Well, folks, it is time for more, unexpected reading
delight. I am back in Yerevan, Armenia
on a hastily-arranged training project at Ardshininvestbank. Since Nancy is not on this trip to perform
blogging responsibilities, yours truly will try to fill in the blanks.
To get some mere details out of the way…the ascent
(my first ever) out of the Asheville NC airport was beautiful, seeing the
mountains with a bit of incipient color remaining. The pitch of the climb, though, was
reminiscent of O’Hare. Landing in
Atlanta about 35 seconds later (only a 130 mile flight), I found the
international terminal to be clean, professional, and boring. But, definitely not overpriced compared to
most large airports. Unfortunately, the “down”
escalator to get to the shuttle trains was stuck and people had to walk down
the stairs, which seemed to confuse the shit out of many. 15 minutes later the congestion had cleared,
and there was no longer a line of idiots totally blocking the main corridor
upstairs.
On the long-haul flight to Paris, I just happened to
get up to stretch my legs as the sun peeked over the horizon as we flew just
south of Kilkenny, Ireland. Great view
at 39,000 feet out the galley door window.
Seeing the gaggle of passengers in Paris waiting to
board the final flight to Armenia, it struck me that Armenians apparently love
to leave the country, buy out stores elsewhere, and attempt to put everything
into the overhead bins. It also became
apparent that strolling airplane aisles is a national pastime.
Breezed through Customs and was greeted by my old
friends, Karen and Arevik. They whisked
me to my usual hotel, and I was in there by 10 p.m. local time.
Sunday November 9
Sunday was a day to dispense with jet lag and wander
about this beautiful city. I spent it
visiting some old haunts from the last visit, especially the Jazzve coffeehouse
chain. I also walked the upscale pedestrian
mall to the Opera House – while there was much foot traffic, the stores did not
benefit from it. There also seemed to be
a major repair project on the paving stones that comprise the walkway, which is
surprising since it was just being completed during my first visit four years
ago.
Herbie Hancock is appearing at the Opera House on
November 20.
For the first time, I also walked up the 768 steps
that form the cascade, a 1950s-era monument to Soviet-Armenian friendship that
dominates the North hill. No maintenance
work has been done on this since my last visit, and the infrastructure is badly
in need of repair. In fact, much of the town needed a bit of upkeep…while neat,
there is minor crumbling everywhere that will snowball if not addressed. Citywide, many people were strolling on this
sunny day and spending dram in the coffeehouses and restaurants, but I saw few
tangible goods being purchased. Little
wonder, as mos items are imported and the dram has depreciated about 30% in the
past 3 years. Today’s exchange rate is
410 to the dollar.
Monday November 10
Today was my first meeting at the bank with the new
training coordinator to make sure we are ready to go tomorrow. Nothing monumental save that the bank now
requires all training to start at 6:30 p.m. so employees don’t miss any of
their work day. And, it must end by 9:00
so they can get home in a timely fashion.
That will put a crimp in the amount I was planning to cover, so we may
need to trim on the fly. I’m not sure
what to expect from 9 consecutive workdays of this…especially on the final
(Friday) night. But, I will do the best
I can within the rules.
I tried to work in the hotel in the afternoon but
the wifi crashed about 9 a.m. and didn’t return until sometime after 3. That created a good excuse to revisit Jazzve
and eat dinner/drink coffee while using their bandwidth.
Since I am free tomorrow until 5 p.m., more
wandering is in store and I may try to find another geocache (Nancy and I found
four here during the last trip). I
should also probably lay in a supply of quality bulk candy – it works wonders
with training audiences here as rewards and bribes.
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