I took a trip to Khor Virab (St. Gregory's pit) and Noravank with some friends and relatives last Saturday. Wow, does Noravank look beautiful (thanks to a facelift c/o a fellow Canadian-Armenian). The weather was beautiful, I took over a hundred pics (as usual), we did some amateur rock climbing, and also had a great picnic.

I witnessed several animals being sacrificed at both churches and in one case a rooster was screaming for five minutes while they were slowly sawing through his neck. Paritioners were smiling with animal blood smeared on their foreheads. Supposedly our church denounces this pagan practice, but for some reason they still allow it to happen on a continuous basis on church grounds. Considering that our country openly discriminates against cults such as Jehovah's Witnesses, I'm surprised they condone such an anti-Christian tradition.

On a different note, there is a rooster a few doors down that keeps me awake all night long with its incessant crowing. Although it was amusing the first few nights, especially since the place where I am staying temporarily is centrally located, any more sleepless nights may force me to reconsider my views on animal sacrifice.

Once in a while I walk through Republic Square to see the progress of all the construction. Last week I decided to take a bunch of pics of the disaster and I thought I would post some here. It is actually coming along well. The curbs have been brought out, the huge mosaic area has been paved, sandstorms everywhere, the pigs are squealing as they run here and there foraging for food, and there is an old woman giving out free Candy. :-O