One thing that I love about Armenia is how much the men in families are involved in the lives of the children. From what I have seen, they are actively involved in raising the children. Armenian villages definitely have the "it takes a village" mentality and it is something that I feel America has moved away from. Children in my village play freely and without fear of their neighbors or of strangers. Everyone knows everyone so there really arent strangers here besides the weird Americans that live or come through. :)
Getting back to fathers, in all of my Armenian friend's families, the fathers are so proud and active in their children's lives, it is nice to see. For example, my CP's husband is always playing with his daughter, rough housing with her, playing computer games with her, etc. And the greatest part about it is that it is not out of the ordinary. I dont know why this surprises me or inspired me to write a blog post about it, but I just think it is nice to see. My host dad is also really involved. My host sister is definitely a daddy's girl as most Armenian daughters are. It takes one to be able to spot them out. Hi Dad!
Another inspiration for this blog was when I was in Yerevan a few weeks ago. I was walking down the street and saw two young men (maybe 20 or so) pushing baby strollers. It struck me as odd because I dont know if they were both the fathers of the babies in their strollers or uncles pushing their niece or nephew or babysitters? Who knows. It is something I have seen quite a bit though.
The last anecdote that I wanted to share was when I see grandfathers. I was in a store and this elderly man was playing with a baby while waiting in line to check-out. It definitely was not his granddaughter or in any relation to him. But the mother did not look worried or defensive and no one around us thought it was abnormal.
Armenians are so trusting of each other. I dont know if America could ever be that way because of how inhomogeneous we are as a culture. Armenians are Armenian, there is not too much diversity within their culture. I assume that is how they can be so trusting, they all have a shared past, shared language, shared culture, shared norms, etc... Just interesting to think about.
24 May 2011
06 May 2011
Georgia, Coffee and Wine
PC volunteers from Armenia have had quite a obsessive relationship with Georgia. Most volunteers that go there have an amazing time and fall instantly in love with Tbilisi. Last summer I was there but never really got a feel for the city as I was only passing through. Oh man, I was missing out!
After the COS conference, another volunteer and I planned a trip to Georgia! We decided to head straight to Batumi then end in Tbilisi before coming back to Armenia. It was a great plan, we arrived in Batumi on a Friday afternoon, exhausted after a night train to Tbilisi and then day marshutni to Batumi. We figured because it wasn't tourist season yet that we could just show up, use our Lonely Planet guide and find a place to put our heads. Wrong assumption but thanks to our wonderful (and cute) taxi driver, he found us a place to stay that was moderately priced and very centrally located.
Even though we were exhausted and the must see Royal Wedding was playing, we headed out for some food and walking around to try and get a sense of Batumi. The feeling: NOT tourist season. I thought that since Batumi was the destination spot for tourists in the Caucasus region but apparently ONLY in July and August. We definitely were looked at for being out of place and obvious foreigners. But it didn't detract from our time, we have been dealing with the stares and looks for two years, and in my case will probably be dealing with that for another two at the least.
We had some food, khachapuri, and sat by the water. I saw palm trees on the way in and dolphins while sitting by the water. It was great! We walked around and scoped out the night life but were too exhausted to take part in.
< Khachapuri (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khachapuri) is a delicious Georgian dish that you can find everywhere and they are all slightly different. >
The next day we woke up and went to breakfast, khachapuri again (wasnt the first and wont be the last), and were going to walk around the city and see more sites. Right as we are walking to the beach, we run in to two other PCVs from Armenia! They were on their way to Turkey and had a couple days in Batumi. It was wonderful, we went site seeing with them for the rest of the day. We walked along the beach, tried to find the Stalin museum (it was closed though), ate some delicious cake and had some coffee. (I dont usually drink coffee, but wait for the rest of the trip.)
That night we went to a bar that had English speakers or so we were told. Not really processing the fact that English speakers meant Americans or English people. Not exactly what we wanted so we went to a different cafe before calling it a night.
Next day we went to the Gonio fortress, Botanical Gardens and tried to buy tickets on the night train. Bad planning on my part, we were too late in getting the tickets so we decided to get a night marshutni back to Tbilisi. This was a marshutni from HELL! Oh my, drunk people, crying babies, way too many pointless stops along the way, music and lights on the whole way... needless to say we were not the happiest of campers when we arrived in Tbilisi.
Oh and when we got into Tbilisi the hostel we booked online didnt exist yet... How that is possible, I am not sure but it wasnt there. At 6am we were walking around near the Marriott just walking in frustrated circles. Finally found a different hostel that helped us get a room so we could go to sleep.
Tbilisi is pretty interesting because of how Western it looks and feels. I think Georgia is very similar to Armenia in terms of their capitals. They are pretty developed, offer a lot of Western brands, and seem to represent a country that is developed. But traveling from Tbilisi to Batumi, I saw the same style of housing and villages that you see in Armenia. The countryside might be a bit greener with more trees but the feel seemed to be the same. It shows the stark contrast of the capital and the village life. It gives a fake representation of its country. Just like in Armenia, you cant really say that Yerevan is representative of ALL of Armenia. When you come to the villages, you see a completely different lifestyle. You can say that about America, too- compare Washington, DC to the outskirt cities, the difference in income, opportunity, education, healthcare... For some reason, it seems to be more of a false front in Georgia and Armenia, almost hiding the village life. Just some thoughts I had about it...
Back to the trip:
After unpacking at our homestay, we took 3 hour naps, showers, and woke up hungry and ready to see Tbilisi. Walking down Rustaveli, I felt as though I was in a European city with small cafes, bookshops, clothing stores, and internet cafes. I had to stop in to one and while there we met this incredibly cool Georgian-American. His friend and him reminded me of Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau in The Break-Up when they tease each other, talk fast, and are subtly really funny. It was a lot of fun hanging out with them for a bit in the internet cafe.
Later that night we went out to some pubs. We met some fun people out and listened to a band that we saw the next night again. They were really good and sang fun songs.
The next morning we woke up and it was overcast. We decided that instead of doing all of the touristy things- like the fortress, churches, Stalin sights, and all that jazz, we ended up just pampering ourselves. I bought a pair of sandals and had my hair done. We picked a random salon that is actually incredibly famous. The women there were awesome and it just happened that there was a women that spoke really good English and was willing to help me translate. They did my hair up and curled the ends, it was crazy. I kind of looked like a different person. It was a relaxed day and we really pampered ourselves.
The next day we met up with another volunteer that came up to Tbilisi to meet up with his cousin. While his cousin worked, we again tried to get up the energy to run around town touring the sites but ended up at a hookah cafe. We smoked some hookah, drank some delicious green tea, and talked about deep and meaningful things for about 3 hours. After that we went to a wine shop to taste different wines. Georgia is known for its wine and I now know why. I dont drink wine much because I do not really like dry wines and that is what most people drink. But while we were there, we tasted some semi-sweet and sweet wines. Bingo! Found a couple of wines that I like. So we bought some to drink that night and bring back to Armenia.
We took our wine back to the Marriott where the volunteer and cousin were staying (talk about nice!) and met them for dinner. We went to a really good dinner that had traditional Georgian food and some more delicious wine! Decided to go out to play billiards, hop to some other pubs, and listen to the band we heard the night before. We danced and sang along with the band. We saw a group of older Americans and one of them had a Florida shirt on!
ITS THE GATOR NATION!!! It is always fun to meet with other Gators! I got the group of guys to take a picture doing the chomp!
I am slightly ashamed to admit this but the night ended with McDonalds... sorry.
Our last day in Tbilisi we walked around the city a little more and tried to see the museums, although a lot of them were closed for renovations. We left Tbilisi on the night train. It was incredibly nice to hear Armenian on the train and be able to speak to people again. I was surprised that we didnt hear more English while we were traveling, I thought with all of the initiatives that Georgia was doing to get people speaking English we would have heard it more...
There were a lot of things that went wrong in terms of housing and transportation but a lot worked out and it was an incredibly fun and relaxing time! I drank lots of coffee (I am not hooked yet but I do enjoy a nice cup of joe now), lots of good (too sweet for my travel companions) wine, and had WONDERFUL company along the way! We met some really cool people and attempted to see some of the sights!
I have officially been converted, I LOVE TBILISI!!! On my way out of Armenia I will be visiting Tbilisi again and I WILL make it to that damn fortress if it kills me!
Next day we went to the Gonio fortress, Botanical Gardens and tried to buy tickets on the night train. Bad planning on my part, we were too late in getting the tickets so we decided to get a night marshutni back to Tbilisi. This was a marshutni from HELL! Oh my, drunk people, crying babies, way too many pointless stops along the way, music and lights on the whole way... needless to say we were not the happiest of campers when we arrived in Tbilisi.
Oh and when we got into Tbilisi the hostel we booked online didnt exist yet... How that is possible, I am not sure but it wasnt there. At 6am we were walking around near the Marriott just walking in frustrated circles. Finally found a different hostel that helped us get a room so we could go to sleep.
Tbilisi is pretty interesting because of how Western it looks and feels. I think Georgia is very similar to Armenia in terms of their capitals. They are pretty developed, offer a lot of Western brands, and seem to represent a country that is developed. But traveling from Tbilisi to Batumi, I saw the same style of housing and villages that you see in Armenia. The countryside might be a bit greener with more trees but the feel seemed to be the same. It shows the stark contrast of the capital and the village life. It gives a fake representation of its country. Just like in Armenia, you cant really say that Yerevan is representative of ALL of Armenia. When you come to the villages, you see a completely different lifestyle. You can say that about America, too- compare Washington, DC to the outskirt cities, the difference in income, opportunity, education, healthcare... For some reason, it seems to be more of a false front in Georgia and Armenia, almost hiding the village life. Just some thoughts I had about it...
Back to the trip:
After unpacking at our homestay, we took 3 hour naps, showers, and woke up hungry and ready to see Tbilisi. Walking down Rustaveli, I felt as though I was in a European city with small cafes, bookshops, clothing stores, and internet cafes. I had to stop in to one and while there we met this incredibly cool Georgian-American. His friend and him reminded me of Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau in The Break-Up when they tease each other, talk fast, and are subtly really funny. It was a lot of fun hanging out with them for a bit in the internet cafe.
Later that night we went out to some pubs. We met some fun people out and listened to a band that we saw the next night again. They were really good and sang fun songs.
The next morning we woke up and it was overcast. We decided that instead of doing all of the touristy things- like the fortress, churches, Stalin sights, and all that jazz, we ended up just pampering ourselves. I bought a pair of sandals and had my hair done. We picked a random salon that is actually incredibly famous. The women there were awesome and it just happened that there was a women that spoke really good English and was willing to help me translate. They did my hair up and curled the ends, it was crazy. I kind of looked like a different person. It was a relaxed day and we really pampered ourselves.
The next day we met up with another volunteer that came up to Tbilisi to meet up with his cousin. While his cousin worked, we again tried to get up the energy to run around town touring the sites but ended up at a hookah cafe. We smoked some hookah, drank some delicious green tea, and talked about deep and meaningful things for about 3 hours. After that we went to a wine shop to taste different wines. Georgia is known for its wine and I now know why. I dont drink wine much because I do not really like dry wines and that is what most people drink. But while we were there, we tasted some semi-sweet and sweet wines. Bingo! Found a couple of wines that I like. So we bought some to drink that night and bring back to Armenia.
We took our wine back to the Marriott where the volunteer and cousin were staying (talk about nice!) and met them for dinner. We went to a really good dinner that had traditional Georgian food and some more delicious wine! Decided to go out to play billiards, hop to some other pubs, and listen to the band we heard the night before. We danced and sang along with the band. We saw a group of older Americans and one of them had a Florida shirt on!
ITS THE GATOR NATION!!! It is always fun to meet with other Gators! I got the group of guys to take a picture doing the chomp!
I am slightly ashamed to admit this but the night ended with McDonalds... sorry.
Our last day in Tbilisi we walked around the city a little more and tried to see the museums, although a lot of them were closed for renovations. We left Tbilisi on the night train. It was incredibly nice to hear Armenian on the train and be able to speak to people again. I was surprised that we didnt hear more English while we were traveling, I thought with all of the initiatives that Georgia was doing to get people speaking English we would have heard it more...
There were a lot of things that went wrong in terms of housing and transportation but a lot worked out and it was an incredibly fun and relaxing time! I drank lots of coffee (I am not hooked yet but I do enjoy a nice cup of joe now), lots of good (too sweet for my travel companions) wine, and had WONDERFUL company along the way! We met some really cool people and attempted to see some of the sights!
I have officially been converted, I LOVE TBILISI!!! On my way out of Armenia I will be visiting Tbilisi again and I WILL make it to that damn fortress if it kills me!
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