My first blog
I have read some of the blogs on Raffi’s website, and I decided that I might add my own experience here. I have lived and worked in Armenia for a year and a half now. All together, I enjoy my time here a lot.
In the last few weeks, I have seen quite a few accidents in Yerevan, which made me realize how poor public services really are despite the façade of the new fancy buildings, going up all around the city. 3 weeks or so ago, the building next to our office on Nalbandyan caught fire. It was not very serious, someone apparently had tried to prepare Khorovats on the roof and the tar started burning. Still, there was quite a lot of smoke. The closest fire station is on Sakharov square about 100 meters from our office. Nonetheless, it took the fire engines about 20 minutes to arrive, as cars relentlessly continued to drive up Nalbandyan. The firemen then realized that they could not put up their rather old ladders on the building because of the wiring on the street. Ultimately they had to bring in a more modern engine, which took about another hour. The firemen then had some trouble bringing the ladder up to the roof (it seemed to be their first time using the machinery, as the ladder was going up and down like a yo-yo), so the firemen started extinguishing about 2 hours after the start of the fire.
People in the burning building were quite cool. I saw a mother and her children watching the fire from their balcony below the roof. On the street, Armenian honoraries – i.e. men in black suits – were acting importantly and giving interviews to TV stations. I wondered what they had to say. I mean, the reaction of the fire brigade was so poor, I really do not want to know, what would happen, if there was a serious fire in Yerevan (let alone in one of the smaller towns or villages).
On a more positive note, I am amazed at how well the Shengavit hospital is taking care of my beautiful pregnant wife and me. All the prenatal care, i.e. all the necessary examinations, ultrasound checks etc., cost us some 70 US$. The doctors are very nice and seem very competent and are reluctant to take any money from us beside the official fee. As far as I understand from the books that I read, having an ultrasound is quite a luxury in the US and in Europe. Here you can have as many ultrasounds as you want, all included in the 70 dollars! One thing you have to get used to, though, is the fact that the doctor’s examination room is the waiting room for patients at the same time. That means that the doctor weighs you, takes your blood and tells you the results of your tests in front of up to 8 people. (For more intimate examinations there is a curtain, which can be drawn.) The good thing on the other hand is, that we get very good advice on pregnancy from Armenian Tatiks. I now know for example, that pregnant women become more beautiful, when they have a boy, and uglier, when they have a girl.
In the last few weeks, I have seen quite a few accidents in Yerevan, which made me realize how poor public services really are despite the façade of the new fancy buildings, going up all around the city. 3 weeks or so ago, the building next to our office on Nalbandyan caught fire. It was not very serious, someone apparently had tried to prepare Khorovats on the roof and the tar started burning. Still, there was quite a lot of smoke. The closest fire station is on Sakharov square about 100 meters from our office. Nonetheless, it took the fire engines about 20 minutes to arrive, as cars relentlessly continued to drive up Nalbandyan. The firemen then realized that they could not put up their rather old ladders on the building because of the wiring on the street. Ultimately they had to bring in a more modern engine, which took about another hour. The firemen then had some trouble bringing the ladder up to the roof (it seemed to be their first time using the machinery, as the ladder was going up and down like a yo-yo), so the firemen started extinguishing about 2 hours after the start of the fire.
People in the burning building were quite cool. I saw a mother and her children watching the fire from their balcony below the roof. On the street, Armenian honoraries – i.e. men in black suits – were acting importantly and giving interviews to TV stations. I wondered what they had to say. I mean, the reaction of the fire brigade was so poor, I really do not want to know, what would happen, if there was a serious fire in Yerevan (let alone in one of the smaller towns or villages).
On a more positive note, I am amazed at how well the Shengavit hospital is taking care of my beautiful pregnant wife and me. All the prenatal care, i.e. all the necessary examinations, ultrasound checks etc., cost us some 70 US$. The doctors are very nice and seem very competent and are reluctant to take any money from us beside the official fee. As far as I understand from the books that I read, having an ultrasound is quite a luxury in the US and in Europe. Here you can have as many ultrasounds as you want, all included in the 70 dollars! One thing you have to get used to, though, is the fact that the doctor’s examination room is the waiting room for patients at the same time. That means that the doctor weighs you, takes your blood and tells you the results of your tests in front of up to 8 people. (For more intimate examinations there is a curtain, which can be drawn.) The good thing on the other hand is, that we get very good advice on pregnancy from Armenian Tatiks. I now know for example, that pregnant women become more beautiful, when they have a boy, and uglier, when they have a girl.
posted by Klaus at 2:54 AM
4 Comments:
Enjoy Hayastan. I wish I could be there right now...
Welcome Klaus, it'll be nice reading stories from fresh eyes. I'm sure you'll have some interesting experiences to share with us. There's never a dull moment in Hayastan.
Welcome aboard, Klaus! I'm happy to get some company (finally)!
I've also only noticed ONE firestation in Yerevan. It did worry me at first but I just thought... If the City and Country have existed THIS LONG then maybe I don't need to worry. Granted the image you painted with your description of how they responded and how people stood around watching did entertain me.
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