Shakar barked for the first time today! I automatically smiled and gave her a big hug! apres, shunik!
This is the first time in my adult life that I have not been running around like a headless chicken. I was always the type of person who took 21 units in school, did community work and still kept up a part-time job. Even when I graduated and moved to New York... a very active volunteer, and social life filled any minutes that were not consumed by the office. Vacation times were always spent coming to Armenia to cure my Hayastani karot (the longing for Armenia) , again running around like crazy.
For the past 6 years it has been my dream to move here. Ever since my first trip I knew I would have to, that this was home! For the past six years I have been working towards this goal (saving up the money, and gaining professional experience so that I may make a difference) and am now finally one of Yerevan's newest residents. With almost a decade of Armenian Community Service and a degree in Sociology I feel that I can start to make a small difference here. My main goal is women's issues and rights. It was the one thing that shook me during my first trip and still fascinates me to this day. Growing up in the United States, I was afforded more freedom and equality than most of the women of this world. Although life for a woman in the US is not perfect, there is a lot to be learned through the women's movement of the last century in the west. There are fundamental things that need to be discussed and brought out in the open when it comes to women's issues internationally, and here in Armenia, and I have begun doing so in small circles, just getting a feel for the situation here in Yerevan. I eventually want to teach Sociology here at the University and work with the younger generations. Before, as a strong and proud woman I would fight every battle to prove that a Woman can and that a Woman should and that a Woman will. Now, I feel that these ideas can be implemented in a macro-level... and who better than the future leaders of our beautiful country, the younger generation.
I have noticed changes in the past few years in Armenia. There are many changes for the better and I smile when I come across these changes in my everyday life here. Like the happiness I felt when I heard Shakar's first bark, I similarly love witnessing the day to day progressions of Armenia. Don't get me wrong, not everything here is a bunch of roses, there is a lot to work on and a lot of things need to change, but I am optimistic and the little changes... the tiny progressions that you notice keep you going until the next stepping stone is in full site.
As far as today, it was beautiful and sunny and was filled with smiling kids and families strolling down the streets of Yerevan enjoying the fall before the winter cold sets in. I myself was doing just that... basking in the sunlight that flows through my kitchen window and eating a juicy apple from the Pak Shuga (the big market here in Yerevan).
This is the first time in my adult life that I have not been running around like a headless chicken. I was always the type of person who took 21 units in school, did community work and still kept up a part-time job. Even when I graduated and moved to New York... a very active volunteer, and social life filled any minutes that were not consumed by the office. Vacation times were always spent coming to Armenia to cure my Hayastani karot (the longing for Armenia) , again running around like crazy.
For the past 6 years it has been my dream to move here. Ever since my first trip I knew I would have to, that this was home! For the past six years I have been working towards this goal (saving up the money, and gaining professional experience so that I may make a difference) and am now finally one of Yerevan's newest residents. With almost a decade of Armenian Community Service and a degree in Sociology I feel that I can start to make a small difference here. My main goal is women's issues and rights. It was the one thing that shook me during my first trip and still fascinates me to this day. Growing up in the United States, I was afforded more freedom and equality than most of the women of this world. Although life for a woman in the US is not perfect, there is a lot to be learned through the women's movement of the last century in the west. There are fundamental things that need to be discussed and brought out in the open when it comes to women's issues internationally, and here in Armenia, and I have begun doing so in small circles, just getting a feel for the situation here in Yerevan. I eventually want to teach Sociology here at the University and work with the younger generations. Before, as a strong and proud woman I would fight every battle to prove that a Woman can and that a Woman should and that a Woman will. Now, I feel that these ideas can be implemented in a macro-level... and who better than the future leaders of our beautiful country, the younger generation.
I have noticed changes in the past few years in Armenia. There are many changes for the better and I smile when I come across these changes in my everyday life here. Like the happiness I felt when I heard Shakar's first bark, I similarly love witnessing the day to day progressions of Armenia. Don't get me wrong, not everything here is a bunch of roses, there is a lot to work on and a lot of things need to change, but I am optimistic and the little changes... the tiny progressions that you notice keep you going until the next stepping stone is in full site.
As far as today, it was beautiful and sunny and was filled with smiling kids and families strolling down the streets of Yerevan enjoying the fall before the winter cold sets in. I myself was doing just that... basking in the sunlight that flows through my kitchen window and eating a juicy apple from the Pak Shuga (the big market here in Yerevan).
posted by Madlene at 3:50 AM
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