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Armenian |
 Downers Grove • Illinois |
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November 03 Journal |
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Ms. Merilos did have an adventure with her host. The electric wires to her
apartment had been destroyed and she now had to have electricians come in to
work on the situation. The home is heated with electric space heaters and there
would be no way to heat the flat until repairs were made. Electric heat is the
only form of warmth in Yerevan. Public buildings are not insulated and have no
heat at all. School has a few rooms that have warmth but student classrooms are
not given heat. They must wear layers to stay warm. We were told that if it
becomes very cold in the winter, school is cancelled and the days made up at the
end of the school year, just like our emergency snow days. One of the
viceprincipal was very gracious to invite Ms Merilos to her flat for the
night. She speaks limited English, Ms M. no Armenian, but communication was
understood through signing, pointing, smiling and frowning. After dinner Rosanna’s
children came home. Luckily for both Ms M. and Rosanna, the children speak
English and normal communication resumed.
Wednesday morning, it was off to our regular routine of going to school and visiting classrooms, talking with students to practice their conversational English and visiting other places of Yerevan. We finally had the opportunity to formally present our school yearbooks, the United States flag that flew over the Capital in D.C., our state and city flags.
Also scheduled was a meeting with representatives of the 8th grade English students. The students wanted to see the pictures we had brought from our school. They also asked questions about course requirements, what our school day is like, our after school activities and life in general in America. Ms Redell had taken pictures of her classes. We passed those out. They were a big hit with the students. We were able to pass out some of the American flag pins and pencils as gifts from Downers Grove to Yerevan.
Last week the 5th grade English teacher invited us to a rehearsal for the Halloween program. It was decided to have the program today even though Halloween had past. The library is one of the only rooms in the school that can hold more than 25 students at a time. The parents of the students were very willing to help carve the pumpkins and prepare costumes for the students.
As our "treat" for the students, we passed out Russian candy and American pins. This is truly cultural diffusion at its best. The party was very successful. Armenian students are very interested in our costumes and traditions. We promised the English teachers to send back tapes of music and print information on all our holiday traditions. The hospitality continues to be overwhelming. We are given the best these people have. In some instances, the meal preparation may take many hours because the electric cookers are all that is available or they must order from special kitchens and have meat for the meals delivered. It's not like getting carryout at home. One must make arrangements days in advance for roasted meals. Thursday should prove to be interesting. We are scheduled to visit the
Genocide monument outside of the city limits. Will give the history of this
tragedy when we transmit our text. Ms. Merilos & Ms. Redell Thanks to Justin Ruark, South High School student, for his help in preparing this page.
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