9/5 -- On Celebrity

I’ve started hearing little voices everywhere I go. Sure, there are the normal little voices that have guided me since childhood, but these are different. These are little Armenian voices. Little Armenian voices of little Armenian children who follow me about. 

I’ve become a local celebrity overnight.

Okay, not exactly overnight. I’ve been in my village for about three weeks now and school started just last Thursday. Word has gotten out that there’s an American in town! Whenever I walk about now, I seem to hear a few keywords echoed in my wake: oosootsich, Amerikatsi, angleren, Kelsey, GOOD MORNING!  (The last one is usually shouted quite proudly, no matter the time of day).

Although I am the first PCV in my village, I am not the first American presence (an American-Armenian organization, COAF, is involved in many activities here). However, I am the first American to live here (as far as I’m aware). I can also confidently say that I’m the first native English speaker many of my students have met. So I’m presented with a very interesting, challenging, and exciting future here. I get to set the bar for any future PCV. I get to be the first real exposure—as opposed to Hollywood exposure—to the USA that these people will have.

I have no idea how this will pan out in the long run. Right now, I’m focused on improving my small-talk so I can impress all the various peanut galleries with my Armenian skills.

Side note: I updated two of the pages above, Books Read and Snail Mail! Check 'em out.




***9/14 UPDATE*** 
Today I learned, via my counterpart's mother, that some people in the village thought I was here to write a book! I guess they thought it'd be about Armenia, but I'm not sure. Maybe I just have that "writer" look about me ... whatever that is!