First week of work

I had my first week of work, which mostly entailed meeting my colleagues and visiting the job placements. It should be an interesting contrast – the think tank where I’ll be working seems much more top-down, research focused and well funded, and the community center is very grassroots, progressive and stretched thin. At ICHD I’ll be helping to design a project to promote women’s political participation within the parties, which they’re proposing to USAID, and also working on some new projects to combat gender based violence and promote women’s economic independence. At the Women’s Resource Center I’m going to help them mostly with strategic planning as they are hoping to shift from direct service to more of an advocacy focus. I also want to help them build a donor base and fundraising plan, because they are truly doing everything for women in this country – everything from offering sexual health training, to rape crisis hotlines, to career counseling. Next week they’re going to be holding a press conference to talk about domestic violence legislation they are lobbying for, and I’m helping them get some international coverage, hopefully. It could be a big step for Armenia.

Work has been interesting not just for the substance of the work itself, but also speaking to my colleagues and hearing some of the stories about the Soviet years. The people seem deeply divided about the Soviet era and independence: on the one hand, people comment that in Soviet times there was less poverty, more sense of order, greater gender equality. Of course on the other hand, those benefits came at a great expense – my colleague Levon told me no one was allowed to leave the country in those times. Also I’ve learned a lot about the early years of independence, which came with war, blockade and the earthquake – it was a dark time, literally and figuratively, as most people didn’t have electricity or water. It’s been interesting learning about politics and society here in that context, and for example how gender is so tied up in nationalism and Armenia’s political history. It’s also been interesting and a bit strange being in a place that is so homogeneous in so many ways.

I continue to adore my host family. Lusine was very sweet and gave me a pair of her handmade earrings this week. Laura also told me that I should not go back to America, and just live with her and Lusine forever. Laura is still force feeding me, but with love. This week was a lot of salads (my first tabbouleh) and bulgar and pilaf. The tabbouleh was of course quite different but very good – my host sister made it with what I think is tomato paste and also cilantro. They also do some interesting things with pasta, lots of frying and mixing with yogurt and garlic, which is surprisingly good. My favorite food story was another volunteer whose host mother prepared her a huge plate of spaghetti, and then smothered it in ketchup, mayonnaise and a hot dog – for breakfast. Amazing. The local beer is very good too, and packs a punch. I’ve gotten to know a handful of the volunteers and some locals better and have enjoyed spending time in the cafes and outdoor bars, and tonight I’m going to the symphony for a whopping $5. I skipped the day trip this weekend because it was cold and raining, and I needed to kick my jet lag. They keep us on quite a schedule.

Finally – I caught my first good glimpse of Mount Ararat yesterday as I was walking into town. Sadly I didn’t have my camera but it was breathtaking.