A typical day at school

I begin my days by waiting for an oversized van to come pick me up. Marshutnis, the russian word for these oversized vans, are a major form of public transit in Armenia. My neighborhood is home Jermuk's resort and factory workers, and the marshutni takes me,along with the workers, to my school near the resorts and bottling factories.

Usually I arrive at school between 9 and 10 a.m. depending on my wait, which is anywhere from zero to 35 or 40 minutes. When I get to school if I have a lesson prepared I am shuffled from classroom to classroom where I teach. I then teach, always with help of an Armenain teacher.

If I do not have a lesson or there are no time slots for me to teach in, I usually do a close listening session to one of the teacher, Armenian-English dictionary in hand and attempt to pick up some new words in their oral context. Learning words within their oral context is good way to learn, and an a vital part of immersion language learning.

I also work on future lessons, and help out at the school however I can. I talk to students alot, I am issued scores of Barev Dzes(Armenian for hello) everyday- and I always issue them back. I also learn lots of Armenian slang and youth speak during these times when I talk with students. This another important part of langauage immersion.After classes I work alot. I do lots of English tutoring with students at both local schools. I also help local college graduates with projects and to help them take their English to a higher level.

I usually finish around 4 or 5(someday later) and head back to little America, my apartment. After speaking Armenian all day I enjoy consuming a few chapter from a good history or novel. Then Economist and New Yorker also provide great english for enjoyment(Thanks so much to Uncle Ish for the Economist gift subscription and my parents for shipping them in every month!!).

This is not to say to that I don't enjoy Armenian. I love learning Armenian and am honored to have the chance to learn it. The Armenian language is ancient, rich, and beautiful. But everyone has a special attchement to the native language. My appreciation for English has grown, just as my appreciation for Armenian has grown.I think it will be a joy to have mastered two languages. I have not mastered Armenian yet, linguistic barriers remain-but I am confident that I will master it and those barriers will fall.

Although homesickness and linguistic make life a challenge, and at the same time joy, I have many opportunities to help at my school. My chief opportunity is to help these students to better their world and their future.Every typical day, even though it is typical is packed full of amazing opportunities. These opportunities are what makes me able to get up everyone and to go wait for that oversive van to come and pick me up for another typical day at school.