A few quick funny stories before I get on the helicopter to Artsakh... where I will be visiting fellow logger Ara Manoogian.

Today was interesting. I pulled a muscle in my rib/upper stomach area... so I called my friend Ashot who is a doctor at the Kanaker-Mikaelian Hospital and asked if I could swing by. One of my Co-Workers came with me and we took a Marshotni (mini-bus) to Kanaker. Once in his Cabinet (office) they gave me a check up to make sure it is not my liver or lungs and then gave me a prescription on regular white paper. It was a mixture of this Russian drug, a lot of Novacaine and water. We came back to the Mammography Center and mixed the medecine. Now I have to soak a towel and wrap it around my upper stomach for 14 days until the pulled muscle is healed. funny

They kept insisting that I stay warm in Karabagh and that I pulled my muscle because I got sick because a fan was blowing on me, or I came out into the summer night sweaty. It is far from the medecine that I have learned to know in the West but ... I honestly am feeling better.

Will try to write from Martuni.

There is a beautiful lightning storm going on now with Ararat in the backdrop. I finally moved my computer onto the table, so I have a perfect view of it all. I should probably turn off my computer, but I am going to live on the edge... ;-)

One of the guys who remodeled my place was telling me his son performs in the opera here when I told him Zabel had gone to see Anush Opera which was being performed in the ruins of Zvartnots Cathedral. He then told me that his son missed that performance because he had a big car accident where he totalled his car when it was hit by the varchabed's car... now I could tell since the title ends in "abed" that the guy was in charge of something, and probably important since he was in a bendz. I was then given another clue when they told me the name of the varchabed, Andranik Markaryan. I knew I had heard it so I decided he probably was someone important indeed. It turns out he is the Prime Minister and he lives in the same neighborhood as my remodeling guys...

Meanwhile at work they installed the outdoor signs, so now people can actually know where we are... woohoooo!

I went to Mer Gyugheh, which is an authentic Armenian restaurant here in the city. Carol, my friend who is staying with me for a few weeks volunteering her services as a doctor at a clinic, a friend visiting from New York and I ate great food and listened to authentic Armenian music. It was great. After we went to an outdoor cafe. I remembered every reason I was back when I heard the young man singing Sayat Nova as I drank wine from Ashtarak from a clay cup.

Yesterday as I was walking home I came across a group of 6 young boys ages 5 to 9. I sat with them for a while and we talked about their summer vacations. We practiced their English and spoke about swimming and football. They promised they will teach me football. I took a few pictures... candid and cute.

On the remond front, things are a mess and I have more consultants than dollars. They start tearing down the ceiling plaster tomorrow. The important thing is that my contractor seems like a good guy and I am confident enough to go right into the apartment and state all my opinions in perfect Eastern Armenian.

I have an upcoming Artsakh trip in the works... actually we are taking a helicopter to Stepanakert on Friday. Tonight at the restaurant I took a shot of Mulberry Vodka and it brought back all the memories of Karindak and my days in Karabagh. I think I will abstain this time.

Working at the Mammography Center today, I felt really needed. They are doing so many amazing things at the center... and I felt that the Press Release I was writing in English about the work will really help get us funding. We saw 20 refugee women from the Karabagh war today for free. AMAZING!

I saw Artur today... its been a year and a half. I met him online in my chat room soon before I was going on my trip to Israel for Y2K. He invited me to visit him on a Kibbutz as his wife is part Jewish and they had emigrated from Armenia to Israel. He could hardly believe that as he had left, an American had moved to Armenia... it was quite cool to stay on a kibbutz a few days which is a system that fascinates me although I had no desire to volunteer at one in Israel. We had a great time and then fell out of touch until I got an e-mail a week ago if I wasn't perhaps still in Armenia... he was coming to visit. So he is here unfortunately without the family, and he is trying also to look into some import/export possibilities. It is great to see that the locals who left 5 or 10 years ago also are coming back now that they are a bit established and want to do something good here. I rarely get to meet that crowd because if they do come back they usually stay with family (as he is) and are more interested in visiting people than sightseeing aside from the obligatory Garni/Geghard Echmiadzin/Khor Virab trips. Those can all be seen in less than 2 days... so now we are talking about what can be done and hopefully one or two things I have been thinking about for a while may finally happen.

So you know what observation of his I really liked? Aside from the standard reaction to how much things have visibly gotten better here and normalized, he said it was good to hear Armenian spoken everywhere. Yup, I love that too... and just looking around and seeing Armenians in every direction.

AHHHH ARMENIA IS FABULOUS!!! There is soo much to tell. First off, shots out to Raffi and Zabel for being the perfect hosts tonight. We went to their newly remonded house and had a great night... a sangria party. A few of our loggers were there... the wonderful Lena, and a special treat... Ara Manoogian from Martuni, YIPEE.

Where do I begin... I guess I will jump right in. I love love love my apartment! It is huge with so many rooms to remond. I was talking to a friend who lives here and he told me that if you want to curse someone here in Yerevan you say "I hope your house sees remond". Today I think we solved the water problem (meaning we are trying to arrange cold water 24 hours a day) and tomorrow we start tearing down the walls. Every little decision is made by me... and I am getting quite good at asking advice and making rash decisions on ... where I want walls to come and go.

Work is great. I am working for a member of the Parliament and am managing the Armenian American Mammography University Center. I will get more detailed about work later as it develops but my first day was exciting. I spent the morning at the Parliament and the afternoon at the Center. The Center was great and I enjoyed meeting the staff.

Yerevan has changed a lot since I was last here. I am just happy to be here and am doing a lot of walking and smiling and am running into old friends left and right.

More later.

I�m finally in my new flat, what a month it has been!! I also have internet access back so I can log again. I�ll try and explain my absence the briefest way I can. The Volunteer program with the AVC (Armenian Volunteer Corps) commenced on the 1st August. The Training session will end this Friday with celebrations on the Saturday. I also moved in with a host family for the month as part of the training. It was pretty exhausting attending the training all day, looking after the �remond� and living with the host family at the same time.

I want to write a little about the AVC Program. The morning session consists of Eastern Armenian Language and the afternoon sessions consist mainly on cultural topics, how to deal with our job sites and having speakers from various backgrounds speak to the Volunteers re their businesses, difficulties they have encountered, basically their experiences. I must say the Training sessions have been very beneficial in both language and culture.

Every Saturday we went on day trips with the Volunteers and the AVC staff. The whole thing was organized well.

The host family I was staying with were wonderful but like I said it was very tiring as I had too much going on at the same time. The person I liked the most was �Babig� the Grandpa in the house. He was great and reminded me a lot of my Dad back in Sydney. They have this great garden filled with fruits and I would often eat black currant, grapes, pears etc straight from the trees, it was a great experience.

At the same time I also had my cousin and her girlfriend visit from Montreal having chosen Armenia as an elective for their medical studies. The Pan Armenian games came and went and I never saw any of the games nor the opening or closing ceremonies. That was too bad indeed. I did however see a lot of tourists in town in the past 2 weeks, which was great.

My own sister is arriving from Sydney tomorrow morning for 6 days with her girlfriend and I�m really looking forward to seeing her. I�ve been in Yerevan 4 months now!!! What an experience so far. Next week I�ll start working at one of the job sites I�ve been assigned to, I�ll write more later on that. Oh and I met Madlene tonight finally after reading all her logs so it was cool. All for now, I will write more regularly.

So the Pan-Armenian Games came and went and I didn't attend a single event. I would have liked to see at least the opening or closing ceremonies, but when it came to buying a ticket and making my way out there I was too lazy. I spent the weekend relaxing, shopping and tidying. There are so many little things you need when you move into a new house... have you every tried to live without one of those plastic organizer trays for forks and spoons? It is really quite annoying. So anyways, while I was walking around I ran into a local friend who informed me my dad was coming here towards the end of September. Now that is no big surprise since he comes pretty much every year to bring medical equipment and aid, but it is funny to hear it on the street that way. I saw my father online for only the second time ever later on that weekend and chatted with him. Although he loves computers, they seem to hate him. Files and e-mails are frequently lost... so I consider it fortunate to chat with him live.

Someone has asked me different ways it is possible to help Armenia. Of course there are a million ways, but here are a few that I thought would be easy, and not necessarily even involved much time or money.

• Send old computers - since old computers, monitors and printers are almost worthless in America, and thousands are donated each year to charity, this is an easy one. Armenia's National Literature museum does not have computers and even a few old pentium/486 would make a world of difference at places like that. If you specify a recipient here that would like it then the UAF airlift will bring it from LA for free. I would be willing to help coordinate.
  
• Buy Armenian products - increase demand for them abroad and help Armenia's economy. Buy Armenian cognac, wines, jams, etc for yourself and as gifts for others to develop a taste for them as well.
  
• Come to Armenia as a tourist or to live for a while - this will help pump cash into the economy and you can help people here with your knowlege of the west. Or you can start a business here whether you live here or not.
  
• Sponsor a family - there are many organizations that will help you do this. I can list some if needed.
  
• Sponsor an employee - for $50 or $100 per month you can sponsor someone here to work full time. I could get them an old computer and have them translating or typing up old Armenian texts for the internet. Their work can even say sponsored by you or your business. This kind of job often makes the difference between staying in Armenia or leaving.
  
• Another easy fast one is to just write your congressman about aid to Armenia AND Karabakh.
  

Those are the things that come to mind, if there are any other suggestions people would like to make I can add them too.

Hello folks - It has been a while since I posted...Sometimes, putting into words the experiences one undergoes here in Armenia is a difficult task; it is a something that often brings more of a feeling of "doing the event injustice" than anything else. In any case, I was suckered into playing in the Pan-Armenian Games last week. Suckered, from the standpoint that I went to the opening ceremonies with no intention to play, but without going into details, within 15 minutes (and without having eaten breakfast) I was sitting across the table from a master-level player who was far and away my chess superior. Actually, the Pan-Armenian Games was an impressive event that rivals the best of what I have seen in the Diaspora in terms of the AYF Olympics or other social get-togethers that I am used to. About 100 players participated in the chess events, most of them stronger than myself...I ended up with 2.5 out of 7 points. My opponents, in order, were from Ashtarak (loss), Saint Petersburg (draw), Beirut (loss), Athens (win), Los Angeles (win), Berd -a city in the Tavush region of Armenia (loss) and Charentsavan (loss). The guys' winner was from Vanadzor, as was the womens'. Great showing by Vanadzor in the chess games! Congrats to all players, coaches, and spectators in an event that, in my eyes, is one of many helping to bridge the gaps that exist between locals and diasporans.

Madlene lives! It was great to see her today... now both she and Lena who we hung out with upon arriving in Armenia two years ago and both promised to live in Armenia are here. We went to the old borcht (sp?) place and then for a tea where we ran into the two MIA loggers Aram and Ashot who was with his family... And walking home from that I ran into the friend Dr. Ashot who I have been meaning to call for months now but never have time it seems like since I am working/remodeling. Now the remodeling is finished and the work is normalizing, so hopefully that will change.

I guess nobody has had much to say these last few days. Today at work we hired a third person for our team, and finally had everything in order to purchase the computers. So this week we will already be able to get things done at the Information Center and in a week when our sign arrives we will actually be visible and able to help tourists. What a relief! Two months of working at the tourist info office without being able to actually help a single tourist is just too much... but I must say it will be the nicest and coolest office of its kind I have ever seen.

Aside from this I have not got too much to report. The last couple of weeks have already cooled down a bit and the sun is setting noticeably earlier, so you being to feel like fall is creeping in.

The Yerevan Zoo

I am not talking about the actual zoo, which is worthy of its own post, I am talking about the streets here which are crawling with examples of Armenian youth from all over the world who have come for the pan-Armenian games. 150 (an entire plane full) came from the little community of Egypt alone! Vernissage was absolutely packed with tourists and I think prices have gone up a bit for the time being. Thats OK, I will do my shopping in February when the prices are quite low.

Anyways, I want to share a story from this evening which I will not forget soon. I was sitting at this nice little "Kilikia" bar on the corner of Mashdots and Amiryan eating a delicious beef stroganoff when I noticed this beggar woman going from table to table. At the table next to ours I saw the guy reach into his pocket and then tell her all he had was a 10 dollar bill equivalent (5,000 dram) and I thought to myself it is pretty harsh to tell a beggar that, and stopped paying attention as a moment later she left. A few minutes later she returned... he had given her the 5,000 dram to go off with and make change so that he could give her some change! When I thought about it I was not at all surprised at her honesty, I have come to expect and depend on that here, but I was still surprised that he didn't just use the excuse that he didn't have change and leave it at that.

New York City- I love you! you have dazzled me with your might
But let the truth be told and I must confess, I can't wait to take that flight

In less than 12 hours I leave you, your park avenue stores I will hardly miss
I will soon be in Yerevan where I experience complete bliss

The motherland is magical, with a history that can't be matched
Her glory is overpowering, and it is to her that I am attached

I will drink the water at Republic Square and buy cotton candy for my walk
I will stroll at night with Semechka, and with my old friends I will talk

I will go to the villages I once called home and visit families that became my own
I will do a madagh and make some khorovats and eat every peice and ever bone

Most of all I will return to a place that teaches you what counts in life
That there is a social cohesion we are responsible for and that we must help to end pain and strife

I will be back to your crowded subways and remember the days that I spent here
But now Yerevan is too close to taste and I am finding it hard to shed you a tear

Goodbye New York, the city that never sleeps
Baree Louys Yerevan I am yours for the keeps

Life seems to have gotten awfully hectic for a number of us, not the way I imagine life in Armenia at all. Work is taking six days a week now which does not give me much time for getting out of town. My only free day I usually prefer to just spend at home and now that I am in the middle of moving to the new house and cleaning up both houses I have no choice in that matter either. So I am looking quite forward to my business trip to Ijevan on Sunday. I will be photographing and writing up materials, and it is not an overnight trip which means 6 hours in the car, but despite all that I am still looking greatly forward to this. I really loved my last visit to Ijevan as my last post on the subject showed and I would like to experience it in all seasons.

Anyways, last night they installed the kitchen counter, and we got the fridge and oven, so we are really getting there... the sofa issue is not going away, I have no idea where to get the perfect one yet... if there is some interest in what the entire remodeling cost I would consider posting all the numbers.

Also, to the other loggers, I have been asked what the best way to help Armenia is. I have some of my own ideas which I will post, but I would be interested in hearing yours as well.

We were taking no chances; for a whole year I was waiting for the occurrence of the excursion.
Last year we had an invitation in our hands (a date but no time mentioned) and reached Sissian's post, Groong restaurant, only to find out that the group had already moved.
Past Saturday we were on time to start the climb on Ukhdasar.
Before we were Armenians, Ukhdasar was one of our residing places. That was six to eight thousand years ago. Typical to our culture, we lived on high mountains, appreciated art and engraved on cliffs, and also enjoyed big game hunting and khorovadz.
There are thousands and thousands of petroglyphs in Armenia, on the mountains of Syunik and Geghama.
Nigol and I with Ashot were in the leading car, a military Wilis. A convoy of 10-11 vehicles followed.
Depending on the occasion, Ashot Avagian's title changes. Most of the time he is the guardian of diocese (Arachnortarani bahag), but when in danger he might transform into a dog or the diocesan.
Ashot is a painter and an unconventional artist. All true artists are unconventional but some more than the others are. This was one of his exhibitions, a whole day event.
There was no road, no signs, we had to rely on the knowledge of the driver and the Light. Except for some small segments it was not dangerous; however it was a torturous climb of ninety minutes. For safety reasons, each car had to keep its distance and follow the previous car. Inspite all measures a car was lost and joined the pack on Ukhdasar after three hours.
It was a charming place the way a place is after a volcano has hit it: rocks with ash color surfaces, a small lake, colorful flowers, and an army of petroghlyphs in a packet of solitude.
One petroglyph grabbed the attention of many. There was a human figure, we all agreed that it was of a woman, a snake and a tree (of life), according to a Sisiantzi interpretation it was the Eden story. If it is, Adam was missing; he is either unimportant or he's the painter.
During Karapagh war Ashot was in the army involved with the morale and motivation of the troops.
On top of the mountain Ashot became the shaman, he became one with his painting, immersed the painting in the lake and asked Mother (creator) her forgiveness for our sins. Then at Shaki he baptized about an eighty of us, gave a badge of eternity to wear and a certificate granting us the status of honorary citizenship to Ukhdasar. For most, the night ended at Dik Dik Karer, for few at the hot waters.
His performance is a mixture of solemn and absurd; symbols of his paintings inspired by the petroglyphs of Sissian; themes from current and past lives; and he is searching redemption and rebirth in new art forms.
For pictures visit:
http://www.parev.am/PICTURES/7NoravankJermukSisian/Ukhdasar.html

Before Madlene's remodeling stories start, I wanted to make a postscript report on mine. My remodelling guy followed my instruction to account for every single dram that was spent during the remodelling, and gave me the report last weekend. I would prefer not to post that kind of personal info on the web, but in this case I really feel like I should so that people can see an example of the expenses involved. I have to put it all in a spreadsheet and add it up officially, and when I do that I will post it on here line by line I think... especially if there is interest. But in any case, the total for every single expense to remodel my one bedroom flat, with a large balcony, NOT including living room furniture or appliances was approx. $7,500. That includes materials, labor, bed, kitchen cabinets, bathroom, water reserve tank, light fixtures, tiles, parquet floors, wall demolition and rebuilding, etc, etc, etc... I mean everything! And as I said, it turned out perfectly and the guys were really a pleasure to work with, even though they did take longer than they estimated.

Before Madlene's remodeling stories start, I wanted to make a postscript report on mine. My remodelling guy followed my instruction to account for every single dram that was spent during the remodelling, and gave me the report last weekend. I would prefer not to post that kind of personal info on the web, but in this case I really feel like I should so that people can see an example of the expenses involved. I have to put it all in a spreadsheet and add it up officially, and when I do that I will post it on here line by line I think... especially if there is interest. But in any case, the total for every single expense to remodel my one bedroom flat, with a large balcony, NOT including living room furniture or appliances was approx. $7,500. That includes materials, labor, bed, kitchen cabinets, bathroom, water reserve tank, light fixtures, tiles, parquet floors, wall demolition and rebuilding, etc, etc, etc... I mean everything! And as I said, it turned out perfectly and the guys were really a pleasure to work with, even though they did take longer than they estimated.

Before Madlene's remodeling stories start, I wanted to make a postscript report on mine. My remodelling guy followed my instruction to account for every single dram that was spent during the remodelling, and gave me the report last weekend. I would prefer not to post that kind of personal info on the web, but in this case I really feel like I should so that people can see an example of the expenses involved. I have to put it all in a spreadsheet and add it up officially, and when I do that I will post it on here line by line I think... especially if there is interest. But in any case, the total for every single expense to remodel my one bedroom flat, with a large balcony, NOT including living room furniture or appliances was approx. $7,500. That includes materials, labor, bed, kitchen cabinets, bathroom, water reserve tank, light fixtures, tiles, parquet floors, wall demolition and rebuilding, etc, etc, etc... I mean everything! And as I said, it turned out perfectly and the guys were really a pleasure to work with, even though they did take longer than they estimated.

For those of you who have been reading these entries and are sick of me still counting days and not actually being in Yerevan yet... I FEEL your frustration.

I have been crashing at friends houses lugging suticases around since I lost my apartment ten days ago... just dreaming of my new place. I can't wait to see the new apartment and decorate it. I start remond as soon as I arrive... so far I am envisioning yellow walls in the kitchen. We will see how things pan out. .

This weekend was my goodbye party and my friend Shant's birthday dinner. It was at a hip New York Bar/Restaurant with a shady entrance and an exotic assortment of cocktails (this makes it cool). I had my group of friends around me wishing me well and giving me lots of advice. A good few expressed jealousy that I am returning to the homeland while others were wondering if there are bars and clubs in Yerevan. ba vonts aper, (of course homey)

My friends from Armenia and Karabagh are telling me to get my fill of Japanese Cuisine, mainly sushi, before I come to Yerevan. I can foresee me missing the eel roll. So until my meeting with friends at Sushi Samba tonight I am just tying up work here at the office.

Five more days till I get on that plane. Bear with me.

Last night we had a nice get together at the new house which we moved into on Saturday. The weekend was really a good break from work which I needed... especially since I will probably be working on weekends in the future. For the first time ever I caught my dad online last night and was able to chat with him a little. He is a bit of a technophobe, so catching him online was a treat.

If anyone is thinking of what business they can run in Armenia, how about "Aghandzot" SCJSC, "Tatev" Subsidiary of "Nero" SCJSC, doesn't the name sound perfectly Soviet? Well, it is. I don't even really know what it does, but it is for sale along with hundreds of other Soviet enterprises on www.privatization.am so visit that if you want to see what else the state is trying to unload.

Last night we had an office goodbye party for the American volunteer designer who worked on the Visitor Info Center with us. It was at.... yes, Ashtaraki Dzor! that makes 3 times in 3 weeks. Anyways, the food was good and the dance show was quite entertaining if more in a funny way than the serious way they were aiming for. So the center is ready and open and just waiting for all the things we ordered to be delivered pretty much so that we can function normally. Did I mention we choose the pomegranate as the logo for Armenia? It looks really great. The designer got a huge ceramic pomegranate as a parting gift :-)

Raffi, you are right. I do move there in one week. But what is the greatest greatest greatest is that I will be living on Nalbandian Street, near the Tourist Information Center. Yes yes yes, I got my apartment today. I can't tell you too much about it since I was too excited when my father called to concentrate on the receiver but can tell you this.

He came across the apartment and we made the offer on the spot. It is on the second floor of a building which is tucked away between nalbandian and abovian behind Hotel Yerevan. I remember him saying that it is in a little bak and it has nice balconies.

I can't wait to see it and am doing everything I can to stay calm and patient. Needless to say, and I am sure we all know this song by heart... it needs some work. I don't know the move in date or if I will be as brave as Lena or Raffi in Remodeling 101 but I do know that my family members who saw it told me that it was great.

A week left and I can't concentrate at work, I can't stand the humidity and heat and tomorrow I switch from counting days to hours. I am not exactly Countracula but I think I am motivated enough to get it right.

I had dinner with a bunch of LCO'ers who just came back from Yerevan and were planning their own journeys back to Armenia as I talked on and on and on about mine.

Every day I find out about someone else doing something fabulous in Armenia. Any word from the wise about smart things to bring, and what I should not bother lugging across?

See you all in a few... Kotayk anyone?

The water turns on at exactly 7am. It is like clockwork.

The Ethiopian Armenian reunion (almost all left after the Emperor was overthrown in I believe 1975) was held in LA, where the largest number of Ethio-Armenians ended up. I missed it, being in Armenia at the time. I tried weakly to convince them to hold it in Armenia, since an Ethiopian-Armenian reunion logically should be held in either Ethiopia or Armenia. Anyways, here are some pictures of the events. I wish I could have gone since I have always enjoyed my Ethiopian background and from what I have heard the Armenian diaspora there was just about idyllic. Very successful, tightknit, no two churches, no two agumps, pretty much married Armenians, or the foreign spouse would join the Armenian community. Too bad. I assume they will be e-mailing me with the plans to take over the world any time now.

Well today marks the opening of the Tourist information center. It is at 3 Nalbandian and when we get our sign (we don't have one yet) it will say Armenia Information. That won't be for a few more days. I must say I do like the mafia landlord, Nver. He is just so great to deal with, and so true to his word. He has literally worked miracles, and accomodated us a great deal. I can almost forgive his insane driving!

Yesterday by chance I ran into Sevane on the street, a co-LCO volunteer from 1994. Today Aram and Davit will come back from their trips abroad. Madlene moves here in a week...

I know I was meaning to write about other things as well, but I have (as often happens) forgotten what.

We have had some nice if brief lightening and rain storms the last couple of nights. The parched soil has sucked up everything that came down without a trace. Today will be a long day and tomorrow we will already start working at the visitor information center at 3 Nalbandyan. Hopefully we will have a phone line and a computer! It is crazy how day after day we are running around and things can move so slooowly. It is partly because we are publicly funded so purchasing things is not nearly as easy as just going out and buying something. We make an RFP (Request for Proposals) then collect the bids, then notice they have bid wrong, then go clarify, then wait for them to get the money transfer/cash their check, then, we get finally our stuff. Meanwhile we are also one person short on our staff, so I am doing the work of two people, and not able to do all that needs to be done.

THE REMODELING IS COMPLETE!!!!!!

You thought you'd never hear the end of it, but it is finished! I am sooo pleased with the results, it is much more beautiful than I had imagined. So all that needs to be said now is, ha haha ha ha, I beat Lena! :-) Just kidding, her place looks great too and they will probably finish tomorrow if they haven't already.

Work is crazy, so much to get done, so many obstacles, and so little time... keep your fingers crossed for me. I guess that is all I have energy to write right now.

Garen Demirjian complex the August 6th evening was dedicated to 1700 anniversary, to duduk and to Jivan Kasbarian.
I am enjoying the outstanding events dedicated to 1700 anniversary. A couple of weeks ago it was La Scalla, two days ago it was it was a night of Jivan, Michael Brooks and other renowned musicians. Each solo was like a firecracker, lightening the night, very enjoyable mix of traditional and non-traditional music.
Best seat for La Scalla or Jivan night was 5000 dram; best seat for an opera is 1500 dram.
In North America a music lover pays hundreds of dollars for a seasonal package to attend opera, concert, or musical. The same price would have purchased him/her a ticket to Armenia and tickets to similar events. It's possible to lure a particular market with this incentive.
But that means organizing and scheduling events at least 6-9 months ahead of time. AIM readers knew that La Scalla was coming to Armenia but didn't have a specific date; within Armenia the event was publicized and tickets sold two weeks before the performance.
The organizers need to improve on annual scheduling, information dispersal and marketing skills and something has to be done about the heat in the center, two days ago it was like taking a communal sauna bath in the complex.

If you are one of those people who wonders how they can help Armenia, but doesn't know how, here is one for you. Dr Ashley Vanic Minas, an Armenian from India has moved to Meghri on the Armenian-Iranian border to fulfill his promise to his grandmother on her deathbed to move here and to help Armenia. The people in this region that we need to keep populated are poor and he needs help. You can e-mail him directly to see what kind of financial, material, or volunteer efforts he may find useful.

As you can see, the site is back up. It came up yesterday I think and I am still working out kinks, but at least the log is reconfigured now. I think the new server will be even better, it has some cool capabilities in case I ever have time to take advantage of them.

Oshagan, Ampert, Lake Arakadz today we covered them all with French tourists.
A section of the road leading to Ampert is 2/3 blocked by huge boulders. Tatool, the owner of the small caf� at Ampert says it was on May 15th that the rocks covered the road completely. Buses and cars could not pass by and turned back, it was very bad for the business. Informed everyone including Khosrov Harutunian and eventually opened 1/3 by their own means.
Tatool's grandfather, Aram Manukian, is the caretaker of the church. He was in Egoyan's movie, Calendar. Though he has not seen the movie. It's worthwhile asking him about local history. He mumbles but you get the drift. With Tatool and Aram I get the feeling that they are part of Ampert, the heirs and the guardians of the castle & the church.
Unrelated to the topic - today I saw a huge billboard in the city with a picture of a monastery, it was ad for Anelik Bank. Could have been for another bank or for Aristone or for another product.
Related to tourism - wish them came up with the idea of erecting huge road signs to landmarks, monasteries, cities, and villages and finding and posting sponsor's name. E.g. "Road to Ampert 7 Km. Anelik Bank wishes you a safe trip."

I finally got out of Yerevan this weekend. Although I worked on Saturday till 2pm, I went to an LCO kef at the Hovnanian house on Saturday night. There I met the new LCO group which had some old LCO friends in it... Boris, Astrid, and Raffi Niziblian and Lara with their new baby Amasia. Another co-volunteer Bernard also came for todays opening of Saghmossavank which he had worked on with us. Nune Yessayan was there too, which was cool even though she didn't say much. The new group seems like fun and it was great to meet one of them, Vicken, who had bought a one way ticket to Armenia. He has never been here but he decided to just come and live here. We jumped onto the groups bus and headed for Saghmossavank to spend the night with them. It was so nice and so cool, nothing like the oven that Yerevan can be. The reconsecration of Saghmos after its reconstruction by LCO was a big crowd drawer. We ditched the long ceremony early to hang out at the house we were all staying in like sardines. We saw the Catholicos, plus archbishop Barkev of Karabakh and some other big church people at the monastery, and later we saw Raffi Hovhannisian and the Hovnanians were there too at the big lunch we had afterwards, again at Ashtaraki Dzor. I think it was the longest table I had ever sat at in my life, and it only accomodated half of our group. This time I had my digital camera and got some great pictures. So we headed back with Ashot (the lazy logger who never writes anymore, but who worked on Saghmos as well) and relaxed for the rest of the day...

In the remodelling news, which is coming to an end, it looks like me and Lena will tie on our remonds with both of us finishing probably on Tuesday. I can't wait! I bought a really great zili chest cover from vernissage on Saturday morning to turn into a coffee table.

JHAVEL!!!! JHAVEL!!! Memories of my last stretch in Yerevan are all coming back to me. Jhavel is what the bleach seller used to scream every morning as he toured his product from backyard to backyard in Yerevan. By the time he came to my building he was just in time to be my 9:00 am alarm clock. Because I am moving to a different place, I am bringing an alarm clock just in case the new JHAVEL guy isn't the early bird the old one proved to be.

Speaking of bringing things, I am in the middle of leaving my Chinatown Manhattan apartment. I have piles which I have named... the shipping to Armenia pile, the storing in New York pile, and of course there is always the coming with me in my suitcase pile. My poetry and my lucky charms are all carefully placed in the last one. T-minus 25 days (my last entry) with the speed of light has become T-minus 14 days and my move is becoming more... real

Wrapping up work at the AGBU has become quite somber as I stare at my co-workers after a year and half of laughs and hard work and promise to write. No matter the move how exciting and how joyful there is still some emotional ups and downs as you leave one world for another. New York to Yerevan will be quite the change I am assuming a bit more turbulent than when I did the Los Armenios (I mean Angeles) to Yerevan. I am thrilled to be doing it though and as you can tell am counting days.

I can't help but be excited. I have a month off before I begin work and I am thinking of how consumed I will be in the theme of Raffi and Lena's entries... remodeling. I don't quite have my housing set up just yet but for some reason I do not worry. I have apartment hunting experience from Manhattan on my side, it's gotta count for somethin... (some would even argue finding a good deal in manhattan deserves a PhD in the apartment hunting category)

The buzz here in the states is that everyone is coming to the Pan-Armenian Games... it is going to be packed. Many first time Armenia goers... I am sure they will love it... who doesn't? I have friends that I never thought would go much less carry albums post trip showing off same old shots of Garni and Geghard and Sardarabad... Good thing I can't get enough of those pictures.

More later as my move approaches. Then I will have the real deal to write about... Life in Armenia.

The site should be up in another day or two... that is what I was told. Meanwhile work is insanely busy getting ready for the opening of the information center in less than a week. Hopefully after that things will normalize some. This weekend will be busy with work and LCO events. Saghmossavank Monastery opens tomorrow, after its restoration which I worked on as well. There are a lot of volunteers in town, which is cool. The AVC one year volunteers are here too now, so things are interesting with all these new people. When the Pan Armenian games start Yerevan will be completely overrun with diasporans for a few weeks at least.

Someone named Levon called from HSBC. The bank is no longer providing joint account services. I think it is adjusting itself to the Hayasdanian norm. Four years ago when we were buying our apartment everyone one surprised that we wanted to co-own it. It is not the Hayasdantzi way.
Today it was so hot that I slept most of the day.

August 2, 2001
I took half of a dozen kids to Sissian. The kids were mostly grade eight students from Toronto enrolled in summer art camp project. Each day they attended art school for three hours and then went out to visit historic sites around Sissian and to have fun.

Water and fun are inseparable for teenagers. Went to Shake's Fall for a picnic. The fall is privatized. The rumor is that the owner paid 70 thousand dollars and even in the first year he made that amount by selling electricity. The drawback for the rest of us is either we won't be able to see the full force of Shake or we have to pay in dollars. The waterholder has realized the meaning of the idiom 'time is money'.
Three of the kids climbed all the way to the top, most of them stood under the fall and tested 'the force' of Shake. As for the picnic, all ate barbecued potatoes, few touched barbecued lamb.

Hot waters of Sissian. Mineral hot waters spring from the ground. The locals claim that it has healing powers. The new owner has built a small 'basein' (pool) in the middle of nowhere. The drive from Sissian was 30-40 minutes and their first reaction was 'it's like a Jacuzzi in someone's backyard, did we drive all this way for this!' There are built in seats in the basein to enjoy an alcoholic drink while bathing. The owner did it's best to attract us: emptied the basein, swept it with thread make broom while the kids were discussing algae treatment in English. Half an hour later two kids walked into the pool cautiously, two others were thrown in fully dressed, an all-against-all fight started and then no one paid attention to the poor surrounding and the stares.

There's a 'phasenda' in Ashodavan. The place is located on the river and has a good size swimming pool, and several ponds where Ishkhan, Garmrakhayd and other fish are bred. The road to Ashodavan is atrocious, but the final destination is a nice hidden spot in nature. The place is a hunter's dream: skins of bear, wild cat, fox decorate the walls and the floor. The local facilitator who had introduced us a couple of months ago arranged a booking and reconfirmed it on Sunday morning. After a long Datev trip when the kids were looking forward to fishing and swimming expedition one of my friends got sick and we decided to drop her off at the villa, the facilitator called the phasenda to caution them that we'd be there in 20 minutes and discovered that we were cancelled. A minister was there at the phasenda .

Yesterday kids went back to Toronto with good memories. They loved Armenia, one of the top places they had fun was the hot water fight at Sissian, one of the foods they hated was the lamb barbecue.

As for what happened with the phasenda at Ashodavan, when it's the 1701, 1702, 1703 anniversary will the visitors keep coming only for the monasteries, for drops of Shake's Falls? Or will diasporans keep coming because they have Armenian origin and don't care about cancellations and political whims? Do we care? Let's ask the opinions of the energy minister, the head of electoral committee of Syunik, and the proprietor of Shake Falls.

Eh, you may have noticed that the site was down... as I type this I don't know when it will be back up. It is very hard for me to fix the problem from Armenia, I have to depend on my cousin in America who takes care of my web hosting. He suddenly lost his ability to host, and now I am looking for a new server. What a pain! This is one of the most bothersome things about living in Armenia... having to bother your relatives in America to help you with your finances and for me, this web site. Even with online web hosting, online banking, etc, etc, I am for the time being still depending on them for support...