The travel season kicked off with a bang this morning for me! I arrived at Zvartnots Int'l bright and early at 4:50 a.m. to welcome my cousin arriving from Vienna. We did not leave the airport until 7:55 a.m. A full three hour ordeal...I suppose it was worse for those arriving than it was for those of us waiting outside, but let me tell you, it was no walk in the park out there either. Some of the noteworthy things that happened, included:
a) a cab driver almost killed a maintenance worker out in the parking lot, when he backed his mercedes cab into the person who was crouched sweeping the cigarette buds.
b) reportedly, the baggage carousel broke, leaving a number of travleres stranded without their bags...some opted to leave than be aggravated any further
c) apparently there is a new cart system inside the terminal/baggage claim area, where carts are available for 800 AMD for self service, and 2500 AMD with a porter...but, you guessed it, there are no stand alone carts available anywhere--just the sign. All that's available are carts with porters.
Just some of those unique features of our land. But, don't let this scare you, once you're out of the airport, things come back to earth--except for Mt. Ararat, which is still out of this world. Welcome, Summer!
Oh, and a couple of other things that might be of interest. Next weekend will be a historical one for Armenia, as all Armenian citizens will be casting their ballots for a new National Assembly (the legisltiave body of Armenia), as well as the referendum on the new Constitution of the republic. I will participate as an OSCE observer, once again, and will report back any news as it becomes available. But more importantly, last night I had the chance to attend a live TV debate between some of the participating political parties, organized by Astghik NGO (an NGO of disabled children's parents), and sponsored by USAID and World Learning (NGO strengthening program). Although the whole program left something to be desired in terms of organization and execution, kudos to Astghik and those responsible for putting this on, as it and programs like it are important steps forward for Armenia's democratic development. It gave me hope.
And then I met up with some friends, whose company I love. They had a visitor from the US. This visitor who is an Armenian emigree has returned after 11 years of being outside of Armenia, and is staying at a local hotel. We got into discussions about Armenia, his impressions after returning etc. My friends and I, I think, were taken aback a bit by the insistence of this visitor that we needn't do anything in/for/about Armenia, because there is no more hope left, and while I understood his perspective, I felt myself getting very aggravated because essentially his thesis was that we need to let things be the way they are and hope that a new generation will fix it. I'm not one to preach, but c'mon. I think we owe ourselves a bit more than that as humans--and not as Armenians. Unlike others, I don't think that the only way or the only real way of helping Armenia/Armenians is to move to the homeland--far from it, but I also don't think sitting in our suburban homes, running our successful businesses and attending weekly dinner dance events, and THEN saying that things will straighten out eventually is the right MO.
I propose for us to begin with psychological repatriation, after which we can start seriously considering the physical alternative. As long as we are psycho-socially removed from Armenia (and I mean Armenia in its present form, in its historical form, and in its conceptual form), then we are removed from any real way of contributing to its progress. Lots of things for a daytime log. Be well.
a) a cab driver almost killed a maintenance worker out in the parking lot, when he backed his mercedes cab into the person who was crouched sweeping the cigarette buds.
b) reportedly, the baggage carousel broke, leaving a number of travleres stranded without their bags...some opted to leave than be aggravated any further
c) apparently there is a new cart system inside the terminal/baggage claim area, where carts are available for 800 AMD for self service, and 2500 AMD with a porter...but, you guessed it, there are no stand alone carts available anywhere--just the sign. All that's available are carts with porters.
Just some of those unique features of our land. But, don't let this scare you, once you're out of the airport, things come back to earth--except for Mt. Ararat, which is still out of this world. Welcome, Summer!
Oh, and a couple of other things that might be of interest. Next weekend will be a historical one for Armenia, as all Armenian citizens will be casting their ballots for a new National Assembly (the legisltiave body of Armenia), as well as the referendum on the new Constitution of the republic. I will participate as an OSCE observer, once again, and will report back any news as it becomes available. But more importantly, last night I had the chance to attend a live TV debate between some of the participating political parties, organized by Astghik NGO (an NGO of disabled children's parents), and sponsored by USAID and World Learning (NGO strengthening program). Although the whole program left something to be desired in terms of organization and execution, kudos to Astghik and those responsible for putting this on, as it and programs like it are important steps forward for Armenia's democratic development. It gave me hope.
And then I met up with some friends, whose company I love. They had a visitor from the US. This visitor who is an Armenian emigree has returned after 11 years of being outside of Armenia, and is staying at a local hotel. We got into discussions about Armenia, his impressions after returning etc. My friends and I, I think, were taken aback a bit by the insistence of this visitor that we needn't do anything in/for/about Armenia, because there is no more hope left, and while I understood his perspective, I felt myself getting very aggravated because essentially his thesis was that we need to let things be the way they are and hope that a new generation will fix it. I'm not one to preach, but c'mon. I think we owe ourselves a bit more than that as humans--and not as Armenians. Unlike others, I don't think that the only way or the only real way of helping Armenia/Armenians is to move to the homeland--far from it, but I also don't think sitting in our suburban homes, running our successful businesses and attending weekly dinner dance events, and THEN saying that things will straighten out eventually is the right MO.
I propose for us to begin with psychological repatriation, after which we can start seriously considering the physical alternative. As long as we are psycho-socially removed from Armenia (and I mean Armenia in its present form, in its historical form, and in its conceptual form), then we are removed from any real way of contributing to its progress. Lots of things for a daytime log. Be well.
posted by Alex at 1:59 PM
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