Thank goodness for these logs, I can find out what some of my friends in Yerevan have been up to while I have been gone. They have not logged about apricots though which worries me since it should be apricot season now and how could they resist writing about that? Were the crops so badly damaged in the unusually cold winter that they are hard to get?? I must say as much as it used to crack me up how much Armenia's apricots are praised, I have had a few on this trip, including fresh from the farms in Fresno and they are not even in the same league. I hear the same about the apricots in E. Europe, so maybe we really do have something here. I will keep researching/eating apricots and get back to you :-)
So, I have been away from the internet for over a week, with the exception of 20 minutes at Horizon TV last week. The withdrawal is not so bad as it would have been if I had actually had a free second to think about it! I have been working crazy 14 hour days during this diaspora tour, and met more people than I can ever hope to remember. It was a fantastic trip, but man am I beat! We would start off every day with an early breakfast meeting, then more meetings then lunch meetings, then afternoon meetings, then dinner meeting and either an open public event or another private meeting. On average the day started at 8:30am and ended at 11pm. Any scheduled breaks pretty much disappeared because all our meetings would run overtime (which compounded over the course of the day) and eat them up. We did this 7 days in a row. Alright, so enough about the hours, let me just say I met some of the most dedicated, kind, helpful people in the world, all interested in and most working towards helping make Armenia a better place. In case you did not know, I was travelling with John Ordway (the US Ambassador to Armenia), and Keith Simmons (Director of USAID/Armenia). The goal was to better inform the Armenians here in the US (or anyone else interested) about the types of programs and assistance the US has provided to Armenia, since many people have no idea, and to solicit opinions, questions, partnerships and whatever else may develop from such meetings. As you can imagine we met such a wide range of characters, and visited the SF Bay Area, Fresno and LA, so it is very hard to really summarize all that I would like to share in any meaningful way. But I will say that I did get to see many old friends (like Arsineh in the Diaspora log), plus a few internet friends (like Raffi Momjian) who I had never met in person, and meet many others I had or hadn't ever heard about. Alex Sardar is quite a celebrity, people asked about him all over the place! I should also say the Ambassador and Keith really enjoyed the trip, they seem to genuinely enjoy meeting all the diasporan communities and are quite impressed with the depth of commitment and caring they come across. (as am I)
I wrote down all the questions that were asked at all the meetings, so that I could determine what the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) are. Hopefully I will have the answers up on the web soon enough. I think that is all I will write about the trip for now, unless I remember something else I specifically wanted to mention. I could just go on forever otherwise about the specific individuals, my impressions of Fresno, and the different Armenian groups, etc.
So on to the present. Last night I came to my cousins house and today I will nurse a bit of a cold I seem to be incubating. I'll take things easy and see a couple of people. I only have a few small errands to do before I leave for Armenia, so I will spend most of my time with friends and hoping the clouds dissappear long enough for me to have one proper beach day. I know what Arsineh means about when you visit an area, all of the family obligations you have, but I have been training my extended family for years that I do not follow that mold. Nothing malicious, I like them all fine, but I have a few short days to relax and see the people I always spent my free time with while I lived here, and if I did all of the obligatory familial visits that would eat up my whole trip. Even if I had 2 or 3 weeks, then I would have to see everyone twice, once to say hello, and once goodbye. So I will just see a few people and enjoy that time more.
So, I have been away from the internet for over a week, with the exception of 20 minutes at Horizon TV last week. The withdrawal is not so bad as it would have been if I had actually had a free second to think about it! I have been working crazy 14 hour days during this diaspora tour, and met more people than I can ever hope to remember. It was a fantastic trip, but man am I beat! We would start off every day with an early breakfast meeting, then more meetings then lunch meetings, then afternoon meetings, then dinner meeting and either an open public event or another private meeting. On average the day started at 8:30am and ended at 11pm. Any scheduled breaks pretty much disappeared because all our meetings would run overtime (which compounded over the course of the day) and eat them up. We did this 7 days in a row. Alright, so enough about the hours, let me just say I met some of the most dedicated, kind, helpful people in the world, all interested in and most working towards helping make Armenia a better place. In case you did not know, I was travelling with John Ordway (the US Ambassador to Armenia), and Keith Simmons (Director of USAID/Armenia). The goal was to better inform the Armenians here in the US (or anyone else interested) about the types of programs and assistance the US has provided to Armenia, since many people have no idea, and to solicit opinions, questions, partnerships and whatever else may develop from such meetings. As you can imagine we met such a wide range of characters, and visited the SF Bay Area, Fresno and LA, so it is very hard to really summarize all that I would like to share in any meaningful way. But I will say that I did get to see many old friends (like Arsineh in the Diaspora log), plus a few internet friends (like Raffi Momjian) who I had never met in person, and meet many others I had or hadn't ever heard about. Alex Sardar is quite a celebrity, people asked about him all over the place! I should also say the Ambassador and Keith really enjoyed the trip, they seem to genuinely enjoy meeting all the diasporan communities and are quite impressed with the depth of commitment and caring they come across. (as am I)
I wrote down all the questions that were asked at all the meetings, so that I could determine what the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) are. Hopefully I will have the answers up on the web soon enough. I think that is all I will write about the trip for now, unless I remember something else I specifically wanted to mention. I could just go on forever otherwise about the specific individuals, my impressions of Fresno, and the different Armenian groups, etc.
So on to the present. Last night I came to my cousins house and today I will nurse a bit of a cold I seem to be incubating. I'll take things easy and see a couple of people. I only have a few small errands to do before I leave for Armenia, so I will spend most of my time with friends and hoping the clouds dissappear long enough for me to have one proper beach day. I know what Arsineh means about when you visit an area, all of the family obligations you have, but I have been training my extended family for years that I do not follow that mold. Nothing malicious, I like them all fine, but I have a few short days to relax and see the people I always spent my free time with while I lived here, and if I did all of the obligatory familial visits that would eat up my whole trip. Even if I had 2 or 3 weeks, then I would have to see everyone twice, once to say hello, and once goodbye. So I will just see a few people and enjoy that time more.
posted by Raffi K. at 9:33 PM
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