clubs at school. A couple of weeks ago, my 6^th grade English club helped me wish the Davidson College Swimming & Diving team good luck at their conference championship meet.

Good luck Davidson!! Go ‘Cats!

In Armenia, March 1 is considered the first day of spring. And with the start of a new season coinciding perfectly with my increased involvement and projects, March 1 feels like New Year’s Day all over again (hence the title of this post, obvi). Originally, I didn’t write any New Year’s resolutions for 2016. But with this self-initiated, second opportunity to make resolutions for the “new” year, what better time than now to establish commitments for 2016, especially with spring symbolizing rebirth and renewal. And since I’m really into lists for some reason in this post, here are some of my “New” Year’s resolutions for 2016:

1. Co-plan lessons in more detail with my counterpart.
2. Have better classroom management (I think I might be too buddy-buddy with some of my classes…).
3. Improve my Armenian and not be timid about speaking.
4. Wake up and run in the mornings before school (this resolution would not have been possible in January, but with the arrival of March, early AM temperatures are now in the balmy 30s rather than subzero).
5. Stay in better touch with my PST host family in Mrgavan.

Nelly’s 1st birthday party!

Speaking of my first host family, I was able to visit them for my host baby sister’s 1^st birthday on February 20. I was only planning on stopping by for a quick visit to drop off a birthday present, but when I arrived, they were setting up for a party. They asked me to stay for the party, and man, I am sooo glad I stayed. It was a crazy, hilarious party. My host parents hired these people who dressed up and (supposedly) looked like Mickey and Minnie Mouse and got everyone (kids and adults) dancing and playing games.

While hosting this birthday party, my host mom was also extremely pregnant with her second child, a baby boy. The day after the party, when I was about to leave to go back to Gyumri, she casually mentioned to me that she might go to the hospital later that day or the next day and have the baby. I was so bewildered because the baby wasn’t supposed to arrive until early- to mid-March and my host mom was so casual about probably having the baby that night. Low and behold, I get a message from her a couple of days later telling me she had the baby. And to top things off, she informs me that she had a baby girl. Not a boy, like she had been told by her doctor. A girl. This is exactly how my messages started with my host mom:

Host mom: “Congrats!! You have another little sister!”
Me: “Sister????”
Host mom: “Aha boy became girl ;)”

This story is definitely one for the archives and one I will never forget. Obviously, I can’t wait to meet the new baby next time I visit.

Wrapping up this post, I want to mention an insight I recently had about my Peace Corps experience. Towards the end of February, when I was getting all of my responsibilities and priorities sorted, I started really reflecting on my Peace Corps service thus far. Lately, my time in the Peace Corps has reminded me a lot of my college experience. As a 2015 college grad, I can readily draw comparisons between my Peace Corps and Davidson experiences. Some of you who are fellow alums or current students might be thinking, “Oh no, that can’t be good. She must be drowning in work.” Not quite, but Peace Corps is definitely not a 9-to-5 job. I’m constantly working on or thinking about various projects, commitments, and goals. We’re told during training that our jobs here are 24/7, that we are Peace Corps volunteers 24/7, and for me, that’s similar to how I was a college student 24/7 at Davidson. But don’t get me wrong; the similarities between Peace Corps and college aren’t only work-related. As a part of Peace Corps Armenia, like in college, I’m meeting people from all over the US and the world, making life-long friendships, and creating treasured memories. Maybe this post should’ve been titled “College 2.0” or “Davidson 2.0” rather than “New Year’s 2.0,” though in all honesty, the Davidson experience can never truly be replicated, and the Peace Corps experience itself is positively exceptional and one of a kind.