Pleased to meet you Mr.President

Sometimes it's funny the way things turn out. Saturday started off simple enough with a visit to the National Art Gallery. Due to the pre-Easter holiday, the museum closed early so Armen and I decided to join Gapo  for mass at Surp Sarkis-his favorite church.

I had only heard of Surp Sarkis from Aram's song, I wasn't aware that the church still existed in Yerevan. Apparently it does. It's located right on the bank of the Hrazdan Gorge, giving it sweeping views of the city.  We got there a little early and had to wait outside for Gapo. There was a flurry of activity outside the church, with police all around, ministers going in and out, and people generally running around all over the place. 

Gapo finally arrived and took us inside to introduce us to his friend, Der-Hagop. Der-Hagop was a charmer, and we instantly realized why he and Gapo got along so well even with such a huge language barrier between them- they are one of a kind. Der-Hagop was genuinely very friendly and really made us feel welcome. Enough so that he invited us to a party at the diocese right after mass. We were a little underdressed but thought to ourselves, what the hell why not. 

After mass, we followed him into the diocese, breezed past security and went upstairs to a cocktail reception. And then it happened. In walked the president  and prime minister of Armenia, along with the mayor of Yerevan. Armen and I looked at each other and thought to ourselves: "What the hell is going on? Is this really happening?" Oh yes it was. We greeted them, toasted them a happy Easter, and went on to listen to the choir performing in the background. It was kind of surreal. It is not as if I were dying to meet Serge Sargsyan, the president, the individual. But  just the concept of going to another country in which you are a tourist, and having the opportunity to meet the president, was beyond anything I had ever imagined. It's like going to Paris and attending a cocktail party with Sarkozy. Okay, maybe it would be a little bit harder to corner Sarkozy, but you get the picture.

As Gapo observed about the president: "He was a short dude. " They all stood there shaking hands with everyone- not exactly hard labor but still, it was considerate. They all seemed happy enough to be there. The mayor of Yerevan looked like a slick one though.

I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday...

(Images from top: The beautiful views of the Hrazdan Gorge from Surp Sarkis, a priest outside the church directing traffic, some nice local boys outside the church-are they or aern't they?, side view of the church exterior, front view of the church, there must have been hundreds of people there that day, having wine and coffee in Der-Hagop's office, the frenzy of paparazzi interviewing Der Hagop, Armen Gapo and I outside the church, heading to mass, Gapo and Armen-don't they look like the rest of the Armenian men in the background, some of the people at the cocktail party, the choir, Der-Hagop even sang for us, Gapo and his buddy Der-Hagop).