Jody's Letters from the Road

We were at a meeting in Yerevan to meet our partners in our Peace Corps projects.  I think, because of my age, I stood out in the crowded coffee break area.  Several of the Armenian partners introduced themselves to me as I talked with my partner, Narene.  A lady closer to my age came over who knew Narene and had worked in the same town and introduced herself as Emma. Emma told me that she had worked with everyone at the NGO where I will be engaged for the next year.  I was very flattered when she told me she had heard about me and my background.  She told me she now teaches English at a college relatively close to where I will be living.  Emma asked me if I would be willing to come visit her college class and deliver a lecture in English about my teaching, union, and political work.  I could not say no. At the next coffee break, I found Emma and offered her my phone number.  As we talked, she told me two things about her past that made me fee...

My Dear Diana A preface, I wrote this note to a young Armenian woman who has tutored me a few times to help me learn their language.  We talked a bit about the current political situation in Armenia.  She knows of my union and political background and I felt compelled to discuss a couple of things with her and thought I would share it with you as well. I have been thinking so much about our brief conversation a few days ago.   I have not been able to forget two parts of the unfinished conversation and have decided that I must some thoughts down in writing to organize them for, hopefully, a more extensive conversation in the near future. First and foremost, I must commend you and your associates in your striving to be heard in peaceful demonstrations addressing the issues facing your beloved country of Armenia.   My current employment situation will not allow me the freedom to express my personal beliefs about the merits of your protestations insisting tha...

My Armenian Family Part One Well, I last wrote about how wonderful the greeting was for us when we arrived at the school in Ayntap.  My host family was the last to arrive.  I was getting so very nervous.  I met Robert and Olga and we loaded my belongings in to the taxi and went to their house.  As we rode, I was thinking of all the simple greetings we had been taught.  I sounded like a two year old as I said, "Good Day.  How are you?  I am good.  My name is Jody.  What is your name?"  Robert and Olga smiled and introduced themselves. We got to their house which they had just remodeled because their son is getting married there this summer.  I met Lady, their big dog. Lady is almost the size of a Shetland Pony but gentle as a lamb. Robert helped me carry my luggage up to my room and then said I needed to come have lunch. We ate in their den and the television was on with Armenian music videos.  We struggled through lunch ...

The End of Week Three I am wrapping up second full week of training as a Peace Corps trainee (PST we are called in the vernacular.) I must complete ten weeks of language, culture, and what ever other challenges are placed before me in order to become a Peace Crops Volunteer (PCV). My first day was spent in Washington D.C. where I met the rest of the team and we had our first day of training.  I am working with an amazing cohort of young people varying from recent college graduates to people early in their careers of some type of service.  I am the only person retired and not planning what job I will seek after my years in the Peace Corps.  The group was very welcoming to me and several of us went out for dinner.  The next day and a half was all travel.  We left the D.C. hotel flew all night  landing in the morning in Pairs.  I did not get to pick my seat so I was in a center row in the middle.  The little boy in front of me dropped his seat o...

Today was interesting. I and my brother, John, had been hesitant about telling Mom about me leaving for Armenia.  Since she just turned 98, we were wondering if telling her I would be gone for two years might upset her too much.  So,  we had decided not to tell her.  I felt terrible about this decision.  I spent two weeks with her, watching  her watch Jeopardy and answer the questions before the contestants and fall asleep watching old movies and television shows.  We went out to some of her favorite restaurants and I ate with and her friends a few times.  I kept feeling like I should tell her. I left Texas and went up to Washington D.C. to get some rest and study my new language.  I was talking to my friend , Joyce, who could not believe I had not told my Mom.  She said I was not giving Mom the respect she deserved.  She said Mom would be happy because I was doing something that was making me happy.  So, I wrote Mom a letter...

I like the line in the song "Wooden Ships" by Crosby, Stills, and Nash that says"If you smile at me, I will understand, because that is something everyone, everywhere does in the same language." I have been studying the Armenian language on my  own for the last few months.  It is a totally different language from English with a thirty-nine character alphabet.  I have not been too pushy on myself because I have feared if I was learning the wrong dialect, I would have to unlearn what I was learning.  Tonight, my first Skype class will begin with Anna who is in Armenia.  I have watched her video three times and begun a notebook with letters, words and phrases she introduces in Lesson 1.  I hope I can keep up with my younger fellow students. Learning Armenian as fast and accurately as I possibly can is very important to me as I begin this new adventure in my life.  Nelson Mandela once said," If you talk to a man in a language he understands, it goes to h...

I am trying something new to me and publishing a blog of my latest adventures.  I want to see how this works.