Writing: Sweet Shushik - A favorite Peace Corps memory

Going through my writing again from the Peace Corps, I ran across the following memory of Shushik, a sweet lady I got to know through a series of visits in Martuni, about an hour south of where I lived. My guess is that she has since passed. May God bless her. My visits with her were a highlight of my experience.

Shushik at home

79-year-old Shushik Avetisyan, by her decision, lives by herself. She has never married (says it was better that way) and has lived in her humble, one-room stone home in Martuni most of her adult life. A singer, dancer, storyteller and riddle-maker, she spent her adult life – most of which fell under Soviet rule – learning how to do odd jobs. Her favorite was a job in the state gas office.

Writing: Life in the Peace Corps

Since graduating in December with my master's degree, I have finally tired of watching TV. Instead I've been sifting through old files on my computer – mostly writing I did while I was in Armenia and shortly after returning.

One passage I wrote back then reminded me of how my experience evolved over the three years I lived there - how after three years everything in Armenia felt "normal," and everything at home didn't.

"It wasn’t about not having running water 24 hours a day. Nor was it about being able to see my breath on winter mornings – inside my apartment. Pothole-filled roads were normal. And so were the buses that were so crowded I always felt I was the Jell-o inside a mold the shape of my body. These were all footnotes to my experience. Of course, the first few weeks, when everything was fresh and new and exciting, they were the experience.

"But after that it was about the people I met, the language I learned, the dog I adopted, and the children I taught. In short, it was about Life."

Lake Sevan, near the town of Sevan, where I lived in Armenia

There is a definite beauty to living in, and not just visiting, another country.