Of the many
experiences you go through during your Peace Corps experience, the most drastic
is the change in standard of living and pace of life. I grew up in Southern California and used to
the traffic, availability of mostly anything, and all the conveniences of
mostly everything in the Western world.
My first Pre-Service Training in Romania was not that tough since our
training site was in a fairly large city with all the modern conveniences
available. There were even internet
cafes and an assortment of restaurants to choose from. This time around, Pre-Service Training is a
little bit tougher since we are placed in smaller villages and only the basics
are available. We are placed in 4 separate villages and mine is named
Taperakan. Taperakan is about 45 minutes
from the capital, Yerevan, and just a few miles from the Turkish border.
The host family
I am living with are great and live up to the legendary hospitality Armenians
are known for. My host family has a
large garden and plot of land that grows their own fruits and vegetables. They also raise chickens and pigs and I hear
them every morning. It’s really amazing
to have fresh food that available though.
The village has a population of a few thousand but due to the high
unemployment here most of the working age people are working abroad, mostly in
Russia. No one really knows what the
census is since people work abroad for just a few months then return. Other than the main highway, all roads in my
village are dirt roads and potholes are everywhere. Its tough walking to school when it rains and
you better have a good pair of boots.
The Peace Corps
issues us a water filter and it’s changed since my first time in Romania. There we were given water filters that
attached to the sink, this time we are given bucket water filters. Essentially, they are two buckets that sit on
top of each other with a filter on the top bucket and a spout on the bottom
bucket. The Peace Corps also issues us a
medical kit filled with everything you can imagine.
Consistent water
is sometimes an issue in my village.
There is a well in the indoor bathroom and once the well runs dry it may
be days before we can shower again. We
just have to wait until the municipal water authorities send water to our
village and refill our well. I also
learned to be strategic about the types of activities I do, for example, I’ll
only exercise or do something very strenuous when I know I can take a shower
that day. Also, if there isn’t enough
water then we have to use the outhouse located in the backyard near the
pigpen. I can only say that outhouses in
Western/industrialized countries are a lot different than the rest of the
world.
I managed to
finally get my first haircut and that was quite the experience. Since I’m used to getting my hair cut every
three weeks, the time was overdue and I started looking around my village for a
barbershop/salon. I finally found out
where it was and my classmate and I decided to go for it. It was on the second floor of a building next
to the only gas station in our village and as soon as we entered the
establishment I realized that half of it was a used goods store and the over
half was the salon. There was a sheet
hanging on a piece of string clearly dividing the two businesses. There were two older women and a younger
woman there. Since our language skills
were limited to only 4 weeks of language classes we did not even know the word
for haircut but I asked by motioning with my fingers as if they were scissors
and pointing towards my hair.
They were happy
to oblige and my classmate Stephen decided to go first. While they were cutting his hair the other
two began to speak to us in Armenian and ask the usual questions of why we were
here, how old we were, and what our marital status were. We learned that the lady cutting Stephen’s
hair was the mom and the younger lady was her daughter and did manicures. The other older lady did hair too and told us
that she was 57 and had siblings in Glendale, California and a sibling living
in Iran. She was sad that she was unable
to live a better life with her siblings abroad.
The conversation with her turned political when she said she disliked US
President Obama and liked Russian President Putin instead. As Stephen was getting his haircut I noticed
that there was no shaver to clean up his neck and I asked if they had a shaver
by making a “buzz” noise and hand motioning as if I was shaving his head. They pulled one out and while one lady cut Stephen’s
hair on top, the other shaved the back of his neck at the same time.
Eventually it
was time for him to get his hair shampooed and rinsed. I watched as one of the ladies filled up an
electric water boiler next to a tiny sink and the other lady bring a plastic
stool for Stephen to sit on. The first
lady then tells him to lean over and put his head over the sink while the
second lady starts pouring warm water of his hair and begins lathering his hair
with garlic shampoo. I really got a kick
out of this and remembered to take a photo with my cell phone. Afterwards, Stephen’s given a towel and then
has hair dried and given the final touches.
It’s finally my
turn and I tell them I want the shaver only and want it cut equally over my
head. The first lady gives me a strange
look and its apparent to me that not many men get their hair styled this way in
this village. I do the hand motioning
again and point towards my entire head and she finally understands me. After 25 minutes (which would normally take
less than 5 minutes back home) she finishes and it’s time for me to move over
to the tiny sink and get my shampoo and rinse.
We are finally done and the ladies want to offer us coffee or tea and
chat some more but it’s time to get going.
They charge us 1,000 Armenian dram or 2 US Dollars each. I notice a lot of spots missed on my head but
really don’t care since it’s dinnertime and I’m hungry and don’t want to spend
another 15 minutes there. I’m happy that
I got this done and once I get home and tell my host family I got a haircut
they ask how much I paid and my host brother tells me he’ll take me to a place
that charges just 500 Armenian dram…
The most
interesting thing about village life is being so close to livestock. As I mentioned earlier, my host family raises
chickens and pigs but some of the Volunteer host family’s have bigger
animals. It’s always cool to call a
fellow Volunteer and go over to their place and check out their animals
too. One thing I never get tired seeing
are the sheepherders taking their flock out to graze. These large flocks often block traffic on the
main road sometimes and all traffic comes to a halt. I’m on a photo mission to befriend some
sheepherders and hang out with them for a few hours.
Life in the
village does take getting used to but eventually it does happen. The Peace Corps motto is to be flexible and
with time we learn to become a local villager.
I’ve integrated quite well by feeding the animals. The locals are always curious at first but
eventually we grow on each other. The
local hospitality is amazing. Villagers
will always invite you over to their place for coffee/tea and offer any snacks
they have available and always serve it on their best dishware! I must say, when my Pre-Service Training is
complete and I’m sent off to a bigger city for the remaining two years I will
miss the village life and the daily experiences it has to offer.
