FINALLY I have found the best pizza in Armenia.

Tifosi is a new restaurant on Teryan Street, just north of Sayat Nova. It's actually a sports restaurant (meaning they have televisions showing sports, mostly soccer) with a decent menu, including pizzas, and quite a variety of North American snacks: mozzarella sticks, wings, and much more. I only tried the pizza, which was pretty good (other than the last bite which had a hair in it ... but then again, that's my luck ... I'm sure most of you know my Pizza Di Roma story.) The waiter was decent enough to apologize when I told him about it, unlike the "dmbo" at Pizza Di Roma.

A few days ago the ARF invited a group of Syrian Bedouins, whose grandfathers saved many Armenians who had arrived in Syria due to the deportations of the 1915 Genocide. It was a great gesture to show the local Armenians, and of course people abroad, how Muslims are also on our side with this issue. They visited and laid flowers at the Genocide Memorial yesterday. They mentioned that tens of thousands of Armenians came into Syria, and were rescued by the courageous Bedouins. A lot of Armenians intermarried with local Arabs, but the Bedouins mentioned that Christianity was always respected, and that the Armenians were never forced to convert to Islam.

Now listen to this ... Turkey allows flights from Syria to fly over "their" country to get to Armenia. The flight the Bedouins were on was banned to fly over Turkey. The Turks claimed that they were having technical problems. What technical problems?

Rumours are that the Philip Kirkorov concert has been canceled. I'm not sure if this news is true, but I found one really positive thing out of this whole mess ... Armenians here showed a great deal of patriotism with this guy's stupid mistakes.

Arina, that's awesome! I love it. :-)

The most I've done (a couple of times) is picked up an empty pack, in front of their eyes, and put it in the trash can. Sad part is that there aren't a lot of trash cans in the city. I know it's not a good excuse, considering most of the time I put small garbage in my pocket till I find one, but the city really needs it.

Anyway ...

One of the top singers in Russia, Philip Kirkorov, is supposed to come to Yerevan for a concert in April. Recently, he made some nasty racial remarks to an Armenian journalist, and so this journalist is planning on taking it to court. He’s also known to be quite pro-Turkish. Sadly, the guy is half Armenian himself (his dad Bedros is the Armenian parent.) Over 30 youth organizations in Armenia, including the AYF, have been protesting for the past few days, trying to convince the organizers of the event to pullout on this concert. Today, the vice-Mayor of Yerevan, Arman Sahakian, was on the news saying that the concert would still be taking place (even though the idiot singer is a disgrace to Armenians.) Later, I read on the news that the vice-Mayor is actually the organizer and promoter of this concert. UGH!!! The youth organizations have promised a "surprise" for Philip when he arrives. :-)

Other than that, I just found out that a family that had recently moved here from Toronto will be moving back. Unfortunately, they couldn't find good paying work to live here comfortably. This sort of thing happens, and sadly, most of these people move back to where they’re originally from, and all the rumours start spreading. (You guys all know the game "pss-pss telephone right? I bet you an Armenian invented it.) These people move back, and all the Armenians of that community start saying, "Look what happened to 'so and so', they couldn't live there." And so everyone else gets scared to make that same move.

A couple of days ago I met up with one of my relatives visiting from Syria. She mentioned that she knows quite a few Armenians from Aleppo that are planning on moving here soon. With all the tension that is taking place in Syria and Lebanon right now this is only going to stimulate that move more.

The problem here is that, if repatriates aren't well off, and they just make the move thinking everything will be alright, they almost always end up being disappointed. Finding an inexpensive rental apartment in Yerevan isn't always easy. Finding a good paying job? Well … no comment. Starting a business can also be a problem, considering renting commercial spots are also very expensive.

Moving to Armenia takes a lot of thinking, but, in my opinion, it's completely necessary for us to survive as a race.

Diaspora Armenians can really help Armenia in more ways than just sending money over. I've always said that mingling with the locals is always very important. Walking into Sam and Stepan’s Square One restaurant really proves this. Although you could rarely find a table to sit at, it's great to see Armenians from all over the world gathered under one roof. Am I being cheesy? Am I expressing my thoughts well? I don't know really. I just think that something as simple as Square One really creates that social progression our youth strives for, and undoubtedly needs.

Time to sleep.

Smoking and Armenia

Smoking is a popular pastime in Armenia. So you can imagine how suprised I was when recently a law was passed prohibiting smoking in public buildings including government institutions, health centers, and schools. On Friday I excitingly walked in to the Ministry of Education and Science. (They have recently implemented a passport required for entry rule... so if anyone is considering visiting the Minister, do make sure you take your passport). As I rode the Soviet elevator up to the sixth floor, I was greeted in a huge puff of smoke. I knew it was too good to be true!

Since I'm on the topic of cigarettes... I was crossing the street a few days ago when the window of a new mercedes rolled down. The driver very plainly threw out his empty pack of smokes while he was stuck at the light. Being in a somewhat annoyed mood anyways, I decided to walk to the car, pick up the smokes, and throw them back into the car. Though the owner thought/thinks I'm crazy, hopefully something sparked in his head that he shouldn't litter... okay maybe a little too optimistic. But I do urge all of you visting Armenia to do similar things. People here just don't realize their actions are wrong unless they are shamed! That's my opinion anyway.

unpredicatble it is... the weather in March is often termed "Gizh Mart" or "Crazy March" so I think everyone was waiting for this storm. The streets are beautiful outside and it does indeed look like a winter wonderland. Unfortunately we all know that the streets will soon turn into piles of mud!

So this weekend I went grocery shopping and found that many of my essential items can be found in Yerevan. If you go to the SAS supermarket on Tumanian street or Europe on Tpagrichner you can find yourself blueberries (imported from Mexico and cost around $8.00 per small packet), caramel sauce (I didn't know Heinz made caramel sauce), Special K red berries cereal, and even crocodile meat which costs an arm and a leg. I also learned that Julia makes the best kahlua ever! Yummy!

We've been having the most beautiful Spring weather for the past month.

Last night, while I was working in front of the computer for hours, I decided to check the upcoming weather forecast on CNN, and it said it was currently snowing. I opened my curtains to see that Christmas was back. I felt like putting up my holiday lights back up. And this morning I was greeted with a "Happy New Year" from one of my relatives.

It’s been 12 hours now and the snow hasn’t stopped coming down. I’m just praying to God this doesn't affect agriculture like last year. Fruits were super expensive last year because of this. Armenia weather is really unpredictable in March. :-/

Today marks my first day of playing tennis in SO long... has the winter really passed? I didn't play all winter long since there are no indoor courts. I am clearly mistaken as I learned today that there are two courts located in Jermushka a bit past the Kievyan bridge. Granted it's a bit expensive ($40 -- not a misprint -- an hour though the owner has been bargained down to $20), it is the only court. I was also told that the owner used to be the mayor of Spitak when the earthquake hit... how ever could he afford to open up them courts? Let's hope Hrazdan's indoor courts are ready before the cold sets in this November. I am in dire need of finding more hitting partners, so if anyone ever wants to hit do send me an email.

On the bright side the snow has melted off the streets and walking Rocky no longer means hosing him down afterwards. The outdoor cafes are preparing for a busy season. Construction is all around. Our apartment, located on Pushkin and North Ave should be ready in a few months. Armen and I are excited about the move... but we will surrounded by noise and dust at least until 2007 (they say).

As if things couldn't get any better, I am very proud to let you all know that Armenia has FINALLY passed a smoking law. To date government buildings, healthcare institutions, and other public properties no longer allow for smoking indoors. But more importantly, cafes and restaurants will be required to have a non-smoking room... not just section (did anyone follow me on that?)

I just returned from my first khorovats of the year 2005. We got a bit of a late start and didn't arrive at the army base to pick up Raffo til 6; nevertheless, a scrumptious dinner was on the blanket by 8. Armen brought his guitar and we sat by the fire under a clear sky chilling until 11. I'd heard that spring comes early in these parts, but I was still surprised by the luscious green the landscape on the way to Martakert. I look forward to the possibilities of spring.

julia

Last night was the Miss Europe 2005 competition, and the final race was between Germany and Armenia! From (I think) 36 countries, 12 were chosen, followed by 5 (including Slovakia, Armenia, Germany, England and France.) Armenia became the 1st runner up after Germany won.

Anyway, back home from Paris. Of course had an awesome trip, but very cold. Meanwhile Yerevan has been having really nice weather, usually +10 to +16 temperatures, yet you look at the CNN website and it says minus temperatures for Yerevan. :-/ Propaganda?

Construction goes on, mostly new really ugly buildings and shops, but this city is so alive. My area is a complete disaster with mud everywhere. I just heard from a Syrian-Armenian family (that had recently moved here), that they know a lot of Syrian-Armenians who will be visiting Armenia this year, all interested in investing ... buying homes, opening up shops, and so on.

My entire family, for the first time ever "as a whole", will be visiting this spring. My dad has never seen Armenia yet, so hopefully with this trip he can decide if he wants to make this move (which he has been talking about for the past couple of years.) He is on early retirement, and my poor mom is really getting tired of working.

I want to pressure my neighbours into helping out clean and perhaps paint our building entrance and replace the windows, but it's not going to be easy. I know what my relatives went through doing their building. Once a week I clean the entire staircase of our building, and my neighbours walk by me and say nothing. On the first day I moved in, I told the neighbours on my floor that I hope we can keep our floor clean. Luckily they understood, and now our floor is the cleanest in the building.