So it’s been a few days… a few full days for that matter. I got a chance to see Madlene and Artur. I met up with Raffi K and Zabel. It was like a déjà vu. I haven’t seen these people over a year and it felt like only yesterday we were sitting in the Karin Dag (Karabagh) school yard in front of a bon fire goofing off and teasing each other… this was during LCO 1999 (www.lcousa.org)!
I visited the American University of Armenia with a Lebanese repat/student (he will soon be a new logger- that’s an inside scoop) and then had dinner at Sherlock Holmes. They have a very nice salad bar… very full and varied. The chicken plate I had was EXCELLENT!
Before the visit I had gone ton an NGO exhibition/conference at the Hamalir (the sports center). Wow and Wow!
The first Wow is for the Hamalir. I’ve always passed by when I visited and have seen umpteen pictures of this place. Yesterday was the first time I went in. It is just HUGE! It’s nicely designed but might need some touch ups here and there. It’s still gray/dull looking. Needs some colors and perhaps some art pieces to liven it up. But what architecture! Some may disagree with me but Thank GOD for the soviets who made Yerevan the great city it is now… I’m talking about the big government buildings, the metro system, the investment in the Arts and culture.
The second Wow was for the conference. I met about 30 some NGO reps from the hundreds that were there. They seem to be doing good work in the many Marzes of Armenia. There were your women groups, the children’s rights advocates, the disabled and veterans of War and their families support groups and so on and so on… I was truly impressed. Bravo Hayer!
BTW, Yerevan has now has ots of middle eastern restaurants. I went to … oops forgot the name… on Nalbandian. The hummos, shish taouk and tabouleh I had were much better then some I’ve tasted in the states or Europe.
Some people wrote to me asking about the weather and if I was cold and so on… people I come from Montreal. It had snowed 5 cm when I left Canada… cold is like my middle name.
OK, seriously. The evenings are chilly. The days are nice… comfortable. A good sweater and your set… unless you are from LA and don’t know what snow is!
Some of you may remember Raffi K’s comments about smoking in restaurants and café’s … it is disgusting. First you can’t breath, then you stink then … well you dye from second hand smoking. Raffi and I are going to push for non-smoking sections (that are respected) and maybe some non-smoking joints where we can hang!
Real estate is gone crazy here. It is getting expensive by the minute it seems. So all of you who want to eventually buy a house or a pad… make it quick!
OK, enough for today, I’ll write some more tomorrow (if Armentel allows it)
(Bachigner Amassia yev Varanta!)
I visited the American University of Armenia with a Lebanese repat/student (he will soon be a new logger- that’s an inside scoop) and then had dinner at Sherlock Holmes. They have a very nice salad bar… very full and varied. The chicken plate I had was EXCELLENT!
Before the visit I had gone ton an NGO exhibition/conference at the Hamalir (the sports center). Wow and Wow!
The first Wow is for the Hamalir. I’ve always passed by when I visited and have seen umpteen pictures of this place. Yesterday was the first time I went in. It is just HUGE! It’s nicely designed but might need some touch ups here and there. It’s still gray/dull looking. Needs some colors and perhaps some art pieces to liven it up. But what architecture! Some may disagree with me but Thank GOD for the soviets who made Yerevan the great city it is now… I’m talking about the big government buildings, the metro system, the investment in the Arts and culture.
The second Wow was for the conference. I met about 30 some NGO reps from the hundreds that were there. They seem to be doing good work in the many Marzes of Armenia. There were your women groups, the children’s rights advocates, the disabled and veterans of War and their families support groups and so on and so on… I was truly impressed. Bravo Hayer!
BTW, Yerevan has now has ots of middle eastern restaurants. I went to … oops forgot the name… on Nalbandian. The hummos, shish taouk and tabouleh I had were much better then some I’ve tasted in the states or Europe.
Some people wrote to me asking about the weather and if I was cold and so on… people I come from Montreal. It had snowed 5 cm when I left Canada… cold is like my middle name.
OK, seriously. The evenings are chilly. The days are nice… comfortable. A good sweater and your set… unless you are from LA and don’t know what snow is!
Some of you may remember Raffi K’s comments about smoking in restaurants and café’s … it is disgusting. First you can’t breath, then you stink then … well you dye from second hand smoking. Raffi and I are going to push for non-smoking sections (that are respected) and maybe some non-smoking joints where we can hang!
Real estate is gone crazy here. It is getting expensive by the minute it seems. So all of you who want to eventually buy a house or a pad… make it quick!
OK, enough for today, I’ll write some more tomorrow (if Armentel allows it)
(Bachigner Amassia yev Varanta!)
posted by Raffi N at 8:03 AM
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