Armen Khatchadourian

Name: Armen Khatchadourian
Birth place: Beirut, Lebanon
Country: Canada (Montreal)
Age: 23
Education: B.Sc (Biochemistry)
Duration of stay: Sept 6 to Nov 30

I had two job placements in Armenia. The first one was at the Nork Marash Cardiology Centre, where the well known Dr. Hrayr Hovagimian operates. I worked at the biochemistry lab where they do blood tests on patients suffering from heart disease. For example, we determined the amount of glucose, creatinine, HDL/LDL and many other compounds in the blood. It was more a techinical type of work rather than something that involved research and thinking. However it did help me to learn many scientific terms in Armenian and Russian.

After two months spent at the hospital, I switched to conversational French teaching at the Alliance Francaise d'Armenie. You can imagine that teaching french and working in a lab are totally different, and as a volunteer, I really liked the teaching. The students were dynamic, motivated, interested about a lot of things; I never got bored. Plus it was fun to teach French in Armenia because it's kind of uncommon.

My overall experience in Armenia was indescribably rewarding. If you're thinking to take off for a few months and have a great experience, you know what to do.

Alliance Francaise: http://www.ambafrance-am.org/article.php3?id_article=255
Nork Marash: http://www.nmmc.am/