I'm baaaack! Well life is just about back to normal for me, except of course that Zabel is still in NYC. I am back in my old pad, computer is reconstructed and online, jet lag is over, slowly catching up with old friends, and work starts monday. What a difference from NYC...

Today I had lunch with Davit and Lala at Malibu Cafe, near my house. The weather was very nice, the tuna melt was very impressive, and I look forward to all the cafes being open late into the night so I won't have to think about smoky restaurants. I did learn that Twinings on Abovyan has a non-smoking room which we visited and it was not bad. I believe it is Yerevan's first, not counting the 3 tables at Artsbridge which accomplish little in avoiding smoke.

I had reverse sticker shock when I got here. Things are sooo cheap, especially compared to NYC. The tuna melt was $1, and the half liter of mineral water was $.25 This is a situation I am happy to adjust to.

Tomorrow, May 1 is a national holiday. May Day/Labor Day means I will not be able to get some of the errands I wanted to done. Oh well, another day.

We have some positive news about the summer house we have been in the process of buying for 6 months now... hopefully next week we do the paperwork!!! Then in a few weeks to a month it will be ours. Of course now with strict office hours, it will be much harder for me to spend time there, but luckily it rains a lot in Lori and so I won't have to be there to water all the time.

So here I am trying to work and there�s a wedding party going past outside on Sayat Nova. There must have been about 30 cars following each other, a camera crew at the front, followed by 2 limousines. It�s Tuesday, what�s going on? I have one question, what are the brides going to do with Abovian St. closed? The tradition is to go around the Republic Square three times in the wedding car, well they�ll just have to find another alternative, which I�m sure they will!

What else, something is definitely cooking, cops everywhere, I�m sure Kocharian has a visitor maybe the Interpol chief? I really should make time to watch the news.

I am at a very smoky internet cafe, and will not be hanging around long since I hate cigarette smoke, so this will be a short log.

Great flight
arrived in Yerevan April 24 eaaarly
Jeff and Lena surprise welcomed me at airport
went to genocide memorial in evening despite jet lag
went to summer house in process of buying to clear up some of the paperwork problems/plant
rainy
went to doctor for physical checkup today for new job, went very well, even when they drew blood (I have a needle phobia)
going to Madlenes now, she just weaseled out of a lecture for not logging.

ok, I'm out!

cold and rainy. still have the winter blanket and absurd electricity bills are the only thing stopping me from keeping my heater on all day. i write this as i approach may 1 and wonder why i still have not packed away my winter wardrobe.

my hands are killing me, i am completely ignoring my carpell tunnel syndrome and i had to take aspirin last night, it hurts. but there is no way around it... i work a lot and hands are not something you can set aside and not use.

i have been working non-stop for so many days that i went crazy yesterday and marked it as a day off from everything. the television stations called in the morning to interview arthur and we decided... NO, NOT TODAY! it is our day off.

so we had breakfast with friends, visited arthur's family came home and hung out at the apartment and eventually settled down for a nap. the house was a mess and i had not done cleaning. we were woken up by the doorbell... surprise filming... they just walked into our house. we were pissed. we smiled and faked it but we were not happy about it.

next we went to my cousin david's house (he recently just got engaged to the beautiful lala) and lala had made a traditional persian-armenian dish. we talked and hung out all nigt until we were tired and ready to retire.

today there is another filming at our house (do these tv stations not have studios and sets? i dont understand) and then... we are having a small after russian hang...

i have been taking russian for over two months and i must say... we are doing ochin kharasho.

Friday did not go as planned.

We worked all day to finish installing our stone cutting equipment and it really looked like production was going to start at the end of the day. When we turned on the main saw to see how well it would cut, we discovered that the saw-blade was bent.

It seems that the blade which we sent to Stepanagert to have to teeth changed, was heated to the point that the metal deformed and bent. On top of it being bent, when it cuts, because of it being heated and hardened, it sounds like a very loud bell, making it almost impossible to stand next to when it�s cutting.

I immediately called Yerevan to see about a replacement blade and learned that they had the teeth, but the disk itself they were out of and it will be 2 to 4 weeks until they get in a shipment from France of the disks.

So yet another delay in getting started.

My manager is going to be contacting the factory that changed the teeth on our saw-blade to see what they plan on doing to correct their error. I would be happy with an immediate replacement, but know that it will probably take an act God and decision from a legal proceeding to get them to compensate us. I�ve already talked to out legal consultant, who said we should have no problem in getting a favorable decision if they decide not to settle with us and we have to go to court.

On Friday night, I drove our engineer back to Stepanagert and as we were coming out of Aghdam, I smelled gasoline.

I pulled over and discovered under the hood that the upper shock-absorber rod had somehow slipped passed a washer that keeps it in place and when it did this, it hit the main gasoline hose and punctured a hole in it.

With what I had in the trunk, we attempted to make repairs, but we were unable to do so.

Within a couple of minutes, a car stops to ask if we need help.

Out of the back seat comes a man who was in military uniform and though I�m not really familiar with what the different ranks are based on the stars on ones shoulders, I could only figure that this guy was of a high rank (he had 2 large stars).

He instructed his driver what to do and in no time, he had our car patched up and running to the point that we would make it to Stepanagert.

He asked me if we were coming from Martuni and who we were visiting?

I told him and lived there and he asked me what my name was?

I told him and he said that he had heard of me and told me whose house I purchased and gave me names of people who know me. He said he is from Martuni, and from what I understood, works at military headquarters in Stepanagert or Yerevan.

I thanked him and we drove on to Stepanagert, checking the injured areas of the car in Askeran, just to make sure it was safe to drive.

Moments like this make you feel very safe to know that when your in a fix, people do stop to help, even though it seems that fewer and fewer people are willing to stop to help then before.

The next morning, I went to drop off a couple of parts to the machine shop and next to the machine shop was a body shop that had a welding machine.

I asked the man there if he could weld the shock-absorber back into place and he said he was out of gas and said that there is another garage close by that could make the repair and took me to a garage just below the main bazaar.

When we entered the yard of the garage, I knew from the look on the owners face that this guy was ready to take advantage of me.

He looked at the work and said that it was no problem, he could make all the repairs. He said I needed would need to leave the car for a couple of hours since he was very busy.

I agreed and asked him how much it would cost?

He told me 5,000 dram.

I looked to him and told me no thank you, it was something that was not all that dangerous and I would wait until I get back to Martuni, as it would not cost me more than 2,000 dram there.

His smile immediately vanished and he told me I can do as please.

I drove to my mechanic, who worked on the engine to see what he thought we should do?

He looked at the car, listened to my story of the 5,000 dram repair, jacked up my car and without any difficulty, welded the rod that slipped passed the washer that keeps it in place and in 10 minutes and 500 dram later, my car was repaired.

I have to tell you that though it�s no fun trying to be taken advantage of, if you see it coming, you can just brush it off.

Oh, on Friday afternoon, I got a call from the mayor of Stepanagert to tell me that he had a meeting with his entire staff about them giving the donor of the building I mentioned in my last log to people as the donor deciding who will get a house and said that nothing like that has or will happen. He said that we tell people that the donor has given us a gift and we should be appreciative. He again asked that I call the donor and tell the donor that what was alleged, never happened. I guess I�ll think about it, but don�t really see a need to call, as the donor should be coming to Stepanagert soon and I can tell said donor at that time, if I really feel that the mayor was being completely honest with me, which at this point I didn�t get the feeling he was.

And to make this log even longer than it is, let me tell you about my return to Martuni today.

While in Stepanagert, I got the engine in my car washed.

I guess I should not have, as it seems, an electrical box that gives spark to the sparkplugs was soaked and when I was 8 kilometers from Martuni, my car died.

Yes, it�s car hell and I hope it will soon end, but just maybe all these car problems are acts of God so I can give people opportunities to help each other (in this case me).

So while I was trying to start the car, the battery started to die and it was clear that with a lack of energy, even if the car was in a condition to start, it was not going to.

The next car that approached, I waved down.

The car looked as if it was not going to stop and after passing, it stopped and backed up.

The passenger in the front seat smiled to me and asked me how I was and what the problem was?

I told him and he asked me if I didn�t remember him? I told him no.

He told me the last time he saw me was 3 years ago when we were sending off a mutual friend to America. When he told me this, it all came back to me.

It turns out that he is from Artsakh and is the founder of the Monte Melkonian military academy in Yerevan. He no longer runs the academy and is now one of the minister of defense�s assistances in Armenia. He said that if there is anything I need in connection with the Armenian minister of defense, to call him and he would make sure it was addressed. I�m sure this connection will come in handy one day. Thank you God for allowing my car to break down.

So he and is friends worked on my car a bit to try to start it with the help of jumper-cables and unfortunately were not able to get the car started.

It started to rain and everyone was getting drenched, but even after telling them to leave and I would stop a car to send help, they waited for me until a car going in the direction of Martuni stopped, took my passengers and agreed to send a car to tow me.

The rain stops and I sit in my car to keep warm.

Not 20 seconds pass and I look outside my window to see this boy with a hand full of wild asparagus and walking stick, standing and looking into my car.

I roll down my window and ask him what I can do for him?

He asks me for a cigarette, which I tell him I don�t smoke.

I was in no mood to talk, so I rolled my window back up so the boy would go away, but the boy continues to stand and stare at me.

So now I�m thinking that just maybe this boy is another one of those acts of destiny and God wants for me to talk to him.

I roll my window back down and ask the boy where he is from, what is his name and a whole bunch of question.

He in turn asks me a bunch of questions about my car, but has a very difficult time doing so, as it appears he has a speech impediment that is caused by a nervous disorder.

So the boys name is Ruben Sarkissyan. He is 14 years old and is from the Askeran region. He has a brother who is 12 years old and 2 sisters who are 2 years old and the other who is a few months old.

Ruben was kicked out of school for some reason that I could not really understand. He would like to go to school, but now that they have moved to the middle of nowhere, will probably never see that desire realized.

His father is working for someone named Mourat, who owns livestock and his father and Ruben are the hired Shepard�s.

Oh, Ruben�s younger brother lives with his uncle and goes to school.

Ruben was in Stepanagert during the war and I would guess he is one of our children that was mental dramatized due to the bombing they were subjected to.

So I asked Ruben what he plans on doing when he grows up and he said for sure he didn�t want to be a Shepard, but did want to be a mason.

I asked him if he has done any masonry and he said yes.

I asked him if he could count and was good at math and he said no. I told him if he was not good at math, how was he going to count how many square meters of wall he has built to get paid?

I then gave him a math quiz, which he really had problems counting and figuring out simple equations.

One thing Rubin was good at was to tell me from the sound of a car, what make it is.

A jeep arrived from Martuni and I said goodbye to Ruben and was towed to Martuni.

I know we can�t help everyone, but as a rule, anyone that I happen to talk to, I feel I need to help in some way. I�ll have to think about what I can do to help Ruben and just maybe what he needs is someone to talk to the school director in Askeran to see if we can pay someone to give Ruben individual tutoring and maybe also some professional help for his nervous disorder.

I called Stepanagert to have a friend send me an electrical box so I can fix my car. I also put the battery to charge so once I replace the electrical box, the car will start.

Right now it is snowing outside. I really don�t get this weather at all.

I think God read my last log and for that reason has offered one of my good friends from Canada (a non-Armenian) a short-term job. Woo-hoo! He'll be arriving this Friday. So I've been in the midst of not only looking for a home to buy for myself, but also to find a rental apartment for him.

In Yerevan, cafes are reopening, most of the tacky Coca-Cola umbrellas have been replaced with more attractive blue and green ones, sidewalks are being fixed, and construction season is back in effect. Hugo Boss will be opening a store on Mashtots very soon. (Finally, a men's clothing store.) Teahouse after teahouse, shawrma place after shawrma place. Sometimes I don't understand why, for a unique and artistic race of people, they copy each other so much.

In the meantime, I keep hearing so many negative comments about my move to Armenia. This is one thing that really bothers me, but I try my best to ignore it. I still think a mass repatriation would have such a positive effect on this country, but it's taking longer than I think it should. For example, Montreal, which has over 35,000 or more Armenians, has only about 4 repats in Armenia (which I know of). My friend Raffi Niziblian and his family will be moving here in less than a month, doubling the amount of repats from their hometown in Canada. (This was nothing against Montreal Armenians, but just an example. So I hope I haven't offended anyone.)

I went to the Armenian Chamber Choir performance the other day. What an amazing performance. Haladjian's pieces were brilliant. They also performed pieces from other notable Armenian composers. Even the overplayed "Yerevan-Erebuni"? song brought tears to my eyes.

I will be visiting the Genocide Memorial later on today and will try to post a decent picture here for everyone to see. A few of my friends are already up there, while I write this, to stay overnight.

It's now just after 1am and I just got back from a walk up to the top of Cascade to get a better view of Yerevan. Man, I love this place. :>) (...that's an Armenian nose.)

CORRUPTION AND ITS EFFECT ON THE GENERAL POPULATION

I wanted to share with you some observations and first-hand experiences I had in the last month while I was working in Stepanagert.

I noticed that everyplace I turned while I was in Stepanagert, I encountered what I could only call opportunitisum (sp?).

If this is the effect of living in a big city, I can�t really say. All I know is the surplus of opportunists was quite overwhelming for me and made my stay in Stepanagert quite unpleasant.

It started with the machinist who was making my stone cutting equipment. Then the truck I had to rent to bring an air-compressor and the person who sold me said air-compressor, that ended up not working well at all. Then there were those people who provided their services or materials I needed to complete my work.

There were a few people who wanted to convince me that their services would have to be extensive, even when I knew well that there was not much to what they really had to do and I guess it was seeing my Mercedes and my western smile that for them was smelling ripe for the pickings. To say the least, I kept clear of them at all costs.

On the non-work side, I encountered merchants, taxi drivers and common people trying to take advantage of me in a financial way.

While I was in Stepanagert, I gave a radio interview and when we took calls from the listeners, I was complimented for moving to Artsakh, but was also given some very negative questions to answer in regards to corruption, lack of jobs and is it not difficult to live here? Even the DJ asked me off air if I was not sick of this place and all the corruption and opportunists? Since it was early into my visit, I still had not really experienced too much of the negative experiences and told him no, I love living here (which I still do, but now understand why he was asking me).

It is interesting for me, but I have very few encounters in Martuni with opportunists and can only conclude that it has to do with the greater population not being exposed to too many corrupt officials. I say this as I know for a fact that the mayor does not take bribes from the people, but know for a fact that this has not been true in the past in Stepanagert. I�m even guessing that this problem still holds true today.

I had mentioned my observations to a government official here in Martuni and that official told me that he had always known this to be true, but had never mentioned it to me as he didn�t want to influence my opinion and added that Martuni and Hadrut are similar in this way (a lack of dishonest people in comparison to Stepanagert).

Oh, while I was in Stepanagert, I had an opportunity to meet with the Prime Minister�s chief of staff about my dual-citizenship issue and my inability to get the President to meet with me and sign the final documents. He said that he was not up to speed on this issue, but said that he was involved with the process to approve my application and knew that it was sent off to the President 2 years ago for his signature. He said he would talk to the Prime Minister about it and ask him to talk to the President to see what he plans on doing about it. To say the least, he was not happy that the process was not completed and felt that there should not be a problem to get some resolution soon. I hope that this is not another act of opportunitisum, like I have encountered with the President and his staff members in the past.

I do want to make it clear to the reader that even with this problem that we are facing today, if you are in tune with this problem, it�s not too difficult to protect yourself. Also it should be made clear that the majority of the people are not opportunists and they too are very concerned with this problem.

If you wondering why this log is being posted so late, it's because my connection from Stepanagert is not working well again. In fact, while I was in Stepangert for the last month and would come home for a day, it was not working. In the past, it was due to my good quality line that the head of the phone services has insisted be given to me, has been switched with one of the lines that has problems as far as line quality. It will take me to get really upset with the local telephone people and tell them if they can't fix the problem, I will have to call the head of the phone company to find some other alternative. Then within a day, the problem is sloved.

Everything that will fit in my suitcases is packed, and all that is left is to take apart this computer so I can haul the innards back to Armenia with me. Perhaps I should get a laptop, but for now, lugging my hard drive all over is doing the trick. It is cold and wet here and in Yerevan, so I hope that I don't regret not taking the inner liner of my winter jacket. I just have so much stuff this time, since I am taking an entire work wardrobe, which fills almost an entire suitcase by itself. That leaves one suitcase for everything else; plants, regular clothes, household things, books, papers, seeds... The next time I return from Armenia I am determined that I am just not going to bring all this stuff back. Having a life in two places is a royal pain, and if I have to I am just going to own two of the same books, pants, etc so that I can just leave them behind! I have a big gardening book that has been to Armenia and back twice already and is going back again. This time, it stays! Alright, enough complaining about that :-)

I don't have that nervous feeling like I am forgetting to do this or that before a big trip. I feel like I remembered everything and it is all taken care of. Of course only time will tell. I am also glad I did not keep my lenten diet to the end, since I don't feel deprived of anything and even though it is my last couple of days, I can't think of any place I just have to eat before I go. It could just be I am getting older and don't care any more, or I have been back and forth too many times, or it could be I am not in Southern California so there is no Baja Fresh fish taco, no In 'n Out burger, no Kelly's Korner Tavern turkey club, no Trabuco Oaks steaks... hmmm, yes, that could be it.

I take off in the middle of the night tonight, and arrive in the middle of the night tomorrow. Hopefully I will see some more positive changes at Zvartnots Airport...

Acts of God or just good luck?

My stay in Stepanagert was just way too long and at times, I just had to get in my car at night and drive home (to Marutni) so I could shower, sleep in my own bed and then drive back to Stepanagert the next morning.

Last week, on just such a trip, my car broke down. I was only 5 kilometers outside of Stepanagert. The time was 7:50 PM and there was still sunlight.

I popped open the hood and checked the obvious things that would prevent the engine from starting. The sound that was coming from the engine when I tried to start it was not normal and I figured that the timing chain must have broke, as the starter was not laboring when trying to start the engine.

I called on my cellular phone a friend and since I didn�t have the phone number to my Stepanagert mechanic, to go to his house and tell me I was broke down and to please come quickly.

With me was the niece of the mayor of Martuni whose house I stay at when in Stepanagert and who had recently married to a army officer who is based on the front line and since he was not due back until the weekend, she wanted to visit her sister in Martuni.

So the two of us waited and waited and waited. I decided that I better call my friend again to see if he was able to find my mechanic and when I tried to call, the call would not go. I tried a few other numbers and the same thing happened. The mayor�s niece who was waiting for us in Martuni called me to ask where we were and I gave her the bad news that the car broke down and we would probably not be coming.

I have become a person that really believes in faith and destiny and decided that there must be some reason that my car broke down and maybe God didn�t want me to go home that day.

A call came from my friend who said he saw my mechanic, who said he lent his car to someone and I need to bring my car to him as it was already dark and there was nothing he could do for me where I was.

I told my friend to find a truck that could tow us to my mechanic�s and we continued to wait.

The mayor�s niece became very sad that she would not be going to visit her sister and turned away from me to look out the window and I could see tears running from her eyes. I tried to cheer her up, but I could see that she missed Martuni even more than I did and after living in Stepanagert for as long as I have (which is much less than she has) I really understood her sorrow.

I told her that maybe someone would who was going to Martuni would come across us and stop to ask if they could help and I would ask them to take her with them. She smiled and as the cars passed and no one stopped, she started to get sad again. I finally said that in the worst case, I will put her in a taxi and send her. She got very excited and insisted on kissing me on the cheek.

The truck showed up and as we were hooking up the car to it, I got a call from a friend in France, who had been trying to e-mail me and his messages kept getting kicked back. I told me that my mailbox was most probably full and to wait a few days and send it again. I told me what had happened and he wished me luck.

We arrived in Stepanagert and made our way to my mechanic�s garage (which is just below his house).

He checked the car and said there was no compression, which means that it is probably the timing chain, but since the cylinders are moving and there is spark to the plugs, it could be something else. All I�m thinking now is Mercedes plus unknown problem can only mean big bucks and a long wait for parts to be sent from Yerevan.

He took off the top of the engine to find that the timing chain had not broke completely and a wheel which the timing chain passes over was half warn down as the chain had stretched and was not fully engaging into it. The wheel was what controlled the intake values and since the chain was not fully engaging, it had slipped out to time, thus no compression and thus the engine would not start.

We called a mechanic friend in Yerevan to arrange to have a timing chain and the wheel which was warn sent.

My mechanic told me that I was very lucky that the chain had not broken, as when a timing chain breaks, it usually causes extensive damage to the engine.

The mayor�s niece and I walked to the bus station and got in a cab to take us to Martuni.

We got to Martuni at 11:55 PM and both of us were starving. I went home to take a quick shower and raid my refrigerator of whatever is edible and went to the join the mayor�s nieces for a late night dinner.

I arrived to their house at 12:20 AM and they began to cook.

As the first course of the meal was ready and we were starving, instead of bringing the food into the living room, which was nice and warm, I went to the kitchen, which is somewhat detached from the rest of the house, as is the bathroom (though they are under the same roof, you have to go outside to get to them).

As I was stuffing my face and the niece was cooking up the second course, sparks began to fly out of an electrical junction box near the ceiling. It seems that the electric hotplate which for at least the last 5 years we have been using in that kitchen unattended, was just too much for the thin wires that are buried under the plaster in the walls. The niece panicked and ran out of the kitchen. I got up and took the cover off the junction box and with a pair of insulated pliers tried to disconnect the wires which by this time were burning quite nicely. The light in the kitchen was flickering in the same way that they did in the move Titanic, when the ship was sinking. As they flickered, I went to cabinet and got out a box of salt and no sooner did I get the box in hand, did the light go out.

So now the junction box, which is made of plastic is now starting to burn. A couple of handfuls of salt extinguishes the fire.

If we had been in the house when the fire started, we are convinced that the whole house would have gone up in flames, as the fire was close to the ceiling and the only things that really burn in our houses here and the floors and ceilings. Everything else is stone, steel and cement.

On top of this, if we had not gone or even if we had arrived to Martuni when we had originally planned, there is a good chance that we would not have been sitting in the kitchen and again, the whole house would have gone up in flames.

On Sunday, when I returned to Martuni, the niece's mother, came with me and since she was not home when this incident happened (she is a legal expert that works in Stepanagert) only learned Sunday morning what had happened. When at the Askeran church, she lit a fist full of candles and said that we have to do a Madakh and thank God for watching over us and not allowing their house to burn down.

And since I am talking about fires, the day before the above mentioned fire, the mayor himself experienced a fire in his house.

It seems that his elderly ill mother had the night before the fire, put a pan full of ashes in the entry area of their house, as she was too sick to take them outside as it was too cold. It seems that there was an ember that somehow caused the wood floor to smolder.

A laptop computer that I gave the mayor a couple years back, the hard-drive died on and he was sending it to Stepanagert to have repaired, was on the floor right next to where a fire started.

The computer began to burn and the high quality Japanese plastic let out a very strong smell, which woke the mayor (it was 3 AM), who was able to extinguish the fire before it engulfed the entire house.

He said that if it had not been for the computer, he believes that he would not have woken and the entire house would have gone up in flames.

A couple of days ago, I was at his house for dinner and he told me that he was tired, as he had not been sleeping well at night as he is now afraid that a fire could break out when he is sleeping and the next time he will not be so lucky. I told him it was understandable and told him I forgot something at home and will be back in 10 minutes.

I rushed home and went to my storage room and dug out a smoke detector, which I had brought from the states to put in my house when I finish it. I returned and presented it to the mayor and told him that he should let the smoke detector loose sleep at night instead of him.

At dinner we drank a toast to life and that during times like this, one understands how sweat life really is. I added that he should not see this as a loss, but should understand that they were very lucky that no one was injured or killed.

His house was blackened from the burning plastic and for the last 4 days, they have been cleaning. Since I have a washing machine, I�m washing the beddings (4 loads) and the niece who lives here Martuni is ironing them.

As for my car, my mechanic was able to do a temporary fix, as the wheel that was worn, is the same as another wheel that the timing chain practically blankets, so he switched the two of them and shortened the chain. The parts for the final repairs should arrive in Stepanagert today at a total cost of $100 (this also includes 2 wheel bearings, which have worn out due to our very bad roads).

Oh, and if you remember I made some mention of my cell phone not working? Well it seems that since I have not had internet access and not being in Marutni for almost a month, I had talked more than the allowed time (more than my 30,000 dram deposit) and at 8 PM, the phone was turned off to outgoing calls. If the car broke down any later, I would have been in real trouble with no phone and probably in the middle of Aghdam. If that�s not an act of God, I don�t know what is?

Happy Easter everyone.

On Sunday, I finally headed home (to Martuni), after a very long stay in Stepanagert.

On the way to Martuni, I stopped into the church in Askeran for Easter Sunday service. It was well attended and I was very pleased with the majority for the congregation being young people.

So I returned to Martuni with all my new stone cutting equipment, which today the welder came and built tables for all the new equipment.

I get this really warm feeling that by Friday, we will be cutting stone. When that happens, I will feel very accomplished and will have completed the first phase of a soon to be very large industry in Martuni.

My Yahoo e-mail account is overloaded, so I better move on to clearing it out and answering my e-mail of the last week and then some. For those of you who have written me and have not gotten an answer, bare with me. For those that have sent a message and it got kicked back, send it again.

Happy Easter everyone.

I just got back from Lori Marz. The weather was crazy, it was snowing yesterday morning then was sunny and rainy. Today, in the morning it was snowing again, and at some point I was not going to drive back because of the closed roads. I was asking about the road conditions from the people who just came from Yerevan and many advised me not to take the trip, however I risked and drove back. The roads were clean, I guess it�s because of the warm winds accompanied with Mediterranean cyclones. In my opinion most of the people here don�t like taking risks, another thing that I have noticed is that the majority doesn�t look at the bright side. I think one of the things that made US a superpower is because of the so called �American spirit�, Armenia needs something like that.

I have been stopped by police only once and that was only for the registration sticker which I forgot to stick on the windshield. I put it while being stopped and the policeman smiled and waved. Most of the times they were stopping the cars going in front and behind me. The car that I was driving didn�t have red license plates (diplomatic) and was a soviet make. I guess they just see that the driver is foreign looking and don�t bother to wave the cane knowing that there is no personal benefit from it.

Anyway, tomorrow is a new day. Got to rest.

It�s bloody cold yet again, in fact it�s snowing in Gyumri, when is it going to end?

Easter was good, if it wasn�t for the small get together I had with some friends for dinner, it wouldn�t have felt like Easter at all (lack of chocolate Easter eggs). I went to Church in the morning, then lunch with some friends. I also called Sydney and spoke to a few members of the family who told me that, yes they had chucked a few prawns on the barbie for Easter.

Last week, I paid a visit to HSBC Bank and they are now offering Mastercard service. The name on the card they have displayed shows �Armen Aramyan� instead of �Jim Brown� which I found funny, sometimes I forget I live in Armenia.

happy easter everyone.

arthur is almost done with his new cd called ART & iSPACE. it is completely different from his normal stuff and is space music but is good.

the bad weather goes on, my russian classes go on, my work gets busier and because of these gray and cold days... the winter mood stays even though we have passed the easter finish line.

i am actually in a bad mood right now because of it. i just want it to be warm. i hate that i am wearing an undershirt a long sleeve a sweater and a coat. it is almost april 24th.

once again i will be walking from my apartment to the memorial. i thank God that i am able to.

Happy Easter!

I was in Boston this weekend, visiting Zabel's family. We ate like pigs, especially her since she ended her lenten diet after Saturday morning communion. (but don't tell her I said that!! :-)

I really feel ready to head for Armenia, I have just got to do some final packing, and I'm ready. The weather these last couple of days has been ok, and should be alright in Armenia when I get there. Lots of people are talking about visiting Armenia, which is cool, but I wait until I see it before I believe it since people in my family are the worst offenders when it comes to saying "this fall" then "this spring" year after year.

48 hours and counting... and I will try to light a fire under the other loggers butts :-)

Tomorrow marks my second year anniversary for being in Armenia. It was also Alex�s 1st anniversary on Monday so we�re going out tonight celebrating.

These are some of the facts I found out today (can't mention all). In the Syunik Mars region, all the rivers are flooded. The Bed and Breakfast in Goris has doubled its occupancy recently due to a new sign placed outside the house. Some UN people stayed there as they were passing through and noticed the sign out front. We need more signs!!

There was supposed to be some Diaspora round table session in Yerevan, I haven�t heard anything about this, does anyone know? Anyway it�s been postponed by a month. I was also advised today to visit the National Youth Library on Terian Street, apparently it�s quite impressive. Ah, maybe when I have a spare moment.

Yesterday was (for me) an action packed day. Earlier in the day we headed to the E Village to walk around and shop a little, then we headed to Kalustyans Market/Lunch place for lunch, which was really a treat. The giant bean salad which I love was excellent, as was this chickpea salad and lentil salad. The Falafel was a disappointment for me, frankly, but the salads made up for it. The shelves were crammed with all sorts of goodies that I miss having around, but was in some ways not up to par with my Armenian markets in LA. It is now owned by non-Armenians I think, but since all the Armenian places are up in Queens I have skipped out on visiting them.

Then I struck off on my own to go to a Home Depot, apparently not something meant to be done by subway/foot. After finding out the train I wanted to take doesn't run on weekends, I had to transfer a few times to get to another. That took forever. Walking to Home Depot meant having to cross almost a highway, and the store was just a disaster area compared to what I am used to. Getting back home meant taking four different subway/train lines and took well over an hour, the only highlight of which was seeing the Statue of Liberty from one of the stops while I was collapsed exhausted on a bench!

For those that were wondering, I have not fallen off the face of the Earth yet, I�ve just been very busy with lots of work.

Our equipment is almost done and we should soon be cutting stone (I hope).

Well, I have to get to checking my e-mail and then getting some sleep.

Well it was a productive day after all. Check out the brand spankin' new Calendar.am page. Some tweakin' to do still, but this is basically it.

Quite cold and rather rainy again. I have 11 days to go in NY City, which wiill make over two and a half months, and the city has been determined not to let me enjoy the outdoors! Well fuey, I am out of here anyways. So I will get to be here on Easter, and April 24 in Yerevan, though I may be too jetlagged to do much about it.

I have been busy getting ready to go, and working on my sites at the same time. Lots of work on updating certain pages, especially GPS positions of tourist attractions these last few days. Today I hope to redesign the calendar main page, make it look a bit slicker. We'll see how much progress I make.

I know what Lena means about visitor season starting, since most of the flights to Yerevan I wanted were booked solid! I'm telling you, tourism in Armenia is really taking off. In 2002, the number of visitors skyrocketed above the levels for the big 2001 celebrations of 1700 years of Christianity. Diasporans and odars alike are increasing exponentially, loving the interesting towns and cities, warm people, great and (mostly) unspoiled nature, amazing monastic architecture, safety, fruits and veggies you can taste, and still a bit exotic and virgin territory for travellers. This also explains the big boom in hotel construction. Unfortunately, there is still almost a complete lack of budget accomodations. There are finally decent places to stay in the mid-range, but still no decent cheap places. Considering how relatively inexpensive real estate is in Yerevan, and labor as well, I hope this segment develops quickly.

On a sad note, an Armenian from Canada, an aid worker was shot while in a vehicle in Iraq, I think it was a random thing. All he was doing there was trying to help people.

I attended a seminar yesterday at the Caucasus Media Institute on media coverage of the war in Iraq. Unfortunately I only had one hour spare during the day for the seminar. I listened to David Reed�s presentation on the American media covering the war, Vicken Cheterian presenting the Arab media reporting and the first half of David Petrosian presenting the Russian perspective. I was told later that the question session was quite interesting. Too bad I couldn�t sit for the duration.

Visitors have started. I�m seeing my cousin tonight from Toronto and there are a few �odars� in town.

Today marks the 6th month anniversary since I arrived in Armenia.

I can't think of too many things I miss back in Canada, other than a few restaurants and the almost always litter-free sidewalks and streets of Toronto. But the one thing that has hit me the hardest is how much I miss my friends and family.

Thank God email and telephones exist, and nowadays there are quite a few affordable methods of calling abroad from Armenia. But yet, I'm not able to see and hang out with friends whom I have known since I was 2 years old, or friends whom have been there through the epic roller coaster ride of my life, and whom have always been there for me without me making the effort of asking for comfort.

The sacrifices my mother and father have made for my happiness have been immense. There isn't a day I don't think about how much I appreciate their complete support in whatever decisions I have made in my life. My sister is not an exception, and I love here dearly, and I can't wait to see her again, very soon I hope.

I've met many people since I've been here. Most, especially locals, have been very warm and friendly (and some not). I came here alone without friends or family, barely knowing anyone, just to be amongst a race of people I connect with culturally. Their affection through toasts at the dinner table boosting a persons ego with kind words, or hugs and kisses always expected when greeting each other, or walking arm in arm on the streets (without anyone thinking anything funny). Where else can you find such warmth in the world?

I would have loved to share all these experiences with my friends and family from Toronto, but until we reunite, I miss you all.

H.

Yesterday's events.

Yesterday I went to Stepanagert with the expectation that all my stone cutting equipment would be ready. Well I guess my expectations were just a little too high, as what I thought would be done was not.

On top of this my alternator died on me on my way to Stepanagert. Yes, a 15 year old car has a tendency of such problems I guess and a quick stop to see Sasoon, the automobile electrician took care of the problem. If you don�t remember who Sasoon is, he is the auto-electric who at the age of 12 had to take over his father�s business while his father went to Russia to work.

Luck would have it that Sasoon was able to take out the alternator, take it completely apart, discover that he had replacement bearings (one is the same that is found on Fiat�s and the other from a customer who had their Mercedes alternator rebuilt a year ago and had new bearings put in, even though there was nothing wrong with the old bearings).

The brushes (these are the things that conduct electricity) were also worn out and it just so happens that they are the same exact size at the ones that go in Fiat�s, so my purchase from a nearby auto parts store of said bushes (for less than $1) took care of the final touches.

Sasoon also found a short in the main coil and after some scraping, soldering and a little bit of paint to insulate the coil where the short was, he put the alternator back in the car and presto, it was like new. It only took an hour and I gave his 5,000 dram, which he said his charges were only 3,000 dram (about $5). I told him to keep it to cover next time.

As for machinist hell and my stone cutting equipment, I won�t bore you and will just say that after a day and a half of working and running around, we are in the home stretch of finishing. Maybe even will finish tomorrow.

Today in our quest of looking for an air-compressor, we went to the Max-Wood factory which manufactures rifle butts.

As we were waiting for them to fire up their compressor, I asked of all the Walnut tress they cut, how many percent is actually used for the rifle-butts? I was told as little at 15% and as much at 50%. The rest of the wood they cut up for other uses.

One thing I was thinking about is that this small factory had thousands of rifle-butts in their warehouse and could only think that each one will go on a new rifle. Thousands of new guns to add to this already overly armed world.

Right now we are in the middle of a lightning and wind storm with heavy rain coming down in spurts. I would guess that at some point, the lights will go out from the winds. I�m a little concerned for the Apricot trees, which have bloomed. If we have hail, we may not have Apricots this year again.

I hope that it is true that Saddam is dead, and that the fighting stops. If unarmed reporters whose locations are known to the US military are being killed, then I cannot imagine how many Iraqis are dead already. The news that innocent civilians are still being accidentally bombed (todays news) in Afghanistan does not make me very optimistic though.

This morning I finished shopping for work clothes. I would buy a few more things, since I do not want to find out just how easy or hard shopping for these things in Armenia is, but I just have no more space. I did the shopping at Macy's where there was a huge sale. This was incidentally their biggest store in the world, and it was massive. 8 or 9 stories, and each one was massive. I treated myself to a McDonalds (on the seventh floor I think) after I was done. (sorry Madlene, I just have to eat a little of everything before I head to Armenia, and since the east coast does not have In 'n Out Burger, I went to McDonalds :-)

Yesterday I was doing some tedious work on the tourism section of my site. Lots to go... I have to force myself to concentrate. Here goes...

I have no excuses for not logging; I simply didn�t feel like it, just like I haven�t had time to answer most emails. I met with a friend yesterday for breakfast and was told that I was the reason he moved to Armenia, since he reads the logs, I made a mental note to write, and so here I am.

Today is the President�s inauguration and yes the opposition supporters are out in full force yet again marching in the rain. It�s getting quite old and tiring actually, move on I say.

On a more positive note, I am starting to see grass grow again, yes a bit of green in the centre of Yerevan wouldn�t go astray and is quite pleasing to the eye. I guess spring is here, although today has been raining all day, but as long as it doesn�t snow again like it did a couple of weeks ago, it�s fine with me.

Last week was spent with a friend who was visiting from NY and it was nice to catch up with him. And of course Raffi N visiting is nice too. This is all I have time for today.

Yerevan Buildings

It�s always nice to look a little bit higher when you are walking down the streets of an old city. I have been pointed this out by a good friend of mine, now a good doctor, when we were having one of our Sunday four hour Town Permissions while studying in Melkonian. As a usual pass-time place for any Melkoniantsi, we were roaming in Ledra and Elefterias squares which are in the old city, near to the border that divides Nicosia into two. It wasn�t the pigeons that caught my attention but the masonry on the buildings which usually stay intact from the destruction of the shop-owners when they are on the upper floors. After that whenever I am in an old city I do that. I have also done that in Yerevan and see what I have �discovered� ( only few of the photos).

HAPPY WOMAN�S DAY TO ALL (that this applies to)!!!!

Yes, today was woman�s day in Artsakh and the Sylva beauty salon was really hopping.

I guess Armenians like to celebrate beauty, as if memory serves me correctly, we did the opening on some other woman�s day?

Anyway, the flower sales were hopping today and I presented all my female workers with flowers.

I also had the misfortune to fire one of my guards who was absent from his post for close to an hour, at which time I removed anything of value from the office he was suppose to be guarding and placed it in a large storage box, just in case he decided not to show up at all.

When he arrived, he apologized and told me it was the first and last time this would happen. I told him he was right, it would be the last time and told me when his shift is over tomorrow, to report to my manager, who I had already talked to about finding a replacement and also since she hired him, she should fire him, which she will do in the morning.

"Heavy Snow" was the forecast for NY City this morning, and at the time it seemed a bit unlikely. It is 1pm now and has been snowing for hours without stop, coming down pretty good most of the time. It is starting to build up. First time in 23 years it has snowed in the spring, and yet, I am definitely not impressed. I have the weather forecast for a few cities around the world bookmarked, and all of them are markedly warmer than here today, including Yerevan, which is having a beautiful day.

Eh, anyways, we spent a nice quiet weekend in Boston. I got some shopping done for Armenia at two of my favorite stores, Costco and Home Depot. I need a few more things and frankly have no idea where I am going to put it all. I have never had this much stuff to take with me, but I have never gone there with the certainty that I would be there a fair while and that I would be a part owner of a dacha needing lots of great plants they don't have in Armenia :-) If the customs guys stop me like Niziblian says they are doing to some people these days, I will have quite the interesting assortment of things for them to claw through.

The two foot deep trench for the main water-line in front of my house is finally being filled as the weather cleared up and all the new water lines to the individual houses have been welded in place.

Now when they get around to really filling it in is another question.

What I mean is this morning when I went outside, I noticed that one of my neighbors was filling the trench with the trash heap he has in front of his house.

I went out to ask him what he was doing and if he realized that after they cover his trash with dirt, in a short amount of time, his trash will settle and there will be a large pothole.

He quickly realized his error, but instead of removing his trash from the trench, he began to fill dirt on top of it so no one would notice.

My other neighbor also put some of their trash in the trench and when I explained that the glass bottles and 5 liter plastic canister with the hole in it would collapse and a pothole would form, they removed their trash.

I called one of my cohorts on the water committee, who is also the mayor and told him that it seems the trash disposal people are not working well (as the neighbor who put in the bottles and canister pays for trash service) and people are filling the trench with trash.

He told me to warn the neighbor who was filling the trench with compost and all his other trash to stop, as it is illegal to burry trash in the middle of the street and if need be, he will have him arrested.

I told him that the neighbor in question is a police officer and the mayor made some comment to the extent of that will work in his favor when he is sitting in jail.

Our people have a lot of learning to do, but at least when something is explained to them, they do understand and take measures to make appropriate changes.

On another note, when I was in Stepanagert, I went to and electronics store called PENTA to purchase a Sony Play Station controller for a friend of mine and really didn�t pay much attention to its condition, assuming that since it was a little more expensive than what a new controller costs in Yerevan, it must be new.

Well as you would guess from what I said above, the controller was not new and in fact it was worn to the point that it was not even in working condition. The �X� on one of the buttons was worn off and there was dirt between the buttons.

My next trip to Stepanagert will be to PENTA Electronics to see if they have a NEW controller. If not, I�ll have to see what there return policy is. If all else fails, I�ll give the owner a call (who happens to be one of our readers), as I�m sure he has no idea (until he reads this) that his store is selling used/worn-out merchandise as new. Maybe he can do both of us a favor and pre-warn his workers so they will have a new controller or my money waiting for me in advance, so I wont have to say anything.

Like I said before, we still have quite a bit to learn, but in time the people here will catch on.

Welcome to Armenia Raffi N.!

I haven�t logged since the football game, since I couldn�t find anything interesting that would interest our readers; it was a gloomy week� finally we had some good weather today.
I was pondering that what can I write today since I wanted to write about something and Eureka the topic appeared by itself. I will talk about one of the most important things in human life that I guess hasn�t appeared in those pages. I will talk about food which I hope will compensate my lack of having good photos for my �Week in Pictures� weekly log.

I was at my butcher couple of minutes ago and got some pork chalaghaj (chops). I guess meat is one of few products that being higher or equal in quality is cheaper in Armenia comparing to Indianapolis, IN. As a meat eater it gives me the greatest joy ever. My butcher said that tomorrow he will have some good beef liver; I am looking forward to that since tjvjik (liver dish) is my favorite food. I have avoided it in USA because liver being some sort of a body filter can be named as a nest of all the artificiality. Here in Armenia as almost all things being organic this problem is not that alarming. So welcome to Armenia if you want to eat liver.
Another thing about food worthy to be mentioned is that I finally entered to the Arabic store right next to my place. It was nice to get Tahini, Chakistes (Cypriot (Greek) word for green, cracked olives), curry powder and some Arabic sweets. I talked to the owner and apparently he is a repat from Syria, I didn�t ask for the year but I assume it should be in 60s since he said very-very long time ago.
I apologies but I have to end my food story right here, I can not resist the idea that I have some delicious goodies waiting for me for cooking. I said goodbye to the restaurants a long time ago since I couldn�t find any good one that could indulge my delicate appetite with a reasonable cost.
A bottle of Areni '98 (red dry wine) will wash down the whole thing.
Bon apetee to me.

I really should avoid reading news about the coalition invasion of Iraq, but curiosity and the need to know got the best of me.

On the BBC Reports� log I�ve read for the second time since the invasion started a descriptive of ��and the Marines have been cheering and punching the air - there's real joy.� This in response to the successful operation of rescuing Jessica Lynch, the teen solider that was captured on the 23rd of March.

Mind you, I�m happy that Jessica was saved, but at the same time, she left America to invade Iraq and if she was captured and maybe even killed, I would have no sympathy for her or her family, since in the end it was her choice to join the army.

But getting back to that joy the Marines had, it was that same kind of joy they has when the invasion started.

To American army personal is this the same as game of football? I guess since in America, no one is forced to join the army, this would indicate that in the army there are some sick blood thirsty animals and for that reason, I can share no sadness when such people are killed.

Now on the other hand, I�m saddened by the loss of civilian lives due to the actions of the coalition forces. For example:

Baghdad :: Paul Wood :: 1025GMT

We're in a Shiite house in Baghdad; it's just been bombed. Doors are blown off their hinges, there's blood on the floor, broken glass is everywhere.

The family matriarch has been killed, leaving behind twenty children. But one of her daughters tells us "we don't care this has happened to us, we care only for the life of our president".

What does this invasion of Iraq have to do with life in Armenia and Artsakh?

Well I fear that if America is successful in capturing and controlling Iraq, as it did Afghanistan, then I get the feeling that its next target will be Iran, which will automatically increase our dependency on America and threaten our own stability.

On top of this, the day may come when America will start to make its way up towards Russia (this after it takes control of Iran) and guess who will be in the middle of it and Russia?

All I can say is mark my words, nothing good will come from this war and I really get the feeling that this could be the start or maybe we can even call it the continuation of World War III.

I think I now know what it�s like to be on the dark side of the moon and out of radio contact.

I�ve been away from home for almost a week and it�s a real joy to be home.

I was in Stepanagert, torturing myself with my trying to motivate people to work on getting the balance of my stone cutting equipment finished. I�m almost there.

For those of you that have e-mailed me and I have not responded, please hang in there, I�ll get something off to you in the next couple of days, if not sooner.

Well it�s time for a nice hot shower and some sleep.

So quiet here since the soccer game. Well today I sent in a massive packet of forms I had to fill out. Putting it together was no small matter, and it feels like a great weight has been lifted off of my chest with it gone, and a tracking number in my hand. Next? Taxes.

While I was in Manhattan, I stopped at a Burger King and tried the new BK Veggie Burger or something like that. It was pretty weak, but at least I had onion rings and root beer, I won't be having much of those in Armenia (although there is a ribs joint with onion rings now). Another novelty was that the meal came with 20 minutes of high speed internet access, there was a looong line of computers on one wall. I noticed a huge gap in the buildings/constructiony looking area one block past the burger king and realised it must be the World Trade Center site. Having never been there, I decided I should. It was interesting. It was a large chunk of land, but it seemed so small to hold two such massive and significant towers. There were lots of people and tourists there, watching whatever it is the workers at the site were doing. I realized also that the whole time I have been here, I have not even had a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty...

That is about all the excitement in my life, except for the "Baby Kiwi/Hardy Kiwi" basket I got at the grocery store yesterday. They are rather tasty, and I read up on them online and I can just plant the seeds which should grow quite well in Armenia. So I squashed the centers out of a bunch of them for planting at my dacha (summer house), and to share with others who I think would enjoy growing kiwis in Armenia and Karabakh.