play your part

A photo I took when we were working on our women's day exhibit that I think is an accurate representation of the standard gender roles in Armenia. It's a system that works well, is protected, and actually sought after - as getting married and having children is the biggest priority in life here. Even children in the schools, when asked questions about gender roles, agree with the kind of norms that embraced American society 50 or more years ago. It is old as time, these kinds of expectations and limitations, and the pattern doesn't break easily (or should be broken at all) here.

50mm love

I hardly ever take pictures of things like apples and trees, but with this film camera I got as a gift last year (a 50mm Canon AV-1 old school), it's like putting on a pair of Life Is Beyond Beautiful pair of sunglasses and feeling really inspired by how it looks through the lens. I have been shooting old Russian slide film I got from a friend, plain 200 speed Kodak, here and there rolls of black and white from other volunteers who have lost their spark on taking pictures - it's been a lot of fun, and I while it's a little expensive to keep the developing and printing process up with my Peace Corps salary, I think I might let my digital camera take a break for awhile.

lunch and tourists

A group of 4 Irishmen came to eat lunch at my old host family's house this afternoon as part of a home-stay tourist program run by a hostel in Yerevan. I came over around noon to help with the table setting and taste testing, and all 3 of my host mother's kids showed up to see what was going down as well. In typical Armenian style, the tour bus was about an hour late so we sat around looking at the table, and I took some pictures and later taught one of her sons what the term "that sucks" means while waiting for the giant Irishmen to come. They seemed to like the food as the gulfed it down without speaking. They asked me how long I had been in Vayk and looked completely astonished, half sympathetic, when I said almost 2 years. One of the coolest things about doing Peace Corps is not being a tourist, making friends and a life somewhere far from where you thought you could.

untitled

I took this photo last night while waiting to eat dinner with a family whose son is leaving for Russia to work for a few months. Although this girl was staring at the music video on TV, she had a curious yet shy demeanor that reminded me of myself at that age. Later towards the end of the night, I had to talk her into taking a photo with my camera despite the small thrill I could see on her face. I told her as I left, "you're going to be a great little photographer some day." She didn't say anything, looked at me with simple eyes and grinned.

naps and worms

I have been getting emails recently from new Peace Corps Armenia volunteers that will be coming in June. Their questions are understandable; I remember feeling like I was jumping off a cliff and not sure whether there was going to be water below. And so I have been asked things like "is there reliable electricity, how do I live, how cold does it get, how much Armenian I knew before hand" and so on. The answers to these questions really depends on where you are here, because the country varies from region to region. But I can tell you that of course it will be cold, sometimes there is no water or electricity, by some stroke of magic luck you will learn to speak this language, definitely you will want to quit more than once - but it is all worthwhile. It is a rich, esoteric experience few people will know about.

The audio is conversations between my friend Jon and I about the gastro-intestinal friends you will meet and 4 o'clock standard nap time.

So, if any new A-18's are reading/listening to this please know that we are excited for you and encourage the bold step you are about to make.

Preface of audio: first half - sitting on my roof eating awful dried peaches.

tony

Tony. He belongs to my neighbors but likes to escape from his den as much as possible and run wildly through my backyard area pulling down my clothes I have hanging out to dry and scattering them in remote corners. He looks cute, but he is a little terror of a turd - the most undisciplined mutt ever. I was making lunch today, and he ran inside from the open back door quickly grabbed one of my boots near the front door and then stole off with it out the door again, down the stairs, made a successful leap and also dragged down my wet jeans that were hanging on the line and we played chase the boot around from Tony for a good 10 minutes before I got it back. I can't believe he let me take his photo, but I think he knows that I secretly adore him.

photo exhibit

The photographs that Emily Haas and I displayed for the International Women's Day exhibit are being posted on Ms. Haas' blog daily until the end of March. I think there are about 30 images, 10 or 13 women total. Our opening day went well, a crowd of people came and I was happy to see some of the women we photographed there too. Of course if you happen to find yourself wandering the dusty streets of Yeghegnadzor, please come by. You can also just click here.

flaming prayer

I took this photo at a bbq a few nights ago, when we were standing around enjoying the fire before the meat was added to it. My friend Armen was watching his son play around with a flaming stick while the rest of us were jumping out of the way to avoid being burned by the little trouble maker. Armen's pose was, for me, perfect.

future designers

The faces of some design students I am teaching this semester. Although all of these kids like computers I can tell you that maybe only 4 wanted to be in the design department and have a real interest in art and design. It's a weird system and I don't ask too many questions that would further reveal the weirdness of it - I just teach what I can. So I (with the help of my pal Emily Haas) am teaching the baby steps of Photoshop to them. I hardly know my #$@ from second base about using Photoshop, but I too am learning as I go which is a win win for us all. I took their pictures last week, and hope to have them recreate this canvas lesson for the next class. You know a fraction about something here, and great! ...you can teach a whole semester of it.

touching you?

This is Kristine, she is an English language student studying to become a teacher. Every time I see her she tries to get me to come to her family's house for coffee, or help her translate something for class like To Kill A Mockingbird ("aw shucks Jim" - that kind of stuff is puzzling). I took her picture today, while thinking back on the first time she tried to tell me that she wanted to keep in touch with me, to call me for things like English help. Obviously she had heard the phrase somewhere although it tumbled out of her mouth, "Paige, I want to be touching you." We were already sitting so close on the bus, I was lost. For a second. And then I laughed. Yes, I know you do Kristine.

arthur sakhalyan

Yesterday I went to Yerevan and stopped in at my friend Arthur's apartment. He is a photographer, and we have been planning on sitting down and hanging out talking about photography for way too long - and I'm glad it finally happened. Arthur's pictures are serenely beautiful, he only shoots slide film and polaroid and has some neat, heavy, intimidating looking equipment that he hauls around Armenian villages and fields. We had some great discussions, and I hope to learn more from him. http://www.flickr.com/photos/36927491@N00/

lost in thought

I'm really digging black and white photos lately - maybe it's because of the very insipid weather of gray skies and leafless trees, but it just feels right right now. These are some photos I took when we were shooting for our International Women's Day project in the village of Getap. We only ended up using the top image from my side of images taken, but I still like these and think they add up to something very contemplative about this woman. She stared off in thought a lot when we were there and I couldn't help watching and finding some beauty in it.

just another post

One of the things that makes this country really hard to gauge in terms of well being and development is the superficial appearance of wealth. The amount of pride these people have extends itself to the street level where it is so hard to see the inside of the real culture - which is the almost miserly resourcefulness and preservation for the few nice things everyone owns. The obsession of having very basic pre-fab furniture and fake brand name clothing that are "pretty" can fool one to really knowing at what degree Armenia is developing. You won't see people dirty and poor on the streets, or begging for your money - but an average wage is about $150 dollars a month, with very few jobs to be had. I took this picture last week in a village - the two new chairs and bad wallpaper that is cracking next to this young boy seemed like a good contrast to what I know Armenia to be.

the inside of winter

Today we (Emily & I) began shooting a small project for International Women's Day - there will be a gallery of a few images to be placed in a local NGO for the month of March. It has been cold here the last few days with snow and frozen pipes, and with nothing really to do outside people stay inside and keep warm, eat and rest. This woman reminded me of the scene in the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie, when Charlie's grandparents are both lying in bed head to foot - eating, resting and keeping warm. It will be Spring soon, but not soon enough.

shape

Making lasting impressions. What is more interesting than looking at a year old Shape magazine?