290

For those of you who were here in the summer, don't expect an exchange rate of 350 drams to the dollar when you get back. Last weekend, the dollar dropped below 300 for the first time since soon after it was introduced, in fact it dropped 10 percent in one day. It has recovered some of the loss, and today the rate stands at 303, but folks, there's no end in sight from where I'm standing.

So I haven't shared a conversation in a while...

I'm buying a 2 liter coke with a friend last night, and the guy automatically puts it in a plastic bag. I prefer to carry it 2 buildings over than waste a bag, create more trash, and pull it out, handing it back to him. He's like, huh? And my friend, who knows him, says we don't need it. He says, but, it's shameful! (to carry it without a bag). We laugh - a new "amot" (thing to need to feel shame about).

How to cheat an Armenian...

If you're an airline, this year's answer for November is to switch from quoting prices for plane tickets in dollars, to Euros. No big deal, right? So a $900 ticket on October 31 costs 612 Euros - and the price in dram of course is unchanged. WRONG! The $900 ticket of October 31 is now about 900 euros, and the price in dollars and dram just shot up a WHOPPING FORTY SEVEN PERCENT! (Yes, 47%).

Let me be the first to wish you a Shnorhavor Nor Dari yev Surp Dz'nunt on behalf of the airlines here. You need not wish them a happy new year in return, because already it's going to be the best they've ever had!