PST 12

As I watch Tina dance with her father and her cousin at her birthday party, I am reminded of the things that I love about the Armenian culture: the strong familial bonds, the fierce pride and stubborn dignity, the affection children show for their parents, even as teenagers. It is a vivid reminder of the place I really am, even in the world of degenerate housing meets MTV. The underlying strength of this country rests with its people and I firmly believe that they will achieve success. And that is what we are here to help them do.

In the midst of PST craziness it is easy to forget where I really am and why I am truly here. Right now I am living like an American in an Armenian village. This is PST dictated: hours and hours of classes, session after session on central day, projects, tests, homework and presentations. In order to succeed, we have to rely on American values of multi-tasking, efficiency and priority. But, in order to be successful in Armenia we have to be able to balance this American whirlwind with the slower paced, more social atmosphere of Armenia. Yeah, we’ll have our meeting, but first we’ll have coffee and chocolate and talk about the neighbors. The ability to act like an Armenian in Armenia will help narrow the dichotomy of cultures.

Peace Corps in itself is an experience that will probably never be duplicated or mimicked, that I could never have totally prepared myself for, and will keep me guessing for the next two years. My struggles for the past few weeks, well, 9 weeks to be exact, have taken the form of a rite of passage—one that will continue on with me during my next months and years as a volunteer. It is my sense that the Peace Corps experience contains a number of these rites of passage, one being PST in itself. The training has tested my limits in a number of ways and created growth on many planes. I am sure this is of purposeful design, intended to push the envelope and stimulate reflection and introspection towards two years of service and the commitment that entails.

I have done my share of the former and feel renewed confidence in my abilities and priorities while here. Meanwhile, our group members are dropping like flies: we are now up to four early terminations. All have their reasons; PC wasn’t right for them for one reason or another. Watching members of your group leave is difficult, regardless of the reason and has provided plenty of opportunity to reflect on my own commitment and fortitude.

I have found both to be strong, although tested at times. I am grateful to my host family for opening their home to me and taking good care of me while I am here, but I am ready to move along. It is comforting to know, however, that I am not simply being an oversensitive American—many of the Armenian staff members are in agreement that this is a bit extreme. I was actually rewarded today for being “the most patient trainee with my host family,” by the very Armenian who was there to witness me break down in tears over my stress levels last week. Although my stress came from many different sources, my host family ended up with most of the blame due to the fact that they are where I go at the end of the day. And, at the end of this particular central day, I simply couldn’t face the idea of going home to be on display any longer. The wonderful PST staff helped to temper my family’s interactions with me and I am doing my best to remain patient and enjoy the good aspects of my family for the next week and two days (not that I’m counting).

8-09

Today I am enjoying a tremendous sense of relief after completed both my Community Project and my LPI. They both went well, which was especially surprising regarding the community project. I honestly thought that our village was doomed to failure, or at the very least mediocrity. To my surprise (and relief) it was a smashing success. And, much to my dismay, I actually learned quite a bit and can see the underlying benefit of such a torture device. I hate it when that happens! Because our village is all EE volunteers with the exception of one TEFL (our other TEFL ET’d) we decided to do a follow up on our EE lessons that we had done earlier in the summer. We invited a bunch of kinds (nearly 30 showed up—one of the pleasant surprises of the day) and sent them on a scavenger hunt for trash in the village. We had devised a fairly comprehensive list, including a show, piping, a battery, glass and plastic bottles, tin and aluminum cans, items of clothing, food, cigarettes, etc. The kids were totally into it and nearly raced out of the building. They were only allowed to pick up trash from nature and the streets, and I think they ALL managed to find everything on their list, which was quite a testament to the condition of the streams and streets in the village. When the kids returned we talked about each item they collected and how long it takes to decompose, then hey drew pictures about what they learned and made a big poster.

While this is a fairly simple and common lesson in the US, I think it was groundbreaking here. They just don’t have education about the environment and don’t know any better. The kids really enjoyed the lesson and hopefully they will think about other things they can do with their trash instead of throwing it in the river or the streets. Unfortunately, the only options Margohovit currently has are the river, or burning it. People say there is a “landfill” but we have yet to see such a thing. We have, however, seen (and smelled) lots of piles of burning trash and the piles of garbage on the river banks. We have been told that “it is okay because it goes to Azerbaijan.” Hopefully we can begin to instill some environmental values and knowledge that will eventually lead to action….

My LPI was this afternoon, and I really think it well this time (as opposed to last time where I managed to forget everything, including my sisters name…). I don’t know my score yet, but I think I did nearly as well as I could have, so I am happy. Now we have a few central days of wrap-up, a ceremony for our host families, and it is on to bigger and better things! There are things I will miss about PST, but the for the most part, I am ready to move on.