Tomorrow my dad is going to be coming to town for a few weeks. I will go to Karabakh with him I hope. What did I ask him to bring? My brand of deodorant, I can't find it here. Thats all I asked for and could think of needing, but in retrospect I forgot about my Lucky Charms need ;-) But that would have been just a bit much to have him lug from America.

Hopefully I will get to go somewhere tomorrow. I was stuck at home and there is only one or two months of good weather left before winter...

Anyone want to invest in a Youth Hostel here? I found the perfect spot, and am considering it very seriously if I can get some $ together.

So my friend Paul from Sydney reminded me that I hadn�t logged in a while and he had no news from me so here I am. I�ll start from last Thursday the 20th September. I went to Etchmiadzin with the Armenian Bar Association group from the States. They had set up a meeting with (the Vehapar), Garegin II in his office to ask some questions in person. After the formalities, we were given a memento for the 1700th Anniversary of Christianity, which was all very nice. We stayed for a little while as the procession started from his residence towards the new gate, where the blessing of the oil would take place a couple of days later (the new gate was blessed on Thursday).

Friday the 21st was Independence Day and although there was no parade during the day, there were many concerts in the evening. So I started from the Republic Square with a couple of friends and headed up to the Opera to watch the festivities. Everyone in Yerevan was out on the streets, which was great to see. We ended up sitting at a caf� at the Opera and watched Charles Aznavour and Nune Yesseyan sing.

The following day, all the Volunteers from the Armenian Volunteer Corps got together with local Volunteers (15 in total) and we started cleaning a nominated street in the center. We had decided to clean from Amirian Street, all the way down to Tigran Metz collecting rubbish along the way. There were some interesting remarks made as we were cleaning and picking up cigarette butts with our rubber gloves and brooms. The locals were asking us why we were cleaning the streets, whether we were being paid for it, some said we were doing it for nothing, as the cleanliness would not last. On a positive note some locals thanked us for our efforts and said they felt ashamed that �foreigners� were cleaning �their streets�. The whole exercise was to create interest in locals, asking them to join us in our exercise and to advertise to keep the streets of Yerevan clean. Eventually we will come up with a logo on caps and T-shirts advertising our cause �our city, our home�.

Sunday was spent at the new Church in Yerevan, St Gregory the Illuminator where mass was held and again with huge crowds.

The 3 Aussies who were staying at my place left Tuesday morning at 3am, meanwhile I have another lot of guests staying at my place for 2 weeks. So on Wednesday night we went out to dinner to �Our Village� restaurant and on our way out we saw the Pope passing by Sayat Nova Street in his car, which was neat. Oh I forgot to mention, Tom Samuelian who translated the �St Grigor Narekatsi� from Armenian to English had his book published and was personally signing his books on Tuesday night at Armenia hotel. Ok so that�s it till next time!

Last night I went to the Vartan Petrossian one man show titled 1700 Anniversary. It was amazing. Sattire, a political message, a lot of comedy and the first time that I have seen Christ depicted in human form in Armenia. The show has been running for 21 days and we caught the last of the sold out shows.

Two nights ago, Raffi gathered some loggers for dinner. Loggers included Raffi, Ashot, Ara Manoogian, and me! Raffi kept asking me about Remond, I think that he is going through Remond withdrawel. Are you all going through Remond withdrawel? After months and months of Remond with Raffi and Remond with Lena you all must be. Oh you poor things. Here, I have some Remond stuff to share.

My Remond is slow but fun. I get my hands dirty and work with the guys whenever I can. I have worked enough to be completely attached to the place. We have built most of the walls and are actually plastering them (ha ha i said plastered). I am having difficulties speaking in English about this subject as I have mastered the Russian-Armenian Remond Lingo. Once we are done with the Gaj (Plastering) we can start picking colors and building on our Remond dreams. We are building two bathrooms from scratch and so we have been going around town looking for toilets, sinks and showers. We have decided there are to be no bathtubs in the apartment and instead two stand up showers.

Lela and my brother are still staying with me although my brother just left for a three day trip to Karabagh. This will give me a chance to have some down time after my long days at work and my long days at Remond. I have no upcoming plans for the weekend but I am sure some interesting things will pop up and of course I will write about it all here :o)

I am quite impressed with Aravot Newspaper who printed the article this morning about the event at Pablavok, the one Raffi mentioned. Being a regular at Pablavok, I was there that night. I am still quite shocked and hurt and bewildered by the entire experience.

We were having an amazing time. Charles Aznavour was there with our President Robert Kocharian. Constantine Orbelian, Jivan Gasparian, Nune Yesayan and so many others. I was sitting with my friend Arthur and we were enjoying all the musical talent. Nune sang while Jivan played, Orbelian played a beautiful piece etc. etc. etc.

Then I hear someone screaming. It was a British man screaming "Animals, you are a bunch of animals", "What kind of a country is this?". The jazz bar turned upside down and we started to leave. On our way out we heard a man had been found dead in the bathroom which security had dragged him into for greeting the President in an informal manner. Although we did not see it, we could hear everything going on and the tables surrounding the incident were filled with Diasporan Armenians who I believe saw everything.

Raffi is right, at first it was announced as heart failure on the television stations. It is very sad. Everyone is very angered and worried. They are dissapointed and want answers. I am quite angered and upset myself. I cannot believe what happened, and I will never forget it. It has not left my mind since the incident. Again, l ask for your good energy to be with Boghos Boghosian, the deceased.

I would like to tell you some more about the disturbing story I mentioned earlier, since it is all over town now anyways. President Kocharyan and Charles Aznavour were at Poplavok, a popular Jazz club in Yerevan and as they were leaving one of the customers said something to Kocharyan that was informal or inpolite. I will not go into much detail even though I have talked to people who were there and the circumstances were shady but shortly after he spoke he was dead in the bathroom. The restaurant was cleared and two days later the news agencies reported that this guy died of natural causes (heart attack). All the details I have heard would lead people to believe there is more to it, and although I hate to spread rumors, the whole thing stinks and needs to be cleared up in an official and unbiased way.

I heard a very disturbing story about some events that took place on Monday night. I am trying to find out more.

Meanwhile I wanted to give a better account of my trip, so let me give it at shot:

FRIDAY THE 21ST

We left Yerevan on Friday at a leisurely pace around 11am and drove north to Vanadzor stopping for food in Yerevan and then looking for a place to eat in Vanadzor. In Vanadzor we were looking for a Khingali (Georgian dumpling) place and asked a guy who turned out to speak great English. He walked us a ways to a place to eat but we decided against it. We also tried to call Vladimir, a guy involved in the Monument Protection Agency to see if we could get better directions or even his guidance to this really remote monastery on the northern edge of Armenia. He was not back from his trip to Yerevan yet so we headed north into the really green canyon which goes north along the main highway to Georgia. Along the road we stopped and ate an overpriced meal of fried Lori (quail) which seemed appropriate in the Lori Region of Armenia, and then drove down the side road to Dsegh Village. This was Hovhanness Tumanyans birth town, but we were looking for the ruins of Surp Grigory Monastery. After being given poor directions by a half a dozen villagers we set off and after hiking for a good while on a picturesque forested cliff-side, we gave up.

We headed back to the main highway and on a sharp bend I saw some white Mitsubishi vans which often indicate tourists stopped at a roadside bbq restaurant. I told Ashot to slow down so I could try to guess where they may be from when I spotted the driver of one of the vans. It was Manvel, the great guy who drove us to Karabakh exactly 2 years ago through Kelbajar and who was still complaining that his van has never been the same since! He was happy to see us, and we stopped to eat at the same place. His group was of locals doing some charity work with talented children in the north. We showed him and others our maps and books, but they could not help us much. Meanwhile we ordered our food and one of the workers at the restaurant dismantled our carbeurator (sp?) and cleaned it for $3. The food was fantastic, and we were ready for the next leg of our journey.

We drove up to Odzun village which is at the top of this canyon, and past it. We spotted a simple old 3 room church towards the canyon edge and stopped to take some pictures. At this point I looked around because somewhere around here there was supposed to be a monastery built against the cliffs. I looked to the left and below and to the right without any luck. So we continued on towards Ardzvi since we would be coming back this way the next day to look for that monastery more carefully in that vicinity.

Ardzvi was easy to find and a cool place. It looked cartoony to me with the inward leaning columns on the simple bell tower. The bell was still there so I gave it a ring... it was quite loud. It was getting dark and Friday night was turning out to be a cold one, so we wanted to sleep inside the monastery in our tents. It was late though and the monastery was locked, so we headed back down the really bad roads to that little three chamber church we had run into a half an hour earlier on road.

That church was just perfect for the two little tents, but it was still quite chilly. We talked for a while and then dozed off, waking up a few times due to the stone floors and the cold tempratures...

SATURDAY THE 22ND

Waking up as the sun was rising, I got the others up to start our day at 7am. The cliff was only a few meters from our church and reminded me of the cliffs of Saghmosavank where I worked for a month, so I went out onto a little promontory like the one I used to sit on in Saghmosavank. I stood there enjoying the view and decided to look for the cliff side monastery again, and this time I noticed it almost right away! There was Horomayri Monastery right below and if you took two steps away from this spot you could not see it any longer and it was well camoflauged as it was. I called the others and we took some pictures, but in the end, we could not figure out a way to get down to it. Sheer cliffs... So we packed up and headed off back to Ardvi to get some pictures in the light.

Ardvi is not a big monastery so we puttered around a bit and enjoyed the nearby graveyard which had some really interesting slightly different khachkars and tombs. Then we headed back to Odzun to make a phone call. In many parts of Armenia you cannot direct dial, so we had to go to the post office and "order" a phone call. I told the woman the 5 digit number, but because I said (for example) thirty-one, two, seventy-four instead of saying three, twelve, seventy-four the way she is accustomed to hearing the number, she was totally confused. So a local woman trying to be helpful grabbed the paper and read her the number. After waiting about 20 minutes and wandering through the ancient mechanical telephone switchboards, our call connected and I talked to Vladimir. After a minute it became obvious that this was not the right Vladimir and it turned out the woman had ordered the wrong phone number. The way Americans write the number seven looks like a one, so they had dialed a 14, not a 74 when the villager had read off my phone number. I was very annoyed that we waited this long, that she had not understood the five digit number when I first told it to her just because she could not fathom the numbers being lumped together differently, that our wrong number had also been named Vladimir, extending the conversation and problem, and that she said it would cost money for that phone call. So we just left rather than waste more time.

Now we headed down the canyon and up the other side to Sanahin Monastery, one of the largest in Armenia. This we were seeing for Ashot who had never been there and we got some great pictures. From there we tried again to call Vladimir from the post office, with no luck. His kid answered and he was not in the house. We gave up on him and headed back down the canyon and up the other side to the last village on this side of Lalvar mountain. On the other side lay the tiny hamlet of Jiliza right on the border with Georgia, and near the beautiful monastery of Khorakert. On the way up to the formerly Greek populated, now Armenian village we saw the Manes & Vallex copper mines and at the entrance to the village the road was guarded. I thought it might be the mine guard and that it was a mining town, but it was actually the Armenian customs guy, since this was a gateway to the border area. He was completely shocked to see tourists and was determined to help us. He totally disregarded our super-high resolution topographical maps and instead hand drew us a map, which all in all looked like a big letter S. He drew this S on both sides of the page because the first time he did not think it was to scale enough. After telling us we were crazy and that we should have prayed to Jesus 50 times in order to make it there and not get lost, he sent us off with a letter pleading for anyone who reads it to help us.

A couple of the tips he gave us were comforting, because we knew we were doing something right. First there were the cowsheds on the right, then the logging camp on the left and then the pine trees which marked where we should start our descent on the other side of Mt. Lalvar. It seemed that every time we reached a bend we were unsure of there was some random person there to ask directions. The scenery was awesome as we went through thick, old growth forests. There was a lot of logging going on though and the patches of clear-cut deforestation were quite sad. Much of the logging was probably illegal.

When we finally saw some villages on the other side of the mountain we were wondering which ones were in Georgia, and which one was the Armenia village of Jilizia. As we got closer, the 50 houses of Jiliza came into view below us and we asked the first person we came across, Arkady, if we were in Armenia still and where was Khorakert. He laughed and offered to jump in and be our escort, and we immediately started off for Khorakert. The only real option by road took us through a bit of Georgia before crossing back into Armenia just before the monastery comes into view. As you can seen in the picture, it is at the foot of some richly forested hills. The k'mpet (dome) was really beautiful and unique, so I was quite happy to finally get to see it. From the inside it looks just as nice. Wandering the grounds we saw some nice details and for the first time every I saw a gargoyle in Armenia. Arkady was saying we were the first foreign tourists to visit since the Soviet Union collapsed except for (of all things) for one group of Japanese tourists. After enjoying the scenery a bit Arkady asked what other plans we had and I said this was the highlight, but we were wondering if there was a way to get to Khuchapi Monastery from this area. He smiled again and asked if we were ready to go. He had never seen it either and had been waiting for the right opportunity. So we headed onto the Georgian highway and through a few of the purely Armenian villages.

We stopped to pick up Arkady's Godfather, who knew the way well, and headed through yet more of the worst roads and bridges around. I knew Khuchapi was meant to be a nice monastery, but didn't really know what to expect. It was massive! Again in a lush forest setting, this monastery was just amazing. It was a number of stories tall, and it turns out in the corner you can squeeze into a spiral staircase built inside the walls, and climb way up until you reach the roof. The view is great from up top and you know you are one of the few who have visited this treasure that is so hard to get to. On each side of the monastery were huge crosses carved into the stone, and there are other ruins around the main church as well. Arkady's Godfather started drinking at this point and we decided we would prefer to just stay with Arkady. After stopping in at the Godfathers house we delicately negotiated our way back to Arkady's place where we met his family and comfortably spent the night. His grandfather, in this out of the way village, fought in WWII and marched into Berlin with the Red Army. While the Armenians in Georgia were very deprived of government services, the Armenians in tiny Jiliza it was good to hear were being services with buses and given fuel by the government to run a generator for part of the day.

SUNDAY THE 23RD

I got up early and snapped a great shot of Ashot in his sleep, then headed outdoors to see what all the crowing was about. A bunch of piglets were running around and came to Arkady when he called them. He gave them some food and the sound of a herd of piglets licking the floor was rather amusing. Next the massive mothers were fed, and finally the hens and Turkeys got their breakfast. By this time everyone was up and we went to visit the village church. It used to be part of a large complex, but all that is left after the Soviets blew up most of it in 1933 is a small chamber which is crumbling also. After this we had our breakfast and tried to convince them western eating habits are not so strange. We also looked at the pictures on my digital camera which they enjoyed a great deal. At around 11:30 we just had to split and we really made great time over Mt. Lalvar, back to civilization. As we got close to the main highway we saw a girl walking her dog and stopped to ask her directions. Even from behind she looked a bit different, so I said, lets ask this American girl. What were the odds that she would turn out to be the brand new American Peace Corps volunteer? Well she was, and was quite amazed to be giving Americans directions in English on this back road. So we got back onto the highway and taking our final detour, went up to Haghpat Monastery, easily on the top three list of amazing monasteries in Armenia, so that Ashot could finally see it with his own eyes as well. After wandering around the extensive grounds and up to the old Aghpyur we finally left and started the long drive to Yerevan. The day had started off warm and sunny, but the closer we got to Yerevan, the more scattered showers and rainbows we saw. Our one final stop, to grab a delicious if expensive bbq chicken at Anoush Restaurant in Lori Region.

On our trip to find the Khorakert monastery, I managed to get sick. Although that didn't make the experience any different, since it was well worth going all the way to find the khorakert monastry. It's not really a big deal, getting sick in the fall is a common thing, at least for me. Of course the guys at work had to have a long list of things I have to get done after the 3 day vacation, esp. that I'm sick (and also tired from a 3 day drive in the most unfriendly roads your car could ever face, if there was any in the forest!) I just wanted to report that I'm back safe and sound, and Raffi was not the only one who made it back :-) I also want to apologize for not completing my last log. I promise to do so very soon. I yet have to see Rhoda's photos...

Last night I was hanging out with my friends Aris, Arthur Grigorian and a few others. Arthur, a famous musician, suggested we go to Noravank. Noravank is a few hours away near Vayk and it was 11 at night. He told us that there is a spirit that appears to him at night there and he felt compelled to visit and take us there. So we got in his van and took a drive to Noravank. I don't think I can describe the night we had but I will try to just ahhh... tell bits and parts.

To start, we stopped off at Yeghegnadzor and had a nice meal and began our singing. We ate eggs and tomatoes and cucumbers and drank Chamomille tea. Arthur told us a little about Noravank and the ourvakan we were about to meet. We continued.

We stopped on the road. Tall mountains on each side, a river and a valley... ECHO was amazing. We all screamed and screamed until we had let it out... our voices echoed on for seconds upon seconds. Arsen Grigorian a young Joghovourdakan singer sang Sayat Nova so beautifully there that my whole body was a goosebump. The stars were amazing. I lay upon a rock and listened to Arsen's amazing voice and just let Sayat Nova and the nature take over.

We then went to Noravank. Candles in hand to meet the ourvakan. We entered the monastary with candles. We spoke to the spirit who made noises back at us. I lit three candles and we had an amazing experience of speaking to our higher power, singing, and being dazzled by the beauty of this monastary. I can't explain it but I was spirituality at my highest.

Then to top it off we went to visit a hermit that Arthur is friends with. Mind you it is 4 in the morning at this point, so we woke him from his sleep. His bed was made of stone. He lives in a cave that he has completely built himself out of stone. His house was amazing.... all stone... the dining room table, STONE uncut and rugged. I was speechless. ME, the biggest loudmouth had nothing to say. He poured us homemade wine from a clay jug into clay cups. He also gave me pomegranates that he had grown himself. We sang and enjoyed his creation and enjoyed the light that the oil lamps gave. He had built a bridge to the cave and we crossed the bridge as if crossing back into the modern world where our van awaited.

This weekend was amazing, and last night was great. I am happy to be here and loving every minute of my decision to move here.

As for the spirit, I don't know, I can tell you this. It was magical.

With all the intense activity going on in Yerevan this 3 day weekend, I called up Ashot and proposed we get out of town to hunt down the elusive Khorakert Monastery. Rhoda joined us and we headed out Friday morning. Friday we hiked all over Dsegh village looking for Surp Grigori Monastery, with no luck. Then we headed to Odzun village to find Horomayri Monastery where we camped out. In the morning we headed to Ardvi Monastery and then cut over to Sanahin. From there we went to the old Greek mining town which is the last town before heading over Mt. Lalvar to the border hamlet of Jilizia. This is the nearest town to Khorakert, and Arkadi, a really great fellow jumped in our car to guide us there. It was stunning as you can see in the picture... it also bears a resemblance to the huge new St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral they consecrated in Yerevan today, which no other monastery does. From there we headed through Georgia on to Khuchapi later on in the day, an amazing monastery I had little hope of seeing on the same trip, but we pulled it off. After a good nights sleep in Jilizia, we headed back over the mountain to see Haghpat Monastery and then come back to Yerevan, stopping by the new cathedral which people were still pouring into past sunset... I wish I could go into more detail, but I am pooped, and the pictures will have to suffice!

I just killed a scorpion on my living room floor a minute ago by accident. I hadn't turned on the lights and thank goodness I was wearing my slippers because it was a big one too. It is pretty flat now. I was on the phone discussing this weekends trip to Khorakert (unless all these peoples pressure to talk me into postponing is successful, but that is not likely). I have been trying to make this trip happen forever and I am going to squeeze lots of new other sites into the 3 days as well, so it is going to be a blast. The batteries of my digital camera are charging as we speak, and I will share some pics with you when we get back. It will definitely be an adventure and require 4x4 because we are going along the northern border with Georgia where there are no roads and it is forested mountainsides and gorges. Akh, I miss these kinds of trips...

I just saw one of the mosquitoes in my apartment fly right by my computer screen. They have eaten me alive!!! They say it is because I am doing construction downstairs, and that is why there are so many of them.

My girlfriend Lela is staying with me, and my brother will arrive in 2 short hours (I will be going to the airport) so once again I have a full house. I started a guest book today and figured it would make for a nice keepsake. I have quite a few of these great ideas for the house... I think my new apartment will end up quite hip.

The remond is actually coming along!!! Most of the tearing down is done and we are actually starting the process of building. It was nice to see the electrician today, because his presence means we are close enough to the light at the end of the remond. It should not take more than another month or maximum 2.

I start teaching English at the Mammography Center on Tuesday. I will be teaching the staff English every Tuesday and Thursday but really have no idea how to start teaching English or what to do. My mom teaches English back in Burbank so I will call her for guidance.

Yerevan is cooling down from a hot summer, and it is nice to pull out my long sleeve shirts. I hope those of you with delayed flights are still finding ways to make it out here.

Aaaah, the office is finished, completely open, and operational. Lots of people came to the opening of ARMENIAInformation, and the food was great! The news people were there and it was even broadcast as far as the UK according to an e-mail I just got from Harmick Azarian over there. Pretty cool. It is really the nicest tourist info office I have ever seen, so now let hope they come in by the hoards. I am not sure how much time I will be spending there... my contract ends tomorrow and a renewed one may be more like a freelance job than anything else, working on the database and brochures and stuff... so we'll see. Meanwhile I hope there aren't too many cancelations by tourists due to the bombings, these next couple of weeks are the big culmination of all the 1700 events...

Well I finally have it, the Armenian Passport (10 year visa)!! First and foremost having this visa means NO MORE trips to lovely OVIR, secondly I can enter Armenia from whatever country I wish from now on. Being from Australia and not having an Armenian Consulate in Sydney, this is a big deal.

I had 3 Aussies staying with me last weekend, Paul, Nyree and Michael and it was an absolute pleasure having them stay with me for 4 days. They then left for Karabagh for the opening of their new hotel in Stepanakert, which was a success. Thank you Paul, Nyree and Michael for being good friends and for your support.

On the job front I�m still preparing classes to teach English to the poor families until the classroom is ready (the organization is called Duty to Live). At my other site I�m working on proposals on Preservation of Cultural Heritage in Armenia compared to other countries including Europe, with another colleague. It is indeed interesting learning about the laws and regulations of foreign countries and comparing them to those of Armenia.

I like to clarify the talk about protesting in Armenia. Raffi is absolutely right, if we were talking in that context. I have seen students protest for not getting their stipends, several times and in thousands... Like Raffi also mentioned, students protested against ArmenTel. But what I ment by a protest was something different that this. I was talking about people taking a stand, like Raffi said, "refuse to pay". Send petitions to the govenment...Taking action, rather than only organizing protest walks in the city... Of course we can't even compare this to what happened in the Karabakh protests! Unfortunatly, as I believe, people here lack the ability to organize such protests... I do not see the poeple here stopping to pay the phone bill once it is pay per minute. I also talked with my colleagues at work about this, and their reaction helped me form this idea about how they are thinking.

Weekend Kef

A couple of days ago, Gor called me, asking me if I had plans for the weekend. I could tell that he was thinking of getting out of town. Gor organized a trip to gobeir before, 2 cars and 10 of us. So if it was what I was thinking... it would be the thing I needed, I thought. Saturday morning, the 5 of us in the car, heading towards Vanadzor, Gor's home town. I so wanted to meet his family, and it seemed that soon I'd meet them. In Vanadzor we were supposed to meet a bunch of friends, and head to a school for a basketball game. While looking for the school, we met 2 Americans, who were in Vanadzor for 3 weeks already... We offered them to join us for the game, and to my surprise, they were heading for a basketball game themselves! We played basketball for about 2 hours of so.. it was great. Then went for some drinks and by 6 PM we were ready for shopping. That's right, shopping for our khorovatz (barbecue.) We got everything we needed, went to Gor's place to meet with his parents and have some stuff we were missing for the perfect khorovatz. The rest of the guys joined us in another car. We were heading towards a nearby village, where one of Gor's friends had a summer house... After a 10 minute drive we were there. The weather was chill. We lit the fire, and started preparing the salad, and the meat for the khorovatz. In a couple of hours the 9 of us were drinking and eating...

To be continued...

Today we walked in Vernisaj and the absence of tourists was noticeable.

A couple of days ago got an e-mail from a Canadian, it said: "Should we be able to travel -- there is limited travel in North America right now -- its under 10% and they are only letting very few flights out ..."

In Canada, shaving blades and tweezers are some of the things a traveler can no longer take on the plane in his/her handbag. TWEEZERS? Can anyone figure a way where tweezers could be used as a weapon?
Is it stop or I'll pull out your eyebrow or eye?

Watch America moving from one extreme to another.

I have a few unrelated topics to write about...

People have asked me what the locals reaction was to the attacks in the US, and I would say they were amazed, and a number of acquaintances and strangers asked if everyone we knew was OK, and just gave their sympathies in general. Armenia is a strange little country which loves America AND Russia, plus has extremely close ties with Iran and the Arab world and an extremely similiar history to the Jews...

I was going to write about a tourist who came in the other day and asked me if all parts of Yerevan were as safe as he was experiencing... and I noticed Madlene writing about her aunt being pick pocketed... I have never heard of that ever happening in this country, I think it is more likely that she dropped/lost it than that it was stolen, but maybe someone came back from Russia with a new trick? I hope not... the tourist who came in talking about the safeness here mentioned how young kids were playing on the streets at 10pm with no supervision and girls were walking home late by themselves. I told him that yes, this is how the whole city and country is. It is one of the most beautiful things about living here and I hope it never changes...

I would like to address Ashots post also... people here do know how to protest, he is mistaken. It was the Karabakh protests in Yerevan (1988) of crowds surpassing a MILLION people that rocked the foundations of the Soviet Union and led to the collapse. I don't know if in history a third of the inhabitants of a country participated in such protests. In this ArmenTel fiasco, there have been student protests already, and I for one will follow the current call to refuse to pay the per minute charges, even if they cut off my phones. At this point with the government saying nobody will have to pay these charges it is hard to say if there is a reason to protest or not... aside from nasty e-mails to OTE, the owner of ArmenTel.

I forget what else I meant to talk about, however I would like to say that the positive reactions that continually come from readers of this log make us all feel warm and fuzzy ;-)

(Picture is of my new house before I moved in)

Carol left this morning and did not want to go. So is the story of Armenia and the power it has over people. We are sad to separate as we have become quite close. Carol, come back soon because Yerevan, Pablavok and your "family" here misses you already.

It has been an interesting week getting adjusted to my new area. I just moved in to my building near the Sakharov Hraparak. I am renting out the third floor until my apartment on the second floor is ready. Construction starts at 9:30 am and thank God it is my construction or else I would be yelling bloody murder. This way I have something to gain and so I keep my complaints to myself. I have a cool market near my house which is 24 hours and has great food and I am loving the location.

My brother was supposed to come, and of course can't as was my boss. I start work on Monday and will be working full time, from 10 to 6 each day. A new phase. I am so excited to be working full time and am looking forward to beginning a normal routine.

Oh, we had a fun outing to Tsaghkadzor to a restaurant called Hats a Doun. It was great because we were the only ones there and had a great Armenian band all to ourselves. I got to hear all my favorite songs. I was tempted to ask to borrow the mike and take over vocals for a while but decided I would save everyone the drama.

OH my aunts wallet was stolen today! I am pretty upset about it. It happened at Vernisage our open air market here in Yerevan. I used the internet phone services and cancelled her credit cards... Jant sagh, what else can you say. This by the way is quite rare and surprising. I guess there is no village without a dog (an old Armenian saying).

I wanted to go to Pablavok tonight to listen to jazz but it was closed because I think Putin was there (he is on an official visit here) so I am playing my Miles Davis CD and enjoying a nice night at home.

Stop! Or My Government will Shoot!

Yesterday, on my way back from work, I turned the car radio on. The reporter of the Armenian news bulletin was announcing that there actually were Armenians in the WTC Twin Towers when they collapsed. He added that the confirmation came with the fact that there were no Armenian citizens among them but they were diasporan Armenians (presumably citizens of the USA.)
I usually don't listen to the news, not on the radio anyway. The internet would be my main (if not the only) source of news/information. I found it interesting... So I didn't deprive the reporter from telling me more news...

Apparently he was done with the international news and moved to the local ones. The first thing he said was that the telecommunications minister of Armenia is threatening ArmenTel (the only telephone company in Armenia that has the right to monopolise communication and communication systems in Armenia for 10 years, which is believed to end in 2002 or 2003) to take away it's license. He said that the minister is also making it clear that ArmenTel's plans on converting the unlimited local call telephone system in Armenia into a pay-per-minute one is not approved by them (the govenment) and they will not let it happen. He added that the minister had said that the company did not comply to the license agreement and it's terms. The greek telephone company was supposed to invest huge figures in the effort to renew the old telephone system. One of the things they were supposed to accomplish was converting all of the network in Armenia from analog to digital, which was done partially (the unofficial percent is 40% of the total network.) The minister said that the people can't afford to pay for the telephone for another year or two. Especially now that the network is not even working properly, which is partially due to the old cables and systems that were supposed to be changed.

A friend of mine is actually working in ArmenTel's Sevan branch, who told me that all that ArmenTel did (at their branch office) so far was installing 3 or 4 computers and connecting them together in a network, simply to facilitate the work of the accountants in collecting the monthly fee of the telephones (which is, by the way, 900 AMD, where 550 AMD is about $1) and the international call bills. The rest of the network is the old Soviet one, that's true for even parts of Yerevan.

The Minister added that ArmenTel can file to international courts if it doesn't like the government's decisions and that they are confident that any court would be on their side.

It is also noteworthy that up till this report no government-official had acknowledged that ArmenTel failed to comply to the license agreement. There was no confrontation of any kind, which was a bit scary. Since the Armenians do not know how to organize a protest (due to Soviet mentality.) A protest would guarantee you citizenship (and a free ride) to siberia about 12 years ago. If it wasn't for this step that the communications minister took, there would have been no way to stop ArmenTel from it's blood-sucking plan. I'm personally glad that the government is taking a stand and the old days of pampering each other is over! Making statements like this to the public is a clear cut evidence that the government (or better say the minister of communications personally) is not interested in a compromise for his silence, which is believed to be the main reason for a very sloppy license in the first place.

Also, since the government is promoting a high-tech field boost in the country. It is believed, though unofficially, that the goverment is convinced that ArmenTel had a very important role in helping spread the use of the Internet (and thus computers, in general) by providing affordable internet connectivity to the people. Not to mention that the digital lines (fiber optic lines) that ArmenTel was supposed to have installed by now should have made the whole internet experience allot different than it is right now, in terms of speed. The government is supposedly convinced that to realize such conditions within a reasonable time was absolutly necessary for helping push the technological advancements in the country. The minister, in his report, mentioned that the internet prices are nothing even close to reasonable.

From now on, I should be listening to the radio more often, I guess...

I can't believe this. I just can not even begin to comprehend this. We were in Tsaghkadzor in the middle of nowhere and nothing when my friend Aris got a call on his cell from Italy. I was in complete disbelief. We came back to Yerevan and have been watching CNN and looking at one another in disbelief. Carol was leaving Armenia tonight (which she is not) and Arthur, my brother, was coming in tomorrow (which he is not). My apartment had the most amazing view of Twin Towers, below Canal Street. For the first time, I am feeling a bond to America.
I have received word from all of my New York friends and it seems that everyone is safe.
Tomorrow I move to my building but not into my apartment. I will be moving to the third floor until my remodeling is done. But I just can not seem to concentrate as I keep thinking about New York. I can not believe the things I have been seeing on CNN.
My old roommate moved across the street from Twin Towers and I am worried sick. Carol and I are in front of the TV worried about all our loved ones.

America, UNDER ATTACK!

Is what is written on CNN's screen. As Aram (a friend) called me this evening to ask me if I was watching TV. I happen to have 3 of them. Two 29'' and one 14''. But none is working! So, my answer was, no. He was ready with a question already, as if he wasn't even listening to me. "Don't you know what happened?" And I thought, Oh my God! About a year ago they got the prime minister... this time it's kocharian in person!!! He said they hit the pentagon, and asked me if I wanted to go over.

For the past 4 and a half hours we have been watching footages of the WTC (World Trade Center) falling apart. The USA has a good idea who to blame, before even knowing what/which plane crashed in which building or even the number of dead!!! They are preparing their arsenal for a test-drive of their fighters and bombs/rockets.... and... well, I've seen this movie before. The first part was in Iraq...

I was annoyed as much as the rest of the Armenian citizens when we heard about ArmenTel's (the telephone company) plans of making the phones pay per min. Today I talked with a friend that confirmed the government's status of opposing ArmenTel's planes of sucking the Armenian's blood alive. I also read an interesting article about it in the news on the internet... This is a dream ArmenTel has been having for years now, that will probably not come true anytime soon! More, when the WTC debris clears the air...

For the past four hours we're glued to the TV watching terrorism acts in New York and Washington.

I am still in disbelief about the whole affair. Although we have no idea about the death toll, at a certain hour of the day the number could have easily surpassed the death toll of the entire war over Karabakh...

Re-Introducing myself!

It has probably been more than two months since my last log. It's a shame, and that's why I have to admit it. I would not blame any of you if your reaction to this post is "who is he anyway!" or "Is he still alive???" I have met some of you in person, and some others became email-pals, And thus I know how interesting/informative this log system is.

Allow me to re-introduce myself, for those that are new, and those who forgot me. I go by Ashod (or Ashot, as they spell it in Armenia!) I moved on the 16th of August, 2000 after my first visit in summer 1999, as an LCO volunteer. I'm a third-year student at the State Engineering University of Armenia (SEUA) Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department (VT, as they call here.) I work for HPL Inc. (a software development company) as a programmer. Otherwise I travel in Armenia.

The reason I stopped logging is simple. I'm preoccupied by work (and studies... which just started.) Recently, HPL went public. In simple words, the company's shares are in NASDAQ's stock market (symbol HPLA) and anyone can be a shareholder. That came with our next major release (remember, we write programs, which are eventually released to the market.)

Summer in Armenia is quite busy. Yes, tourist from all over the world. Friends and relatives. Especially if you have Pan-Armenian games to attract some 5000 sportsmen + family and friends, not to mention the 1700 celebration (which I'm sure you've heard about.) My family came to visit me, and see the games. We had a great time. I wish I could write about what I did in the past 2 months, for the experience I had was amazing to say the list. I've seen a lot of new places that I have never been to... But I simple can't. I sure will tell you what I did today... It was interesting after all.

I read a log by "Nigol Zabelle" about 'tekhasmotor'. Well my friends, I happen to own a car... And I hate to say it, but didn't know the 'tekhasmotor time was due already when I found out about it! Khachig, my car had a 2000 sticket on the front windshield. For the past couple of month people (friends, mechanics....) have been mentioning stuff about 'tekhasmotor' and when I asked, they told be read on the sticker to know when your car 'tekhasmotor' is due. It turned out that the sticker didn't have any readable text on it (it was wiped out by the sun!)

It was when I got my first ticket. A week or 10 days ago, we were heading to Gor Mekhitarian's hamerk (concert.) (By the way, Gor is Lav Eli's Vocal and Lead Guitarist.) I sure had mom and sis. with me, I also had a couple of friends (3, to be accurate.) That made 6 of us, just one extra passenger if you ask the police. And the next thing was getting us pulled over. The policeman was very sharp. He told me I had an extra passenger in the front seat. I told him I had my mom visiting me for a couple of weeks, expecting him to understand that it wasn't about some young guys packed in a car... He didn't hear me, he added that I could have asked my friend to sit in the back, if I really had to take him/her with me. I gave him my papers and asked him what should I do next. This IS my first ticket EVER. He said where I should go to pay for the ticket, and started taking down my info from the drivers license. I asked how much that whole thing was gonna cost me, and he said "2000 dram." He gave a paper that said 'temprory driving permission" and took my license.

A week later (when family left) I went to get my ticket. It's a remote place on the way to Zevartnotz, the airport. I took a friend to help me out with the details... Locals know better. After waiting for 20 min. (It was the launch break.) The officer told me to go the next day, 10:30 to 11:00 AM !!! My friend told me I had to attend a 'Nist' I said OK (as if I knew what it was or what it meant even!) Sure enough, I was there 10:20 the next day... and there were at least 20 people before me... Went to the same window and gave the paper I had to the officer, took my name, and said wait outside (where the rest were.) I waited and waited... it was 11:05 when another officer came out and said whoever got a ticket for 'tekhasmotor' had to pay 8000 and won't get his papers back untill he passes 'tekhasmotor' That's when I thought they needed me to pass that thing before getting my papers... and I might end up paying that 8000 when they find out I didn't pass it already !!! I was annoyed quite a bit, to be honest. There were at least 70 people by now.

The guy repeated, making himself clear this time. He said, you people don't expect to get your licenses back without passing 'tekhasmotor' when the reason for your ticket is just that! My name was called among the ones that had tickets for other reasons... He said, now I welcome the ones I called their names inside, to the suppervisor's room. We all went in (about 15 or 20) and the rest went to pay the 8000 Drams. Now, I thought, it was time for 'Nist' The room was small, the chief officer of Yerevan traffic was sitting there, and another officer infront of him. We all walked in, and everybody found a place to sit or otherwise rest a part of him on. The guy who called our names came from a back door with some papers (our papers) and handed it to the guy infront of the supervisor. They started by telling us how they are expecing us to obey to the rules when driving and what the penalties were for getting tickets (you have a max number of 3 ticket's per year, then you have to get a new drivers license!) And then they would call our names and read out what each of us did. And the supervisor would give a penalty according to the ticket and the history of the driver.

I got out of there as soon as I payed the 2000 drams, which really was a 5 min. thing. I had to be at work already. I was thinking about 'tekhasmotor' and how I should get it done... when I got pulled over. I was so frustrated, I was late to work, just got my license back, I didn't have the best morning experience I could think of, and this guy pulls me over. Ughhh. He askes "do you have your papers." That's not what they usually ask. Not this way, and not the first thing! I said sure, in a "what do think" attitude. He said "I mean the tekhasmotor papers!!!"

I told him I was on my way to get it done, and that he was not helping me by stopping me. He said I had to get it done before 1st of September (something I had no idea about!) I told him if he let me go, his college will -probably- stop me... I have no way to go, I really have to get the tekhasmotor thing done. He was convinced... only because he knew me (it's a close by place to where I live) He said, I'll see if you're getting it done today. I then called my friend to ask him what I should do to get the tekhasmotor thing... he helped me... I went today to pay the money and everything... I was done in less than an hour and a half. I happen to read the word 'tekhasmotor' in russian, which is what originally the word is. It actually is TWO words, and it reads "Tex. Ocmotr" Where the 'x' is the 'kh' in russian. This really is the short version of what I experienced with the Yerevan Police Department in this short time!

A new museum has opened its doors in Armenia; it's the Space Museum located in Garni.
Noticed the road sign a couple of times and a few days ago followed it to investigate.

We were nicely surprised by the new structure and the warm reception of the Russian guard. When both sides realized that communication was not possible he hurried out and came back with an Armenian engineer who played the role of tour-guide.

Even today most Armenians are not aware that Space astronomy research was/is conducted in Armenia. In Soviet times it was kept secret.

The Garni Institute created powerful space telescopes, took pictures of light spectrums from the space, and in 1973 compared to the American ones the Armenian telescopes could capture bigger galaxies and more accurate astronomical data on pictures.

The museum is small but authentic. Exhibited objects are the genuine apparatus used in research. There's scorched Orion, the space capsule, that performed a 10 minute flight and the brand new Dragon that never flew, wall pictures of Russian shuttle in space carrying a small Orion, scientists, and of museum's opening ceremony in June.

The museum has no entry fee but has a cauldron for donations. It has a website www.gsai.am I tried to visit it yesterday but access was denied, perhaps it's under construction.

As it is, the museum is unique and interesting, a respite from monasteries and khatchkars and yet it has a greater potential for making it into an interactive and educating centre especially for teenagers.

Congratulations on a good project.

As I promised you... PICTURES!! Here is the first one. The picture of the kids going to their first day of school across the park from my balcony with Mt. Ararat in the background. Ararat looks so great on many mornings that I take more and more digital pics of it. Sometimes they come out great like this, sometimes they look so-so like the one I took this morning. If you have any picture requests I will entertain them... I don't guarantee anything ;-)

Police are checking the stickers on the cars. It's time for 'tekhasmotor'. Ordinarily it should be understood as a road safety measure; annual vehicle check up by people representing authorities.

Cars, tramways, buses older than you, that's one of the first things you notice in Armenia. And then you'll spot the latest models of Mercedes Benzes.

At 'tekhasmotor' a report from the psychologist (confirming driver's sanity) was requested.
'What's your work, "apper"?'
'I am unemployed.' 2000 drams settled the sanity issue on the spot for the 'unemployed' Niva owner.

No mechanic, no officer comes out to check the car parked outside.
After making legal and illegal payments the owner walks out of the office with the 2002 techmechanic sticker in hand to the safety of his car and Armenian roads.

My first project with ARLEX will be to read a book on Policy and Law in Heritage Conservation to see how various countries protect their properties, who owns the rights, if they are considered as they state property or under government control etc. The purpose will be to find different approaches to the protection of the architectural and archaeological heritage and present them to Tom. I have a week to complete this.

By the way I received a cool e-mail from Annette who had read my previous log and offered to send me flash cards and simple text for teaching my English classes. Isn�t great? I find it incredibly encouraging that people not only read our logs but offer to help as well. Thank you Annette!

Well the website I built for the ARMENIAinformation office is up now... www.armeniainfo.am so check it out if you plan on coming to Armenia. It is quite simple and to the point, and a work in progress, but a pretty good one if you ask me. Nothing like the adaptation of the Tufenkian carpet website I did for Tufenkian Armenia. That is about the only good news I have today, since work was really rough, so I won't write any more.

I was a few minutes late to Gor's party celebrating his new album last night because the guys who have caused me so much headache painting the windows at Armenia Information begged me to allow them to use the computer for a minute. They started playing a solitaire game and had never used a mouse before, or played solitaire for that matter. So I let them play but it was too painfully slow and I finished it up for them ;-)

At Gor's party, we all came up with suggestions for Gor's new album and during the voting a lot of the names were holding on strong, but when it got down to one vote for one name per person, the winning title won with a landslide and since it also had Gor's vote it won hands down... I don't know if it is something I can share with the public yet, but since I am going to start posting pictures on this page, you will see the name and coverart soon enough!

I have 10 different kinds of Mouraba (jams) in my kitchen right now. Cherry, Rasberry, Strawberry, Walnut, Pear and other jams. They are for winter of course. My friend Arthur Ispirian (a famous singer here) took Carol and I to his summer house in Garni village. It was great. We went to the amazing Monastary of Geghart and sang in the room with the great acoustics. After we went to his summer house and ate any fresh fruit that ripens this time of year. His aunt did an amazing spread of anything yummy and we ate fresh fruit and the Armenian fruit roll ups. I am looking at my Mouraba for the winter and smiling.

Tonight I went to Pablavok, the famous Jazz Bar/Outdoor Have for artists and those who love art. I was a regular there in 99 when I was here and it was great to be with the old gang of creative souls. All day I have been humming or outright singing hymns of old... and songs of new.

Tomorrow is a pretty big day at work. We are organizing Health Walk 2001, to raise awareness for Breast Cancer. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Armenia and we are preparing for it. We will have a Health Walk which will culminate at the Opera Square with cultural performances dedicated to Women's Health. On any given day we see between 30 to 40 patients for Mammograms so it is quite difficult to work in the Center... but very exciting. I am learning so much through my work. It is 3 in the morning and I must be at work at 9:00 tomorrow so I leave you with a sweet Bari Geesher!!!

Lena teaching English? Oh no, all the kids here are going to sound Australian!! Well I had so much to write the past few days but never found the time. One really bad piece of news is that ArmenTel, the Greek owned telephone monopoly in Armenia is charging by the minute now. People just can NOT afford this and it will also put a huge damper on the already stifled (by ArmenTel also) internet here. The Armenian govt *must* tear up the contract with the Greeks and allow others to compete with them. It is just not fair at all to Armenia to allow this. Write to ote@ote.gr in order to complain!

What else? Yesterday I helped an older couple who was backpacking through Armenia as part of a year long trip. They had just arrived and were already going to leave because they couldn't find cheap accomodations. I helped them find what they needed and they will stay for a while thank goodness. That was just great. So little of my time at work has dealt with actual tourists up until now. We now have an outdoor sign, computers, internet, and it really feels like an information office now. The database of info I am working on is also in decent shape already.

What a hectic month it�s been! My AVC training is over, all the Volunteers graduated on Saturday night and a party was held for that occasion. The host families along with the Volunteers� counterparts we are working with were all invited. It was a great night.

So now that my �remond� is done and I�m no longer staying at the host family, I�m gradually settling in at my place finally and it feels great. I now have to concentrate on my work starting from next week. I�ve started doing preparations for English teaching to beginners as one of my projects I�ll be involved in. I�ll write more once I know whom my students will be. All I know at this stage is that I�ll be teaching the staff of the organization I�ll be working with called �Duty to Live�. The head of the organization is an amazing man who looks after 80 families as one of his projects. Essentially what they do is look after lonely and very poor families who had given up hope altogether and therefore the name of the organization. I also believe I�ll be teaching some of those families the English language. Believe it or not to find employment for these families even as cleaners in a hotel requires them to have some knowledge of the English language. I�ll write more as I get more involved.

Ara, Carol and I arrived at Erebouni Airport in half-slumber and waited for the helicopter to prepare for take-off. We were the only three passengers and we were waiting quite a while when an older man told us that the weather in Sissian was not safe but gave us hope that it might give in the next hour or so and we should keep waiting. While we waited in this desserted airport Ara and I talked with an older lady who was one of the few employees left. She spoke of a hustling and bustling Erebouni Airport with daily flights to anywhere in the Soviet Union... ahhh the Soviet Union, the glorified lover who went away.

As hours passed and Sissian's weather forecast did not change we hopped in a taxi towards the Bus Depot hoping to catch a late Marshotni to Artsakh instead. What we came across was a private car towards Stepanakert waiting for three more passengers. So Dza Dza Yurik-our driver, the three of us and a wonderful 20 year old young man by the name of Lernik climbed into a newly imported 06 from Russia. The road to Artsakh was wonderful as we gazed at the mountains who are beginning to put on their new Fall outfits and spotted caves our ancestors used to call home.

It was very painful to come across what we did next, a horrible accident. The Armenian van, the Yeraz, had flipped over and two bleeding men were lying on each side of the road. There were only three people who had reached the scene before us and we immediately pulled over and Carol ran towards the two men to check their conditions. Carol, an Emergency Medecine Physician was working on the two men while the rest of us were hailing down any car that could drive to Sissian, the nearest town for help.

The ambulance was called however we felt helpless in the process. It was wise not to move the men but felt we were losing them in the process. One seemed to be in better condition however we could not gage whether there was internal bleeding or not. The other was in horrible condition and we could feel and hear his last breathe. A bus from the village these two men were from passed by and stopped. Family and friends of these two men now surrounded them in tears and our presence became awkward. We decided to rush to the nearest city and make sure the ambulance was on its way. At the military post in Sissian, we asked if they knew about the accident and they convinced us the ambulance was rushing over. The rest of the ride was somber as we all looked at eachother in amazement and kept repeating that " sa mek orva ashkhar eh" (see this world as one day). On our drive back today we stopped at the same post to check on the two men. One had died and the other is in critical condition. Please join us in praying for them and their families.

Artsakh itself was a mix of emotions. Having Carol was wonderful because Ara and I could see it again through the eyes of someone who has come to Artsakh for the first time. I saw Stepanakert in a way I had not seen it before. We went to the first day of school and saw happy young adults passing out flowers to their teachers and cheering and complaining about their new schedules. We were warmly greeted by a wonderful modern woman, Dr. Manoush, who was full of energy and spirit. The life we saw among the rubble and war torn buildings reinstated the faith in people, in our people.

Needless to say, Ara was the perfect host and we have many inside jokes and were a great trio. Perhaps I have written too long and Ara can continue with some of our stories from this weekend. Today is Artsakh's Independence Day and I know he had plans to spend it with friends.

As a funny side note, Stepanakert's main hotel is a true gem. Carol and I got a double for 6 dollars total for our last night in Artsakh. The bathroom was at the end of the hall for the entire floor and was a BYOTP (bring your own toilet paper). We giggled and had fun roughing it but when Russian Pop-Music woke us up at 8 something in the morning we glared at eachother and asked, "who listens to this stuff this early in the morning?". It seems that a fancy shmancy car with a system was waiting downstairs for a guest, and its owner, a young man with cool shades, was blasting his favorite song while waiting. Needless to say we sang along in the best Russian we could have and makhteled one another a Baree Louys.

Yesterday (yes Saturday) was the first day of school. It is always on the first of September. Apparently I have not been in town the past two September firsts, because I do not remember it being such a big deal. All the kids were dressed up and carrying flowers, then at night the whole city was out and the streets were throbbing with people, and then there were fireworks at night to end the celebrations. Interesting. I also found it interesting that kids go to school six days a week here, but shorter hours. I guess when you are little and school mostly consists of playing, that works out quite well. And parents needing daycare must love it too, since most offices work 6 days as well.

There was a great response to the How to Help Armenia post... I have still not gotten back to everyone who has written, but please don't let that stop you! I am really glad to know that if there is an easy way to help people respond like this. Hopefully we have at least created some jobs and gotten some museums which really need them computers.