Last night, my mind was absolutely blown away by a local singer who sounds like a mix between Jeff Buckley and Stevie Wonder. Actually probably the most incredible male singer I’ve ever seen live. He’s the lead singer of a band called “Dorians”. At the same event I was lucky enough to see the phenomenal band “Katuner” which is comprised of some of the most accomplished and ground-breaking musicians in Armenia.
They love music here. They love the blues. They love art. Its really great.
My favorite desert is essentially a piecrust rolled into a small scone shape with sugar on it. On the outside it is browned and crunchy, on the inside it is like soft, uncooked piecrust. Yummmmm.
I’ve learned to cut bread holding it up in the air and pulling the knife through.
Time is flexible here… while that occasionally makes me jumpy because of what I’m used to, I thin kit is good for me to learn to take things as they come.
There is a lot of love here, especially family love. Parents absolutely adore their children. Couples are very intimate and romantic. Its nice to be in a culture where there is a very great appreciation for love.
You can eat fresh grapes that hang off the vines in front of basically every apartment building.
Yerevan is basically a small circle and you can basically walk anywhere within the center of the city. Also, there a few great places to go and all the great people always seem to end up in the same place at the same time.
Their keys look like beautiful old works of art (see picture).
I eat tan (a mixture of plain yogurt, water and salt) very often and it is very good for your stomach.
There is almost a brutal code of honesty here when it comes to sharing your opinion. Very little BS. Disorienting at first, but you come to appreciate it, and hey… maybe I’ll hone my tastes while I’m here.
Now that I’ve told you all the good things I’m going to tell you a little story about my nemesis…
As I snooze the morning hours away—work rarely begins here before 10AM—I lie dreaming about Hayastan, home, friends, family, and other peaceful beautiful things. It is only 6:30AM and long before I should have to wake up. After all, the days are long and steamy here and I really do need my rest. Just as I am reaching the most wonderful part of my dream I am wrenched back to reality by a “zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz” in my ear. I swat it away and desperately try to climb back to that dream but no… now its landed on my calf and if you know anything about how sensitive you are to touch in the morning when you just want to be left alone… you will understand how irritating it is. For the next hour I battle this ugly, half-centimeter-sized wretch who has without fail, terrorized me every morning since I’ve arrived. On my leg, my foot, my forehead, my lips!! He does not discriminate and seems to take joy in landing on all my hyper-sensitive spots. He usually wakes me in time to see the sunrise reflecting off the distant mountains and while I occasionally consider forgiving him for his behavior due to the wonderful gift of sunrise, I immediately take it back one I realize that he has just risen me in time to be conscious of how hot my bed will be for the next 3 hours of my sleep. Three hours later, defeated, and not as serene as I would have hoped, I rise from bed, stretch my shoulders and wander into the kitchen where low-and-behold he is sitting there right in the breakfast nook waiting for me. He jumps and does a dance on my watermelon, turn to give me a wink goodbye, then flies off towards the mountains. I eat my breakfast as a defeated Goliath but I know one day… I will get my revenge.
Listen to Dorian's here. I really love "Es Kulam" which is in Western Armenian (or old Armenian... its kind of like Armenia's version of Shakespearean English. THis is the language that diaspora Armenians speak predominantly. Its really beautiful). Their rock stuff is great too though.
Also, here is Katuner (the video is not great quality but I wanted to put up a more complete song)...
Much Love,
Sima
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