Let the bone chilling cold begin. I just dusted off my winter coats and I'm ready for frigid air. It's not freezing yet, but the symptoms are surfacing. I had to wear gloves yesterday. GLOVES!
So I went to Montreal last weekend, what a pleasure. It wasn't my first time, but the first time doesn't count because I went with my family when I was 13 and we spent maybe a day there, only to see the Olympic stadium. I doubt we even stepped foot in the city. 12 years later, I jumped on an opportunity. As I said before, I was connected with someone in Boston who I knew, but couldn't remember, likewise the other way. Well, when we finally met, we remembered each other. His name is Noubar. Not only that, but as I was telling a story about Armenia, he remembered having the same conversation with me while we were at the bar at AYF Olympics. Strange world. So I was a little late picking him up. I was at a meeting that ran late. Then I had a hard time finding his place in Harvard Square (He is from LA studying at Harvard Law), but finally found him. Only, he just remembered he had to hand in a paper of some sort. Then we realized neither of us knew how to get there. Hopped on MapQuest to get directions. Then he realized it would probably be a good idea to try to get a hotel reservation for him and his buddies driving up from Washington, DC (more LA boys that moved to the East Coast and Apo Niziblian, Raffi's brother). That took a while, but we finally got the engine started. Well, who can start a 5 hour drive without a cup of coffee. Keep in mind, we scheduled to leave at 6pm on a Friday night. It is now 8pm. He was a little hungry, so we drove to the best pizza place in town down the street. Well, there is no parking in Harvard Square, but we did manage to find open space right infront of the pizza joint for permit parking only. How could it hurt to park for 5 minutes, right? Ran in, got some pizza, and stepped outside. "Dude, where's my car?" It wasn't just a movie to me that night. My car vanished! 5 MINUTES!!! Towed away. We called the number on the sign and found my car in a lot. Not without my coffee, though. We got in a cab and grabbed my car. This is at about 9pm now. Back on track... well, with a detour. We got lost. You would think that I've been living in the Boston area for 5-6 years now, I'd know my way to a major highway. No dice. We ended up back in downtown Boston where I managed to find my way back to I-93. NOW we were on our way.
It was a nice drive up. It's always easier with people who react well under such circumstances. It all added to the adventure of the trip. We arrived in Montreal at 3am and found a hotel right on Crescent Street. I thought I went to Spring Break in Miami or to Mardi Gras, there were people shouting and screaming drunken ramblings up and down the street. What a spirit. I ended up staying with my dear friend Perouz.
The rest of the weekend, there was a relaxed tone. We went to eat all over, visited Old Montreal, called up some friends, had plenty of coffee. I finally got to meet Raffi Niziblian and his wife and daughter. What a great family. Cutest baby, too. Almost as cute as I once was. :) Funny enough, Raffi and I had the same idea for starting a sort of service in Armenia to help set Diasporans up in Armenia with jobs n such. I hope he gets the chance to do it. Good luck Raffi! I also got a chance to see my friend Lalai, meet others that I met once before at functions in the US. Lots of familiar faces, and very welcoming as well. I loved that the people I met didn't seem cold, curious, fake or dull. They were all very full of life and comfortable with me. These days in these communities, you can't find that very easily.
On the way back, the adventures continued. I went to breakfast with the boys and Noubar and I were back on our way to Boston. Silly us to think it would be just that easy. We stopped at the boarder thinking it would be a short wait. It was a parking lot. We had the doors open, music going, seats down. People got out of their cars and started walking around. Next thing I know, Someone walked up to the side of my car and asked, "So how many Armenians are there in Virginia?" My car is hard to miss. There are 5 bumper stickers Armenian related and my plates are still from Virginia. I started laughing. Then he asked which one of us dances with Sayat Nova Dance Company. That would be me again. It turns out he used to be in Sayat Nova back in 1985. ARMENIANS EVERYWHERE!!!! He said it would be a good hour wait. We didn't believe him. Noubar started joking that night would fall before we got to the border (which would have been 3 hourse later). We popped open the trunk, he grabbed his laptop to find entertainment. Turns out he downloaded the movie "Legally Blonde" just before the trip. So we sat and watched the entire movie. It was so appropriate for the occasion, for a movie about and LA girl going to Harvard Law... Noubar's exact story... except that he wasn't blonde or ditzy, but the social comparisons made for good laughs.
3 hours later, we got to the border. I should have known they would ask why I had an empty suitcase in the trunk... My apartment is so small there is no storage space, so I store my luggage in the trunk. Other than that, passing the border was fairly easy. We continued only to miss the first rest stop... which we NEEDED at that point. What the hell, I got to the entrance ramp and decided to drive backwards on the ramp to get to Micky Ds. It's a good thing I did it when I did, because a minute later, I saw a police car driving up that same ramp. This was a ride of many close calls. The rest of the way was smooth sailing. We got back to Boston around midnight. Back to the routine. The movie was hilarious!
So I went to Montreal last weekend, what a pleasure. It wasn't my first time, but the first time doesn't count because I went with my family when I was 13 and we spent maybe a day there, only to see the Olympic stadium. I doubt we even stepped foot in the city. 12 years later, I jumped on an opportunity. As I said before, I was connected with someone in Boston who I knew, but couldn't remember, likewise the other way. Well, when we finally met, we remembered each other. His name is Noubar. Not only that, but as I was telling a story about Armenia, he remembered having the same conversation with me while we were at the bar at AYF Olympics. Strange world. So I was a little late picking him up. I was at a meeting that ran late. Then I had a hard time finding his place in Harvard Square (He is from LA studying at Harvard Law), but finally found him. Only, he just remembered he had to hand in a paper of some sort. Then we realized neither of us knew how to get there. Hopped on MapQuest to get directions. Then he realized it would probably be a good idea to try to get a hotel reservation for him and his buddies driving up from Washington, DC (more LA boys that moved to the East Coast and Apo Niziblian, Raffi's brother). That took a while, but we finally got the engine started. Well, who can start a 5 hour drive without a cup of coffee. Keep in mind, we scheduled to leave at 6pm on a Friday night. It is now 8pm. He was a little hungry, so we drove to the best pizza place in town down the street. Well, there is no parking in Harvard Square, but we did manage to find open space right infront of the pizza joint for permit parking only. How could it hurt to park for 5 minutes, right? Ran in, got some pizza, and stepped outside. "Dude, where's my car?" It wasn't just a movie to me that night. My car vanished! 5 MINUTES!!! Towed away. We called the number on the sign and found my car in a lot. Not without my coffee, though. We got in a cab and grabbed my car. This is at about 9pm now. Back on track... well, with a detour. We got lost. You would think that I've been living in the Boston area for 5-6 years now, I'd know my way to a major highway. No dice. We ended up back in downtown Boston where I managed to find my way back to I-93. NOW we were on our way.
It was a nice drive up. It's always easier with people who react well under such circumstances. It all added to the adventure of the trip. We arrived in Montreal at 3am and found a hotel right on Crescent Street. I thought I went to Spring Break in Miami or to Mardi Gras, there were people shouting and screaming drunken ramblings up and down the street. What a spirit. I ended up staying with my dear friend Perouz.
The rest of the weekend, there was a relaxed tone. We went to eat all over, visited Old Montreal, called up some friends, had plenty of coffee. I finally got to meet Raffi Niziblian and his wife and daughter. What a great family. Cutest baby, too. Almost as cute as I once was. :) Funny enough, Raffi and I had the same idea for starting a sort of service in Armenia to help set Diasporans up in Armenia with jobs n such. I hope he gets the chance to do it. Good luck Raffi! I also got a chance to see my friend Lalai, meet others that I met once before at functions in the US. Lots of familiar faces, and very welcoming as well. I loved that the people I met didn't seem cold, curious, fake or dull. They were all very full of life and comfortable with me. These days in these communities, you can't find that very easily.
On the way back, the adventures continued. I went to breakfast with the boys and Noubar and I were back on our way to Boston. Silly us to think it would be just that easy. We stopped at the boarder thinking it would be a short wait. It was a parking lot. We had the doors open, music going, seats down. People got out of their cars and started walking around. Next thing I know, Someone walked up to the side of my car and asked, "So how many Armenians are there in Virginia?" My car is hard to miss. There are 5 bumper stickers Armenian related and my plates are still from Virginia. I started laughing. Then he asked which one of us dances with Sayat Nova Dance Company. That would be me again. It turns out he used to be in Sayat Nova back in 1985. ARMENIANS EVERYWHERE!!!! He said it would be a good hour wait. We didn't believe him. Noubar started joking that night would fall before we got to the border (which would have been 3 hourse later). We popped open the trunk, he grabbed his laptop to find entertainment. Turns out he downloaded the movie "Legally Blonde" just before the trip. So we sat and watched the entire movie. It was so appropriate for the occasion, for a movie about and LA girl going to Harvard Law... Noubar's exact story... except that he wasn't blonde or ditzy, but the social comparisons made for good laughs.
3 hours later, we got to the border. I should have known they would ask why I had an empty suitcase in the trunk... My apartment is so small there is no storage space, so I store my luggage in the trunk. Other than that, passing the border was fairly easy. We continued only to miss the first rest stop... which we NEEDED at that point. What the hell, I got to the entrance ramp and decided to drive backwards on the ramp to get to Micky Ds. It's a good thing I did it when I did, because a minute later, I saw a police car driving up that same ramp. This was a ride of many close calls. The rest of the way was smooth sailing. We got back to Boston around midnight. Back to the routine. The movie was hilarious!
posted by Arsineh at 3:33 AM
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