total lunar eclipse

last night i watched the lunar eclipse while i was chatting on skype with Ashley & baby David, & took some pictures throughout the process... this is what i took put all together!:)

if i had photoshop & wasn't using a netbook i think i'd make a lot of these kinds of pictures...

kitties & strawberry jam

this is a picture of Lisa's cat with her kittlings- the lilun in the middle is my favorite- i named him Steve (there is a facial expression that accompanies his name) and i want to adopt him... i know i can't- there are too many reasons why that is a bad idea... :/

this weekend i also made & canned strawberry jam for the first time:)

it turned out so good i'm trying to find more strawberries to buy and make more this week!

Kindergarten #2

Here are some pictures of the all the kids at K2 doing an exercise routine & the K2 playground

Love these kids:) Since graduation, not as many of the older kinders are coming... but the teachers have a lot more free time for me to give my silly English lessons.

We're still mostly doing the alphabet on keyboards... but...!!... one of the older groups and I are planning a little English recital for the end of June. It will be a short line dance to a country music song, a presentation of "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" and "the ABC's", plus they will all introduce themselves in English to the rest of the kindergarten. Pretty much sums up what I've done here in the last few months:) Exciting!

what i did today

i spent my morning making this big tree with apples, kind of like "the Giving Tree"...
someday if i can get my hands on a copy of it, i'll try to translate that book and read it to the kids!
all the apples will have pictures of my youngest students at K#1 on them and it will be hung up and hopefully used again next year. not as exciting as the birthday cake poster- but i had a good time listening to the band "fun." and watercoloring paper that's not meant for it:)

after making this then bringing it down to the kindergarten #1, i made my rounds throughout noyemberyan and finally had a meeting with the head of the environmental/forestry NGO called "Verelk". it's funny, by now you might think i'd have met just about everyone and met with every organization in this town-- but i've been meeting new people weekly who have great ideas for projects... apparently, i can't say no. (and i wouldn't want to- this people have had really good ideas and even plans of how to do it)

so, with today being the last day of school for a lot of the kids- i see many peace corps volunteers getting ready for their break of class routine and getting geared up to do summer camps and the "Border to Border" initiative- me, i think summer is going to be my busiest time right here. with 3 youth english clubs starting next week and the kindergartens being open during the summer, a new womens NGO starting up, and possibly a grant... it'll be a really needed vacation when my moms come to visit this july!

here is a link of a travel resource i found online for the "Marz" i am in- Tavush. 72 pages of interesting places, pictures, and facts about the region i'm living in=

http://www.tacentral.com/tavush/TAVUSH_Region_compress.pdf

goodnight moon

little by little i've been translating childrens books for the kindergarten...
with this book, we are learning the word "goodnight". i read the book in Armenian all except the word "goodnight" which comes up 20 or so times, i said that in English.

rainy day

i should be packing...
instead i made this (kind of) elaborate birthday calendar for kindergarten #1, with the help of some james taylor & procrastination. sometimes i like rainy days;)

English Poetry Recitation

The Noyemberyan Regional Poetry Recitation Competition took place on Sunday, April 3rd! Students in 6th-11th grades memorized english poems by famous greats then recited them aloud to PCV judges! This contest is organized by volunteers and happens all over Armenia every year. Judging was based on memorization, dictation, and interpretation. Winners from each grade in regional competitions move on to the national competition in Hrazdan.

(Though I only lent my handwriting and a little time to this effort) I'm glad we do things like this.!