Welcome and Thanks!

Hey all!

Thanks so much for reading my first post!!! I am getting super excited for this upcoming adventure. I have begun packing today and it is a lot of work! Packing for two years and cold weather is somewhat overwhelming... My mom and I have been working at it all day and I am still not done. It doesn't help that when I moved home from Gainesville, I unloaded all of my boxes onto a bed... absolutely no organization. Oh my!

As I mentioned in my email, this blog will give you some insight about what I am up to in Armenia. I do not know how much email or internet access I will have, so I do not know how much I will be able to post. I hope to post a lot, but who knows!

As I have told some of you, I will be working in the environmental education sector. What that entails depends on the site I am assigned to.

My assignment description says:
I may be involved in many different activities, within a school, NGO, or the wider Armenian community. I am assuming that with my educational background, I will be placed in a school system. But then again, it is the PC so I cannot be too sure.
In general, I will be involved in the following activities:
• Designing and implementing environmental education programs and workshops for schools, teacher training centers, and community centers.
• Assisting science teachers in strengthening environmental content in classes
• Developing and implementing informal environmental educational opportunities, including camps, birdwatching groups, environmental monitoring groups, and after-school clubs.
My duties may also include:
• Developing curriculum and resources
• Establishing resource centers focusing on EE
• Raising awareness about the environment and promoting pro-environmental behaviors
• Helping/supporting other volunteers to integrate the environment
• Working with youth to promote an environmentally friendly lifestyle

It also says that I will probably spend my two years just explaining the concept of environmental education, which is kinda funny because I do that now... :)

There are also many secondary projects that I can take up. I already know that I am interested in the gender and development. Reading about Armenia, I know that I will be facing gender stereotypes. Knowing that there is a possibility that I can work on gender issues makes me feel as though I will be able to help counteract some of what I will encounter.

Now that you know what I will be doing, how long will I be there?

Glad you asked...
Fly out of Tampa to Philadelphia: May 28, 2009
Staging: May 28- 29, 2009
Fly from JFK to Vienna, Austria: May 29- 30, 2009- 10 hour layover in Vienna!!!
Fly from Vienna to Yerevan: May 30- 31, 2009- arrive at 4:30 am!
Pre-Service Training: June 1- August 6, 2009*
Dates of Service: August 6, 2009- August 7, 2011*
*dates are subject to change
These dates are already changing, in the new package that I received, the Swearing in Ceremony is scheduled for August 13th (which pushes back the service dates by almost a week). Typical PC fashion... that is why I am flexible!

So now that you know kinda what I will be doing and the dates for my training and service, please let me know if you have any more questions!

Again, I really appreciate you reading my blogs! I hope you enjoy the posts. Please feel free to comments and if you have a blog, let me know. I can make a link to my blog!