My trip to Toronto was the first time I had left Armenia since my move, and the first time I had visited the place where I'm originally from in over 15 months, so naturally it was not easy at first. But these past few days have proven how much my heart is really attached to Armenia.
My childhood friend Nyree and two of her friends (non-Armenians) came to Armenia with me last week. The horrible freezing weather reached its peak in almost 15 years the same week we departed from Toronto. The plane to Frankfurt was delayed for 2 hours (while we were already aboard), the heating system wasn't working (so it was extremely cold inside), but eventually the plane took off for it's almost 8-hour flight around midnight. Luckily Nyree and her friends, who work for the airline company, upgraded our tickets to first class and I had a chance to stuff my face with really good food while seated in a large cozy seat for the first leg of the trip. After Frankfurt we head over to Vienna, followed by our third flight ... towards Yerevan.
I spent my first night back with them at a hotel, but then decided to reunite with my relatives, as well as the comfortable bed I've been sleeping on for over a year.
This will be a long log, but I'll make this story as short as possible. It's another one of my Seinfeld-like episodes in Armenia.
Someone at the hotel ordered a cab for me to get my luggage and me to my relatives place. I was told that I would have to pay 500 drams extra for taking luggage with me. I agreed to pay 1,000 drams flat to get to my relatives place. When the cab showed up I loaded the trunk with two-30kg luggage (by myself), the back seat with another 30kg luggage, as well as a couple of paintings rolled up and a bag with shoes. I noticed the driver had not closed the trunk so I forced it to close and sat in the passenger seat with a musical equipment piece I brought with me on my lap. The driver started yelling at me for forcing the trunk to close. I told him I wasn't going to leave it open, yet he insisted he was going to keep an eye on the open trunk through his rearview mirror, and if any of my luggage was to fall out he would simply stop and load the luggage back into the trunk ... AS IF!
I rolled down my window, cause the entire inside of the car was covered in cigarette smoke, and he began to yell at me once more, this time for opening the window. I told him the smoke bothered me, stuck my nose out the window, and soon we head over to my place.
Throughout the 5-minute ride he asked me question after question. It started off with "Where do you live?" I told him "Armenia", he then asked "But what's your background?" me ... "Armenian". Later, when I told him that I am originally from Canada he asked if I've ever been to America. I told him I have been there many, many times and that (naturally) I like Canada more. He continued by telling me that USA is the largest country in the world. When I told him that Russia was the largest country followed by Canada and THEN America he raised his voice and told me that I didn't know what I was talking about. This stupid conversation went on for a couple of more minutes until we got to the street I live on.
He pulled up and stopped across from the apartment, so I asked him nicely to turn the car around and park in front of the building. He refused to stop on the other side since there were some cars parked there. I asked him to understand that I had a lot of stuff to carry by myself, but yet he refused and told me that he didn't want to block traffic. (This happened late at night with not one car passing by while this conversation took place.) I kept insisting that he wouldn't be blocking traffic on a street where there hardly is any, and that it would simply take me one minute to get everything out of the car. This led to more tension when I told him that he was being inconsiderate. He somehow went into a stupid conversation about "Soviet times were so much better" (meaning nobody had to think about anyone else in those times), at which point I said, "In case you didn't know, your dreamland of America is not at all like what Soviet-Armenia was". I finally convinced him to turn the car around and park in front of the building.
The first thing he said when he opened the trunk was "Look you broke the trunk hood of my car" and I replied, "The only thing that is probably damaged is my luggage". He was amused with my comment, told me that he was just joking, and asked me for 1,200 drams. I told him the deal was for 1,000 drams, yet he demanded 1,200. I told him to call the cab company, so he did, but was proven wrong. I slammed the passenger side door and started bringing my stuff into my place.
Two hours later I was getting ready to go out to dinner with Nyree and her friends when I realized that my dress shoes were missing. Where were they??? In that damn cab! I called the cab company and they radioed the annoying cab driver and luckily found my shoes. I already needed a cab to get me to my dinner so they told me that the annoying cab driver would drop off my shoes at the office and another cab would bring them for me. It took them 45 minutes, but it arrived. I opened the door to the cab and who was the driver? The first thing I said with a super-sarcastic tone was "Oh, isn't it my most favourite cab driver in all of Yerevan". When I asked him for my shoes he said "1,500 drams". I kept calm and told him that I refused to pay him that much. Eventually he agreed to 1,200 drams including the ride down the street to the restaurant I had to go to.
So that is how my week started back in Armenia. I used the cab many more times after that incident and met some really decent drivers; I also visited a couple of historic tourist spots I've already seen many times; I also heard live traditional Armenian music and had khorovadz (bbq); I also realized how much more I prefer Armenian winter weather rather than Toronto's. It's all slowly falling back into place. If it wasn't for my great friends and relatives in Toronto, I don't think I'd miss it that much. I've probably logged about this before, but having good friends is extremely important to me. It will take some time I suppose (even after 15 months).
My mom threw me a great get-together before I left, just to see all my relatives and friends before leaving back to Armenia, sort of like a welcome party and a goodbye party, combined with a surprise early birthday party. My good friend Lisa also treated me to the Linkin Park/P.O.D. concert, which was awesome.
Now I'm back to Armenia. I'm looking forward to finishing the apartment I bought last summer, as well as another awesome summer in Armenia. Many people in Toronto asked me why I didn't visit in the summer and all I kept thinking was that there was no way I was going to miss an Armenian summer for anywhere else. Although I was a little hesitant about returning back to Armenia, I still have no regrets. I still love this place as much as I did when I moved here.
On another note, Mr. Toaster (the newest fast food restaurant in Yerevan) is pretty good. I just had a chicken sub there, which was quite decent, and spoke to the guy who prepared it (he is actually an American-Mexican). Funny thing is that he was making a lot of noise while preparing the food so as a joke I told my aunt (who was with me) that Jose was making too much noise ... not even knowing that his real name actually was Jose.
My childhood friend Nyree and two of her friends (non-Armenians) came to Armenia with me last week. The horrible freezing weather reached its peak in almost 15 years the same week we departed from Toronto. The plane to Frankfurt was delayed for 2 hours (while we were already aboard), the heating system wasn't working (so it was extremely cold inside), but eventually the plane took off for it's almost 8-hour flight around midnight. Luckily Nyree and her friends, who work for the airline company, upgraded our tickets to first class and I had a chance to stuff my face with really good food while seated in a large cozy seat for the first leg of the trip. After Frankfurt we head over to Vienna, followed by our third flight ... towards Yerevan.
I spent my first night back with them at a hotel, but then decided to reunite with my relatives, as well as the comfortable bed I've been sleeping on for over a year.
This will be a long log, but I'll make this story as short as possible. It's another one of my Seinfeld-like episodes in Armenia.
Someone at the hotel ordered a cab for me to get my luggage and me to my relatives place. I was told that I would have to pay 500 drams extra for taking luggage with me. I agreed to pay 1,000 drams flat to get to my relatives place. When the cab showed up I loaded the trunk with two-30kg luggage (by myself), the back seat with another 30kg luggage, as well as a couple of paintings rolled up and a bag with shoes. I noticed the driver had not closed the trunk so I forced it to close and sat in the passenger seat with a musical equipment piece I brought with me on my lap. The driver started yelling at me for forcing the trunk to close. I told him I wasn't going to leave it open, yet he insisted he was going to keep an eye on the open trunk through his rearview mirror, and if any of my luggage was to fall out he would simply stop and load the luggage back into the trunk ... AS IF!
I rolled down my window, cause the entire inside of the car was covered in cigarette smoke, and he began to yell at me once more, this time for opening the window. I told him the smoke bothered me, stuck my nose out the window, and soon we head over to my place.
Throughout the 5-minute ride he asked me question after question. It started off with "Where do you live?" I told him "Armenia", he then asked "But what's your background?" me ... "Armenian". Later, when I told him that I am originally from Canada he asked if I've ever been to America. I told him I have been there many, many times and that (naturally) I like Canada more. He continued by telling me that USA is the largest country in the world. When I told him that Russia was the largest country followed by Canada and THEN America he raised his voice and told me that I didn't know what I was talking about. This stupid conversation went on for a couple of more minutes until we got to the street I live on.
He pulled up and stopped across from the apartment, so I asked him nicely to turn the car around and park in front of the building. He refused to stop on the other side since there were some cars parked there. I asked him to understand that I had a lot of stuff to carry by myself, but yet he refused and told me that he didn't want to block traffic. (This happened late at night with not one car passing by while this conversation took place.) I kept insisting that he wouldn't be blocking traffic on a street where there hardly is any, and that it would simply take me one minute to get everything out of the car. This led to more tension when I told him that he was being inconsiderate. He somehow went into a stupid conversation about "Soviet times were so much better" (meaning nobody had to think about anyone else in those times), at which point I said, "In case you didn't know, your dreamland of America is not at all like what Soviet-Armenia was". I finally convinced him to turn the car around and park in front of the building.
The first thing he said when he opened the trunk was "Look you broke the trunk hood of my car" and I replied, "The only thing that is probably damaged is my luggage". He was amused with my comment, told me that he was just joking, and asked me for 1,200 drams. I told him the deal was for 1,000 drams, yet he demanded 1,200. I told him to call the cab company, so he did, but was proven wrong. I slammed the passenger side door and started bringing my stuff into my place.
Two hours later I was getting ready to go out to dinner with Nyree and her friends when I realized that my dress shoes were missing. Where were they??? In that damn cab! I called the cab company and they radioed the annoying cab driver and luckily found my shoes. I already needed a cab to get me to my dinner so they told me that the annoying cab driver would drop off my shoes at the office and another cab would bring them for me. It took them 45 minutes, but it arrived. I opened the door to the cab and who was the driver? The first thing I said with a super-sarcastic tone was "Oh, isn't it my most favourite cab driver in all of Yerevan". When I asked him for my shoes he said "1,500 drams". I kept calm and told him that I refused to pay him that much. Eventually he agreed to 1,200 drams including the ride down the street to the restaurant I had to go to.
So that is how my week started back in Armenia. I used the cab many more times after that incident and met some really decent drivers; I also visited a couple of historic tourist spots I've already seen many times; I also heard live traditional Armenian music and had khorovadz (bbq); I also realized how much more I prefer Armenian winter weather rather than Toronto's. It's all slowly falling back into place. If it wasn't for my great friends and relatives in Toronto, I don't think I'd miss it that much. I've probably logged about this before, but having good friends is extremely important to me. It will take some time I suppose (even after 15 months).
My mom threw me a great get-together before I left, just to see all my relatives and friends before leaving back to Armenia, sort of like a welcome party and a goodbye party, combined with a surprise early birthday party. My good friend Lisa also treated me to the Linkin Park/P.O.D. concert, which was awesome.
Now I'm back to Armenia. I'm looking forward to finishing the apartment I bought last summer, as well as another awesome summer in Armenia. Many people in Toronto asked me why I didn't visit in the summer and all I kept thinking was that there was no way I was going to miss an Armenian summer for anywhere else. Although I was a little hesitant about returning back to Armenia, I still have no regrets. I still love this place as much as I did when I moved here.
On another note, Mr. Toaster (the newest fast food restaurant in Yerevan) is pretty good. I just had a chicken sub there, which was quite decent, and spoke to the guy who prepared it (he is actually an American-Mexican). Funny thing is that he was making a lot of noise while preparing the food so as a joke I told my aunt (who was with me) that Jose was making too much noise ... not even knowing that his real name actually was Jose.
posted by Der Hova at 5:19 PM
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