So last night we had an absolutely massive gathering (over a dozen tables pushed together) at a cafe by the Opera to say our good-bye's to Armen and Kohar. Kohar was an AVC volunteer this past year and is going back to the states this week for an MD... I suspect they will eventually be back. So Lena was sitting next to me, and Ara, keep your pants on, guess who comes and sits at the table opposite us, within spitting distance.... That's right, none other than Nune. Yes Ara, the REAL Nune! We were kicking ourselves for not having a digital camera, we know we would have had an instant desktop photo for you. Small, funny world we live in.

Anyways, I can vouch for the horrible state of the sidewalks... there is just no need to tear them all up before getting to them. And Boghos "watering" the dirt just makes mud, which is at least as bad as dust, so the solution is to simply us a little common sense and tear as you go! Seems straightforward to me. I don't think there is any cost savings involved in the destruction. They are also renovating ALL the museums of Yerevan at once, so they are all closed. Another example of stupidity. Why not space it out? Why not close them all in winter when there are no tourists? No, it is simply incompetence.

So real estate prices in Yerevan are SHOOTING up. I mean like an additional 20% these last 2 months. Why?? For those of you who don't know, Russia has the largest Armenian diaspora in the world now. Recent racial attacks and even mild pogrom type activity is creating a lot of fear among the Armenians there and many of them have decided to come back or to at least buy a home here as a safehaven.