Go home !
Ever since I was a small child, I have been fond of making things up. Back in 1981, I was a 9 year old fourth grader with terrible handwriting. My teacher was gave the class a writing assignment in which we had to write stories about what we saw in pictures he had given us.
Ironically, my teacher was of Armenian descent and one of the most creative instuctors I have ever had. Little did I know that one day, I would be living in Armenia, working as an English teacher. My career as an English teacher was short-lived, but thanks to my stint as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Armenia, I will always have plenty of inspiration for future stories.
Armenia is the kind of place people confuse with other places. When I was over there, from 1995 to 1997, there was a lot of press about Albania, which is part of the Balkan peninsula. A lot of my parents' friends wondered if that was where I had been sent. One of my friends received a package in the mail that was sent in care of Peace Corps/Romania, yet another Balkan country, instead of Armenia. Someone else told me of a relative who had thought he was in Algeria, which is an African country, not Armenia. Still, Armenia is a unique land. I feel fortunate to have been one of the few Americans (to date) who can claim to have visited Armenia.
If you ask anyone who can find Armenia on a map, which continent Armenia is a part of, you're liable to get one of two answers. Some people regard Armenia as part of Europe because it is west of the Ural Mountains and a part of the former Soviet Union. It is also a Christian nation, the FIRST Christian nation, as of 301 AD. The Armenians I met were quick to point out that Armenia was the first country to accept Christianity as its state religion. Other people see it as a part of Asia, because it is surrounded by the Muslim countries Turkey, Iran, and Azerbaijan. To me, Armenia is part of both continents. Why? Read on...
Armenian culture is European in that most Armenians speak Russian and consider themselves Christians. They dress in a somewhat western style. Blue jeans are a fairly common sight on the streets of Yerevan. The women tend to wear plenty of makeup and they defer to men, but they are also quite educated. In fact, most schools are co-educational and many women attend universities. If you were to visit someone's house, you could be offered borscht to eat and vodka to drink. Chess is a popular pastime. There are also plenty of churches around, but hardly a minaret to be seen. Muslims are indeed a rarity in Armenia. And winters can be cold, especially in the mountainous regions of the country.
However, the culture also has a distinctly Asian feel to it, from the Rabiz music blaring from bootleg cassette vendors in the streets, to the extremely hot, dry, summer climate. Most of the people look middle eastern, with jet black hair and swarthy skin. The Armenian diet includes bulghar, a typical Middle Eastern staple. People drink tea and Turkish style coffee, and eat luscious fruit, especially grapes, cherries, and apricots. Old men are frequently seen playing nardi (backgammon) on street corners, or any of the traditional Armenian musical instruments that are definitely Asian accented. The Asian flavor of Armenia is hard to describe, but it is definitely present in the country. For these reasons, I surmise that Armenia is truly at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.
The pictures I have included below display two different sides of this country, which is about the size of Maryland, from stunning beauty, to extreme poverty.
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Top: Dtatev-in southern Armenia
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Bottom: Gyumri-in northwest Armenia, near Turkey
Here's a picture of Lake Sevan, which is the area's largest mountain freshwater lake. It's located about 30 miles north of Yerevan and I was always amazed at how different the temperature was at Lake Sevan compared to the capital city. Having grown up near the beach, I remember it being much hotter there than it was further inland. At Lake Sevan, of course, it was the opposite. When it was extremely hot in the city, it would be nice and cool at the lake. The water was perpetually brisk, even on a hot day. And it was always a beautiful, brilliant shade of turquoise blue.
It was about nine years ago that I returned to the United States from my two year stint in Armenia. Over the course of the two years I was in Armenia, I observed some changes. The first year I was there, we had electricity maybe one or two hours a day. A lot of the Armenian men I knew had become amateur electricians. They connected wires to hospitals and metro stations, places that always had electricity, so that they could watch their televisions. The wires were known as "Left Lines", which were technically illegal. Interestingly enough, the word left is the opposite of the word right, and the word right is the opposite of the word wrong! There was even a rap song about Left Lines (Lev-ee loo-ees, in Armenian) that played on the Yerevan radio station, Hay FM (pronounced "HI"). I should mention that the old American soap opera Santa Barbara was very popular in Armenia from 1995-97. My colleagues and I were often asked how the soap ended, since the Armenians knew it was no longer on the air in the States and hadn't been for many years.
Water was also scarce. Some people got it just once a week, at three o'clock in the morning or at some other ungodly hour. I was lucky. I had water almost all the time throughout my entire two year tenure. One of my friends was not so lucky. She often showed up on my doorstep with hair that was so oily it could have fueled the city. People would leave their taps on and at night, would listen for the water to begin running. Then they would get up and fill all of their bottles with the precious fluid and store it until they got water again. Of course, hot water could only be had if one heated the water on a stove or a kerosene heater. Almost no one had a "Thermex", which was a hot water heater. They didn't become widely available until 1997, and even then, their cost was prohibitive, and Armenia in 1997 was strictly a cash and carry state. I think Thermexes cost about $100... chicken feed to many Americans, but VERY expensive to most Armenians.
When I was in Armenia, credit cards were almost unheard of. As I was departing the country, a couple of banks, including Britain's Midland Bank, were beginning to accept credit cards. Midland Bank even had an ATM, and when I left, its one branch in Yerevan had the only automatic teller machines in the country. Not having access to a credit card was not so bad. At that time in my life, I had never used them much. Of course now, I'm not sure how I would survive!
Since my time in Armenia, the government has come up with more denominations of money. When I arrived, the highest denomination was the 1,000 dram note (about $2.50). Since 1997, higher denominations have appeared, and the cash looks different than it did back then. Ten years ago, when the first PCVs were in Armenia, the country was switching from rubles to dram, and no one wanted to take the Armenian money at all. I was told that many of the members of the first group had to subsist on candy bars and Coke for awhile, until merchants became used to drams!
Living in the capital was expensive, not because things were more pricey, but because there was so much more to choose from. Temptation lurked around every corner, but when you're only getting about $5 a day, temptation is not a luxury you can afford to indulge very often. I can remember eagerly awaiting our payday every two months, where I would pick up my pile of drams and $48 in American cash (supposedly "vacation money", but that was a joke!). We were so isolated that we were at the mercy of Armenian Airlines or Aeroflot, and flying to Europe round trip on Armenian Airlines cost about $660. Aeroflot was cheaper, but flying on the Russian airline meant being routed through Moscow, which was a nightmare that many of us wanted to avoid if at all possible. There were places to vacation in Armenia, though I knew few people who actually did it. Some people would hop a bus to Turkey out of desperation; then, they would face the horrors of crossing into Turkey via Georgia. I was one of the desperate people and I have a story about crossing into Georgia, which I will share on this website soon.
Alcohol was another temptation that could be surprisingly affordable, or extremely expensive. Believe it or not, beer could be much more expensive than wine, vodka, cognac, or champagne (sparkling wine). Of course, Armenia is host to over 80 kinds of grapes and wine-making is a major business over there. But as an American, I have always thought of beer as the cheapest means to get a buzz. Of course, cheap beer exists in Armenia, but it's generally the type of brew that is guaranteed to tear up your insides. I also remember that cigarettes were available at about US 30 cents a pack. Thankfully, smoking was a habit I never indulged.
Last year, the weather in Virginia reminded me of Armenia's. Armenia is a very hot and dry country in the summer, with rainy falls and springs. The winter tends to be cold and snowy, because of the country's high altitude. I remember thinking that in the summertime, the sun was always shining in Armenia, even through the thick curtain of smog that permeated the air. Then, occasional rain would come in the fall, when trees would be splashed with the brilliant hues of autumn and the air would smell of burning garbage and leaves. And Virginia, last year, was about as dry as Armenia was when I was there... at least until last fall.
It poured rain on my wedding day, while most of the state was enduring water restrictions enforced by Governor Mark Warner. In fact, last fall was positively wet compared to the summer. Virginia's summer air is usually heavy with humidity, making one feel the need to develop a set of gills just to be able to breathe. But in the summer of 2002, the air was dry, like Armenia's was when I was there five years ago. And it was almost as hot, too. I can remember sitting in my apartment in Yerevan, so hot that I couldn't bear to wear clothes other than underwear. After all, there was no air conditioning and most of the time, no electricity for fans. At least in Virginia, we have climate control.
New Year's is a very exciting time in Armenia... at least it is for Armenians! In fact, it's the biggest holiday of the year. Traditionally, large parties are thrown and friends and neighbors visit each other to each and drink until they're about to burst from eating or fall over drunk from liquor. Cognac, champagne (sparkling wine), vodka, Turkish or Armenian beer, and wine are among the libations offered to wash down the dolma, cheeses, sausages, candies, and pastries set out for guests. Long-winded toasts are given by proud men... and I rarely understood what was being said because usually, I was half-schnockered by the time the toasting started! Christmas comes four days later and its significance pales in comparison to New Year's Day.
The first Christmas I spent in Armenia was a sad one, mainly because I was having a difficult time there and I spent the holiday alone. I wondered why I had come to such a place if my efforts were not appreciated by anyone. The second Christmas I spent in Armenia was a much happier one because I had made some good friends and there was no fighting with my family members. It was a very strange contradiction. I almost hated to leave, yet I couldn't wait to go!
I've been doing a lot more thinking about Armenia lately, mainly because of the war. Armenia is only about 200 miles from Iraq's border. It's easy to forget how close to the warzone Armenia is... in fact, parts of the country itself are warzones. I read in an article that the constant bombing may provoke earthquakes in the Middle East, since the region is on a fault line. The more research I've done, the more I think that Armenia could actually become a hot spot in the near future. Stay tuned.
Here's a great book about Armenia, if you can find it!
For more information on Armenia, please visit Cilicia.com .
Go home !
Ever since I was a small child, I have been fond of making things up. Back in 1981, I was a 9 year old fourth grader with terrible handwriting. My teacher was gave the class a writing assignment in which we had to write stories about what we saw in pictures he had given us.
Ironically, my teacher was of Armenian descent and one of the most creative instuctors I have ever had. Little did I know that one day, I would be living in Armenia, working as an English teacher. My career as an English teacher was short-lived, but thanks to my stint as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Armenia, I will always have plenty of inspiration for future stories.
Armenia is the kind of place people confuse with other places. When I was over there, from 1995 to 1997, there was a lot of press about Albania, which is part of the Balkan peninsula. A lot of my parents' friends wondered if that was where I had been sent. One of my friends received a package in the mail that was sent in care of Peace Corps/Romania, yet another Balkan country, instead of Armenia. Someone else told me of a relative who had thought he was in Algeria, which is an African country, not Armenia. Still, Armenia is a unique land. I feel fortunate to have been one of the few Americans (to date) who can claim to have visited Armenia.
If you ask anyone who can find Armenia on a map, which continent Armenia is a part of, you're liable to get one of two answers. Some people regard Armenia as part of Europe because it is west of the Ural Mountains and a part of the former Soviet Union. It is also a Christian nation, the FIRST Christian nation, as of 301 AD. The Armenians I met were quick to point out that Armenia was the first country to accept Christianity as its state religion. Other people see it as a part of Asia, because it is surrounded by the Muslim countries Turkey, Iran, and Azerbaijan. To me, Armenia is part of both continents. Why? Read on...
Armenian culture is European in that most Armenians speak Russian and consider themselves Christians. They dress in a somewhat western style. Blue jeans are a fairly common sight on the streets of Yerevan. The women tend to wear plenty of makeup and they defer to men, but they are also quite educated. In fact, most schools are co-educational and many women attend universities. If you were to visit someone's house, you could be offered borscht to eat and vodka to drink. Chess is a popular pastime. There are also plenty of churches around, but hardly a minaret to be seen. Muslims are indeed a rarity in Armenia. And winters can be cold, especially in the mountainous regions of the country.
However, the culture also has a distinctly Asian feel to it, from the Rabiz music blaring from bootleg cassette vendors in the streets, to the extremely hot, dry, summer climate. Most of the people look middle eastern, with jet black hair and swarthy skin. The Armenian diet includes bulghar, a typical Middle Eastern staple. People drink tea and Turkish style coffee, and eat luscious fruit, especially grapes, cherries, and apricots. Old men are frequently seen playing nardi (backgammon) on street corners, or any of the traditional Armenian musical instruments that are definitely Asian accented. The Asian flavor of Armenia is hard to describe, but it is definitely present in the country. For these reasons, I surmise that Armenia is truly at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.
The pictures I have included below display two different sides of this country, which is about the size of Maryland, from stunning beauty, to extreme poverty.
Top: Dtatev-in southern Armenia
Bottom: Gyumri-in northwest Armenia, near Turkey
Here's a picture of Lake Sevan, which is the area's largest mountain freshwater lake. It's located about 30 miles north of Yerevan and I was always amazed at how different the temperature was at Lake Sevan compared to the capital city. Having grown up near the beach, I remember it being much hotter there than it was further inland. At Lake Sevan, of course, it was the opposite. When it was extremely hot in the city, it would be nice and cool at the lake. The water was perpetually brisk, even on a hot day. And it was always a beautiful, brilliant shade of turquoise blue.
It was about nine years ago that I returned to the United States from my two year stint in Armenia. Over the course of the two years I was in Armenia, I observed some changes. The first year I was there, we had electricity maybe one or two hours a day. A lot of the Armenian men I knew had become amateur electricians. They connected wires to hospitals and metro stations, places that always had electricity, so that they could watch their televisions. The wires were known as "Left Lines", which were technically illegal. Interestingly enough, the word left is the opposite of the word right, and the word right is the opposite of the word wrong! There was even a rap song about Left Lines (Lev-ee loo-ees, in Armenian) that played on the Yerevan radio station, Hay FM (pronounced "HI"). I should mention that the old American soap opera Santa Barbara was very popular in Armenia from 1995-97. My colleagues and I were often asked how the soap ended, since the Armenians knew it was no longer on the air in the States and hadn't been for many years.
Water was also scarce. Some people got it just once a week, at three o'clock in the morning or at some other ungodly hour. I was lucky. I had water almost all the time throughout my entire two year tenure. One of my friends was not so lucky. She often showed up on my doorstep with hair that was so oily it could have fueled the city. People would leave their taps on and at night, would listen for the water to begin running. Then they would get up and fill all of their bottles with the precious fluid and store it until they got water again. Of course, hot water could only be had if one heated the water on a stove or a kerosene heater. Almost no one had a "Thermex", which was a hot water heater. They didn't become widely available until 1997, and even then, their cost was prohibitive, and Armenia in 1997 was strictly a cash and carry state. I think Thermexes cost about $100... chicken feed to many Americans, but VERY expensive to most Armenians.
When I was in Armenia, credit cards were almost unheard of. As I was departing the country, a couple of banks, including Britain's Midland Bank, were beginning to accept credit cards. Midland Bank even had an ATM, and when I left, its one branch in Yerevan had the only automatic teller machines in the country. Not having access to a credit card was not so bad. At that time in my life, I had never used them much. Of course now, I'm not sure how I would survive!
Since my time in Armenia, the government has come up with more denominations of money. When I arrived, the highest denomination was the 1,000 dram note (about $2.50). Since 1997, higher denominations have appeared, and the cash looks different than it did back then. Ten years ago, when the first PCVs were in Armenia, the country was switching from rubles to dram, and no one wanted to take the Armenian money at all. I was told that many of the members of the first group had to subsist on candy bars and Coke for awhile, until merchants became used to drams!
Living in the capital was expensive, not because things were more pricey, but because there was so much more to choose from. Temptation lurked around every corner, but when you're only getting about $5 a day, temptation is not a luxury you can afford to indulge very often. I can remember eagerly awaiting our payday every two months, where I would pick up my pile of drams and $48 in American cash (supposedly "vacation money", but that was a joke!). We were so isolated that we were at the mercy of Armenian Airlines or Aeroflot, and flying to Europe round trip on Armenian Airlines cost about $660. Aeroflot was cheaper, but flying on the Russian airline meant being routed through Moscow, which was a nightmare that many of us wanted to avoid if at all possible. There were places to vacation in Armenia, though I knew few people who actually did it. Some people would hop a bus to Turkey out of desperation; then, they would face the horrors of crossing into Turkey via Georgia. I was one of the desperate people and I have a story about crossing into Georgia, which I will share on this website soon.
Alcohol was another temptation that could be surprisingly affordable, or extremely expensive. Believe it or not, beer could be much more expensive than wine, vodka, cognac, or champagne (sparkling wine). Of course, Armenia is host to over 80 kinds of grapes and wine-making is a major business over there. But as an American, I have always thought of beer as the cheapest means to get a buzz. Of course, cheap beer exists in Armenia, but it's generally the type of brew that is guaranteed to tear up your insides. I also remember that cigarettes were available at about US 30 cents a pack. Thankfully, smoking was a habit I never indulged.
Last year, the weather in Virginia reminded me of Armenia's. Armenia is a very hot and dry country in the summer, with rainy falls and springs. The winter tends to be cold and snowy, because of the country's high altitude. I remember thinking that in the summertime, the sun was always shining in Armenia, even through the thick curtain of smog that permeated the air. Then, occasional rain would come in the fall, when trees would be splashed with the brilliant hues of autumn and the air would smell of burning garbage and leaves. And Virginia, last year, was about as dry as Armenia was when I was there... at least until last fall.
It poured rain on my wedding day, while most of the state was enduring water restrictions enforced by Governor Mark Warner. In fact, last fall was positively wet compared to the summer. Virginia's summer air is usually heavy with humidity, making one feel the need to develop a set of gills just to be able to breathe. But in the summer of 2002, the air was dry, like Armenia's was when I was there five years ago. And it was almost as hot, too. I can remember sitting in my apartment in Yerevan, so hot that I couldn't bear to wear clothes other than underwear. After all, there was no air conditioning and most of the time, no electricity for fans. At least in Virginia, we have climate control.
New Year's is a very exciting time in Armenia... at least it is for Armenians! In fact, it's the biggest holiday of the year. Traditionally, large parties are thrown and friends and neighbors visit each other to each and drink until they're about to burst from eating or fall over drunk from liquor. Cognac, champagne (sparkling wine), vodka, Turkish or Armenian beer, and wine are among the libations offered to wash down the dolma, cheeses, sausages, candies, and pastries set out for guests. Long-winded toasts are given by proud men... and I rarely understood what was being said because usually, I was half-schnockered by the time the toasting started! Christmas comes four days later and its significance pales in comparison to New Year's Day.
The first Christmas I spent in Armenia was a sad one, mainly because I was having a difficult time there and I spent the holiday alone. I wondered why I had come to such a place if my efforts were not appreciated by anyone. The second Christmas I spent in Armenia was a much happier one because I had made some good friends and there was no fighting with my family members. It was a very strange contradiction. I almost hated to leave, yet I couldn't wait to go!
I've been doing a lot more thinking about Armenia lately, mainly because of the war. Armenia is only about 200 miles from Iraq's border. It's easy to forget how close to the warzone Armenia is... in fact, parts of the country itself are warzones. I read in an article that the constant bombing may provoke earthquakes in the Middle East, since the region is on a fault line. The more research I've done, the more I think that Armenia could actually become a hot spot in the near future. Stay tuned.
Here's a great book about Armenia, if you can find it!
For more information on Armenia, please visit Cilicia.com .