Yesterday was the 10th anniverasary of one of our friend's comming to Armenia! we gathered at his place, and just had a cheese and wine evening. At 2:30 in the morning, my roommate, her sister and I , walk from near the OVIR to nalbandian street. it was too good to be true, 3 girls walking in the city, in the middle of the night...where can you find this much saftey????and no one came close to us....!
today was a usual day at the institut, just that it was one of my classmates birhtday, and we did drink almost 5 bottles of wine, and I can barely sit here now, in front of the computer...and I have to go there, after work, to continue the KEF....I like this in Armenia, you don't have to wait for the weekends to have fun!!!!

Today, I had one of my best experiences at OVIR???It was actually surprising to accomplish something in that building in less than 5 minutes. I went there for my residency card. there was no line, and I just went into an office, gave my papers, and leave.... Nobody was rude, and I can't wait the 20 days they told me to, to go and take my card....Armenia is a country full of surprises.
There was a Vigen Chaldranian movie yesterday on H1... I had never seen his work, beside "Symphony of Silence". I actually liked this, it was much better than the symphony....it looked like an italian movie, smelled a bit Fellini!!!
It has been 2 days that the festival of solo performences started. They have a large shcedule, and very good performances too. it will last till the end of this month, and there will be performers from different countries and of course from Armenia too. there is a good performance on sunday at 4, at the chamber theater.It's Hamlet Chobanian's show....He's the best mime in Armenia, so, don't miss it!
The library looks crowded today. I really can't understand people sometimes....?Why do they spend their days in a library. I understand reading is important and good, but believe me, after working in a library and meeting strange people, who come to the library, before we open it, and leave somehow at 9, not missing saturdays and sundays, i have my doubts, about their mental or social health!!!!No offence!
tomorrow my land lord will come to take care of the water meter problem....it's a bad start for a saturday morning, let's see how it will end.
Tse, and Amen or Pari or!

Last night I woke up at 2am because it was too hot with the blanket... it has warmed up again these days. At 3am I woke up again with 2 mosquito bites. I could not find the culprit so I started watching TV. I saw a good part of The Gods Must Be Crazy, and another movie I don't know the name of, then tried to sleep again until I heard the mosquito. I turned the light on and read until it came close and I finally killed the tiny torturer, finally falling asleep again at 6am or so for an hour. I hadn't had this problem all summer, but now I will buy some of that raptor stuff so I can sleep in peace.

It's the weekend already... nothing exciting planned. My dad lands tomorrow night, tonight is an undetermined movie night, and the rest we'll take as it comes.

all this time... i was typing in the wrong password and blaming raffi for blogger malfunctioning. little did i know that it was my brain malfunctioning and that a trip down memory lane (aka my datebook from 2001) would inform me that my password indeed was being typed in wrong.

as an event planner i have grown beyond expectations. i just organized (along with two other key people) a 20,000 person event, my largest so far. nune yesayan threw a free concert and the venue chosen was our beautiful cascade. we had over 200 police, 30 security guards and 10 people on staff. people filled the entire cascade, from the end of one flowerbox to the end of the other (you can see a picture of the cascade on our website at www.cmf.am ) a huge turnout. i spent half of my time actually enjoying the concert, while the other half was spent guestimating the health and sanity of our flowers, our landscaping and of course our staff. once the concert was over... in the mad rush of 20,000 people heading back towards the city... i was swimming against the wave, flying upstream cascade to see if our sprinkler system, and flowers were still intact. with the exception of our bathroom attendant being left a bit emotionally scarred... i think the event went off rather well...

ozzie got stung by a bee today. it was quite traumatic... she got stung in her leg so she was running around on the remaining three resembling a cute tripod. she yelped and yelped and then remembered she had an audience so all of a sudden became really really brave. the vet. told me to give her an anti-inflammatory and so we gave her some russian kind that also gets your mood going. she is in a state of shock right now... as she keeps waking up... looking at me, not recognizing me, then recognizing me, wagging her tail and falling asleep so that she may repeat the same process.

i am in a new office... and so my window scenery has changed. i am now facing one of yerevan's most wonderfully kept parks, tamanyay park, which overlooks the cascade. fernando botero's cat is just outside my window... so because of that... there are a bunch of kids outside the window too. A GREAT SCENE! the office staff is great and we have a wonderful team.

now that I have realized where my problems were with logging... hopefully I will be back sooner.

I can't really wait to write.
I already received some mails congratulating me on my "debut" on cilicia. It was good.
today was one of the days, I decided to go to the institut from the first hour(cause i really hate waking up early).I managed to be there at 9, but imagine what? the lecturer was sick and we were free till 1:30.... , so I went to a walk in the city with one of my friends, then joined some others at Lagonit, just ate some french fries and labne....then came straight to work.
I was going to start working on the play I chose for my final exam, but 3 of my 4 actors were absent. the thing is that the play is in western armenian, and beside directing it, I should teach my actors some arevmedahayeren...that's a big challenge!
After work I should go to paze's house(Hrayr Khacherian). I don't know if you know him, but he's a photographer and he's my aunt's(morkour) husband. so he's doing some renovation and I should go to help him. I love that job.
Today is the birthday of one of our friends, again from Lebanon (he studies medicine here), but I just talked to him , and it seems that he's sick, so no celebration for us tonight.
It looks that the weather wants to get hot a bit, before it gets cold again for the comming 6 months....
Amen or Pari Or!

Kenats festival was very successful. It started on Friday night with an outdoor concert at the steps of the National Parliament followed by activities on Saturday and Sunday. The final concert on Sunday night was amazing, there were thousands of people with plenty of security enjoying the various performances. Despite the threatening skies it did not rain during the festival at all, thank God!!! Ok I have to mention a funny story on the rain. While I was panicking on Friday afternoon deciding on what can be done if the rain continued all weekend, I was speaking to one of the organizers who’s young, energetic etc and her response just blew me away.

She had this notion that the “Government” guaranteed that it would not rain on Sunday (Independence Day). My question was how would they accomplish that? Well apparently the “Government” would use this “bomb thing” aiming up to the clouds and clear them away. Ok so if this contraption exists why doesn’t England use it every time it rains during the Davis Cup and the would be no need to stop the match and resume? Of course the answer was that it was an expensive contraption and that only countries in the pre Soviet countries had them!!! I was flabbergasted by this notion considered the person is only 22!!! So I guess the “bomb thing” was used since it didn’t rain even though the weather forecast said it would.

Finally two of my volunteers depart tomorrow but I’ll have more arriving on Monday so I’ll only have 5 in town, yeah!

Hello friends, I am a new logger to this site, and I can't wait to be one of the usual writers of cilicia.com . I am from Beirut, but it has been 3 years that I live in Yerevan. I first came for the purpose of studying, but I don't think I will be moving else where. I am a 3rd year student of directing at the state institut of theater and cinematography.It is fun studying in a place, where everyday you have access to the art life and artists of the country. It is good if you look that way, but not that fulfilling if you look as a profession. I think this the problem with all the universities in Armenia.They give a very good cultural background, but a very weak knowledge of the profession.
I also work at the AUA Papazian library. I have a part time job there. I used to work 3 days a week, but starting monday I will work everyday from 6-9 and sunday all day. it's hard a little bit, cause I will be missing all the concerts and shows, but what can we do. Nobody should complain of working.I really like it here, it's very quiet in the library, and I have all the time to me, reading, doing my lessons and some research.
Art and culture are what interest me the most. I adore cinema, because I think that it's one of the most complete arts these days.It is the syntheses of literature, painting, music, theater... I think cinema gave a lot of geniuses in one century more than any other art way could have done!
I am thinking of organising this little cine club in my house.just for the cold days comming, I will organise this "once a week" movies, classical europeen and american movies, and for sure armenian old movies....anyone interested?
This is my "routine" life in Armenia.I put routine in " " cause everyone knows that you can't have a routine life here, where everything and everyone is spontanious...that's one of the things I adore about Armenia!
Ok then , I will let you now, cause work's calling me.
I can't wait for the next time!!!
Till then bye bye and remember " Amen or Pari or"!

Well today just flew by. Tomorrow I will attend some of the Diaspora investment conference sessions, and then the week will already be halfway over.

The weekend was a long packed adventure. Friday night we had a work function, then a bite, then went to Fiesta Latina at Cheers. This was a party that Carlos (remember the Mexican-Armenian I wrote about last year?) helped organized for their little club of a dozen folks from Latin America here. A great crowd and music and everything. Just too much smoke!

Saturday and Sunday were intermitantly spent at the Kenats Festival, taking naps, seeing a Swiss movie with a gay theme, and eating out.

Regarding the gay Swiss movie, the British Council also chose a gay themed play a couple of months back, both of them knowing local attitudes about homosexuality. I think they are just trying to shock locals and be in your face on this topic (this is simply an observation, not a judgement), I assume they feel this is the way to get homosexuality acceptance here. I dunno. In any case, in both cases, but more so the Swiss film, it was rather graphic, and of course a chunk of the audience left. I wonder if they asked for refunds? I suspect much of the audience would react the same in the US. In fact, I could not even begin to imagine this movie shown in the US with its plentiful full frontal male nudity.

The weather in Yerevan has been dreary these past couple of days. It's been cold and rainy, a little odd for September (I remember wearing shorts last October), but hopefully it'll change very soon.

This year's annual Kenats Festival launched on Friday when the park in front of the National Assembly was opened to the public for a performance from the National Opera and Ballet Theater Orchestra. The Festival comes to an end Sunday night with fireworks (which happens every week or two in this city).

Today Raffi K and I hooked up for pizza then checked out the newly renovated, but not yet complete, Republic Square. Although I don't think the renovations are anything spectacular, it's quite an improvement from before. There are lamp posts all around the Square now, the ground has been repaved, the huge mosaic in the middle is there, the section around the fountain has been made larger and all the walkways in front of the buildings have been redone.

After that we went to the Festival which was taking place on upper Mashtots where they had closed down the street to set up a stage for all the performers.

Man is Yerevan looking good lately. The Lincy Foundation renovations are coming to an end, but there still is construction everywhere. Walking down the streets and looking at buildings you will notice people renovating their apartments all around the city. New shops, restaurants, and cafes are opening up daily.

It is the 12th year of independence for Armenia today. I'm sure that Yerevan is completely different now than it was 12 years ago. The amount of improvement this country (or rather mostly Yerevan) has been through in the past 6-7 years is enough to make other former Soviet Republics jealous. There is still a long way to go, especially when it comes to lessening poverty and creating more jobs and industries, but it is clear to see how positive the future looks. I'm so glad to be witnessing all the improvements with my own eyes.

can you believe that i forgot my password and that is why i have not logged.

Unfortunately it seems like a few people at least continue to have trouble logging (perhaps they have forgotten how :-). I am trying to figure it out and get things going again. Not really much going on that is exciting to report. This weekend should be pretty action packed with the Kenats Festival (Genats for all the Western Armenians out there, and Toasting Festival for all the non-Armenian speakers) and lots of other things going on here and there.

There is a Swiss Movie Festival this week/weekend as well. I caught the first night which was good (although a bit slow for my taste), and am trying to determine which other films I want to see.

There are sooooo many tourists in town. Firstly the Egyptian Armenian reunion being held in Yerevan , 300 of them are staying at Hotel Ani and therefore some drop in to my office for a visit since they can tell (somehow) that I’m a foreigner and ask for my suggestions on how they can volunteer in Armenia.

So many backpackers too, my 3 neighbours have 3 guests each staying with them and I’m busy translating there too (one of them is from Switzerland and is traveling on his push bike). While I was in vernisage on Saturday with 2 of my volunteers speaking English, this young couple approached me and told me to watch with my bag. I asked her immediately if she was Australian and she said yes and she only approached me since she detected my accent too!!

I have volunteers coming out of my ears. Currently there are 6 Volunteers for our world Learning Program and I have 2 Volunteers in town for IESC Armenia. Plus the preparations for Kenats festival this weekend. Ok that’s all I have time for and oh I saw Terminator 3 in English last night, what a waste of time that was.

A few loggers have reported problems trying to log, but it seems to be back to normal.

So anyway, can I just say I am sore as can be from tennis? Ouch! But it should be diminishing although I haven't noticed. And in this condition I went to play paintball for the first time in my life yesterday. I dunno if it was the heat, the soreness, or me, but I didn't do so hot (I hit two of my teamates and none of my opponents!). So although I had my suspicions, the military is not for me I think. I suspect it could have been a lot more fun for me if 75% of the participants had not been in the military, most of them active. A bunch of clueless civilians like me going nuts in the forest would have made for better equality... and fun.

Alright, those of you who know me well should have a seat before you read this. Put down your drinks. Take a deep breath. Yes. I have some news. Yesterday, I don't know how to say this, so I will just say it... yesterday, I played tennis. Ok, ok, breathe people :-))) So alright, this is not such a huge deal, especially if you don't know me. I do enjoy lots of activities like hiking, biking, climbing, beaching, and such, but I just rarely play competitive sports for some reason. Probably because it is harder to organize and requires equipment and is just too much trouble. So after exactly 10 years of not touching a tennis racquet, I was amazed that I didn't really stink. I was quite curious if you lose it with time, but I think in a couple more sessions I would be back to where I left off. Of course, this being Armenia and not Orange County, CA, I can probably only play for another month or so before it gets too cold. But the whole experience was quite worthwhile. It is like a tennis club, with a bunch of courts, bleachers, families, etc. In many ways it looked just like I would have seen in Orange. The Armenian touches were the grape vine covered walkways, and the disorganization. There were lots of courts though and lots of really good kids playing in a tournament. I just never pictured such a scene here. The courts were dirt, something I had never seen before. It made for an interesting game with the ball bounce losing that predictability that concrete provides. So already my legs feel a bit sore, having used muscles I normally don't. Interestingly, this made me reflect on how much excersize my legs do get normally, and I calculated that on an average work day, I climb and descend, on average, a 50 story building. Plus I walk for an average of an hour. So I do get lots of excersize, but of course walking and stairs are different from running and tennis.

The work week went especially well since for some reason, every day felt like it was Friday.

What a great 4 days I had. I got out of Yerevan again. This time I went to a friend's childhood hometown, the village of Tovuz (just north of beautiful Berd up in the province of Tavush). It was 6 of us on the trip and we traveled a really bumpy 4-5 hour ride in a Jeep. The road conditions after Sevan were HORRIBLE and we all pretty much felt sick most of the way, but it was definitely worth it. (We decided to take the Chambarak route rather than the Dilijan one.) Layers of green mountains covered in trees, hundreds of corn and grape fields, donkeys, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, and hundreds of hay stacks surrounded us for 4 days.

We also had a chance to travel around the region. Aygedzor was the most beautiful. Tavush Reservoir right next to the border of Azerbaijan was also very nice. We had a chance to visit Nor Varagavank, a beautiful monastery camouflaged in the trees of a high mountain. The road leading up to the monastery, which actually resembled a dried up riverbed, was quite difficult to drive on, but we did it. Unfortunately the monastery was in horrible condition and there were a bunch of obnoxious drunks begging me to take photos of them.

Other than sight-seeing, we ate and ate and ate. All kinds of khoravadz (bbq)...pork seasoned in thyme; red trout; eggplant, tomato, and pepper; potatoes; fresh corn. We also had, get this, turkey khashlama (boiled turkey), fresh village yogurt and cheese, wine, mulberry vodka, sunflowers, and we also did a lot of blackberry picking.

Once I got back home in Yerevan I had a quick shower and the first thing I did was have more food. This time a North American dish.....French fries and Canadian hot dogs with Pepsi.

It's a Small (Armenian) World After All

On Monday night I met up with the fellow writing the updated Lonely Planet Armenia chapter in the Caucasus guidebook (he will write it from scratch). I had met him in January in Melbourne, Australia, through a guy who knows him and I happened to meet while he was in Armenia. I really look forward to the new version of the guidebook coming out, since the guy is quite sharp (a far cry from the last one).

Tuesday night was quite interesting too. A regular episode of "it's a small (Armenian) world after all". I can only do it justice as a timeline, with explanations.

• 6:50 - I walked partway home with a co-worker, running late for a dinner with friends
  
• 7:00 - On the way, I bumped into this fellow I met in Jerusalem in 1995 then again in 2000. Very nice guy. Another friend from Jerusalem may be visiting soon and we make plans to get together.
  
• 7:08 - So running even later, I got to the restaurant, and found that I was still earlier than my friend and his wife. The friend's mom and dad went to university with my mom and dad. His wife and her father are architects.
  
• 7:10 - They arrived at the new Sayat Nova restaurant and again I got the Greek salad which I had enjoyed on my earlier visit.
  
• 8:00 - I was running late for my meeting down the street with a second architect friend (one of my first acquaintence in Armenia in 1994) due to the delay in getting the check.
  
• 8:04 - I ran into my painter friend from Sisian on the way. Had to say a quick hi.
  
• 8:07 - Met the second architect friend, who joked from my lateness that I am becoming quite local, and went to look at an apartment that needs to be remodeled. He of course it turns out, knows my friends wifes dad.
  
• 8:30 - With just the second architect, we go out for some drinks.
  
• 9:00 - See another acquaintence who does not see me, then my architect friend's Iranian-Armenian friend comes with his family and sits at the table next to us.
  
• 10:20 - Architect friend takes me to his painter friend's nearby studio for a visit. His friend has had exhibitions in Orange County among many other places... I'll have to somehow tactfully ask how much the red Ararat painting would go for.
  
• 10:50 - head home
  

What a Yerevan evening.

A very quick update. USAID has approved funding for my organization IESC until January 31, 2004. So I guess I’m here for most of the winter.

I keep running into these Aussies everywhere, the way I recognize them is by the green and gold caps they wear. So anyway they’re here for a reunion for Armenians from Egypt.

Tomorrow I’m going to try out the dentist Raffi K. logged about some time ago.

When I am sitting in bed reading, I have a great view of pokr Masis (Little Ararat). The last two nights have for the first time gotten chilly, and this morning the top of pokr Masis is covered in snow... winter is slowly working its way down the mountains towards Yerevan. But September is one of the nicest months of the year, so nothing to worry about until November when the snow reaches us.

Sometimes logging is difficult -- you don't know how much to share with perfect strangers, wonder who is reading all about your life, or wonder what would be interesting for people to read. On the other hand, it is a convenient way to share your day to day activities with your friends and relatives, and plus let anyone who cares to know what day to day activities are like in Armenia for a repatriate.

Last night I went to Ashtaraki Dzor Restaurant, half an hour outside of Yerevan for a birthday party, and everyone had a great time. What a crazy place... really any visitor should just take a cab out there and experience this locally famous restaurant/entertainment complex. It is in a canyon, with a river and pond. It has covered outdoor seating, with paddleboats, a small zoo (including bears), a massive gold stage, live music and dancing. Now the music and dancing is a pretty funny mix of Armenian and Western, with the dancers (who wear costumes and everything) taking breaks so that the patrons can have a chance to dance as well. Quite a scene, and normal prices.

So this morning a group of us went out for a bite, and it was interesting to see how much our lives have changed from the days when we just came over and were remodeling our apartments and for the most part not working, or at least not long term. Now we are all so busy with our jobs, making a positive difference in Armenia. However, it seems a couple of the folks in the group are going a little stir crazy, which I think is part of a natural cycle of moving here. Although it is much easier nowadays than in the 90's in the sense of creature comforts and entertainment/eating options, it is still nice to go and see some diversity, and the old familiar on the outside... not to mention beaches whenever possible! Afterwards, I stopped by the tourist information office I opened up 2 years ago this month which was funded IESC/USAID and ATDA to visit my friends there. I hung out for a good hour before heading home to take a nice long nap and read James Michener's Hawaii. Great book, like many of his others.

There's some news I keep forgetting to mention and it deserves a log of its own.

That ugly and ancient Hotel Armenia sign on top of the hotel at Republic Square is GONE!

Not much else to say except that I am juggling between a few music-related projects and renovations at the new apartment. And damn is it ever HOT in Yerevan. I think a trip to Berd will be my ticket to escape this unbearable heat.

Well the life in Armenia is as usual. From time to time it can get really depressing and on the other hand enjoyable. It’s enjoyable when you look at the things as if you are a tourist or expat. Although if you take a trip to Yerevan suberbs and see the standards of living there… spent a day as a local, who takes a bus for transportation, lives in one of those suburbs such as Massiv or Kvartal, spends the day in a shooga ( bazaar) selling, let’s say, soft drinks… The life can be a different experience then. The reason for my this log is the official economic report that Lena talked about. I am not sure about GDP but I can say what I see. The price of bread has increased at least by 20 – 30%. The price of petrol is on rise, too. The electricity and water are getting expensive. No changes in salaries. 900 teachers lost their $20/month jobs as a September 1 present. Fireworks don’t fill stomachs. And the cold winter is nearby.

What have I been up to? Oh yeah the 3 day weekend was great. Firstly the vernisage trip with Alex and Raffi was the first time I experienced the real vernisage not rushing around in the “tourist” area for gifts etc. So while we were in the army/soviet icon section we noticed an IESC badge so I asked the vendor where he had received it from. Of course he misunderstood my question and he replied 200 Drams. Ouzoumes vertsnel? (do you want it?), I’m like, leeke ounem (I have plenty) so Alex tells him I was the “Chef”. Anyway then of course meeting the Aussies at Europe hotel was great. One of the girls went to the same uni as my nephew and were in the same maths class, what a small world!

Sunday night was Jack’s farewell and we had a small good bye party for him with a few friends, nice and relaxing.

On Monday, after cleaning the house, I treated myself to Hotel Yerevan pool. It was so great I had the whole place to myself, I really should treat myself more often while it’s still hot.

On a different note, this is what I learnt yesterday. GDP is up 14.9% mainly due to the ongoing construction (really, I haven’t noticed), Agriculture is down, Inflation is basically nothing and tax revenue is up 12.9%. Today I just returned from a meeting at World Learning where we talked about how the NGO’s view fundraising in Armenia, quite an eye opener.

On the job front I still don’t know where we stand but I have a month extension to either close up or continue for another 5 months.

Good Morning my beautiful Yerevan! I am back to walk your warm streets, be amazed by your beautiful pink buildings, and your ancient churches. I missed you.

Arthur and I returned two days ago after what seemed like a whiz of a three weeks. We had gone to Los Angeles to visit my parents and then took a quick trip to New York and Vienna on our way back. Within 22 hours I was able to show Arthur a big slice of New York. It was the first time that I saw ground zero, and it was the first time that Arthur says that he understood how small he really is in this world. New York will do that to you, it is just an experience that rocks you... after living in a small town like Yerevan.

Los Angeles really does not let me relax all too much. I had to deal with taxes, and annual chores and paperwork that everyone else in the states does monthly. With things piled up and our accountant down my back, I hardly had time to do the mundane activities that Los Angeles offers.

Vienna on the other hand seemed like a paradise. A beautiful city set in a very green and healthy landscape... We were amazed by the cleanliness, the comfort and the serenity of the Sunday we spent there.

I returned to quite a hectic schedule. Actually straight from Yerevan Airport I went in to work, because I am so excited about things happening in the PR and Events Sector of the Cafesjian Museum Foundation. We are in the process of setting up a seperate office for CMF PR and Events. I am busily running around setting the office up. It should be semi-operational by today, pretty operational by Friday, and fully operational by Monday.

Of course I have an airport story. Austrian Airlines lost my bag going to Los Angeles, and now they have done it again here in Yerevan. I thought that as a society we were progressing. :o) cheers.

Labor day weekend is over :-( It was fantastic though to have 3 days off in a row. Finally holiday season is starting. Just being able to get some things off of my todo list as well as relax was great. So on Sunday the water meter guy came to seal my water meter, but I still could not sign "the water company contract" I need (I am not sure what for) until I go to another office (the jhek) and pay them $2 to get a paper which says I live by myself. All I need for that paper is for me to tell them I live by myself, and $2, so it is incredibly annoying and of course the jhek was not open on Sunday and the water people told me nothing about this on Saturday morning, when I was ready to take care of all of this. My "desich", or neighborhood water meter guy was very nice to me and explained a lot to me, but much of this remains a mystery to me. In the evening we bid Jack goodbye for at least the winter.

So Monday, Labor day was spent on medical issues. I went to a Star Trek medical invention thing here, and got some sugar pills which are supposed to take care of a wart. Now I am the most doubtful person of these sorts of things, but a certain doctor swears this is the greatest thing since sliced bread (which, strangely enough does not exist in this country). So I figure I will give it a shot, with nothing to lose. After the space medicine man, I went to a dentist for a cleaning (my first of these ultrasonic cleanings which are so quick) and 4 hours later came out of there with two big old fillings replaced as well. They were the old metal kind and underneath them the cavities had continued to grow. He put in the new white fillings I have never had before. It is strange not being able to see and count your fillings. I have to go back soon to have the new cavities filled as well. Uff. But I am very happy to have found this guy since the last place I went to was, as they say in England, dodgy. (sp?) This was a completely normal, western office, with all the instruments and super clean. So it is worth going out to Garegin Njdeh Metro to me.

September 1 was the first day of school.

I just watched the news and saw all sorts of odd back-to-school rituals I have never seen before: Numerous parents of first graders video-taping their kids in class; students giving their teachers flowers and gifts; doves and balloons being set free; fireworks at night (what else is new?). The only familiar thing was insane traffic in the morning.

I picked up my ownership certificate for my place today. Tomorrow I will start painting the living room, kitchen, and hallway so later on this week the air conditioning unit can be installed. I met one of my neighbors, a nice woman who told me I could call her if I ever need anything. Most of the neighbors always leave their front doors open. Great security I suppose, sort of like Neighborhood Watch in Toronto.

I fulfilled my monthly getaway trip this past weekend with a few friends and relatives. We dropped by Jermuk and then headed over to Sisian where we stayed at Ofelya's bed and breakfast (nothing that special). We visited Shake Waterfall, St. Hovhanness Church (a.k.a. Sisavan), Aghudi Memorial, Vorotnavank Monestary (great church being reconstructed), and the hot springs not too far from it. We also visited a few Sisiantsi friends, including crazy Ashot the painter.

My female relative shocked all of Sisian by driving a Jeep with 4 male passengers. We kept hearing "Aghchik e!" (It's a girl!). Sadly, the roads in Sisian are in horrible condition. After a trip like this, when returning to Yerevan, you understand why so many people leave these other Armenian cities to come here. Yerevan is constantly progressing, but these other areas truly need lots of help.

The drive through my favorite province of Vayots Dzor was beautiful as usual. Coming back to Yerevan we entered the Araratian province just in time to see the gorgeous sunset and a clear view of Ararat. AWESOME SIGHT!

Today was hot! Looks like we'll have up to 38 celsius/100 fahrenheit in the next few days. I think I prefer breezy Sisian right now.