CONTRA DANCING HAS COME TO ARMENIA !!!!

     Contra dancing has arrived in Armenia!!  Before I left for my Peace Corps Service I first called part of a dance at Maine Fiddle Camp, with Bill Olson as my teacher.  After that David Millstone took me under his wing and patiently taught me to be a dance caller. He let me call a few times at the big Northern Spy dances and then took me to many of his summer camp gigs in NH last summer. So, I started 'calling' dances for the children and Peace Corps Volunteers and their counterpart teachers here in Armenia.

     I had to purchase a mic and other sound equipment to make this happen. I brought with me some CDs I purchased at Maine Fiddle Camp of Dudley Laufman so I have recorded music. Sometimes I stand in the middle of a circle of dancers at the very beginning and play my fiddle while I am first teaching the calls. 

     Before I did the first dance I was Skyping and emailing David for advice and encouragement and coaching. I was so nervous before the first dance. I had never in my life called a whole dance - 7 or 8 dances. David helped me choose the dances and also sent me via email some music/recordings I needed. I couldn't have done it without him.
     Needless to say - I am now a very comfortable dance caller for mainly simple contra/barn type dances i.e. Gallopede, Virginia Reel, Snowball, Low Back Car and others. 
     This fall a national caller from Boston, Marcie, is coming to tour in Armenia so she will be coming to Hrazdan to call a dance with me and I will dance with the tour group in Yerevan.

School vacation week we danced every day at the Youth Center...

My site mate, Peace Corps volunteer Jim Daly helps me with the dancing and

the kids love him. He is

in Irishman by birth and loves to dance and hear

my fiddle play Irish jigs :-) He can dance a mean  Irish jig

to say the least . . . .

 

 

I have to have a translator, so my host sister Ruzan

fills that role for me . . .She is in the foreground here...

 

Me calling . . . after a few times the kids learn

the English calls - especially Do-Si-Do !!!

 

First dance at School 14 . . . . my school.

Had about 20 kids :-)

 

Dancing the Gallopede . . . .

 

A circle dance . . .

 

Vahe playing Armenian National instrument, the daduke

with me on fiddle. Even though he can speak no English, he

taught me an Armenian tune to play at the Tumanyan Day festivities

at school.

 

Air is held in the cheek while he plays, so he can breath and

play at the same time....

 

     Playing music and dancing with the children and volunteers is what keeps me going here in Armenia. These are the two things that give me real joy in my Peace Corps service.

 

 





HRAZDAN LADIES' BOOKCLUB

     Hrazdan Ladies' Bookclub had it's first meeting last Wednesday, April 8th.  When I moved into my new little studio apartment in Rykom/Hrazdan there was a request from Ruzan, my host sister that I start a ladies bookclub.  She asked that it be held each week at my apartment with candles and tea and coffee and sweets.  So, I have made it happen.

     We have six in our group.  Two of us, Ruzan and me are fluent in English and four are beginner intermediate to intermediate English speakers. So our members thus far are Ruzan, me, Gayane, Anya, Ani and Anahite.  We will probably add more members as time goes on. 

Reading Heidi. . . .

Check out my cute dishes :-)  I bought colorful

things for my apartment. Outside is so very bleak...I wanted

a cheerful place inside..

So, here we are:  Anya (Russian for Anna), Ani (Armenian for Anna),

Ruzan and Gayane. 

 

Anahite, Ruzan's mother on the right...She came late from

her work as a pharmacist. She works 7 days a week, 8-10 hours

a day for $120 a month....

     Our first book is a child's version of Heidi. I had bought four copies of this book while in Zurich Switzerland last month and make copies for everyone to have a copy. The full novel was one of my favorite books as a young girl.  Each group member reads a page and another member translates. But first, before we begin we reading, we have tea and sweets and talk about our lives . . . . just like my  basketball mothers' book club in Vermont :-)  I try to keep everyone speaking English, otherwise, I am left out of the conversation except for a familiar Armenian word here and there. 

     We had a lovely time last week. This week I will also ask simple questions about the book, hoping to elicit answers in English and in complete sentences.  We'll see :-)

     It is now December of 2015. Our club stopped in late spring when school let out for the summer and started up again when Ruzan returned from the new group of volunteers training in late November.  Here are pictures of our Christmas party when we started up again and then playing UNO and Bannanagrams for New Year's Club meeting in January 2016.

 

Reading How the Grinch Stole Christmas...

And more of The Grinch...

 

Having fun playing UNO December  2015

 

 



POETRY CONTEST IN HRAZDAN

     Each year Peace Corps sponsors a poetry contest for the students of Armenia. Poems are selected for recitation for grades seven through twelve.  Each of the  fourteen Marzes (counties) in Armenia is represented. Each school in that chooses to participate holds a contest and selects a winner from each grade to go to the regional contest, ours being held in Hrazdan. The winner for each grade from that contest will go to the national contest in Yerevan, this year on May 10th. The judges for the regional contest are often administrative staff from the Peace Corps office in Yerevan.
     We held our contest this year last Sunday. I had only one student from my school, Narine, an eighth grader go to the regional contest.  Guess what?  She won the regional contest out of about 10 eighth graders from other schools. YAY!!!! So, we will go to Yerevan for the national contest. 

This is me and Narine and Nellie. Nellie recited too.

 

Narine and Nellie after the contest.....

 

     This year I also introduced music to our regional contest. I played fiddle and one of my eighth grade students, Nellie, played back up guitar for me.

Nellie and me playing before the contest begins  . . . .



 I also had my second grade boys who I heard play at one of our Christmas programs play the Armenian drums. They were a major sensation at our contest.

Hayk and Navagh on the Armenian drums . . .

 

 We all played 1/2 hour before the contest started.

The musicians . . . ..



 I also played at another regional contest in Yerevan with Hannah, another Peace Corps volunteer who plays the flute.

Hannah and me playing at the Yerevan Regional Contest . . .



   So Hannah, Nellie and I will now have a band to play at the national contest in Yerevan... Trying to think of a good name for us. Will let you know when I think of it.  Also I will take our little drummer boys, Hayk and Navagh with us too.

One of the contestants reciting . . . .

 

Me and some of the contestants . . . I don't know them,

they just wanted their picture taken with an American....

Part of my job here :-)

 

All of the contestants at our contest in Hrazdan . . . .

 

SO, MORE TO COME FROM THE NATIONAL CONTEST

ON MAY 10TH !!!!!