Bari Galust!

Bari Galust! Welcome!

As everything is finally starting to come together for my Armenia preparations, I decided my first blog post was overdue.

I leave for Washington D.C. in 5 days! On Saturday, everyone in my A-25 Peace Corps unit will arrive in D.C. for staging. Staging, from what I understand, is basically a 3 day crash course on what you absolutely need to know before you head out on this grand adventure (or the biggest challenge of your life depending on your outlook)! After staging, on March 21st, we all head out to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, for Pre-Service Training (PST).

PST is where I will learn much of what will get me through the next 2 years. There will be culture training, intensive language training, safety courses, teacher training, and really anything else we as a unit feel that we need. The Peace Corps has been surveying us and evaluating our knowledge base from day one. It's comforting to know that they are preparing to fill any and all gaps in understanding each of us may have. They've also been super helpful in beginning our language training. Over the past 6 weeks I've been taking Skype lessons with an Armenian language instructor. My instructor, Rima jan, did a fantastic job with me and my skype session buddy, Caleb. Rima introduced us to little tidbits of the culture and made me feel as if this language is definitely going to be manageable. She made me feel welcomed by a culture I haven't even truly experienced yet, and I'm very excited to meet her in person!

Anyway, PST will last about 3 months and then we will all be sworn in, split up, and assigned to our respective villages. However, that is a far way off for the moment, and I'm still stuck on figuring out how many pairs of shoes I should bring. I will try to update this blog as I go and share with anyone who is willing to listen. My hope is that I will be able to bring some of this intriguing culture and amazing experience to all of you in an accessible manner.

Feel free to give me feedback at anytime or just message me to say hi! I'm still figuring this whole blog thing out, but my email is always open! EmilyLGesell@gmail.com

Shnorakalootyoon yev hajoghootyoon!

Emily