Բարեւ Ձեզ (Barev dzes)!
Welcome to my blog post about my first half year in Armenia in the Caucasus! I am Frank, a 24 years old volunteer from Germany and I will show you in the following my life in a still strange but already familiar country.
"Why did you go to Armenia?" This is the most common question I hear from people, and I always struggle to answer because.... I'm not quite sure either.
When I decided to do a volunteer year, I was in a stressful phase of my Bachelor's degree. I had to write my thesis, friends were leaving my student town, everything was starting to change and my life felt cramped and stressful at the time.
Going to Armenia offered me the opportunity for a complete change of live combined with doing something more concrete than studying and so I thought: "Why not? Let's go... What could possibly go wrong?"
And looking back now, I think a lot of things could have gone wrong, but they didn't. I arrived at Yerevan airport in the middle of the night on my birthday, together with my fellow volunteer Joshua, whom I barely knew at the time. Despite the time of day, it was still hot in Yerevan when a taxi driver sent by our organisation picked us up to take us to our new home. I still vividly remember this tour, getting into the car, being told that no one wears a seat belt here, and driving through the pitch black night.
An hour and a half later, we arrived in Dilijan, entered the old Soviet-style building that we would call home from now on, and finally saw the first sunrise in Armenia.
It was an overwhelming moment to see how the surroundings, which had been dark, strange and a little frightening just a few minutes ago, were bathed in the warm light of the sun and revealed their gorgeous beauty.
The following weeks were filled with finding out where I actually was. We wandered through Dilijan, a charming little town in "Armenian Switzerland" (that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it truly is beautiful). Surrounded by mountains and dense green forests, it is an ideal place for outdoor sports like hiking and camping.
I met people who became friends, and of course we experienced for the first time the famous Armenian hospitality, which can be described as endless amounts of cake, barbecue and homemade vodka.
Honestly, time flies here. At first I was busy getting used to everything around me. A new city, a new language, new people and a completely different culture. But after the initial culture shock (street dogs everywhere, a currency in which 1,000 is not much and a rather risky driving style on public transport), I started to discover the Caucasus region. Fortunately, I had several opportunities to get in touch with the people here through the On-Arrival Training in Kobuleti, Georgia, a coastal town on the Black Sea, and a European Youth Exchange in Armenia. In Georgia, I met all the other ESC volunteers in the Caucasus. And it was a bit like a class trip... we went swimming, on excursions, ate and drank, learned in workshops how to live abroad for a year and were constantly a bit (or very) tired.
During our youth exchange, we met many international young people from different countries and Armenians our age - now friends who play an important role in our lives here. It is not surprising that we subsequently visited the capital Yerevan and the second largest city Gyumri, and of course hosted other volunteers in Dilijan, where we went hiking and explored nature.
And suddenly it was winter and Christmas was just around the corner. Some of us volunteers decided to celebrate Christmas and New Year's Eve at home in Germany, but I wanted to experience it here, and for me it was definitely the right decision.
The rest of us met up in Rustavi, Geogia, where we celebrated Christmas with dinner with Georgian and international friends before going to a techno party.... and danced, drank and experienced Georgian hospitality. A few days later we celebrated New Year's Eve and it was stunning - even if people started the fireworks half an hour too early. After the fireworks, I spent the night with the other volunteers at a Georgian's house and we all started the new year with new friends. It was definitely seven days I will never forget in my whole life and I am glad I experienced them.
But speaking of snow, we experienced even more snow than in Dilijan in Gudauri, Georgia's best ski resort. There we, 16 volunteers, spent a week skiing, playing werewolf and cooking culinary questionable dishes - it was perfect!
Work, work, work
Unfortunately/fortunately, life is not only about holidays and travelling, but also about volunteering work.
In Dilijan, Josh and I mainly run two different types of clubs for our organisation NGO YCCD (Youth Cooperation Center Dilijan). The first is a European Club at three schools in Dilijan where we talk about the European Union and its member countries (a different one every week). The other is an English Conversation Club which takes place twice a week. In this club we talk to our participants about all kinds of topics in daily life and give them the opportunity to improve their English. Running these clubs is really cool. Working with our students and teaching them something is really satisfying and gives stability and meaning to my life here (even if every now and then there are only two or three). We also plan events for special occasions like Europe Day, Anne Frank Day, etc.
Challenges
Still, living here doesn't equate to being happy all the time, of course. When I think of the challenges of living abroad, the first thing that comes to mind is homesickness. But to my own surprise, that's not what I struggle with the most. Of course I miss my family and friends, but I will see them again soon!
For me, there are two different challenges in particular. Firstly, I have met great people here who I wish I could have got to know better than I can - for some things, a year is just not long enough... Secondly, being here means that I have made friends with the people here, which is wonderful. But Armenia and Georgia are conflict regions, which means I've already worried and will worry about their safety from time to time as the situation deteriorates. And I will probably experience that for the rest of my life - I guess a part of me will stay here, the Caucasus will never let me go completely...
But what helps to overcome these challenges? It has always been helpful for me to do sports when I felt that everything was threatening to overwhelm me - a run in the mountains is like a cure. But the fact that I am somehow involved in Dilijan also helps. Due to the Russian war in Ukraine, there are a lot of Russians in Dilijan, who have also brought a lot of leisure activities with them. So I had the opportunity to try something completely new and joined a capoeira group. And it's a lot of fun, my sports mates are great, it gives structure to my week and it's very helpful to have stable social contacts here.
Equally important for me is an approach in which I try to accept the negative and challenging experiences as part of my journey here. Knowing that these situations will happen helps me a lot to deal with them. I just feel what I feel, life is a rollercoaster anyway....
What I have learned so far?
Armenia is unique. It is an ancient, proud culture that has withstood countless threats over the centuries and has been too often a pawn of the great powers. But Armenians and their culture have survived, they have held on to it and supported each other.... and that is truly impressive!
And wherever you go, you will find people you like and who will become your friends. If you have an open mind, it's always possible to adapt, even if it's not always easy.... But everywhere there are great people, people who are hospitable and supportive even if you don't speak their language and behave strangely in their eyes.
What is more to come?
As time passes quickly, my goal is to see as much of Armenia and Georgia as possible. For example, I plan to climb Mount Aragaz, go on a multi-day hike and spend a few days in the south and at Lake Sevan. But there will also be many events, visits from friends and family and short-term occasions... I can only say two things for sure.... it will not be boring and I am looking forward to another great, inspiring six months!