I�m finally in my new flat, what a month it has been!! I also have internet access back so I can log again. I�ll try and explain my absence the briefest way I can. The Volunteer program with the AVC (Armenian Volunteer Corps) commenced on the 1st August. The Training session will end this Friday with celebrations on the Saturday. I also moved in with a host family for the month as part of the training. It was pretty exhausting attending the training all day, looking after the �remond� and living with the host family at the same time.
I want to write a little about the AVC Program. The morning session consists of Eastern Armenian Language and the afternoon sessions consist mainly on cultural topics, how to deal with our job sites and having speakers from various backgrounds speak to the Volunteers re their businesses, difficulties they have encountered, basically their experiences. I must say the Training sessions have been very beneficial in both language and culture.
Every Saturday we went on day trips with the Volunteers and the AVC staff. The whole thing was organized well.
The host family I was staying with were wonderful but like I said it was very tiring as I had too much going on at the same time. The person I liked the most was �Babig� the Grandpa in the house. He was great and reminded me a lot of my Dad back in Sydney. They have this great garden filled with fruits and I would often eat black currant, grapes, pears etc straight from the trees, it was a great experience.
At the same time I also had my cousin and her girlfriend visit from Montreal having chosen Armenia as an elective for their medical studies. The Pan Armenian games came and went and I never saw any of the games nor the opening or closing ceremonies. That was too bad indeed. I did however see a lot of tourists in town in the past 2 weeks, which was great.
My own sister is arriving from Sydney tomorrow morning for 6 days with her girlfriend and I�m really looking forward to seeing her. I�ve been in Yerevan 4 months now!!! What an experience so far. Next week I�ll start working at one of the job sites I�ve been assigned to, I�ll write more later on that. Oh and I met Madlene tonight finally after reading all her logs so it was cool. All for now, I will write more regularly.
I want to write a little about the AVC Program. The morning session consists of Eastern Armenian Language and the afternoon sessions consist mainly on cultural topics, how to deal with our job sites and having speakers from various backgrounds speak to the Volunteers re their businesses, difficulties they have encountered, basically their experiences. I must say the Training sessions have been very beneficial in both language and culture.
Every Saturday we went on day trips with the Volunteers and the AVC staff. The whole thing was organized well.
The host family I was staying with were wonderful but like I said it was very tiring as I had too much going on at the same time. The person I liked the most was �Babig� the Grandpa in the house. He was great and reminded me a lot of my Dad back in Sydney. They have this great garden filled with fruits and I would often eat black currant, grapes, pears etc straight from the trees, it was a great experience.
At the same time I also had my cousin and her girlfriend visit from Montreal having chosen Armenia as an elective for their medical studies. The Pan Armenian games came and went and I never saw any of the games nor the opening or closing ceremonies. That was too bad indeed. I did however see a lot of tourists in town in the past 2 weeks, which was great.
My own sister is arriving from Sydney tomorrow morning for 6 days with her girlfriend and I�m really looking forward to seeing her. I�ve been in Yerevan 4 months now!!! What an experience so far. Next week I�ll start working at one of the job sites I�ve been assigned to, I�ll write more later on that. Oh and I met Madlene tonight finally after reading all her logs so it was cool. All for now, I will write more regularly.
posted by lena at 12:35 AM
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