American

So the other night, the trainees in my site decided to have a movie night at our language teacher's house. My mom sent all of the ingredients for chai tea (THANKS AGAIN!) and my teacher's never had it before. So I made chai tea and we watched Labrynth. And for those of you who have never seen the Labrynth, let me warn you... it is David Bowie, spandex, and puppets! Oh my. This was my first time watching this movie and might not be my last. It was ridiculous but in a good way. It was really funny because my language teacher was taking notes on words she had not heard before.

Another night, we all went to our 'thinking' gazebo to hang out. In our village, there is a gazebo that overlooks our gourge. It is so beautiful. But we went there after we taught one of our lessons to hang out and wind down from the day. It felt like any other American night with friends. I was sad that it had to end. I think I might be a little homesick, not so much in the sense of wanting to be home, just in the sense of missing home-y things, American things. But I knew that would happen and I am not the only one that feels that way, and I know this wont be the last time I feel this way.

And on the same side of feeling a little homesick, I am having a great time teaching. Right now I have taught about 6 environmental lessons with another trainee. We have taught through the use of a translator. Next week, I will be teaching a lesson on my own in English. And then the week following, I will teach two lessons completely in Armenian. There will be translators to help us if we get stuck, but we will be on our own for the most part! I am actually excited about it because it means I get to learn environmental words. It will be really helpful for once I get to site!

It is also interesting because the kids have been having a great time in our lessons, and they are very different from the lessons they normally get in school. We are told that the teaching style here is pretty much rote memorization and reading from texts. So it is fun to have hands-on and outdoor activities. I am excited to get to site and begin teaching more. It is going to be difficult, but this last week has made me realize how much I miss being in the classroom teaching. It will also be interesting to see how I meld my style of teaching with the Armenian style of teaching.

In other news, my language is coming along. I am able to understand more than I can speak which is normal of most language learning. And I have been picking up slang words and that is always fun because once you learn it, you realize how much it is used. So here are some new words for you:

Inch ca-chica? Whats up?
Ban-chica Nothing
yekhav- ok
ay kes ban- how come? why did this happen?
lov elle- come on
de lov- oh good

There are some others, but I figure that will do for now.

Thanks again for all of the comments! Hope all is well! Miss you guys!