Saturday, August 11, 2007

Tenank!

= let's see!


Back in Yerevan, escaped past the border patrol again. Phew! We finished up our tour of Kharabagh by going to Ghandasar (an amazing church where priests were actually armed and fighting during the war against the Azeri's) and seeing the Mamik and Papik statues. So close to the side of the road, much like how Stonehenge pops up on you all of sudden. I also sampled tutti oghi. Oh dear! Basically, if someone put an open flame close to my mouth, I could breath fire! Hardcore stuff. Some basic differences in Kharabagh: 1) the landscape: more mountainous and forest-like, whereas Armenia has more grasslands; 2) the people: military men everywhere, seems like they're all ready to fight any minute; 3) the language: dialect different, a lot more Russian than Armenia, luckily my knowledge of the language came in very handy, Nini would be proud; 4) Stepankeret vs. Yerevan: much more put together, nicer, newer buildings, well paved roads, more AC in buildings, etc., which I learned is because the current president of Armenia is sending most of his monetary aid to Kharabagh, a sensitive topic for Armenia. As always, "Raffo jan" was an excellent tour guide, I learned SO much from him!!!

Yesterday, Noushig and her friend from Birthright, Alysa (who is third generation Armo from Pennslyvania, and looks a lot like Serineh Abnoosi, and is a down-ass chic!), returned to Yerevan from Gyumri as well. It was so great to see Noush again! I missed her so much! Their journey, however, took some unfortunate, unexpected turns. I'll let Noushig share the details with you, but let's just say, she's going to get her Mafia connections involved to "handle the situation." But thank God they're safe now and with us.

After getting a $3 fennel (!!!, i.e. blowdry), and after the girls calmed down a bit, we headed to Opera Cafe for Caprese pizza, Amarain salad, fri (fries), and of course, Cafe Glases. Noush, the bro, Alysa, Sevannah, and I went to a Spyurk (new word I learned, =Diasporan) party at Champs-Elysses, Noush and my first clubbing experience in Armenia. Despite the sweat, it was a great time! Great music, mix of Armenian, Arabic, House, Hip Hop, and songs I couldn't even recognize the language. Oh yes, on the way there, we ran into Caroline's mama and bro. And of course, ran into a lot of people we knew from back home at the club as well. To name a few: Shariz (UCLA), Edit, Pedro, Arda (UCI), as well as all of our new friends we had met the night before. Let small worlds collide, we see Varouj's cousins from Toronto that we met at Caroline/Varouj's wedding, one of which was Noush's usher partner at the wedding! And then, I always knew that Arda had a boyfriend on the East Coast, who I find out is Nazo (see previous entry). What a trip! Only in Yerevan!

I'm trying to learn more and enjoy my last few days here, especially with Noush, as much as possible! So far, I've heard a lot of interesting perspectives from both the Diasporans and Armenia-Armenians, as well as what Armenia was in the past and what it is today- I'll save those for my last entry.

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