Officially official!

Sorry, I’m the worst. I meant to write another post before I moved to my permanent site, but …I’M NOW IN GYUMRI!!! I’ve been here exactly a week and things have been really good so far, but really cold. Living in the southeast of the US my entire life did not prepare me for this weather. The highs this week in Gyumri have been in the 40s, but when I go to work at 10am (yep, I know that’s late), the temperature is in the 20s. And it’s only November, not even the official start of winter yet!! Remember in my last post, I talked about the old wives’ tale of how it can get too cold to snow? Well this fun little tale just keeps getting repeatedly reinforced by almost everyone I talk to in Gyumri (lucky me). So I did a little research and figured out that it is partially true: cold temperatures can’t directly stop snow, but they can indirectly stop snow. Gyumri can get so cold that the temperature affects the moisture in the air, causing humidity to drop too low for snow to fall. Doesn’t that sound like fun?? On the bright side, summers here are supposedly super nice!! The countdown to summer starts now; t-minus 6 months!

Backtracking a bit, the end of PST was a whirlwind! The last few weeks were crammed with various practicums and assessments. I did really enjoy our club practicum week, where we conducted an English club for 5^th and 6^th graders at the school in Artashat. Meghna (a fellow Mrgavan trainee) and I were in charge of 2 club days, so we decided to teach the kids the “Cha Cha Slide” by DJ Casper. The first day, we read through the lyrics with the kids, reinforcing words they already knew (like left, foot, and clap) and teaching them new words (like slide, freeze, and funky; we described funky to the kids in Armenian as “weird but cool”). These Armenian children are amazing at reading and can read almost anything you give them in English, but the catch is they often have a hard time understanding what they’re reading. So I was not prepared for when Ruzanna, one of my best students, began reading the lyrics. Just imagine a little Armenian girl deliberately reading and clearly enunciating, “This is something new / The Casper slide part two / Featuring the platinum band / And this time / We’re going to get funky / Funky, funky, funky.” I almost lost it; I was trying so hard to contain my laughter that I almost peed in my pants. Hearing those ridiculously silly lyrics being carefully read by this adorable Armenian child in English was absolutely hysterical. Anyway, on the second day, we treated the “Cha Cha Slide” as a listening activity so that the kids could learn the dance, and it was a huge success!!

My attempt at a selfie with Vahan (left) and Ruzanna (far right) before the certificate presentation.

After club week, we had a week of practicum teaching. This week was just a continuation of us working with the same classes we had been teaching since the beginning of PST, the only difference being our teaching was getting evaluated by our program manager and trainers. At the start of PST, I was assigned to teach ten 5^th graders, five girls and five boys, and I just absolutely adored them! Some trainees were frustrated with their students at the beginning of PST, but I honestly always loved my kids; they were always well-behaved and eager to learn. Thanks in part to my students, I grew as a teacher in the short amount of time I spent with them and I am so grateful for every single one of them: Ruzanna, Suzanna, Tsovinar, Lilya, Gayane, Aram, Petros, Narek, Artyom, and Vahan. At the end of the practicum week, our students presented us with gifts and thank-you certificates, and I was so touched when Ruzanna and Vahan read their message on my certificate.

Nelli in an outfit from Gymboree that my mom sent as a present.

I’m definitely going to miss my students from PST, but I’m absolutely going to miss my PST host family the most. I was beyond lucky to have been a part of their family for a short while. They were so generous and hospitable, welcoming me into their family and my friends into their home. My host parents, Sasha and Henul, are so cool, and if there was a contest among PC trainees for most attractive host parents, I would win that contest by a landslide. My host uncle, Vahe, is like the chill brother I never had. My host grandma/tatik, Satik, was so unbelievably kind and caring, scolding me for wearing shorts and Chacos when it got cold outside. My host grandpa/papik, Grigor, is just a straight baller, knocking back shots of (potent, 70% alcohol) homemade vodka with my friends when they came to visit. And who could ever forget my host baby sister, Nelli; she’s now 9 months old and is so close to walking! She’s grown so much in the 12 weeks I lived with my PST host family. I’m going to miss them so much, but I’ve already made plans to come back for Nelli’s first birthday, and I hope they come visit me in Gyumri sometimes too! I’m also going to miss their awesome home. The huskies, fresh vegetables (the broccoli and cauliflower rocked my socks!), and wifi modem will surely be missed.

Henul, Sasha, & Nelli came to the swearing-in ceremony!

Last Thursday, November 12, after twelve weeks of training, I was officially sworn-in as a Peace Corps volunteer! The swearing-in ceremony was really nice and our A23 group got to be the first group of volunteers in Armenia to say the Peace Corps volunteer pledge in Armenian! If you want, you can watch the swearing-in ceremony on YouTube, and if you skip to 29:20, you can hear another variation/pronunciation of my name and watch me walk across the stage! I moved to Gyumri last Friday, and today (Friday, November 20) marks 3 months in Armenia for me! PST was definitely unforgettable, so I can only imagine what experiences my service in Gyumri will hold over the next 2 years.