Past few days Madlene was everywhere. Saw her twice on TV, being interviewed for the unveiling ceremony of Botero's Cat on Armenia TV channel; and with Arthur on Rubicon plus. His inspiration, model, and co-singer.
Congratulations.

The unveiling ceremony was a success. Very well organized and attended and it was fun.

People looked at the American flag and at the cat and asked what does it symbolize? Armenians search for deeper meaning in everything.

The fat cat will become a landmark of Yerevan, and perhaps replace the name Cascade. I heard one person talking on his cell, telling his friend, I'm at the Cat.

Next time you're in Yerevan, see the Cat; take the escalators up and down to the Monument. It's free of charge and the view of the city from upstairs is awesome.

Most of the time we focus on the negative, ignoring the positive around us. What's happening in this corner of Yerevan, Kafesjian Fund's investments, the escalators that came back to life, the new constructions in the area, and the Cat that came from Italy to Yerevan, to stay.

The black fat Cat might symbolize the reawakening of good luck for us, Armenians.

This week -
We moved back to our apartment, after hopping from one room of the hotel to another for four solid months. It's the best way of finding what 's working and what's not in the hotel.

So, I am on my Fall schedule: reading books and watching movies & videos. Yesterday saw Sexy beast, one of the films of this week's British Festival. Mildly put, it was very disappointing. Perhaps I was anticipating to see another The man who went up the hill and came down the mountain, or Full Monty. The Moscow theatre was full with very young people, mostly the young understand English.

After the movie returned to our apartment with a few friends for popcorn and a video, Vahe Berberian's Out of the Closet. Vahe is an enigma. Writer, actor, director, painter, and many other things. I try to see him performing in Armenia, and I wonder - his politically incorrect humour (where Bourj Hamoud meets LA), would it be understood and enjoyed in Armenia?

Hi all
As you know that I�m a new member and I was busy coz I had exams, now I finished my exams and left Yerevan and came to Beirut for vacation, and the second night that I was in Beirut (Nov 16), I was invited to a Beer Night where they had open beer and bingo game.
Actually (Raffi K), I guess I should write this in the Diaspora log, but let me do it here for now before it�s too late, coz it directly has to do with Armenians in Diaspora and somehow it was different for me after being absent for almost 9 months (I left Beirut end of February, went to Yerevan to do my Masters, and now I�m back to Beirut for my vacation).
It all started when I went to see my friend on Friday night (I landed on Friday early morning, Nov 15), we were talking and laughing when he gave me a card, and told me that they have beer night in there region and he wants me to go there coz it will be fun. By the way this is the way people sell you ticket in here, you go to see them or say hi, they give you a ticket to see a concert or an event, or sell you a lottery. Anyway, the place was called �Jovovourtayin Doun� (public house, don�t get the wrong idea), it�s for their community, and if they want to do any kind of a party (marriage, engagement, birthday) they go there coz it�s cheaper and more Armenian, it holds almost 150 people where you have fun and dance. The place is called �Setrag Ajemian� hall.
Ok, it was written starting from 8:30pm, I was there at 8:40, but as usual the hall was empty, the event started at 9:30, the first 2 hours was good, I mean, there was a rock band, consists of 4 young guys and one young girl (singer), their average age is 19 and they sang for 2 hours, songs like Hotel California, Soldier of Fortune, songs from Alanis and many more, I was amazed by their performance (and I had this idea to video them and send them to Raffi Meneshian), but for the moment I was expecting Armenian songs. Meanwhile I was watching the audience, and this was the part that seemed different to me. I felt like a stranger, and those things were new to me, although I knew that community for a while and I worked with them, with their children, I thought that children (4 years ago), and now I saw that kids, one of them was the chief of the band, others sitting on my table, their heights reach mine, they are big and they were full of energy, I felt that I got old, and those things are not for me anymore (this is what I felt that time, now I feel young, hahaha). Another thing that was strange to me is that the organizers were asking the kids if they drink beer, I mean they were moms and they were offering beer to the teenagers and kids. Maybe it doesn�t mean anything to you guys, but my time 12-13 years ago, drinking beer was not accepted for kids, specially being served by your mom. Here comes the best part, after the band stopped singing, one of the organizers of the event, a lady, took the microphone and greeted us, welcomed us and she said that, these kinds of events will help us to secure our Armenianism in Beirut (or Diaspora). First I laughed, this wasn�t the way we did or still do to keep ourselves as Armenians, I mean, it�s a great idea to gather that much people in one place (it�s hard), but starting with 2 hours of English/rock songs was not �hayabashbanoum� for me (protecting our roots, let�s say). That seemed funny to me and at the same time painful too, I noticed how we were changing, I noticed that Lebanon (the heart of the Armenian Diaspora, as they say) was changing, I mean, if this event was in US or Europe Diaspora, I will understand, and this also means that even Lebanon has difficulties in protecting, not as before.
After that the bingo started, there were 3 winners that got presents, after that, the music was Armenian dance music, and there was a surprised, a singer was in the audience so he sang 3 Armenian songs and at the time I was going out he started singing Arabic, although I felt that I was enjoying them coz I missed them, but I had to meet with my sports partner.

Hi Raffi,

I am a friend of Patrick, we went to the same school of agricultural engineering in France, and we worked together between 1993 and 1995 in Yerevan... Could you post somewhere on your site that we are having a mass said for him this saturday (16 november) at 11 pm at Paris' Armenian church (rue Jean Goujon). We would like to be able to gather as many of his friends as possible. The church will probably be too small, but it doesn't matter.

Vazken Andr�assian

So, where to start with regards to what�s been going on in Yerevan for the past month. Well, as you may ascertain from the various logs which have been posted by Arsineh and Raffi M, Hover, the chamber choir is gradually being introduced to the outside world and it�s importance to the music world of Armenia is also being realized. I�ve been very involved in the information gathering, and promotion of the choir via the website, leaflets, correspondence with people here in Armenia and via e-mail to the rest of the world. And alliances are being nurtured within Armenia, particularly with the Armenia Music Information center which has been extremely successful in building up a magnificent set of contacts and have improved their expertise with the outside world over the last ten years. Their final aim is to put Armenia on the map in terms of a being a cultural center. I do believe that, with the enthusiasm of Sona Hovannisyan and Stephan Rostomyan, they will attain their goal, but of course it requires a lot of time, energy and support. The best part about this center is that it is extremely professionally run, the ideas are feasible and they are a pleasure to be working with, it is this kind of a center which needs to be set-up for many areas of life/work/industry in Armenia. Next year they are hoping to bring the Hilliard ensemble from the UK, Yuri Bashmet from Russia and various other amazing artists who I can�t remember at this point in time. This year they managed to bring the London Symphonietta after a few years of discussion.

Hover are launching their CD �Armenian Voices� in Yerevan on November 23rd (the day before the Armenian Music Awards for which this CD has been nominated), and this should hopefully prove to be a great event for both the choir and the audience. More details can be found on www.hoverchoir.org Some of the readers may be able to view various Armenian channels where Sona Hovannisyan, conductor of the choir will be shown in interviews. I will post the dates and times when I have gleaned more information.

On Sunday morning, November 3rd Hover sang the badarak at Saghmosavank, and albeit a long time, the service was quite beautiful and the photo, which will hopefully accompany this log, testifies to the atmosphere which such an amazing place creates.

Apart from a lot of Hover work, ummm, no time for much else really.

Although I did not know Patrick, many of the people who I do know here in Yerevan did know him well. From everything which has been said and written about him, he seems to have lived a fulfilling life, both for himself and in particular for the people whom he helped/met/knew/worked amongst and although it is extremely sad that he died at such a young age, what can be ascertained is that he was a highly respected and respectful person whose life is an example to many Armenians and non-Armenians around the world.

Hello Everyone
I'll keep it short this time, first... Patrick's dead was a shock for everyone...
second i have two exams, one tomorrow, one the next day...
after that, i'll join again
till then, be well (lav gats)

I thought of many things I could write, but now I sit here without a word to say. Patrick... he's an angel, thats all.

I don't think I will be logging for a long while, but as you were warned, a storm named Sebouh will be joining the cast this week.

i do not even know how to begin this. a very sad and unexpected tragedy has affected our small community here in yerevan. a very dear friend of ours, Patrick Tadeossian from argentina/france, has passed away.

Patrick was one of the first repatriates. he had been living here almost a decade. he was the true model of a good armenian. first and foremost he was a good human being, caring and concerned about this world and his people. he was bright (speaking seven languages, four with amazing perfection)... he was a good friend, a good worker... and a very instrumental part of our community... tying so many of us together. he loved armenia and the people. he loved the land. his life's work proved this.

he passed away on saturday morning due to a severe heartattack. we did not know that his heart was sick, he was also unaware. this was a complete shock and his friends who he has left behind... we are all devastated. we are left in complete shock and mourning that we have lost Patrick at age 37. we spent this weekend in his home with all of us helping eachother... trying to understand something i do not think we ever will.

today we will have a service for Patrick at Sourb Sarkis at 5 pm for those who knew him and wish to pay their respects.

this saturday we will go to Saghmosavank, as he loved it there, and place a memorial for him there. it will be somewhere we can visit with Patrick and remember our very dear friend.

please pray for his family in argentina who are grieving patrick while being so far away. please pray for all of Patrick's friends who got to experience him for a very short time but within that time learned what a beautiful person is.

please pray for Patrick who in his short life was able to do so much for his land, his people, his world.

The following are some of the customer services that I have encountered over the past couple of weeks. I went to the dentist that Madlene had suggested who turned out to be one of the students which my cousin from Toronto had trained and she was fantastic. Nice clean teeth for 10000 Drams.

Next was the British Embassy in Yerevan. I called to ensure that as an Australian I did not require a visa for my visit to Scotland. I will be traveling next week with work for 10 days, and I know that I don�t require a visa for GB but just wanted to double check for Scotland. I spoke to the person who handles such requests and was told that she was unsure and that she would call back in an hour.

An hour later I called again and asked as to why she hadn�t called, you know what her response was? �I had more urgent things to do�. �I beg your pardon, what did you just say?� This is from the British Embassy. So again she said she was unsure and she would need to ask an official person. I opted to wait on line for a response this time. Again she promised to call back. I rang again for the third time and she decided to read the names of the countries that are exempt, such as Papua New Guinea, Christmas Island. I stopped her half way, asking why she was listing the islands around Australia, I�m not interested lady, and I just want to know if I�m exempt. No luck. She finally calls back yesterday to advise that I was exempt, luckily I wasn�t in the office at the time.

Another great customer service place, are the travel agents, NOT. I called two travel agencies to get airfare quotes to Australia around Christmas. I�m still waiting for a quote from one store on Abovian St from 2 weeks ago. The other has only been 4 days. I guess I�m not going home for Christmas.

So today I go to HSBC Bank to see if my account was still valid. Guess what? The $23.54 that I had in the account has been eaten away by fees and my account was closed. So I approach the customer service section only to be told that I could not reactivate account and that I would have to restart the whole procedure of opening a new account. So what are the fees involved? Well if the balance is less than $250, the charge is 5500 drams a quarter (almost $10). So to start a new account I would have to pay another $20 fee for a debit card and a minimal charge for a new passbook something like 5000 Drams I think. Forget it mate, after charging me such hefty fees and not even notifying the customer, you�ve just lost my business. Good riddance.

So, what have I been up to now that I am unemployed? After the travels I logged about on Sunday, I have been relaxing until yesterday... Yesterday I had some men come over to fix some things and install a bunch of finishing touches to my place. Water meter, shelves, extra clothes line, replace tiles, etc. What a circus! These guys (as is often the case with remonders) were models of disorganization and very messy... I had forgotten just what it meant to 'remond'. They will come back in a few days to finish the tiles. Meanwhile, I have no cable TV, my subscription ended and I don't think I will renew... at least not this month. So I am forced to read and work on my web site (and play Age of Empires II some more). I just re-read Bluebeard and excellent fake autobiography of an Armenian guy (Rabo Karabekian) by Kurt Vonnegut. I highly recommend it! The weather has been amazing all week so I had better get out of town a little too while it lasts.

Edik, the boy with leukaemia who needed a bone marrow transplant, died. The hospital where the kid was treated didn�t have the financial means or the correct resources to treat him, including the necessary drugs. The family tried to save the life of their child even though they were socially vulnerable and had to borrow $4000 for medical services that in many cases should have been for free. They tried but nothing could be done in Armenia.

i am going to be on the next tata cd. you read me right!!! the next tata cd. i got the call a few days ago, "madlene we need your english and your voice for our upcoming cd"... i recorded on friday night, a short bit of talking for his upcoming song and it was fun. tata is a really modest nice guy and it was great working with him. arthur came for moral support and tata and arthur caught up on old times and talked and laughed. i told him that i really like his music and took his cd's with me from la to nyc and from nyc to yerevan. he laughed and told me it's ok, he loves to travel.

i also got a call from the head of the sociology department at yerevan state university and it looks like i will have a chance to teach a class or two at ysu starting in february. i will be teaching the sociology of consumerism and those who know me, also know i can go on about that forever. i am busy working on a syllabus right now so i can submit it. the classes will start in a few months so i am getting ready already. i am so excited that i finally get to reach the youth here. i think i will dedicate an entire class to mc'donalds (old log readers will giggle at this).

work at the cascade is going smoothly. the cascade already looks soo different. the landscaping is breathetaking and the inside work is moving full speed ahead. hopefully we will have a functioning cultural center and transportation mode by early next year.

arthur and i will be taking a trip to america soon and we are really excited to go and catch up with our friends and my family. there are a few things we are saving to do in the usa, like shopping for clothes and eating chinese, mexican, and yummy sushi and seafood. i can't wait to dig into some chilean seabass. i will be torn between my mother's cooking and a fatburger... but will manage both and gain winter weight while in LA, I am sure of this.

speaking of food, there is a new sushi restaurant here in yerevan. it is on toumanian and is a real sushi restaurant. the old sushi place was amalgamated into a yerevanian jazz club (pablavok) and so you could order sushi or borscht... but this new place is japanese designing and a sushi bar with a sushi only menu. we will try it out in a few days.

I WENT TO THE CIRCUS THIS WEEKEND. whoaa, it was cool. arthur and ellen (arthur's neice) and i sat in the front row and got a lot of attention from the clowns. they called arthur on to stage, announced that it was arthur ispirian singer and did a magic trick with him... that involved ropes, a female magician and bonding. i took some pictures and told him i would use it against him later. i was forced to hoola-hoop by some clown in front of the entire audience. having not hoola hooped in years and years... i found it to be quite difficult. but since i last hoola hooped (age 12 at the latest) i have grown hips... and they actually helped me out for a few seconds.

today my throat hurts. i will pop in an old movie and veg in front of the tv until my throat does not hurt anymore. on the way home i will buy lemons and we have some of the best honey that kelbajar has to offer. hoping this will speed things up.

You know how when you take off a watch or take a wallet out of your pocket, it feels like it is still there? I still feel like I am bouncing. Two days in the car, hitting some really remote, bad roads has jarred my body and I am enjoying just recovering.

At the Halloween party Thursday night (which was fun, but I don't feel like writing about that too), Jack said he was heading south, and I decided to join him. We also met a French guy who was a friend of a friend and had just biked to Armenia from Paris. Yes, you understood that right. He got on his bicycle in Paris and rode it across Europe, Turkey (where he stopped telling people he was continuing to Armenia because of the negative reaction), then took a bus through Georgia (because of all the warnings about safety) to Armenia. He came along on a car trip for a change of pace.

Friday morning, Jack dropped by at ten to 8, and we stopped for some sandwiches at the French bakery next to the Shirak Hotel. From there we went to pick up Ben (the Frenchie) and took a wrong turn on the way. We had to make 3 U-turns to correct our mistake, since every left turn we needed to make was not permitted! We finally got there 10 minute late which was good, since he was ten minutes late as well.

Now when I complain about the roads, I am not talking about the main highways... we flew across the long Ararat Valley on the newly repaved highway (Thanks Lincy Foundation!), and up towards Areni. We turned off to visit a friend of Jacks with a cave restaurant, but he was not there, so we went to Noravank which was really close at this point so that Ben could see it. They have a great caretaker there now (Samvel) who is quite a character. He is doing a great job constantly improving the place, with a lot of dedication. There is a nice restaurant there now and bathrooms, fountains, etc. He is also starting a nice garden, so I was extremely happy to give him a big pot of the Candy Lily plants I have logged about before. He carefully listened to my instructions and everything I said was tied into Gods plan. For example, I mentioned next years seeds should be planted immediately, not saved for spring. He said of course, that is just how God planned it and would have it ;-) Anyways, if you go there next August/September you can see the flowers.

Next we headed back to the main highway and in the opposite direction, up past Yeghegis village. We were close to some spectacular monuments, but had no time for them... we continued through an amazing canyon and then headed up to Arates. This is a precious little monastery, which was not too large, and is not in great shape, but you just love anyways. The manner in which the ruins present themselves, and the endless little carvings to discover make this remote spot well worth discovering. When we were just about finished with out exploration, up walks a local boy, Arakel Arakelyan, with a snake. He is a pretty funny guy and entertained us a while with his sense of humor, and of course his approx meter/yard long snake. We went nuts taking pictures and left with his promises of village matsun (yogurt) on our next visit.

We headed back down to the semi-circular road leading to the main highway and reached Herher, with a monastery which had escaped a visit from me for far too long. Well we talked to the first person we saw in the village, a boy who was holding a little turtle. He withstood our photography and questioning quite well, although his directions, and those of everyone else in the village turned out to be quite useless. We never found the monastery which is only one kilometer from the village and instead went on a wild goose chase across the mountains. Giving up, we turned back towards the main road, spotting a tractor heading for the village, hauling a ton of apples. We turned our cameras on, and they stopped, and pulled out buckets of apples which they started pouring into the trunk of our car. We protested it was way too much for us, but our protests were unheard.

Reaching the main highway it was getting quite dark already and Jack noticed our low tire was now completely flat. This only set us back 20 minutes, just enough to miss a fantastic colorful sunset with the peak of Ararat visible from soooo far. Now driving in the dark, we passed the gates of Zangezur, then finally reached Zorats Karer, the Armenian "Stonehenge". He set up some shots and we headed in to town for a much needed hot meal of Khorovats at the Basen Hotel, a great little place we stayed at. Ashot, a local painter and celebrity met us for our meal, then him and Jack headed off for more photography while me and Ben went to get some sleep (and avoid the extreme cold of Sisian's nights).

I was up early, but could do no more than huddle in my bed waiting for things to warm up a bit. Finally a hot shower got me out of bed, but then when I tried to take a walk to Sisavan, the beautiful local church, while the others still slept, I had to give up in less than a block from the cold. Finally the others were out, it warmed up a tiny bit, and we went back to the nice hotel restaurant for some breakfast and hot tea. One of the best decorated restaurants for tourists outside of Yerevan, with lots of woodwork, carpets, even a huge Armenian sword... but the endangered lynx skin and the bear skin were not good sights to see.

We checked out and headed over to Ashot's art school, then with him went to get the hole in our tire repaired. A long conversation with Ashod left me a bit down, since he was a bit depressed about how things are in Armenia, and usually I look to him for cheering up myself. It was good to have time to talk to him though, and we discussed some of his potential plans to improve things on a local level. These were realistic, concrete plans which can grow to provide good jobs for a few locals, so I am quite hopeful they will be realized.

Having completely lost track of time, we drove towards Jermuk, an abandoned resort town of Soviet times. At the gates of Zangezur, we could again see the peak of Ararat 150km away, so we stopped for some photographs. After stopping at the next bend, Jack forgot his camera atop the roof and now we should keep our fingered crossed that the titanium shell protected it enough and it can be fixed. Before heading up the 24km Jermuk road, we ate at the Van Tonir Khorovadz place near Vayk. It was delicious, and the woman remembered me from 2 years ago. I hadn't been to Jermuk in a few years, and the massive scale of the resorts, the beauty of the town, its cliffs, waterfalls, forests and the potential of its hotsprings all struck me anew. This town is just waiting for a few of these places to be resurrected and the first ones to do it will make a pretty penny.

Back down to the main highway where again it was getting dark. We asked a man about the road up to G'ndevank, which was damaged in the spring rain. He said it was fine, and that the 7km should only take 5-10 minutes. I called him on this because 3 years ago on my last trip up the road it took much longer and now it has only deteriorated more. He insisted, but I was of course right. It easily took over 20 minutes, but we were glad we went anyways. It is such a cool place, with fortifications and tunnels and cool carvings and fantastic setting.

Now we raced back to the main highway just as it got dark and we headed back towards Yerevan, detouring into Noravank Canyon to visit a friend of Jacks. This fellow has turned a cave into a really hip Armenian restaurant, and was overjoyed to see Jack again. We sat and had some of his homemade wine, enjoyed the bazillions of stars we could see, and then headed over to a spot he had dug up to install a tonir (traditional underground Armenian oven), only discover an ancient one was already there! This was in the middle of nowhere, but I guess there was something to the spot. So finally we began the final stretch of the ride home and were exhausted when we pulled in. 8 hours of sleep last night and a 2 hour nap have finally gotten me back to normal.