TWO TRIPS TO VONADZOR IN NORTHERN ARMENIA

     Vonadzor is the third largest city in Armenia with a population of approximately 105,000.  It sits amidst the mountains with an elevation of about 1,300 feet.  It has many old cumbling Soviet chemical plants and a few of the plants are still running. There is a university there.  I have gone to Vonadzor twice now to visit my Language Cultural Facilitator (LCF) Satanik, who just had her first child in early December.  During pre-service training I was monitoring Satanik's blood pressure and blood sugar on a weekly basis during the last three months of her pregnancy.   So, I  have now traveled to Vonadzor twice, once in December when the baby was just a week old and just last weekend, the first weekend in Februarym when the baby was 2 months old.

    Satanik first asked me to come to teach her how to care for her baby in 'a western way' as baby's in Armenia are held to tight traditions. For example, Abel was not bathed for eight days as he had an eye infection. People in Armenia traditionally do not bath when they are sick. So, I gave Abel his first bath and taught Satanik how to bath him herself without all of the grandmothers present... another Armenian tradition for the first few months.  I taught her how to administer his eye ointment and clear up his diaper rash.  I also taught Satanik's husband  Gor (short for George or Gorg) how to burp and diaper the baby. Traditionally Armenian men do not participate in any child care. On the second visit, two months later I taught him how to feed the baby with a bottle so as to free Satanik to go out once in awhile on her own. Gor was so excited to feed his baby and  is probably the only man in Armenia to feed a breast feeding baby :-)

     It felt so good for me to be teaching newborn care, bathing, breastfeeding, burping, playing with your child once again. Teaching English is not in my comfort zone, but teaching child care is. 

     So, I will take you through this story now in pictures... the landscape on the trip and being there in Satanik's home (a Soviet high rise apartment) in the city of Vonadzor.

     It is about 100 miles, or a two hour drive from Hrazdan to Vonadzor. In order to avoid going all the way to Yerevan and then back up to Vonadzor via bus or marshutni (small stuffed van) for about 10 dollars round trip I elected to go via taxi for 40 dollars round trip.

This is my taxi driver Sevik in front

                                                    of my doorr in Hrazdan. I sit in the

                                                    front seat with him as it has the only

                                                    seatbelt. He drives slower and safer than

                                                    most  Armenian drivers and is recommended

                                                    by Peace Corps. He takes me and picks

                                                    me up on both trips.  He only speaks Armenian

                                                   so our conversation is limited but we can communicate

                                                   with my meekeech hyeran (little bit of Armenian).

 

We pass Sevan Lake, a huge lake in the center

of Armenia.  Most of Armenia's fish comes from

this lake.  It is surrounded by beautiful mountains.

Passing by on the road are fish shacks where men

stand outside with their arms spread to denote they

have big fish for sale.

 

One of the beautiful what I call 'highway' sculptures

we pass on the way to Dillidjan, the city/town

they call the Swiss Alps of Armenia.

 

 

Entrance to a 5 K tunnel we go through to get

to Dillidjan.  It goes under mountains.  Kind of

akin to the tunnels we go through under Boston

Harbor but not near as well lit and the walls are

more than a bit crumbly.

 

Beautiful sculpture of deer at a hotel on the way

to Dillidjan.

 

Sculpture of bears in the forest on the descent into

Dillidjan. the road down the mountains into Dillidjan

is hairpin turns all the way down.  In the warmer months

before the snow there are horovat stops (Armenian barbecue)

shacks and stands on this  road.

 

This is the center of Dillidjan  with a sculpture of three

men (I forget who they are) with a little gift shop behind.

 

This is Vonadzor taken from Satanik's seventh floor

apartment window. It is early December and foggy.

 

Picture of the high rise next door to Satanik's. Always

clothes hanging out on the line all times of the year

as there are no clothes dryers here.

 

Me giving Abel his first bath since birth. No baths

in the hospitals here in Armenia and no instruction

for new mothers.  Baby is just left with her for 4 days

in the hospital.

 

Baby Abel at 1 week old.

 

Mom Satanik and the proud grandmothers!

 

Gor holding baby and learning to make eye contact

and talk to his baby.

 

Proud grandpa (Satanik's dad) holding baby for

the first time. He is a retired engineer, now a bee keeper.

He makes wonderful honey and is now in Moscow working

at a bee farm there.

 

This is now 2 months later. See how Abel

is as long as the tub. He has now doubled

in size - from 7 to 14 pounds. Satanik is

now so comfortable taking care of her child.

 

This is Gor feeding Abel for the very

first time. He took care of Abel for the

first time alone for 2 hours while Satanik and

I went shopping for a manual breast pump.  When we

got home and she pumped he fed Abel for the first

time.  He did great and dad and Abel were oh so happy.

 

Me, Satanik and Abel.....

 

This is Stephen Greenberg, my

Peace Corps colleague who is

placed in Vonadzor. 

The little family.... Satanik and Gor are on their way out

on their first date since the baby was born. It was

Valentines Day in Armenia. Stephen and I babysat

while Satanik and Gor went out for dinner. They were

not to return for three hours per our instructions :-)

And here is the little family.  They are

so eager to learn child care and to keep

Abel healthy and active.

 

 

     Per Armenian tradition all baby clothes are to be ironed (we stopped that right away) and baby's are not to go outside for 40 days.  Also, babys are not supposed to sit upright to burp and are not to be on there tummy's for exercise.  So, Abel is now having 'tummy time' and actually rolled over at 2 months old first time on his tummy.  He has been going outside for many walks and fresh air and hopefully will be getting a car seat and door bouncer chair soon.  Baby's in Armenia do not have car seats... they are kept in mother's arms in the car.

 

     I will try to get up to Vonadzor once a month to see them and teach them new things for Abel. Next time maybe we will meet in Steppanavan, Satanik's and Gor's home town where Satanik's parents live. It is a beautiful mountain village/town just north of Vonadzor about 45 minutes.

 

     All of the above reflects solely my own thoughts and opinions and in no way represents the US Peace Corps or United States government.  Also, Satanik  and Gor gave me permission to write about their family and post the pictures.

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 



 



 


                                                   












    

 



CHRISTMAS IN SCHOOL NUMBER 14 - HRAZDAN

     Christmas in the Armenian schools is celebrated with what they call Christmas Carnivals.  The girls all dress up in beautiful evening gowns.  The boys dress up in what I would consider Halloween type costumes. We had Spiderman, Batman and assorted animals. They perform short plays and have dance exhibitions of traditional and modern dance.  Father Christmas (as they call him) comes and they perform for him.  Parents and grandparents were present for each class carnival.

 

 

Traditional Armenian dancing... Children in

costumes in background

 

More traditional Armenian dancing....

See children in background - girls in evening gowns.

Handmade Armenian crafts made by the children

on display in school hallway.

Christmas tree in school hallway.

 

Me with eighth grade girls and 5th graders.  They

all want to hold my violin :-)

Third grade class lined up with alphabet letters

in alphabetical order.  8th grade girl helping

me with this class the last day before Christmas

break.  Armenian teacher was not with me...

I made these letters for the third grade class.

 

 

 
         Girls dancing at 5th grade carnival . . .

Boys playing Armenian drums . . . They are

exceptionally talented.

Me playing Jingle Bells while kids sing it in

English and Armenian.. I played at each grade carnival..

Not so talented as the children....  :-) 

 

3rd graders in costumes talking with Santa . . .

Batman visits Santa...

Children in carnival dance... They have beautiful

hand motions in Armenian dance.

5th grade boys in traditional Armenian dance.

5th grade girls in traditional Armenian dance . . .

Armenian dance class dancing to "American music

of Rock Around the Clock..."

More dance class girls to Armenian music....

Check out the girls' evening gowns in the

background here .....



It was a lovely two day Christmas celebration at the school.  So different from what we experience in the United States.  No food, and no presents - just dancing, singing of Jingle Bells and performances.

CHRISTMAS WEEKEND IN TSAGHKADZOR

Tsaghkadzor is an old Russian ski/athletic/olympic training resort town in Armenia. It is about ten minutes north of Hrazdan via taxi up in the mountains. Fourteen Peace Corps volunteers joined me there for the weekend after American Christmas. Armenian Christmas is celebrated January 6th.  We stayed at The Writers' Hotel. It is an old Russian hotel where writers would congregate and/or spend solitary time to write.  My friend Susan Spano and I were the only 'older' volunteers, both of us being over 60. The rest were 'the kids' as we call them. .. the 20 somethings. We had a Christmas dinner together at the hotel on Saturday evening and a gift exchange.

The Writers' Hotel front view. For whatever reasons we

could not figure out, the entrance is in the back.

 

Sculpture - I believe of the Russian writer/poet Pushkin,

Armenian writer Charens, but not sure.

 

Looking out the back of the hotel. Relief work of about

20 Russian writers embedded in the surrounding enclosure walls.

 

Sculpture in the front of the hotel.

 

Kecharis Monastary in Tsaghkadzor from

seventh century.  There are regular Aremanian

Apolistic services here on Sundays, memorial candle lighting

places inside the chapels and weddings take

place here frequently.  One never walks out of a chapel

with their back to the alter, so we  always walk out 

of the doors backwards facing the alter.

 

Another view of Kecharis Monastary..

 

Susan in front of the Obelli brothers sculptures. They

were famous Russian/Armenian intellectuals:   scientist, writer

and medical doctor. There is a museum in Tsaghkadzor

which we visited with their writings, medical instruments,

photos etc... and furniture. They had a home in Tsaghkadzor.

 

Me at our favorite café in Tsaghkadzor at the Kecharis Hotel.

There one can get an Americano, espresso, a latte and almost a real

western/American breakfast of an omlette (the omlette comes

 on top of a piece of lavash - traditional Armenian flatbread) or waffles :-)  Yay!!! 

 

 

Me and a stray cat at the ski lift restaurant area in

Tsaghkadzor.  There are few if any indoor pets

outside of Yerevan and stray animals just

 fend for themselves. Dogs, cats, puppies, kittens

are in the streets. I take any extra food from my home

 to them every day.

 

Christmas never really did feel like real Christmas here. But, I received so many cards, and the packages are still coming in the mail.  Each one has meant so much to me and makes me feel close to home. Actual Christmas day I went to school as it was not a holiday here. We had Christmas carnivals in school and I played jingle bells on my violin many many times while the kids sang it in Armenian.  I do have a string of white lights and some Christmas ornaments hanging in my room. My sister Kathleen sent me candles for my windows that came two days ago.  I have virtually the only Christmas decorated windows in these thousands of apartments in Hrazdan. Ruzan tells me they all know it is the Amercan's apartment windows with the white lights and candles. There is a Christmas tree and other decorations in the downtown area and tonight they will have a New Years Eve celebration there at midnight....

 

 

The above represents solely my own thoughts and opinions and in no way represents the United States government or Peace Corps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



AT HOME IN HRAZDAN ARMENIA

So, what is life like at home in Hrazdan Armenia?  I will give you a picture journey of my life here.

I live in a 'host family' home/apartment in Hrazdan.  Living with me is Ruzan and her mother Anahite. Ruzan is 27, a university graduate and teaches English to students and Peace Corps volunteers. She was one of our Pre Service Training Armenian language teachers and was what we call a Language Cultural Facilitator. She was not mine specifically, but I knew her and she was with all of us every Central Day in training.  Her mother, Anahite is 56. Her husband died about 15 years ago.  Anahite speaks very little English so we communicate in Armenian and look words up in the dictionary and/or Ruzan can translate if she is home.
                                                                             

Anahite and Ruzan  . .

                           

Hrazdan is a city of 53,000 people.  However, there are no public restaurants or cafes here.  People just do not have the money to eat out. Most of the people live in Soviet era built apartments of 35 to 40 years ago. The apartments were built to house the workers at the cement and power plants here in the city. If one was a good worker, they were given an apartment.  That is how my host family got their apartment. Anahite is a pharmacist and still works seven days a week, eight hours a day.. Yes, I mean seven days a week. If she wants a day off  or part of a day off for a special something she must request it.



This is the outside doorway to my apartment building.

My building . . . .. I am on the seventh floor.

                                                                             

This is the apartment building across from mine.
Notice the clothes hanging outside. There are no
clothes dryers and not everyone has a washing machine.

 

The outside of the apartments and the hallways and stairways are not kept up well but the inside of my apartment is lovely with decorated ceilings and lovely Armenian rugs. 

                                                                               

Our tiny Kitchen. We eat meals at the little table

but there is a dining table in the living room that

we used for Thanksgiving.

 

Our living room on Thanksgiving Day

with Peace Corps volunteers having dinner . . .

 

The kids as I call them - young Peace Corps volunteers

all snuggled up on my bed after Thanksgiving dinner . . .

Andrea, Hannah, Bryan and Stacey.  They are all in their

early 20s.

 

Desk area in my room . ...

 

This is the little grocery store next to my doorway.

There are these little khanutes as we call them. 

 They are everywhere. They sell basic food staples

and sundries for everyday living . . . some clothing

and always cheap slippers. No-one EVER wears shoes

in the house.

 

This is the sculpture/monument in the town square of the section

of Hrazdan where I live called Ricom. Beautiful sculpture abounds in every

corner of Armenia. More to come on that.

 

Incredibly beautiful sculpture of a woman

out in Hrazdan Lake. I will send a close-up

of her in the next blog. She is absolutely

 beautiful and ethereal.

 

Shooka/outside market around the corner from my

apartment building.

 

 

Shooka woman . . . .

 

 

This is the meat section of the shooka (outdoor

market) around the corner from my building. These

shookas are everywhere in every city,

town and village on every corner.

 

This is the man that owns the meat section of the shooka.

 

This is the outside of my school. Notice the old Russian

car. It is the only car ever parked there as there is only

one teacher that owns a car. This school was built in the Soviet

era. There are no working lights in the entire building.

 

This is the 6th grade classroom.  The only supplies for

the children are their books and a copy book for writing.

Please send me small/medium sized stickers that I put

in their copy books for homework done. They love them and

get so excited just to get a little sticker. Homework has increased by

50 percent in some classrooms with my stickers...

 

This is a hallway.  The schools are kept very clean

inside and have many cleaning ladies around.

 

This is a students' display of Christmas things made

from totally recycled things.  However, there is no

recycling in Armenia that I have seen or experienced.

  

This is my counterpart teacher. She speaks Armenian

and English. Her name is Karine. She is 54 years old and

has been a teacher for 30 years.  She speaks English very well.

 

I teach four days a week with Karine for 4-5 classes each day grades three through eight.  I am beginning to focus more on music with my fiddle/violin and kamanche.  I  like to go to music classes with the music teacher, Hasmik.  She cannot speak a word of English but we communicate through music. She is a pianist and a teacher.  I am still a very novice English teacher and the  music comes so much easier and more naturally for me. We sing, dance and I teach the kids songs in English - this week Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for the first graders. I will accompany them on the kamanche so I can sing with them and play at the same time.

 

Disclaimer:  The above in no way reflects or represents the opinions of the Peace Corps or United States Government and is solely my own writing and reflections.