Beach weather...

I spent the day at the beach today, but that's because I'm in Barcelona, not Yerevan. Barcelona's a city which I've been wanting to see for ages, and it is cool, and I can imagine it is fantastic during beach season, but overall I am a bit disappointed I guess. I quite like it, don't get me wrong. La Rambla (the famous pedestrian avenue), the gothic quarter, the Gaudi (my favorite) architecture... but I just expected a lot more in the architecture... there really isn't that much of Gaudi's stuff to see. He spent the last 12 years of his life working on (and fundraising for) a cathedral that never was finished. The government is still collecting money to complete it, as if they can't afford to do it themselves, and the newer sections look much plainer and non-organic (I'd almost say Soviet) in comparison to the Gaudi sections. So it seems the Spanish can get it wrong, too.

Meanwhile, the prices have been a shock to my system, which is accustomed to Yerevan, and last summer Eastern Europe and Georgia. Things easily cost 5 to 10 times more... the other shock was the amount of petty theft, something I was warned about. Nevertheless, for the first time in my life, they managed to steal from me, and I saw and heard about it happening to a few others firsthand. The govt/police don't really seem to care much at all.

Another interesting thing is that they have a very different dialect of Spanish here - Catalonian. They even have almost everything written in both dialects, it's quite interesting. But I am happy to see that I can still communicate in Spanish when I have to - though terribly.

In the Armenian department, there is little here. A few Armenians from Hayastan are here and working - some even making delicious tapas (mezze like meals), but don't know that there is more to it than that. Also a Russian grocery store sells Armenian cognac in sword shaped bottles.... good stuff! I am dropping of copies of Rediscovering Armenia at some local hostels for their borrowing shelves, like I did all over E. Europe. Give folks some ideas for their next trips... if anyone coming through Yerevan would want to take some to hostels in their hometowns, let me know.

I'm sure there is a lot more I could share, but can't remember. So that's it for now. Oh, and tomorrow doesn't look like beach weather :-(

New TV Entertainment

The state television station H1 has been showing Armenian dubbed films for the past year or two. Though a couple of the other stations have also started doing this, H1 definitely produces the best ones.

More and more commercials are also being produced in Armenian, including product which has been imported, rather than produced here.

Armenia TV has been showing a few series of Brazilian soap operas, but has never shown feature films. The station has now signed a deal with Warner Brothers to show over 200 films dubbed in Armenian, movies such as "Lord of the Rings" and "Ocean's 11", and much more.

They have also just announced that they will be showing "Friends" dubbed in Armenian.

New "Old Town" Yerevan!

Still haven't seen the specifics, but this sounds very promising - and finally answers the question of what will happen to all the numbered facades that have been removed...

NEW PLAN FOR OLD YEREVAN: ARAM STREET TO BECOME CENTER OF HISTORY AND NOSTALGIA

By Gayane Abrahamyan

ArmeniaNow reporter

A new project by the Urban Planning Council of Yerevan plans to put the city's most historic buildings or those that best represent 19th and early 20th century architecture - on one street.

If the plan is successful, some three years from now Aram Street, just off Republic Square might better become known as `Old Yerevan' Street.

Nineteen buildings that have been dismantled either because they were in bad condition, or to make way for current urban renewal, are to be rebuilt in their original form, reflecting the classical Russian style of the last century.

Though coming at a time when the city center is being rebuilt, the city's Chief Architect Samvel Danielyan says the idea is not a new one.

`Attempts to gather these buildings in one place, to create an atmosphere typical to Yerevan, as well as discussions about the idea have been there as early as in Soviet times, but they have remained unrealized,' says Danielyan.

`But it is more important today, since as a result of large scale urban-planning processes many buildings have either been dismantled or have appeared in a totally alien environment, are not concentrated in one place and lose their true artistic value in an improper surrounding.'

Part of the project would include recreating backyards typical to the old Yerevan, with small archways leading to green yards full of light, where museums, workshops, small galleries, and old Yerevan style taverns and other such things will be created to show the routine lifestyle and traditions of previous times.

`This environment will be of interest for both tourists and the local population, who will enjoy nostalgic recollections in the backyards,' says Danielyan. `The implementation of this project also has an educational point of view, for the future generations has to see and be aware what ground Yerevan has been created on, what was its architectural appearance.'

Tourism operator Hrachik Muradyan says the need for such a project is very strong in Yerevan.

`I communicate with dozens of tourists every day and all of them ask to see the place where they could see the old Yerevan, where are our old buildings people used to live and how they used to live there,' says Muradyan.

If successful, the project will feature old design, while implementing modern construction as well. For example, an underground parking garage near the street will accommodate 1,400 cars.

The project has the approval of 27 out of 28 Urban-planning Council members. Only one, former Senior Architect Narek Sargsyan objected, and his protest was related to the location.

The former Senior Architect suggested that the territory of the `Firdousi' market be used for the implementation of the program.

`There are already 8 historical-cultural monuments at Aram Street that are not subject to moving to another place,' explains Danielyan. `Besides, it is the logical continuation of the Armenian National Gallery and the History Museum. Moreover, many of the council members suggested including the territory behind the Gallery as well and that the street would stretch on the opposite side to the tunnels leading to the Hrazdan gorge.'

President of the Armenian Union of Architects Mkrtich Minasyan believes this project is the only way to preserve the old structures today.

`In this period of total dismantlement this is the only hope we have to not lose a huge portion of our history,' says Minasyan. `Every town is unique with its cultural layers where the architectural structures are on the first place. No one is impressed by contemporary buildings and skyscrapers, but our old, narrow yards and wooden balconies with incrustations will.'

In approximately two months the full portfolio of the project will be submitted for a tender on construction rights.

According to Danielyan, this will be one joint urban-planning program and will not be divided into lots.

`The project will be implemented under strict supervision to escape change of environment; although this is one joint project and demands huge investments, the interest is already quite big and I think in five years we will wander across an Old Yerevan Street rich with old unique colors,' says Danielyan.

Cafe season slowly ending....

Mischievous with Julia

One of my good friends from Canada is visiting for a few weeks. She likes to party quite a bit, so we decided to head over to a disco. As cheesy as that word is, if I say the word club or night club locals automatically think I’m talking about a strip joint.

Yerevan’s club scene has sucked this past summer.

The king of all clubs ... Astral has been closed all summer long for renovations (wrong time to do renovations when thousands of tourists are in town); Relax Bar which is cool and cute is in the basement of a residential building and frequently shuts down because of neighbours complaining; claustrophobic Monte Cristo closed down a couple of days ago; Star Time is for the rabiz class; Bunker is cool, but can seem snobby ... anyway ...

There were four of us yesterday night.

First, we decided to check out Cheers. If we had stayed any longer than a minute, I think we would have all walked out with lung cancer. Even the two smokers with us were disgusted by the cigarette smoke. My work in many ways is connected with clubs, so I've been to hundreds of them throughout the world, but I've NEVER before been into a more hazardous environment than Cheers.

We decided to head over to Atlantic instead, a place that has never let us down.

The guy at the door told us the disco was packed, and that they could not allow any more people in. As we stood a couple of meters away from the door, one of our local friends turned to the guy at the door and said, "Do you know who’s with us? Do you know that girl? (pointing to our Canadian-Armenian friend, who many people have said resembles Julia Roberts) Do you watch movies? It's such a shame if you don't recognize the Pretty Woman!"

Long story short, we got in, and sat at a VIP table. No free drinks, but we danced, got buzzed, laughed for a couple of hours, and decided to head out before anyone caught onto our mischievous lie.

Georgian police use violence on Armenian protestors

strange, they don't use violence on Georgian protestors even during revolution...

POLICE QUASH ARMENIAN PROTEST IN SOUTHERN GEORGIA. Georgian police resorted to violence on 5 October to break up a protest demonstration by some 300 people in the predominantly Armenian-populated town of Akhalkalaki, Caucasus Press reported. The demonstrators, some of whom converged on Akhalkalaki from outlying villages, were protesting the closure by Tax Police of 10 local stores, which local activists interpreted as retaliation for the formal demand by the regions Armenians last month for autonomous status (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 September 2005). Several demonstration participants have been hospitalized after being beaten by police. LF (RFE/RL)

Lots going on (Chess/Theatre/Music/Fall)

It's a busy month in this neighborhood. HyeFest has begun, a theatre event with groups visiting from many countries and performing in different cities in Armenia, one of the years strongest chess tournaments in the world is underway in Stepanakert, the Armenian Navy Band is back in town, Yerevan's birthday is being celebrated (something like 2,800 years old), and the golden autumn (Voski Ashun) celebrations will start soon across the country.

Am I forgetting anything?

Vardan Petrosyan's VERelQ

I finally got tickets to see Vardan Petrosyan's latest show called VERelQ. Tickets have almost always been sold out, but he's been constantly adding more shows.

Great performance, based on the Genocide, the life of Komitas, quite a bit of anti-rabiz criticism, singing, dancing, laughing, crying, getting depressed, people bawling ... the Komitas parts were quite intense.

If you are in town, try to check it out. If you don't understand Eastern Armenian it might be a little difficult to understand, 'cause he talks quite fast. Anyway, it's at the Russian Drama Theatre across from Moscow Cinema and Yerevan Hotel.

first Hostel in the Caucasus

Congrats to the folks at the Envoy Hostel - for opening the first hostel in the entire Caucasus. It is a beautiful space, right off Mashdots, fully remodeled and meeting the specifications of the YHI (I think it is). This will be yet another boost for tourism, and a magnet/hub for backpackers/budget travelers throughout the region.

And now folks, better internet... (don't hold your breath)

This past week Kocharian said that "the next task is to liberalize Internet services", the word next referring to the already "liberalized" mobile phone market.

On the surface this is great to hear, since the internet here is slow and expensive. But when you look at what happened with "liberalization" of the mobile phone market, you know your odds of any real improvement are slim. Basically, the Armenian government had a case that ArmenTel had not made the investments it had promised, and services in Armenia were sub-standard, and had a decent case in court to force a change or true liberalization of the mobile phone and internet markets... finally, the huge mistake of granting ArmenTel a monopoly (presumably someone recieved a large payoff) could be partially rectified. Instead, what do they do? They reach a settlement... great, right?

Well the settlement, in which the Armenian government agreed to put aside it's entire case came down to this. ArmenTel agreed to allow ONE more company to enter the mobile phone market. That was it. Nothing about the internet, nothing about truly opening up the mobile market to as many competitors as cared to enter, just an agreement to allow one more mobile operator. An incredibly minor concession, which protected an extremely valuable monopoly. The day this agreement was announced, the Armenian goverment also announced that Karabakh Telecom had won the right to become the second operator - though none of the required bidding process took place, and no explanation was ever given for this. So now, out of a situation where the peoples interest could be served, two massive concessions were made. Were they made for free? Or did officials manage to enrich themselves yet again? Hmmm...

So now we have two mobile operators - and both know that no other company may enter the market. They have little incentive to compete on price therefore, and indeed the incredibly high prices haven't budged much in this extremely poor country. (How people afford a half a million cell phones here I do not know.)

So now I'm looking forward to liberalized internet services! ;-)