Photo Time!

Life is getting busy so I haven't had much time to write.  I figured I'd instead post some photos of some recent events (especially for the non-Facebookers).  Enjoy!

 Shore Country Day School in Armenia.  If it weren't for Sash (who told me about Birthright) I wouldn't be here! If you look closely at the left you can spot Mt. Ararat.

 A quick visit to Parz Lich on our last excursion.  The ice really put a damper on the paddle boating.

 To all you osprey lovers, check this out!  I've noticed these nests are actually fairly common in some areas outside of Yerevan.  I'm told they're storks.

 Last Sunday we visited my host mom's family in their village about an hour north of Yerevan.  The previous Thursday was a holiday known as Trndez in the Armenian Church, so we had our own belated celebration.  On this day people jump over a fire to rid themselves of sins.  We certainly had some fun while we were at it!

 Some post fire jumping dancing.

Noravank -- one of the many monasteries we've visited on our Saturday excursions.  This one dates back to the 13th century.

Embassies, Protesters, and a Dump

It seems like every winter when the leaves fall off the trees and you can see further off the road, I’ll drive down Jeffrey’s Neck Road or 1A and see a house I never noticed before.  I’ve driven down these roads my entire life, and I’m always baffled when I realize there’s something I’ve missed.  The past few days have been like this for me in Yerevan.  Here in the city there aren’t any leaves blocking the view, but the sensory overload of city life makes it difficult to take everything in at first glance.

For example, three days a week when my schedule allows it, I like to take the extra time to walk home from work instead of taking the metro.  I had gotten in the habit of walking down the right side of the road, where I’d pass one of the nicest parks in Yerevan and the National Assembly Building.  But the other day when I just missed the green walk light to get over to that side of the road, I walked down the other side.  Little did I know, I had been walking down embassy row!  Great Britain, Syria, Thailand, plus the National Academy of Science.  Sure, the buildings looked pretty nice from across the road, but I never would have known what they were had I not been able to read the small signs on their tall security fences while walking by.  It wasn’t until I saw the city from a new angle that I was able to learn something new.

Today I noticed a few more things of note on my way home.  One was a sea of protesters, which at first glance just seemed to be a normal crowd of people on their way from work.  I only keyed into it after noticing the large police presence.  They happened to be walking up the right side of the road in the opposite direction, so I was glad I had chosen to walk the left side again today.  I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I later saw them on the news and my host mom did a good job of conveying that they were protesting against the new social security program in Armenia.  The other noteworthy site I became aware of today was a massive pile of trash on a side street by my home.  It’s an abandoned space between two buildings that has become a makeshift dump, piled high with trash.  I have no idea how I managed to walk right by it two days ago without noticing it, but from now on it will no doubt draw me in.  This isn’t just because I’ve never seen such a large pile of trash in the middle of a city before, but it also relates directly to my work here with the Armenian Environmental Network.  Over time this organization is working to prevent scenes like this and clean up Armenia.  It feels good to be a part of this cause to make the world more beautiful (thanks Miss Rumphius).

These past few days of noteworthy observations have reminded me that there will always be something new to learn about this place.  Just as Yerevan has started to feel familiar to me, I’ve realized that there’s still so much to discover.  I have a renewed motivation to keep my eyes open wider, because the next interesting thing might be right under my nose.

But what am I doing here anyways?

Up to this point I’ve been very vague about how I’ll actually be spending the majority of my time here in Yerevan.  This is mainly because I haven’t been so sure myself.  But after the first few weeks I feel like I’ve got a better sense of what I’ll be up to every day so I thought it was about time to share.  I’m required to work 30 hours per week at my volunteer placement sites and at this point I’m splitting my time between two places.

For three days each week I’ll be at the American University of Armenia (AUA) working in the Center for Student Success’ Math and Writing Center.  AUA has been offering graduate programs for quite a few years, but the undergrad program is completely new as of this year.  In the Math and Writing Center I’ll be working as a tutor, helping students who are looking for extra guidance.  Unfortunately they’re college students and don’t attempt to seek help until the last minute, and midterms aren’t for at least another month, so this probably won’t be a big part of my job for a while.  So in the meantime, I’m working on a few things.  I’ve been compiling and making new resources for students, such as handouts on various calculus concepts.  I’ve also been preparing a presentation I’ll give in a few weeks on test-taking strategies.  And I’ll also be working on developing new programs and events for students throughout the semester.  The food at AUA is great (and cheap) so that’s a plus!

My other placement is at the Armenian Environmental Network (AUA).  The organization works out of both the US and Armenia.  They have a few main projects they’re working on now.  One is implementing a basic ecology and waste management curriculum in schools, and the other is to make repairs to an existing landfill to make it more environmentally friendly.  Thus far I’ve been doing some work on our student education guide that we’re hoping will be approved by the Armenian Ministry of Education so the material can be taught in schools throughout the country.  I’ve also spent lots of time searching the vast expanse of the World Wide Web for any and all grants we might be eligible for.  (Stay tuned, we might one day need your help in a Global Giving Open Challenge!)  Although sometimes the work is tedious, I’ve enjoyed getting an inside look at an NGO in action.

Today I had what I think I’d call my best meal in Armenia thus far.  I think I ate four lahmajuns (I lost count).  Hot and fresh off the stove, there’s nothing better!  I’m off to the Opera House tonight for some culture.  I’m going with some coworkers and I have no idea what we’re seeing, but I think it’s a ballet.  For now it’s back to the TV for some Olympics!  There’s something about being in the same time zone that makes it a little more exciting.  Go World!

We are Family!

Today I thought I’d tell you a little bit about my host family.  In short, they’re awesome!  But let’s meet the players…

•  First up is host mom Rozanne.  Just like the amazing Eve Hamlin, Rozanne just about does it all!  She’s a trained architect but no longer works as such.  Instead, she helps design and make products sold in my host sister’s shop down the street (more on that later).  She’s a master seamstress, knitter, you name it.  Most recently she’s been working on making a spring jacket out of a bunch of old sweaters.  She also takes the mantra food is love to a whole new level.  The minute I walk in the door no matter the time of day or if I’ve been at home for a while and appear unoccupied, she’ll ask if I’m hungry.  If I say yes (sometimes this is a mistake) a feast which would feed at least three will appear on the table for me in a matter of minutes.  This will no doubt result in the Armenian eighteen (as opposed to the freshman fifteen).  And despite her lack of English and my lack of Armenian, Rozanne and I are great at communicating through gestures, facial expressions, etc.

•  Next up is host dad Surik.  I’m not entirely sure on what he does, but I think he works at a hotel in Yerevan as an electrician.  In Armenia there is quite a difference in the division of labor between husband and wife, and by American standards one might think Surik doesn’t pull his weight.  But he does his part by bringing home the bacon, and I can tell that he’s a very loving husband and father.  He’s calm and quite, a fantastic pianist, and I’m convinced he knows more English than he lets on.  Yesterday was his birthday, and in typical Armenian fashion we enjoyed a huge feast with family and friends in celebration.  There was plenty of food, vodka, and toasting to family, friends, and good health.

•  Third up to bat we’ve got sister Sofa.  Sofa is 17 and in her first year of university where she studies geography.  (You’re probably thinking 17 and in university??? Wow!  It turns out Armenian schools did not have 11^th or 12^th grade until a few years ago, so students went straight to college after 10^th grade.)  Sofa’s English is great and she lives at home, which is good for me, as she acts as the resident translator when needed.  So far, Sofa and I get along great, and we bond over watching the X Factor, Project Runway, and movies dubbed in Russian.

•  And batting cleanup is sister Sona!  Sona is almost 22, she’s married, and she lives with her husband down the street.  She comes over occasionally, but I also go visit her at her new business down the street if I have some extra time on my way home.  She’s an aspiring designer, and she’s currently in graduate school studying graphic design.  Her shop sells a little bit of everything, including pillows, notebooks, jewelry, and more, all made by her or Rozanne.  The store has only been open for five months, but it seems like things are off to a good start.  Having a husband and business at 22 is certainly not what I’ve had in my early 20s, and in some ways I’m envious of her firm direction at this point in her life. 

So that’s the fam!  I’m looking forward to getting to know them better and be able to tell them more than just I am tired and I am full in Armenian…

It’s hard to believe tomorrow is Friday!  It was a short work week this week.  Armenian Army Day was on Tuesday (equivalent to Veterans’ Day I think) so we had both Monday and Tuesday off.  Looking forward to cross-country skiing this weekend on our excursion!

 That's Yerevan in the background!  And yes, the weather in the city has pretty much been like this since I arrived.

 Preparing for a birthday feast.

Week One Fun

It’s hard to imagine I’ve already been in Armenia for a full week!  After a few days of adjustment, I’m easing into life in Yerevan and things are going well.  Here are a few happenings thus far:

•  Skiing at Tsaghkadzor

This was on my second full day in country and first weekend excursion with Birthright Armenia.  We traveled about an hour north of Yerevan and up into the mountains to the resort.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous, the lift ticket and ski rental were cheap, and I got the chance to meet a bunch of other Birthright volunteers.  (Sitting on a slow chairlift for 10 minutes each run provides a great opportunity for small talk.)  All in all, a great day!

•  Adventure to Lake Sevan

My host parents like to take Sunday drives outside the city when the weather is nice, so last weekend we went up to Lake Sevan for some sightseeing and a picnic.  There were many Kodak moments (my host mother loves pictures!) and it was another beautiful day.  In a month or two when I start having ocean withdrawals I’ll know where to go!

•  My first Armenian dolma!

My host mother made stuffed grape leaves for dinner and they were delicious! In the states you might see dolma on the appetizer menu, but this was dinner.  A pile of dolma and bread.  You can’t go wrong.

•  The bank

A visit to the bank seems like a fairly straightforward experience, but when few people speak English, and everything is written using a different alphabet, life is hard.   After waiting through one line only to have the man shake his head and point around the corner, someone helped me check in at the computer kiosk and take a number.  Think supermarket deli.  When I went around the corner to find the row of tellers, the large TV screen showed I had about twenty numbers ahead of me.  We’re no longer talking deli, this is like the DMV.  You would have thought they were giving the money away!  After a good 25 minutes they called my number and I gave them my Benjamins in exchange for some Armenian drams.  I’ll be using an ATM from now on…

I started work at both my volunteer placements (American University of Armenia and Armenian Environmental Network).  I’ll be tutoring in the math and writing center at AUA.  At AEN it looks like I’ll be doing a little bit of everything, from grant writing to research.  I’ll definitely tell you more about both places soon!

In other news I have not yet gotten lost walking in Yerevan or in metro, so I’d call this week a success!

 Hitting the slopes

Me and my host mom and Lake Sevan

Greetings from Yerevan!

Hello all!  This is the inaugural post of my latest adventure!  I decided it wasn’t worth starting a new blog because the theme still seems fitting.  If you’re new to reading about Little Hamlin’s adventures you can check out my first ever post for some Hamlin blogging history.  I can’t promise that I’ll write regularly, but I’ll do my best.  Now let’s talk about Armenia!  I’ll be here in Yerevan (the capital city) until May.  I’m traveling with an organization called Birthright Armenia which works to bring Armenians living in the diaspora back to the homeland.  I found out about this program last May when I reconnected with an old friend from Shore who was planning to participate (thank you Facebook).  When I found out that someone would give me money to send me to the other side of the world because I have a few Armenian genes, I said sign me up!  The extent of my “Armenian-ness” thus far starts and ends in the kitchen (my mom and I make some mean paklava), but I’ve always been curious about my Armenian heritage.  I think this is mainly because I’ve grown up inspecting the detailed family tree of my dad’s side that lives on the wall at our family cottage in Maine.  I can look at my own name on the very bottom and trace all the way up to Elder William Brewster who came to America on the Mayflower in 1620.  But when I look at my mom’s Armenian roots, they seem to end at her grandmother, and we don’t know much about those who came before her.  I can’t say my goal in coming to Armenia is to find out, but I’m looking to connect with the local culture, and who knows, maybe I’ll meet a long lost relative!  Right now I’m significantly jet lagged from my journey so I’ll plan to tell you all about what my next four months should look like in a later installment.  As for now, I’m settling into life with my homestay family and catching up on much needed rest! 

The Warm Heart of Africa steals mine again

 Although I will have only been in Malawi for less than a quarter of my time abroad, I know that the memories I have from this part of my adventure will stand out to me when I look back on my time in Africa. I don't have nearly enough time to share everything now, but here are some highlights from the past five weeks.

– Considering this episode has seemed to influence most of my experiences in the past three weeks or so, I guess I'll begin with The Great Shingles Saga... It all started after I was doing a bit of gardening one day and noticed that my face was pretty itchy. I figured that while digging in the dirt I had managed to uncover some sort of angry bug which managed to make its way onto my face, bite me, end of story. (Unfortunately that wasn't the story at all.) Then the excruciating ear pain set in. This time I figured I was just suffering from a raging ear infection. Wrong again. Now all of this was taking place in Gowa, a rural village with no running water or electricity, about a two hour walk from the nearest pharmacy plus a two hour drive from any fully equipped healthcare center. But, Malawi has been far too good to me, and it was certainly looking out for me this time. On the morning we were scheduled to leave Gowa and head south for a few days in Liwonde National Park, I woke up with a rash that was spreading across my face and under my eye. A few days prior we had happened upon some American missionaries who explained that they were organizing mobile clinics in the area. As my luck would have it, one of these clinics was scheduled for the day we were leaving Gowa, and it happened to be taking place right along our route out of the valley. So, we decided to stop in and after cutting about 200 local Malawians in line (serious guilt...) I sat down with Doc Martin, a retired armed forces doc from Arkansas who now comes to Malawi multiple times per year to hold mobile clinics. He examined my face for all of about ten seconds before sharing the wonderful news that I had shingles. (Now it's possible that the only thing you know about shingles is that you recall your grandmother having it at some point or another. Last time I checked, I was not a grandmother or over the age of 65. I guess shingles doesn't discriminate.) I don't think my story quite impresses the pure wonder in the fact that I happened to run into Doc Martin that day. Of course he and his fellow missionaries told me “it's a God thing”, and whether it was that, fate, pure dumb luck, or something else, I have no doubt that things would have ended differently had I not gotten that original confident diagnosis. Because the next day when I woke up, things had taken a turn for the worse, as my eye was now red, swollen, and disgusting. But, now that we knew what we were dealing with, it was straight to the pharmacy for steroids and anti-virals. Then I was off to Blantyre to see another doc, back to Lilongwe for yet another opinion, and off to the eye clinic to see an ophthalmologist. It was an emotionally draining few days as I had to decide whether or not to head home early to seek better treatment and to prevent myself from losing serious vision in my left eye if it had indeed been damaged. Of course, no one wants to be Fred Hayes from Apollo 13, bumped from the mission because he was at risk of contracting the measles. Fred Hayes never got the measles, and I obviously hoped I wouldn't go blind. But while Hayes saves the day, there was no mission needing rescuing for me. Instead, there was only the Warm Heart of Africa, which I wasn't ready to leave yet. But thankfully, I had some great doctors looking out for me in both Malawi and in the States, while my advisers knew when I was in trouble and made sure I got all the right care. So that's the Great Shingles Saga of 2012. Now for the good stuff.

-- One of my favorite parts of this year's trip to Malawi for me was the gardening. Prior to this, my only gardening experience has involved the occasional weeding for my grandmother in addition to the time I tried to grow carrots in a joint compound bucket when I was twelve. (I got way too eager and harvested them long before they were ready. They were about two inches long and as thick as a pencil.) But I learned from some Malawian pros, and my green thumb is thriving!

In Malawi, the majority of people living in rural areas rely on smallholder farming for food and income. Virtually everyone grows maize, the staple crop, in addition to a combination of ground nuts (peanuts), beans, rape, cabbage, or mustard, tomatoes, among others. Most farming is fertilizer intensive, and with rains lasting only two to three months of the entire year, an annual high stakes game ensues in which families must balance investment and yields while considering the risks of limited rains or pest infestation in hopes that they can harvest enough maize to last the entire year.

Enter permaculture. In short, permaculture means think like a forest. In nature, you don't ever find large plots of monocultured land which relies on fertilizer, so why is so much of our environment now monocultured land which relies on fertilizer? I'll leave that answer up to you, but you get the idea. You're probably already familiar with one of the main principles of permaculture. Grow in guilds – maize, beans, pumpkin. You're ready to start gardening!

So, the reason I'm boring you with all this farming theory is because my host family has started their own permaculture garden at their home. It's incredibly exciting because they're the first in their area to do such a thing, and with all of their new bed space, they have the potential to grow a lot more food, for themselves and for sale, and by gardening right at the home, they can reuse all of their waste water, allowing them to grow throughout the year. This was also very exciting because it meant I got to take part! We built compost piles, transplanted young fruit trees, made bird baths, built new brick lined beds, planted, mulched, watered, harvested, and ate. My brothers even let me design and plant my own bed. It has a small papaya tree in the middle, which I transplanted, in addition to maize, beans, sunflowers, mustard, pumpkin, and lemongrass. On my last day in Gowa you may have thought it was Christmas after I spotted a few bean sprouts in the bed. I can't wait to receive picture updates from the garden, and I know my Malawian family is already excited to eat my vegetables!

-- Ostensibly, my main purpose of returning to Malawi was for research (or so the University of Rochester thinks, because they'll be fronting the bill) so I guess I should share a little bit about that. Along with two other friends and my host brother as translator, we carried out a survey on the use of car batteries and solar panels as a means of charging electronic devices in order to gauge the potential interest in a local battery charging station which would be located at the new community center set to be built in Gowa. There are many people using car batteries in the area to operate cell phones, radios, and TVs, and those without a solar panel are forced to hike about an hour and a half out of the valley to a charging station, which takes both time and money. While our time was cut short by almost a week while I was recovering from shingles, we were still able to interview over thirty people on their current electricity usage and demands. One of my favorite interviews was with a teacher from the Gowa secondary school. He has a degree in theology, but we found him at his home on Saturday studying chemistry because there is currently no physical science teacher at the school. I told him I would have been thrilled to tutor him had I not been leaving in a few days. We talked about his energy use and he explained that he had a small solar panel and a car battery, but the panel didn't work yet because he had yet to purchase an inverter. I asked why and he said it was due to cost, but he then said that he learned how you can replace the part with a resistor from a TV, bought at a fraction of the cost, which was his plan. I asked where he learned that, and he told me in a book from the school library. The boy who harvests the wind isn't the only Malawian genius...

So there are a few highlights for you. You're probably thinking that gardening, surveying, and shingles really doesn't sound especially thrilling, which is true. I think the real enjoyment for me was in cooking every day with my brothers and sister, hiking, popcorn and movie nights, and poop jokes, among other things. (The chichewa word for hyena is fece, and the word for danger is poopsya, so I'm sure you can imagine the fun we had with that one.) When I left Gowa for the first time two years ago, I looked back down the road and knew I'd come back. So when I decided to return, I thought this would end the Malawi chapter of my travels. But I was wrong...walking out of the village I had the same feeling of knowing I'll be back, and I think it's only a matter of time...

But until then, it's on to South Africa and then back to the States. I'm already experiencing reverse culture shock here in Jo'burg. Our hotel complex has a Hooters. Need I say more? The Hamlin parentals are set to arrive this evening, so I'd say the fun's over, or maybe just beginning...