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Armenian |
 Downers Grove • Illinois |
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November 04 Journal |
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Our day has started as most days begin. Our school routine with checking our
e-mail for your questions and messages from home is our first activity. We were
quite saddened to hear the news about Walter Patton. He was truly a unique
individual and what a role model of all that is good in humanity. To try and
explain this news over here would be useless. American football is something new
and becoming interesting. The most watched American sport is basketball. As soon
as we say we are from Chicago, we are asked questions about the Chicago Bulls
and Michael Jordan. Cultural diffusion through sport!
We decided to see some other classes today besides English language classes. We sat in our host Armaneh Gregoryan’s math class and understood the basics of the lesson given in Arnemian. It is true that mathematics is the universal language. Another thing we observed was her good teaching methods.
In all of the classes we saw instruction taking place despite limits of space and materials. Most of the classrooms have no pictures on the walls, and students sit at long tables in chairs. Most of the tables and chairs could use repair or replacement.
A few classrooms have plants that the teacher or students have brought in. In the computer lab the students have placed a cactus next to the server. They told us that they did this because in their science class they read about how a cactus absorbs electrical waves. (Need help on this from all you science people out there!) Whatever the case, it brightens up that room. In 1993 the school was vandalized. The electric and heating supply had been cut off to the whole country because of political and economic trouble with Azerbaijan, their neighbor and former Republic. Before the fall of The Soviet Union and the Soviet system, each of the former Republics had only specialized in one or two commodities. Azerbaijan had the natural gas and electric generators within their Republic. Armenia depended on them for providing their country with these essential supplies. When Armenia and Azerbaijan quarreled over the region know as Karabash, war broke out and the power was cut off to Armenia. There is now a cease-fire in the region but no settlement to date. The Armenian government made generation of electricity a priority. And it has been restored, but there is still no natural gas for heating anywhere we can see. Today, electric heaters, kerosene, or wood burning stoves warm the people. Because of the cut-off in 1993, people burned what ever they had to stay warm. Quite understandable when people are dealing with dire conditions. There are many old trees in the city with no branches. We were told that the branches were cut for heat, but the main part of the tree was left, so renewal of the trees could take place. The vandalism in the school occurred when people removed the floorboards to burn to keep warm. Recently, the school has been experiencing some improvements but is still scarred from that time in their recent history.
One teacher told us a story about family survival during this time period. The Soviet economy had gone bankrupt; people were being paid half of their salary and what ever Rubles had been saved were worthless. This family had two small children and only enough money for food. Because of the kindness of a friend did they get a kerosene heater and 20 liters of kerosene. They closed off the rest of the house and brought their petrogas cooker and all the beds into the front room to stay warm. All of the daily activities ended as sunset because the city was pitch black. They crawled into bed to keep the children warm and would read by the glow of the kerosene heater. This lasted the whole winter of 1993. They were very concerned about the memories the children would have during this time. When weather conditions permitted, they took family day outings so the children could have "good memories" of their early years. Parents do the best they can for their children under all circumstances. Even though they know things are still rough and they must conserve water and electricity, they feel their life is getting better. Later today, we are scheduled to see the Genocide Memorial outside the city limits of Yerevan. Will give you all the information about this major event in Armenian history after our visit. Signing off, |
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