I am less than three weeks away from my departure…

I am less than three weeks away from my departure and currently mixed with many emotions. Last time I was in Armenia, I had a different agenda. I was on a class trip, I was in fifth grade, and I had just an idea of my capabilities in this country. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about returning and getting a taste of what it’s really like to be living in Armenia, but it’s a different kind of nervousness. Of course, I get emotional every time I think about leaving my friends and family, people who I have spent the past eighteen summers with, but I also get the same sentiment every time I think about going home again, seeing Ararat again, walking on the streets of Yerevan again. I am impatiently waiting for AYF Youth Corps to start, I am excited to meet my family for the next six weeks, and I can’t wait to create memories and give back to a country that has given me so much.

— Ani Khachatourian