Some of the deals you have to make with yourself sometimes can be difficult.
During the week of May 21st, I spent three days locked up in my friend�s apartment finishing my final paper for my MBA Organizational Behavior class. E-mail is key when it comes to this sort of thing. The e-mail system in Armenia is interesting. The closest thing they have to DSL and cable modems are super expensive radio modem/satellite Internet connections that move fairly fast. Otherwise, you are left to the mercy of ArmenTel. Here is the lowdown. ArmenTel is pure extortion. It charges so much for an internet line that providers have to pass on the super high cost to the end users. It�s about $20 bucks a month for unlimited usage from 8am to 8pm. There is absolutely no way anyone making an average wage in Armenia can afford that. On the other hand, there is FreeNet (www.freenet.am), which is like the NetZero equivalent of free Internet access. Only problem is that it is tough to get on line because of limited capacity, and it only gives you e-mail access from your dialup connection, not web access. I finally sent me paper through on Wednesday the 23 rd and also fought off the last remnants of my cold.
During my three days of illness and writing, I encountered several interesting things. The first was the Tuesday night game of pickup basketball over at the Yerevan State University gym. Yes, I was sick. But I had cabin fever and I just had to play a game of basketball. The gym was down near the Chess House and was kind of nestled in the back of the campus. The gym floor was hardwood, but not parquet. The color of the floor was a lime green and the court was full sized. Some kids had just finished up with gym class. They were doing these relay races with the gym teacher screaming at them. It was great.
The pickup game featured a combination of �Stansies� (Hayastantsis) and Spiurkahyes. The teams were mixed and even included an 18 year old woman named Lucine. The game was not much to write about (even though I am doing it now) but there was something special about playing basketball at 8 pm and looking outside of the gym windows only to see Mt. Ararat at full force. In the summer, the sun doesn�t set until about 10 pm. The game was organized by an Armenian-American who just moved to Armenia and now works there for a software company. It was a great idea to get everyone together to play some basketball. There aren�t too many courts and the game isn�t in much demand over there. As with the rest of Europe, soccer rules. Now if we can get baseball going over there�
Other places in the area of YSU of interest include the famous Chess House. My friend Aram runs the website www.armenianknight.com and is quite attached to the Chess House. For more details on the Armenian Chess scene, please visit his website. It is unique and filled with detailed information on the Armenian chess scene. The chess house is bustling with chess fans and players alike of all ages. From the smoke filled lobby downstairs crowded with people playing and studying chess to the elegant grand Tournament room upstairs on the top floor, the chess house is vitally important to Armenia. The main reason is because the Armenian Chess Team competes on the highest of levels internationally and is considered one of the most feared teams in the world. The Chess House has a gift shop, a caf�, and is centrally located in Yerevan. It�s really worth it to check it out for an hour or so. Pictures of Garry Kasparov and Tigran Petrossian can also be seen in the Chess House. It is one of the hidden treasures in Yerevan.
-Raffi Meneshian
During the week of May 21st, I spent three days locked up in my friend�s apartment finishing my final paper for my MBA Organizational Behavior class. E-mail is key when it comes to this sort of thing. The e-mail system in Armenia is interesting. The closest thing they have to DSL and cable modems are super expensive radio modem/satellite Internet connections that move fairly fast. Otherwise, you are left to the mercy of ArmenTel. Here is the lowdown. ArmenTel is pure extortion. It charges so much for an internet line that providers have to pass on the super high cost to the end users. It�s about $20 bucks a month for unlimited usage from 8am to 8pm. There is absolutely no way anyone making an average wage in Armenia can afford that. On the other hand, there is FreeNet (www.freenet.am), which is like the NetZero equivalent of free Internet access. Only problem is that it is tough to get on line because of limited capacity, and it only gives you e-mail access from your dialup connection, not web access. I finally sent me paper through on Wednesday the 23 rd and also fought off the last remnants of my cold.
During my three days of illness and writing, I encountered several interesting things. The first was the Tuesday night game of pickup basketball over at the Yerevan State University gym. Yes, I was sick. But I had cabin fever and I just had to play a game of basketball. The gym was down near the Chess House and was kind of nestled in the back of the campus. The gym floor was hardwood, but not parquet. The color of the floor was a lime green and the court was full sized. Some kids had just finished up with gym class. They were doing these relay races with the gym teacher screaming at them. It was great.
The pickup game featured a combination of �Stansies� (Hayastantsis) and Spiurkahyes. The teams were mixed and even included an 18 year old woman named Lucine. The game was not much to write about (even though I am doing it now) but there was something special about playing basketball at 8 pm and looking outside of the gym windows only to see Mt. Ararat at full force. In the summer, the sun doesn�t set until about 10 pm. The game was organized by an Armenian-American who just moved to Armenia and now works there for a software company. It was a great idea to get everyone together to play some basketball. There aren�t too many courts and the game isn�t in much demand over there. As with the rest of Europe, soccer rules. Now if we can get baseball going over there�
Other places in the area of YSU of interest include the famous Chess House. My friend Aram runs the website www.armenianknight.com and is quite attached to the Chess House. For more details on the Armenian Chess scene, please visit his website. It is unique and filled with detailed information on the Armenian chess scene. The chess house is bustling with chess fans and players alike of all ages. From the smoke filled lobby downstairs crowded with people playing and studying chess to the elegant grand Tournament room upstairs on the top floor, the chess house is vitally important to Armenia. The main reason is because the Armenian Chess Team competes on the highest of levels internationally and is considered one of the most feared teams in the world. The Chess House has a gift shop, a caf�, and is centrally located in Yerevan. It�s really worth it to check it out for an hour or so. Pictures of Garry Kasparov and Tigran Petrossian can also be seen in the Chess House. It is one of the hidden treasures in Yerevan.
-Raffi Meneshian
posted by ArmeniaLog at 10:29 PM
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