I relate so much to how Madlene and Arthur have been feeling these past few days.

Just last week I was excited about so many things. Getting back to work, house shopping, planning a retro 80�s night at one of the clubs in Yerevan. But nowadays (only days after the elections) everything seems to have been shifted into the twilight zone.

There is a serious sense of uncertainty and tension everywhere I go. My stomach has been in knots since the presidential elections and so many people I have spoken to say they feel the same yukky way. I never cared about politics while living in Canada, but coming to the Motherland while things were progressing positively, and being excited about my future plans, all seem to have been put on hold right now. Nobody knows what can happen in the next week and a half, and thereafter. Rallies are taking place all the time, yelling and screaming, pointing fingers, vandalism of campaign offices, (mind you the opposition rallies are only getting everyone a little too excited). The country is split into two (half supporting the current president and the other half supporting the opposition, or as I�ve heard by so many, anything but the current president). To top it all off, Bush and his plans to attack Iraq (a country only around the corner from here) treating Turkey with a nice $26+ billion package (who can use this perfect time to aggressively conquer its other issues with the Greek Cypriots, the Kurds and of course us�the Armenians). It seems like it's decision time worldwide.

I hope everything works out as soon as possible. I only pray to God whoever is chosen to run our developing country does a good job. I just want people to relax here, and right now it appears that everyone is ready to just blow up. I feel sick, I think I�m going to puke.

Peace.