Frral

= to go around

And that's exactly what we did. First, we treated the mamas to French Toast and Pomegranate Iced Teas at Art Bridge Cafe, yummy! I was on a mad hunt for my "M" pendant (in Armenian), but was unsuccessful after visiting many malls. We also stopped at what my mama called "Yerevan's Casa de Fruta" where I sampled dried apricots stuffed with walnuts. To die for. At night, we stopped by the Hayrapetian residence (yeah for Linette!) before going to dinner, but Janet (AKA tour guide, AKA personal trainer!!!) had a few stops in mind: Mayr Hayastan and the Cascades. They were both breath taking, but at this point it was 10pm and we hadn't eaten since 10am! We had an excellent dinner at the bottom of the Cascades, where my bro became enthralled by Koko's various stories about his childhood, family, and Armenia (over a bottle of oghi, of course). That man knows how to give toasts! Next, drunk Mikey and I made our way to Opera Cafe where we met up with Sevannah, more Birthright volunteers, AYF Toronto, AYF Michigan, and East Coast Armos that knew our Sara very well (her name was Maral). Two bros from LA were also vacationing in Yerevan and they joined us, one of which was Nazo, who used to date Nune (Lilo's friend) and knows Raffi Kassabian. I knew I recognized him! The great thing about Armenia, both Sev and I agreed, you end up hanging out with the people you thought you'd never hang out with back home. We closed the place down with many (too many for the bro) shots of oghi and singing Armenian songs. We drew a crowd!

Rise and shine early this morning, Raffo jan picked us up to make our way east. First stop, Khor Virap, where my bro and I climbed all the way down the narrow hole. The best view of Ararat (and the Turkish border!) as well! Next stop, Nora Vank. Friends, prepare yourselves for the journey, this is where I will be married. Noushig claimed Tatev, I claim Nora Vank. We also had a breakfast picnic there, pah pah.

Adventure #1: On the way to Karabagh, we ran out of gas- normal! Unfortunately, the car stopped at a blind turn so every time a car zoomed by us while Raffo jan went to get benzene, we had to hold our breaths and pray for our lives. My bro played Borat on his DVD player which calmed us down a bit. We stopped in Goris for lunch and finally made the long drive to Kharabagh (about six hours outside Yerevan). I truly feel like I'm not in Armenia any more, Toto. I can't put my finger on it, but it's just different. We stopped at Shushi first, which is not in the best of state (reminds me of Bratislava from "Euro Trip"). It overlooks Stepanakert, where we are staying. Tomorrow, we will be going around Stepanakert and visiting Jermuk on our way back to Yerevan.

Adventure 2: We have no passports!!! Didn't even cross our minds to bring them. Luckily, it seemed as though border patrol was out for coffee, so we zoomed past their post. Let's hope we get out okay. If you don't hear from me for a while, I'm staying at Heghnar Hotel in Stepanakeret: (+374 97) 266666 (http://www.heghnarhotel.com/).