Border to Border 2016: Magical, Incredible, & Unforgettable

Hmmm, where to begin? June was a crazy month. I did not have any alone time until a couple of days ago; I had been surrounded by people 24/7 for 4 weeks straight. Starting on June 1, Border to Border 2016 took over my life, but in the best possible way. If you’ve been regularly keeping up with my blog, you probably have read a little bit about Border to Border.

Quick refresher: Border to Border (BtoB) is a Peace Corps Armenia health awareness initiative, where teams of Peace Corps volunteers and Armenians hike across the country. Along the way, we camp in towns and villages and teach interactive lessons to children on personal, social, and community health. Our mission is to promote healthy living, through a healthy body and a healthy mind. We want to promote a healthy lifestyle, so we backpack and 100%-walk across Armenia in order to lead by example. “We don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk – literally.”

Teaching dental hygiene

The lessons taught on BtoB this year were nutrition, smoking prevention, dental hygiene, gender equality, peer inclusion + leadership, and environmental stewardship; all lessons were taught in Armenian. On my team, I taught the dental hygiene lesson; I had a blast teaching young children about brushing and flossing, using hand paint, baby wipes, and brooms. Feel free to ask me for a demonstration some time. Originally, BtoB only had 2 routes, a North and a South route. The South team starts on the border with Iran, walks through Syunik marz, and finishes in Yegheghnadzor (the end point for all teams). Traditionally, the North team starts in the northeast corner of Armenia and covers the eastern half of the country. But this year, the North route became the Northeast route, as a Northwest route was created and implemented for the first time. I had the esteemed privilege of being on that inaugural Northwest route. The Northwest team started on the border with Georgia in the northwest corner of Armenia, in Shirak marz, and walked through 5 regions (Shirak, Aragatsotn, Armavir, Ararat, and Vayots Dzor marzes). We got to reach areas and teach in communities that had never heard of Border to Border (or sometimes even Peace Corps, for that matter). When we finally reached Yegheghnadzor on June 21, we had walked a total of 186 miles (300 km) and taught over 450 students.

June 21: We made it!

I am so incredibly thankful to have been part of the Northwest team and route. Team Northwest has already spent several hours being sentimental together, so I won’t dwell on us too much. But I can’t imagine shaking my booty, watching The Shawshank Redemption, or singing “Hakuna Matata” with any other people.

There are not enough words to describe the people I met, the experiences I had, and the emotions I felt during Border to Border. Sorry to be cliché, but Border to Border was incredibly rewarding and truly life-changing. It is undeniably the highlight of my service thus far. There were so many unforgettable moments and multiple places along the way that stole my heart. I wish I could write about every single, wonderful moment we had, but that wouldn’t be possible, so I’m going to limit myself to the ones from which I have visual mementos.

Chronologically, one of our early favorite moments from the start of BtoB was in Torosgyugh. We had just arrived after a hard and challenging walking day (as our bodies were still adjusting to our backpacks and walking distance/time) and the school director gifted us with a jar of his homemade honey and told us to expect some students to come meet us a little later. Torosgyugh was the first site where we were to interact with solely high schoolers, so we were initially nervous that they would act like they were too cool to interact with us Americans. But the kids were AWESOME! They came out to the school to greet us later that evening and asked us to play some games with them. We ended the night with a game called Hee-Hoo-Ha (see video below), and even though our bodies were aching, we had a great time being silly and laughing together.

Another amazing site that we visited was Hatsik, which we went to right after Torosgyugh. Hatsik was probably the first place we visited that I described as “magical.” There, we didn’t teach at the school; instead, the children of Hatsik led us on this 15-minute walk to this beautiful, small gorge, where there were little picnic tables and pavilions that we could use to teach. The children were so excited to play and interact with us, and we had community adults come observe our lessons for the first time, too! Our lessons went very well, as the young students were super engaged, and when we finished, we were taken to this “magic” rock with a hole in the middle. Supposedly, anyone can climb through the hole, regardless of body type or size, and if you go through it, all your wishes will come true. After watching my teammates go through the hole and going through it myself, I’m really inclined to believe that anyone can truly climb through that magical, small hole. (Shout out to our police friend Hovik for helping us climb through the hole!)

Our Vedi friends!

Our third and final week of BtoB was filled with unforgettable people and incredible experiences. It all started in Vedi, where we had the best host family stays EVER in BtoB history. I could go on for hours about the host family experiences we had in Vedi; one of my Peace Corps goals now is to convince one of my Northwest PCV teammates to extend his PC service for a third year in Vedi. Just one day after we said good-bye to our Vedi friends, they called us and offered to pick us up and take us to our next destination, Lusashogh. After a team discussion and vote, we finally decided to take them up on their offer and have them pick us up partway through our hike that day, and boy, we are so glad that we did! When we arrived in Lusashogh, we were treated to an khorovatz and an impromptu, mini dance party with our friends from Vedi. Check out the fantastic view and our equally-amazing Armenian dance moves!

The last BtoB moment I’ll detail also comes from Lusashogh, a village of 80 families and no marshutkas (i.e. public transportation). Turns out that if we hadn’t had our friends from Vedi drive us the rest of the way, we would never have reached Lusashogh and get to experience the most magical and incredible 12 hours of Border to Border. We didn’t even teach in Lusashogh and we fell in love with the community. In a few days, I will share some of the NW team’s publicity blog posts (from the BtoB Facebook page) that we wrote during the trek. One of my teammates Rachel does an amazing job of describing our unforgettable night of sunsets and poppy fields in her post about Lusashogh. But now, I’ll retell the dreamlike moment of when we departed Lusashogh. As we left Lusashogh and walked through the village, the little boys from the previous, adventure-and-magic-filled night joined us. They walked as far as they could with us, and along the way, they picked us poppies and wild flowers from the roadside fields. When we had to truly say and wave good-bye to them one last time, I cried tears of sadness and joy at the same time; sadness, for this truly magical and indescribable experience was coming to an end, and joy, for the opportunity to have met and interacted with these beautiful children of Lusashogh. I know in my heart that I will be returning soon.

I will never be able to do justice to the unforgettable, life-changing, and heart-warming experiences I had on Border to Border, in written or verbal form, but I hope that I’ve been able to provide an adequate snapshot of this incredible time in my Peace Corps service. I know that when I look back on my Peace Corps service 10, 20, 40 years from now, Border to Border 2016 and the Northwest route and team will be in the forefront of my memories.

Team Northwest: Day 1

And one more thing. A completely unrelated endnote, but did I mention I got to see the Pope? #firstchristiannation

Has spring sprung yet?

That’s the question of the month. In Gyumri, we’ve had some teaser days of 50-degree weather, with beautiful, warm sunshine and clear, blue skies. I even got to stop wearing wool socks and doubling up on my pants! But then about halfway through the month, temperatures dipped back down to a high of 30s during the day and well below freezing at night. All the snow had already melted, but last week, Mother Nature must’ve thought, “Let’s have snow again just for funsies,” and it also snowed again last night (but a lot of it has already melted so that’s good). When the cold first returned, my host mom initially didn’t turn on our gas heater, so for the first couple of days, I formed a very loving and intimate relationship with my Peace Corps-issued personal radiator. I now know all the best and most comfortable ways to sit on and/or hug a personal-sized radiator in order to maximize warmth transference and retention. I can also give some sound advice on how to multi-task and do work on a laptop while still maintaining a close bond with your radiator. So if you want any tips on this particular topic, hit me up. Though recently, whenever I start complaining about the cold, I stop and think about my close friend in Colombia (who’s also teaching English) and how she told me that she’s constantly sweating in 90-degree weather and humidity (Thanks Sara!!). That really puts things in perspective and makes me actually grateful that I’m cold rather than dripping sweat. If you know me pretty well, you’re probably aware of my nose and its sweating habits, so the cold is definitely a good thing.

During training, Peace Corps told us that the winter weather would probably affect our emotional and mental health when we moved to our final sites, since we were arriving and adjusting to new and unfamiliar surroundings at the onset of winter. At the time, I kind of brushed off any worries about feeling down in the dumps during the winter since I’ve never thought of myself as someone whose moods are affected by seasonal changes. Now in retrospect, I think it was inevitable that I experienced multiple lows and highs during the winter months, especially in Gyumri. In December, January, and February, I experienced changes in my mental attitude daily, if not hourly. One day, I might have woken up dreading going to school, then had an awesome breakthrough moment with a student, then gone to bed questioning my integration into my community (especially since Gyumri is NOT a village) and my time in the Peace Corps. And then the next day, I might have had the exact opposite kind of day, a high-low-high day, with waking up and going to sleep loving my Peace Corps experience. Honestly, about a month ago, towards the end of February, I was probably going through my lowest dip thus far. After three long, cold months, I was feeling very unsure and stressed out about my work in the Peace Corps and my presence at my school and in Gyumri. I felt like I wasn’t having any kind of positive impact on my school and that I was failing at integrating and making connections in Gyumri. I was constantly stressing about different projects, deadlines, and expectations, including post-Peace Corps prospects. There was a stretch of nights during this low period where I was already extremely anxious about what I’m going to do after Peace Corps and spent hours looking up post-Peace Corps career and educational opportunities nightly.

But along with the slightly warmer temperatures and small preview of spring weather this past month, I’ve definitely been on the upswing in March. Yea, I’m still stressed about multiple different projects and their various deadlines and expectations, but I’m now also really excited about them! March has seen much more positivity, with me having more confidence and a better understanding of my site and placement and thus being more productive with all my work. A close friend back in the States recently asked me what my day-to-day life is like, and I answered honestly: daily life here isn’t super exciting; often times, it’s actually boring. But as cliché as it might sound, it’s the little things that make a difference. I didn’t have to travel anywhere this month, so I’ve really valued my time at site, making special little memories here and there:

Gyumri School #26 debate team

• Helping the school’s debate team prepare for a competition and tagging along to cheer them on
• Working with the 7^th grade to prepare English poems and songs for their Mother’s Day (April 7 in Armenia) presentation
• Playing soccer with my counterpart and our 11^th graders
• Attending a student’s 16^th birthday party
• Baking a German apple cake from scratch for my host mom and sister for International Women’s Day (which is a big holiday in Armenia! We got 2 days off of school for it! Why is this day not a bigger deal in the US??)

  

  German apple cake baked by Americans in Armenia #culturalexchange

And last night, I attended a jazz concert by a French quartet that I was invited to by the Swiss organization I’ve been working with in Gyumri, and it was fantastic! I’ve realized that even if my work as a teacher isn’t immediately effective or doesn’t necessarily ever meet the TEFL indicators of a successful service, the meaningful relationships and friendships that I’m forming with people all over Gyumri are the foundations for a life-enriching and inspiring service, both for the Armenians I work with and myself.

I think another reason why I’m currently so upbeat is cause I know that March is already almost over (!!!) and I have a lot of events and commitments coming up in April and May, so these next couple of months are going to fly by!! Plus, the school year is essentially over around mid-May since all the kids just go ahead and mentally check out for the summer, which means…SUMMER IS SOOOO CLOSE!!! I’m already beyond excited for this summer! My schedule is jam-packed in the best possible way! I have Border to Border starting on June 1 for three weeks, mid-service training at the end of June, the Peace Corps’ Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) camp at the beginning of July, then I’m taking a trip HOME!! Yes, I’m so stoked for my visit back to the States (details about that trip coming later), but let me backtrack and tell you a little bit about the amazing Peace Corps Armenia program that I already know will be a major highlight of my service: Border to Border.

Border to Border 2016 logo

I’m so incredibly excited and #blessed to be a part of Border to Border 2016. Border to Border is a Peace Corps Armenia health initiative founded in summer 2010. Every summer since, teams of Peace Corps and Armenian volunteers have hiked and camped across the country, stopping in villages along the way to teach interactive lessons on personal, social, and community health. Our mission is to promote healthy living, through a healthy body and a healthy mind. We want to promote a healthy lifestyle, and thus are backpacking and 100%-walking across Armenia in order to lead by example. This summer will be the 6^th annual Border to Border, which will take place June 1-22. In the past, there has traditionally been two teams (a North route and a South route) that meet somewhere in the middle of Armenia at the end of three weeks. This summer, there will be three teams for the first time! The original North route is now the Northeast route, and the Northwest route is the inaugural, new route.

We are currently fundraising for Border to Border 2016 and are a few thousand USD short of our goal. Please consider contributing to this exceptionally impactful and unique project. Every little bit helps and a (tax-deductible!) donation of any kind will be greatly appreciated! Below you will find our Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP) donation page, as well as the official website for Border to Border 2016 and the Border to Border Facebook page. You can read more about Border to Border at any of these three links.

Border to Border’s PCPP donation page

Border to Border 2016 website

Border to Border Facebook page

That’s all for now. More updates to come soon as things pick up in April and I have a surprise coming on March 31!

Love, Արիան (that’s how you spell my name in Armenian)