De laatste dag en een open einde

Vandaag is onze allerlaatste dag in Armenië, dat voelt best wel raar. Het is nog steeds onwerkelijk dat we er drie weken geweest zijn, maar ik geloof dat we allemaal wel weer een beetje zin hebben om naar huis te gaan. Het werken was toch best zwaar, zeker als het meer dan vijftig graden is! Vanochtend is er een collage / cheque gemaakt om een busje, twee seizoens dekbedden en een renovatie van de opslagruimte aan te bieden, we hebben hier niet veel geverfd maar laten toch hele belangrijke dingen achter (waar we helaas geen getuigen meer van mogen zijn…) Om half elf gingen we naar de theaterzaal om naar een voorstelling van de kinderen te kijken, ze zongen en dansten met echte kostuums aan, heel erg leuk om te zien. Arina wilde ook nog graag K3 doen, en wij deden natuurlijk mee. Ik denk dat de kinderen het heel erg leuk vonden, en Arina genoot zichtbaar op het podium met echte microfoon. Aan het einde overhandigde Heidi de cheque aan de directeur, hij was er erg blij mee, en we hopen dat alles goed aan zal komen. Daarna werden alle troepen nog ingezet bij het laatste restje verfwerk, en een ander deel organiseerde een verassingsboekje voor Hayastan, onze tolk. Iedereen heeft er een pagina in geschreven, en achterin zat ook nog geld. Om 2 uur hadden we een barbecue, samen met de directeur van het tehuis. Het was erg lekker. Daarna werden de watervaste stiften tevoorschijn getoverd om op alle t-shirts iets te schrijven, een superleuk aandenken. Van de directeur kregen we ieder ook nog een bak gedroogde abrikozen, de nationale trots. Aan het eind van de middag was onze laatste dagsluiting, we overhandigden het boekje aan Hayastan, ze werd er helemaal emotioneel van. Daarna lazen we weer de reacties, en Hayastan las het stuk dat hier onder staat aan de groep voor. Ik heb haar geholpen, en ben ontzettend trots op haar. Ik hoop dat alle lezers het begrijpen, mocht er heel veel behoefte zijn aan een Nederlandse vertaling, reageer dan alsjeblieft even! Hayastan, onze tolk en goede vriendin, is ook deel van onze groep geworden en dus is het aan haar om onze laatste officiële dag in Armenië af te sluiten.

I had the suggestion to write about my opinion about this group and their activities in Armenia. I guess it must be interesting for you to know who I am and why my opinion should be interesting. Then it would be better if I start by introducing myself. My name is Hayastan, and I was the translator of this group, Jongeren voor Armenië in Armenia. I was accompanying them from their first day in Armenia. My heart is full of emotions, and I don’t know where to start. It is my first experience with such a large group, maybe that’s why I’m so impressed. In Armenia we have a saying, ‘the first one is the best one’, but I am sure this is not the only reason I loved them. The other reason is that I loved them both as a group and as nice personalities separately.
When I look back, I start laughing. I couldn’t separate them in the beginning. Especially the girls, as most of them had blond hair, blue eyes, were tall, and they all wore the same pink t-shirts on which was written ‘Jongeren voor Armenië’. I think I asked their names to each of them for a hundred times a day. Then I started to write their names, which were very difficult for me to pronounce, and next to it I wrote a characterising word which helped me to separate them. But soon I learned their names by heart, and could characterise them for me, not only by one word. I would like to share it with you. I’ll write it in an alphabetical order.
Annemieke is a very calm, helpful and friendly person. Armenian mosquitoes liked her a lot, and by the way, not only mosquitoes but many Armenian boys as well.
Arina was the only child, so I could easily separate her from the rest of the group. She is a sweet, nice and curious girl. She always liked to make some jokes about Ruben, who she really was fond of.
Carolien was always in time when someone needed water, sun protection or a massage. The working staff was always happy to hear her voice during their heavy painting under the wonderful Armenian sun.
Gerrit. Thanks to his efforts to find some sponsors, the group could gather enough money to make this amazing trip. I have only recently discovered that he is not only serious, but he also has a good sense of humour. He was polite enough not to accuse me for being a few minutes late.
Heidi is a very kind, warm and friendly person, who as to me is the sun of the group. She was very loved by the director of the orphanage in Vanadzor, as she is shining and enthusiastic. She is really fond of Armenian wine, and absolutely not of the beer.
Henk is the person whose experience was needed a lot. He is a very patient person who doesn’t get confused in stressful situations. I think he could manage to write a whole book about Armenia, and I really hope that there is also something about me in it.
Irene is a person who can always find time to listen to the other’s problems and always tries to give some nice advice. Oh yes, she can always find a proper place for cocktails (with alcohol) where ever she is. I can never forget her scared face when she saw the fish on her plate for lunch, which she is not exactly fond of.
Jasper is the blondest boy of the group, and a thoughtful one. He has a sadness in his eyes, as he missed his girlfriend a lot. I have heard so much about her that now I’m curious to get to know her.
Jos is really very loved by the Armenian girls, he is handsome, calm and very kind to children. He has a really lovely smile. It was really difficult to guess what he was thinking about. He has managed to break some Armenian hearts as he has to go back home. We never lost him because he is so tall that we can find him everywhere even in the busy market.
Koen is a spontaneous person who is fond of joking, though he also can be sensitive. He worked really hard and he ate all the Armenian dishes that were served to him which made my job much easier. He likes the word Zalapakas, that means crazy, which was thought by Armenian children.
Lotte is a very direct and honest person. She likes to go shopping. I got really surprised when I saw the present for her grandmother, which is an Armenian broom. I hope it will fit in her luggage. You can be really lucky if you see her beautiful smile.
Marissa is a pretty, calm, kind, friendly, helpful girl. She is fond of singing and she sang a lot during her working time. And I really wonder what was written in her weekly postcards written by her family. She helped me a lot with writing this report, I am glad I met her.
Marleen is a wonderful person, with whom I had a lot in common. I could really trust her and enjoyed her presence. She was very attentive to everybody in the group, especially for Vanessa for whom she was responsible. I also liked her camera a lot, while everybody was working, I walked around to take photo’s.
Matthijs. Whenever I was sad, I always tried to find him and I could immediately get positive feelings from his smile. I’m astonished how much he is fond of mirrors, and I’ll never forget his mirror moments. His hair always has to be perfect otherwise he won’t go out.
Miriam likes smiling and is a nice person. Oh yeah, I had enough work while making the menu because of her allergy. She even took her own bread and toaster to Armenia. She is also crazy about sunbathing, but I think she was browner when she came her then she is now.
Ruben Bout. I think he is really crazy. He likes joking and is fond of some Armenian words like Barev (hello), Vonts es (How are you), Lave em (I’m fine). But most of all he liked the word Esh (donkey). He always shouted that when we were in the taxi, which made the Armenian drivers laugh.
Ruben van Drie is like a little brother to me. He is sensitive and friendly to everybody. He is always ready to help the others when he is needed. He was also unlucky enough to fall down from a ladder while painting, and the Armenian sun didn’t like him because he got sick of it.
Sjef. It was easy to work together with him. He made me shopaholic like him. Several times a day we went shopping for paint and other materials, it made me crazy somehow. Now, thanks to him, I am very experienced in this sphere. I also want to see the photo’s he took as he liked to find us in curious situations.
Stan is direct and fond of discussions. He can be both a serious and a humorous person, but sometimes I couldn’t separate his jokes from serious announcements. He was very loved by the kitchen staff in Vanadzor. He really hoped to lose weight here, but as to me he gained more because he liked the Armenian food.
Tamara has a very interesting way of reacting, she always makes funny sounds. She is a nice person. She came to Armenia as a single, but she flies back as Ruben Bout’s girlfriend, for which Arina is very happy.
Vanessa is a very honest, open and hard working person. It was her first trip to abroad, and the first time she was in a plane. I am very glad she liked this journey, it was nice to see that she enjoyed working with the drill and the group members.

But the common features that connect this people, are kindness, friendliness, punctuality, hard working, caring for each other, enthusiasm, and of course great love of alcoholic drinks. It was very kind of them to organise different kinds of activities for gathering money for the Armenian children and for doing a great job here in Armenia. Not everybody can do that. I appreciated it a lot. It was unbelievable to see how much they were loved by the orphans and how much they loved them as well. Everybody was crying and it was very hard to say goodbye to each other. In this case I can say: no comments. There are really so many things I want to say, I am full of impressions. I have a lot of nice feelings connected with this group. But they are so deep inside me that I can not share it with everybody. I just can not find the right words. As to me, I am really very grateful to them for choosing Armenia and for visiting us here. I can not understand how quickly they became so dear to my heart, and very good friends of mine. I really love them and I hope while going back, they will have a special place in their hearts for both Armenians (By the way, my name is Armenian for Armenia, so actually my name is Armenia.) I enjoyed every minute I spent with them, and it is now unbelievably difficult to say goodbye because I got used to them, to their crazy Dutch things! They thought me many Dutch words and now I can guess many Dutch sentences. I will miss them so much. I also want to express my gratitude to all sponsors out of name from all Armenians, for not being indifferent to our children who are really in need. Thanks to everybody who had even small participation in this wonderful project. Thank you once more, and God bless you.
Hayastan, friend and translator.
PS. By the way, I’m coming to you in January, beware!

Hayastan, wij houden ook van jou! Wij gaan zo meteen voor de laatste keer in Armenië eten en om kwart over twee verlaten we hier het tehuis, op weg naar het vliegveld. Ongelofelijk dat we over minder dan acht uur in het vliegtuig op weg naar huis zitten. Dank voor alle lieve wensen, wij hopen dat we geen problemen hebben onderweg en dat alle koffers ook goed aankomen. Dit is niet het allerlaatste verslag, morgen zal er ook nog een stukje verschijnen. Voor degenen die naar Schiphol komen: Tot morgen!

Liefs,
Marissa