A Never Ending Sea of People

April 24, 2009. Yerevan. What a day to be in Armenia.

It's kind of surreal to be here on April 24th, where people actually go out to the genocide memorial-Tsitsernakabert- out of genuine emotion and respect for all of the lives that were lost. It's very different from the march in LA, where kids go out in hopes of finding their next boyfriend or girlfriend. Here in Armenia, every single person in Armenia is out that day in full force- not everyone in Yerevan, but everyone in Armenia. It's like an endless sea of people stretching out for miles all across. And there are thousands of flowers everywhere along the streets, in people's hands, all being taken up to the memorial.

We started our trek up to Tsitsernakabert along Mashtots Ave., near the brandy factory. We were able to take a few marshrutkas up to get closer to it, but there was no avoiding the endless walking. The paved path up to the memorial was so full of people that a few of us-being the geniuses that we are- decided to hike up through the woods alongside the path. Imagine grown Armenian women in heels, hiking through the rocks. We went through wet grass, rocks, trees, pipes, and everything else you can think of before we finally joined the walkway again. It was an experience I'll never forget...

(Images from top: Caught in the middle of a march, the endless sea of people, hiking through the woods, the military out  in case of damage control, the various flower sellers).

Pandok Yerevan

Restaurants in Armenia have funny names sometimes. For example, Pandok Yerevan means Hotel Yerevan, but the restaurant was not affiliated with a hotel. I guess they just wanted us to feel at home.

The nice thing about this restaurant was that we got a private room in the back- as the Armenians would say: VIP status (not V I P but vip pronounced all together). The single coolest thing was the little button on the table which we pressed to call the waiter. Apparently many restaurants in Yerevan have this feature but I had never noticed it before. It really is a great system, America should think about adopting such a thing. 

Overall it was a nice restaurant, with pretty good Armenian food and great service. This is also where Gapo learned how to make a shot of pepper vodka (learned it from his priest friends- ahh, the irony)...it was some lethal stuff.

(Images from top: exterior of the restaurant, the interior, Gapo and Melody in the private room, that awesome bell, yours truly and the pepper, more pepper)!

Visiting SOS Children's Village

As a part of Birthright, every week we have forums and havaks with various Armenian organizations in different fields. Either they come to the Birthright office to give us a talk, or we got to their organization and get a tour of the place. This week was an interesting visit to the SOS Children's Village in Abovyan- about half an hour away from Yerevan. 

The village itself is an orphanage where children live up to 14 years of age. The great thing about SOS is that the children live in groups within separate houses as brothers and sisters- along with a "mom." There are about 6 children per house, and all of the proper facilities are in place. It is not the type of orphanage where children get adopted out of, instead they live there as families until they reach a certain age where they can move to youth centers in the city. SOS has been functioning for over 20 years and it is really a great organization which provides the children with everything they can possibly need- without feeling any less than anyone else.

The children seemed happy, active, very smart, and very talented. We met a boy who knew how to paint, play music, and do needlework. It was very impressive. One family welcomed us into their home, and set out a hyurasirutyun like we were longtime friends. After seeing the depressing situation at Pyunic, it was so great to see a place like SOS where the children really do have everything going for them- from love, to activities, and an education.

(Images from top: Listening to a speech by the director of SOS, some of the kids peeking in through the windows, the lesson continues outside, gapo inside one of the homes teaching the kids an American song, Armen playing hand games, the boys playing football, all of us with the kids, Martiros Gapo and Armen giving piggyback rides).

Charents 28

Surprisingly, there are really very many good restaurants in Yerevan.  I don't just mean cheesy good, with lots of gold on the walls and live music but really good, mellow, classy places.  Thanks to Armen, we got to experience Charents 28- which, surprisingly, is located at 28 Charents Street-haha get it? Of course you d0.

The restaurant is like a slice of West Hollywood transported into Yerevan. From the outside, the building looks a lot like the Geffen playhouse in Westwood. It's a light brick building that reminds you of a good friends house- just beckoning you in.

The cute atmosphere continues on the inside with white brick walls, wooden chairs and tables, patterned place mats, nice decor and interesting lighting. It's a small, intimate space perfect for a casual date or just dinner with good friends.  

The cuisine is Armenian with a very slight European twist- it isn't a traditional kebab and khorovats kind of place. Instead they feature some very creative versions of cabbage dolma, kufta, mante, and some really awesome shawurma. They also have an extensive wine list (extensive for Yerevan means having non-Armenian wine) with reds and whites from France, Spain, and Chile- and of course the Armenian stuff (aka poison). 

It's a place which is not to be missed on your culinary trek through Yerevan.

(Images from top: the exterior of Charents 28, doing what we do best-pose, the very Melrose-esque interior of the restaurant, Natasha and Armen arguing as always, the kufta soup, mtywonderful shawurma and Armen's equally wonderful mante)!!

The Club

Another day another restaurant. My goal is to try out every good restaurant in Yerevan. Let's see how many I'll manage to pull off. This time it was the Club. It's a little ironic that the place is called the club because it does not look or feel at all like a club. It is actually a bookstore with a restaurant in the back. It has a little bit of a hippy feel- especially in the bathrooms. The cuisine was a fusion of French and Armenian- I didn't really see much French in there but the overall execution worked out well. The dish they are most popular for is mante. Usually mante is made dry, with meat stuffed into small shells of dough. But the mante here was first prepared in the traditional style, then dunked into a pot of chicken boullion, so it comes out looking more like dumpling soup.  For those who had it, they were very happy with their choice.

Great atmosphere, good food, and nice service. A perfect spot for a casual lunch... 

(Images from top: Our crew in the restaurant, Natasha Armen and Paulene, the bookstore, the bathroom cover-love it).

The Toumanian Museum

Armenia has a very rich literary tradition but I think the most beloved author of all is Hovhannes Toumanian.  He crowned himself amenayn hayots banasteghts( the all Armenian poet)-and it is very well deserved. There are many things named after Toumanian here in Yerevan, although he never lived here. Toumanian street is one of the main streets of Yerevan- and at the end of it is the Toumanian museum.

Toumanian was born in the village of Dsegh, but he spent the majority of his life in Tblisi. He has written hundreds of stories, poems, plays, fairy tales and everything else you can think of. I can say with quite a measure of confidence that every Armenian child who grew up in an Armenian household is familiar with his work.   

He was an author, an intellectual, and a family man. Toumanian congregated around himself all of the prominent Armenian intellectuals of his day- and they met every Thursday on his veranda (vernahark) to discuss the issues of the day. Very Hemingwayesque of him.

The museum is very nicely done with recreations of his study and vernahark in Tblisi. It has lots of pictures, illustrations, letters, postcards, clothes, and other personal items.The coolest piece was a very disneyland inspired recreation of  the village in which he was born. The curtains open and music starts playing to a background of painted mountains and makeshift rivers. Very nice.

(Images from top: The exterior of the museum, a few very large books in the doorway, some of the various exhibits, Armen standing in front of the disneyland model, recreation of the vernahark, a party celebrating his release from jail in St. Petersburg-I would love to be a guest at this shindig).

Geghart

Part two of our excursion was Geghart- a very special 13th century monastery. Before I even start talking about Geghart itself I have to comment on the weather. The place is high up in the mountains so it was completely covered in snow...I had never seen set snow before, I was like a kid in a candy store- or like Diana in a candy store. We played with snowballs-I know I sound a little obsessed but it was so cool!!

Back to the monastery. According to our guide Mikhael, Geghart means spear in Armenian. The monastery is named as such because the spear with which Christ was killed was kept here for a long time (I didn't know that Christ was killed with a spear but there you go). The architecture of Geghart is very interesting because half of the monastery is carved into the mountain. It's amazing to think that so many years ago people were ingenious enough to be able to carve a monastery into solid rock. Because of its idiosyncratic construction, Geghart also has amazing acoustics in one of its inner chambers. People actually come there to record music because  the room can make even the most horrible singer sound good.

I had been to Geghart in 2005 and for four years the taste of Gegharti gata has stayed with me. Just like the sujukh and fruit rolls ups at Garni, Geghart is famous for its gata. Now the entire way there all I did was talk about this gata. I think everyone though I was a little crazy. But the gata was amazing!!! It was hot and sweet and perfect. I'm not even a particularly big fan of gata, but this was it! A perfect reward for traipsing through all that slush and snow up to the monastery.

Our day ended with lunch at the house of a local family. It was a house/restaurant with good food and good service.

(Images from top: the exterior of Geghart, Melody going up the path-poor girls toes were frozen solid, look at all the snow!!, one of the inner chambers of Geghart, rooms carved into the rock, a single flame, Armen and Zara singing in the acoustics room, our group outside, Ani and I, Armen and Sevan strolling through the grounds, the gata I keep going on and on about, our lunch room/house, nardi- the great armenian pastime, warming up frozen shoes and feet).