tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11665075072032292582024-02-20T13:19:13.961+04:00Yerevan MusingsNeilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-21421661998310712952014-11-30T06:24:00.001+04:002014-11-30T06:24:20.497+04:00Final Pictures<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Now that I have been safely home for 6 days, here are my final 28 photos from this year's trip. Nancy and I are fervently hoping for another such joint trip in 2015.<br />
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https://plus.google.com/photos/110414898143254307072/albums/6087314549800132017?banner=pwa<br />
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Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-23409338286265289262014-11-17T15:48:00.002+04:002014-11-17T15:48:37.020+04:00More Photos and a Video<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">More eye candy, folks:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Random photos 14 – 17 November:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/110414898143254307072/albums/6082619025034162433?banner=pwa">https://plus.google.com/photos/110414898143254307072/albums/6082619025034162433?banner=pwa</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">and here is a link to one of the two videos I shot
Saturday from the gondola ride to Tatev:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">https://plus.google.com/110414898143254307072/posts/WFFcWFSJZUV?banner=pwa&pid=6082635000421532562&oid=110414898143254307072<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-29263090453396399112014-11-16T23:16:00.004+04:002014-11-16T23:16:42.378+04:00Thought Fragments on a Rainy Sunday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It has been a pretty busy week….well, a moderately
busy week…..well, not really that busy at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On my first trip here in 2010, I trained five days a
week, 6 hours a day. That is normal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On my second trip in 2011, accompanied by Nancy, I
trained only in the afternoons. That was
great, as it left us time to explore each morning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On this trip, the bank has long decided that they
cannot afford to pull people out of the branches for training during the
day. So, all training is now done in the
evening, starting at 6:30. And, bank
security has declared that training must end by 8:30 so that all employees are
out of the building by 9:00. So,
effectively, I am reduced to 2 hours of training a day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then, there is this thing I call Armenian Time. It is not quite as bad as Hanoi Time, but it
does mean that 6:30 training starts at 6:45.
And the 5-minute break is actually 15 minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This sounds fun and like an easy work gig…but I have
made commitments on what will be covered.
So the sessions are fast-paced, never go according to plan, and leave me
pretty much mentally wrecked by 8:30.
But, the hourly pay is damn good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I found out yesterday that Bankworld has signed a
new 4-year training agreement with this bank. The bank has also asked me for a
list of courses I can teach, as they want me back. That made me feel really useful and welcome,
and I would be delighted to return to Armenia as often as possible. Hopefully there will be more lead time so
other family members can join me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, other than rewriting the training every day, how
have I been spending all of this free time?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wandering.
Eating. People watching. Enjoying.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have found several more caches…one in a park where
many noted Armenian writers are buried, one near the main post office, and one
in an abandoned amusement park (more on that in a minute). I have two more to reasonably find…whether or
not I do, they bring me to areas I may not have otherwise seen in detail.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have revisited places Nancy and I visited when she
accompanied me here in 2011….El Café, Jazzve, the Pixie supermarket, pizza
diavola at the hotel, and many more.
Fond memories, all. Not to ignore
the new places.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One of the deputy chairmen of the bank asked me a
few days ago what I thought of Yerevan since the last visit, and I wasn’t quite
sure. There is much new construction,
mainly of high-rise office buildings but also some apartment complexes. Unfortunately, there is also too much
neglected infrastructure – crumbling concrete walkways, metal roofs too rusted
to be much protection, etc. I also think
I see more beggars in the streets, and more elderly people who spend their days
wandering. The upscale stores have a lot
of traffic but few sales…but the restaurants and informal stores are
packed. It is definitely a dichotomy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I truly love this city. Even today, rainy and the first bad weather
day since my arrival, it was enjoyable to spend 3 hours wandering the main
open-air market watching people, transactions, and the flow of society on a
weekend. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Anyway, yesterday was a most wonderful day. My hosts (and good friends) took me on a
13-hour drive to Tatev, a famous monastery in the SE portion of the country (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatev_monastery">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatev_monastery</a>). My previous post herein gave a link to the
photos from that trip. But, nothing in
the photos can compare to what we actually saw that day. The next time I am here, my friends want to
take me to Ngorno Karabach, the Armenian region that is also claimed by
Azerbaijan and which is a main source of dispute in their 17-year war. They have seen photos of the NC mountains
where we currently live, and say that NK is very similar to that. I very much look forward to that opportunity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Time to reread the training I have planned for
tomorrow and make possible adjustments.
Thanks for reading and listening to my random thoughts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-30591871618260422622014-11-16T19:19:00.001+04:002014-11-16T19:19:04.362+04:00A Visit to Tatev Monestary<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Good morning, all.<br />
<br />
The narrative will await another day. But, here are 97 photos from my all-day venture to Tatev yesterday. Enjoy!<br />
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<br />
https://plus.google.com/photos/110414898143254307072/albums/6082276940842037089?banner=pwa</div>
Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-87643372243765159352014-11-13T15:24:00.001+04:002014-11-13T15:24:16.133+04:00Picture Pages!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Good morning, everybody. It is 6:17 a.m. Thursday on the east coast as I write this, 3:17 Thursday afternoon here in Yerevan.<br />
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Time has been a little crunched as the training schedule is more truncated that I had been told and I have had to rewrite my plan twice. Taking Nancy's advice, I have been focusing more on just wandering the city and watching people than seeking out specific sights. So, with that in mind, enjoy my first batch of 2014 pictures over your morning coffee.<br />
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https://plus.google.com/photos/110414898143254307072/albums/6081139209727094673?banner=pwa<br />
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This coming weekend holds a probable trip to the Tatev Monastery, about 4 hours SE of here and near the joint borders with Azerbaijan and Iran. Guinness certifies that it has the longest double-cable gondola trip in the world, a little over 5 km. If fortune holds, I'll have an onboard video for you by Sunday evening.</div>
Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-71956589866237399022014-11-10T21:29:00.002+04:002014-11-10T21:29:27.233+04:00Third Trip to Yerevan - November, 2014 <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">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.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sunday November 9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Herbie Hancock is appearing at the Opera House on
November 20.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Monday November 10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-27157344595809136092011-11-12T17:42:00.002+04:002011-11-12T17:42:20.805+04:00First Snow of the Season<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">A chilly and rainy Friday evening in Yerevan, and Nancy is busily working on her blog post while I use this to fill the moments between emails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As usual on a training day, I have not downloaded email in 12 hours and have about 150 in the queue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, the hotel’s web service is abysmal tonight, and my backlog is coming in at the rate of one every two minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I may need to leave this laptop on all night to catch up.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The raw weather promises to continue into tomorrow, possibly dampening (but not canceling) our touring plans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was light snow in the northern part of the city this morning, and the long-range forecast suggests more over the entire region on Wednesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sidewalks here are tough to walk on good days (cobblestones) and bad days (rolling stones), so I certainly sympathize with anyone who walks during ice and snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Especially the young ladies with stiletto heels.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Training has been going more slowly than planned this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For once, this is a good outcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The class is more experienced than last week’s, and they tend to ask more questions and debate much more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is good to have people there who don’t just blindly believe whatever you tell them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am sure many things that have worked at banks in the States would not work here, and vice versa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We may or may not get caught up next week, but I have several days’ worth of “just in case” activities, so it is no big deal if we do not get to those.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We had a good lesson today about the lack of customer service in government entities from former Soviet republics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Nancy obtained her visa to visit here, she filed for a 21-day visa because we are scheduled to be here for 21 days, Saturday to Saturday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Makes sense, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, it does in the other countries I have visited, but not here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are here for 22 calendar days, not 21 consecutive 24-hour periods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, her visa needs to be extended by one day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A quick check at the nation’s Visa and Passport web site tells us the office is just a few blocks away on Mashtots street, and the extension costs less than $1.50 a day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No problem, right?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Well, we went to the visa office, where Nancy was given an extension form to fill out, told to bring a photocopy of her original visa and passport, and 1000 dram (for a 2-day extension, the minimum allowed).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something was also said about a “bank check”, but it went right by us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Returning ten minutes later with the copies and filled-out form, we were told again “bank check”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems that the visa agents do not accept cash….one must find a local bank (not a problem) and deposit the extension fee in the visa service’s account, returning to the visa agent with the receipt as proof.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time we managed to follow instructions to the letter, finding a local bank branch (NOT the bank at which I am training people), paying the 1000 dram and the bank’s 100 dram fee (the latter being just over 30 cents), and marched back to the visa office, feeling very confident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a short-lived feeling, as the agent stapled all forms together, took Nancy’s passport, and instructed us to return on Wednesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We shall find out then if all has been successful….the fact that the passport was just thrown into a desk drawer made us a bit nervous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the passport is not ready on Wednesday I shall have to lean on my bank friends for some fast help, as we are scheduled to leave here less than 72 hours later. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I have also been having occasional communications during this trip with my team leader for the Hanoi project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Four weeks after I left there, the bank still can’t decide on the parameters for the marketing research project I was supposed to launch by October 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am starting to have severe doubts about whether the efforts we are putting in will ever result in anything worthwhile being implemented.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">One of the students in the current training class very kindly gave me a gift as we quit for the weekend – a collection of 20 or so Soviet coins from the 1980s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously there were widely used here, but are not worthless to anyone but collectors since the USSR no longer exists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is in the culture here to always be alert for one’s interests and use those as a basis for small gifts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Mid-Saturday afternoon, now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nancy has had a touch of nausea since about 4:00 this morning, so we cancelled today’s tour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, our hosts cancelled today – sinced they were able to show me around part of their country last year, they felt it was more important to have Nancy available for touring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I had been ill, instead, it is likely that my hosts would have taken Nancy without me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They will re-work tomorrow’s schedule, and we will leave earlier than originally planned to get a longer day of viewing in.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It has been a bad day to go out, anyway…light snow since about noon, although it has been melting upon contact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Visibility is poor, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tomorrow is expected to be a much better day- partly cloudy and highs near 50.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent a good part of the afternoon at one of our favorite dining spots, extending my lunch to take full advantage of their wifi in the absence of decent internet at the hotel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also finally purchased Armenian and Georgian flags…I want a small flag from each country in which I have worked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Understandable, no store here stocks Azerbaijani flags, so I will need to hunt that one down to complete my 4-country collection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ended the afternoon at the grocery store, trying to get some high-energy snacks for Nancy in case she finally feels like eating later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll spend this evening trying to crack the internet, and perhaps putting some work in on my Vietnam report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-76718721312135158202011-11-07T23:55:00.002+04:002011-11-07T23:55:25.434+04:00A Chilly Evening<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Monday evening, November 7, as I write this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a cold and blustery evening in Yerevan, and Nancy and I are glad we walked less than a block to dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People here tolerate heat much more easily than cold, and activity on the sidewalks seems to totally cease once temps go below 50 F.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Today was the first totally clear day we have had here and, from the Bank’s training room on the 6<sup>th</sup> floor I was able to see snow-capped mountains roughly 40 miles to the south and west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A beautiful sight which is often obscured in this hazy valley.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My first training class “graduated” Friday, and my second began this afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The current group is more seasoned, so they are already challenging me and feeling free to give their own takes on topics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good – that is the way training is supposed to run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is also much easier to run a discussion or debate than Slow Death By Powerpoint.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My first class gave me a momento on Friday – a miniature carved wooden barrel, with working spigot, filled with a litre of 10-year old Armenian brandy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A very nice and generous gesture on their part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While we cannot take it home via carry-on because of American stupidity about air travel “safety” (yes, we could carry it aboard in any other country), Nancy’s suitcase is large enough to accommodate it for checked luggage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps we need to have a brandy party over the holidays, as the bottle of brandy I was given here a year ago sits at home, barely touched.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Speaking of local generosity, our training department hosts have reserved our upcoming weekend (our last on this trip) to take us touring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saturday will start with a local church that is the center of the Armenian Apostolic Church, continue to the Genocide Museum, and end with a trip to the closed Turkish border, near Mt. Ararat, where St. Gregory built Khor Virap, a monastery, and founded Christianity as the state religion in 301 A.D.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I have been to the latter, Nancy has not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sunday is scheduled for a drive to Gegharkunik, about 100 km. north of here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a mountainous region most noted for its many remote churches (which some people still reach by donkey) and the 2000-metre high Lake Sevan, which supplies drinking water and fish for Yerevan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I expect snow to greet us there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been to this area of Armenia only briefly, and look forward to a return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My hosts, however, have made it clear that Nancy carries veto power over any plans and destinations.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">While we continue our 8-10 mile daily walking pace, we have yet to enjoy any true entertainment options here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a promising symphonic concert in the middle of last week, in the Opera House, but I was just not up to attending after a full day of training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, a look at events over the next two weeks suggests there are only Armenian plays and operas, which would be fruitless for us to attend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, we will probably catch a jazz evening or two at a widely-known club that I dropped in on last year.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We got little done Saturday because one of the meals I ate Thursday or Friday gave me a mild case of food poisoning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After spending a couple of morning hours at the flea market and catching a meal, we headed back to the hotel and I slept into the evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By Sunday morning all of the symptoms had abated, so we spent the day checking out the Cascades (a semi-finished valley-high monument to Soviet-Armenian friendship) and its associated museums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also wandered some of the high-class apartment buildings under construction at the top of the valley overlooking the city, and many ruins and abandoned stone houses near said construction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not know if the ruins are from people being ousted in the name of urban development, or if they collapsed in the 1988 earthquake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, with each failed house is probably the end of somebody’s dream, and it is hard not to think about the former inhabitants when one strolls through what used to be their yard.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There are a few photos to post and many meals and probings to tell you about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, truth be told, Nancy has been doing a far better job of this in her blog than I ever would.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those of you who read this but are not aware of hers might want to check out:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://armenianvacation.blogspot.com/">http://armenianvacation.blogspot.com</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Otherwise, I shall catch up on the good stuff as time permits, now that training has eased up for the rest of the trip. </div>Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-56010139518810987962011-11-03T22:47:00.002+04:002011-11-03T22:47:33.299+04:00The First Week is Almost Gone Already<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Well, here it is:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thursday evening of our first week already – the time has just flown by since arriving Saturday night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, I have had to earn this trip by working at training bank employees during the day, which makes it hard to find enough time at night to explore as much as we would wish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second and third weeks of this project will be easier…not only will I have worked the bugs out of the training, but the second group of trainees will only be training in the afternoons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, Nancy and I will be able to stay out/up late and sleep in, and have a good lunch together before I go off.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The first group of trainees, who “graduate” tomorrow, has been a total joy to work with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Almost all have been with the bank, and in banking, for less than two years, and this is their first formal training outside of job orientation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All are from outlying regions of Armenia which, because of the country’s many mountains and tortuous roads, means they are staying in Yerevan for the week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some, this is their first trip outside of their villages of 5 or 10,000 residents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several have commented that they wish they could move to Yerevan, where the job opportunities are more promising and there are more “eligible” men for marriage (the class is 80% female, with all but two in their 20s and only one married).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I have been trying some relatively unusual training tactics with them, including field trips (on foot) to nearby supermarkets, parks, and sidewalk cafes to observe marketing surroundings, customer service, and physical scapes of service industries outside of banking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bankers think about marketing so little that there is much to learn from other businesses, as long as they learn to keep eyes open and mouths shut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My class will remember this week, whether or not they remember the lessons.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My hosts at the bank…the same three training officers who were so welcoming to me last October, have picked up right where they left off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The training day starts and ends with a fresh cup of Armenian coffee at their meeting room to discuss the plan for the day or how it actually played out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Admirably, the entire department (7 people) automatically joins such gatherings, as Karen, Arevik, and Frants all believe that everyone has value to offer in discussions.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The department also hosted Nancy and me Tuesday at a dinner in a local renowned Armenian restaurant that is ingeniously named Caucasus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the 2+ hour meal we were graced with such local delicacies as grilled lamb, pork chops, and chicken; hummus, fermented buffalo milk, breaks, Georgian bean sprouts, locally made wine, peach juice, sparkling pear juice, rose hip juice, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have no idea how the hell Nancy and I made it from the car into the hotel with our overfilled bellies, but the evening left an impression that she will never forget.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Speaking of Nancy, she now knows the city far better than I do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has started the habit of selecting one major city street each day to stroll and peruse, including ventures onto side streets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I may know the main tourist spots in the city, she knows where to find lunch for less than a dollar, and where to buy fresh veggies in an underground mini store than can barely be seen from the street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tonight, on the way back from dinner, I was thoroughly disoriented while she quickly led me back to the hotel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have had dinners this week in Georgian, Armenian, and dumpling restaurants, with many more to try in our limited time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have also found that many restaurant owners are purely deceptive – the 10% Service Fee that is routinely added to meal bills does not find its way to the server.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, we find ourselves essentially double-tipping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The server at the restaurant last night was so happy with her tip (it was only about 11%, but well above local standards) that she gave us a Romanian coin in return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No doubt we will be remembered if we return there.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The weather forecast for this weekend is constantly changing, but appears to promise clouds, temps in the 50s, and a moderate chance of rain on Saturday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With luck, we shall visit the giant open-air flea market nearby, the Cascades (monument steps ascending a 600-foot hill to a tower commemorating Armenian-Russian friendship), the Mekhlas jazz club, and maybe the genocide museum (detailing how Turk armies killed over a million Armenians around the end of World War 1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A car tour of southern Armenia will wait until next weekend, as Karen and Arevik are enmeshed in MBA classes and exams both Saturday and Sunday. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-68599542632874150202011-10-30T23:29:00.000+04:002011-10-30T23:29:18.740+04:00Nancy's First Day in YerevanIt's 10:30 Sunday night, October 30, and Nancy is resting in bed from the trip and first day's fun as I write this.<br />
<br />
The travel here was relatively smooth...all three flights were on time, and layovers were minimal. We left Columbus at 7:41 Friday evening and landed here about 9:30 local time Saturday evening (just after noon back in Columbus. However, Armenia went back on winter time the overnight we arrived, so we are 8 hours ahead of Columbus until the U.S. adjusts its time shortly). Two of the three training dept. officers from ArdshininvestBank were waiting for us in the airport...twice, actually, since one of them thought we were arriving in the morning, so they made a double trip to the airport for us.<br />
<br />
It was very good to see Karen and Arevik again...they were incredibly gracious and hospitable to with me during the project last autumn, and are planning to do the same this year. More on that as this blog evolves. On the car drive into town they caught me up on changes in the bank, and promised to let Nancy and me sleep and relax on Sunday instead of doing heavy-duty touring.<br />
<br />
After unpacking and a quick dinner in the hotel lobby snackshop, we were in the sack by midnight local time with no reservations about sleeping until noon if necessary.<br />
<br />
But, of course, there was too much to show Nancy in Yerevan on the one day, since she will be on her own during the next five workdays as I pretend to train bankers. So we set out at 11:00, right after a fine breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and I tried to give her a lay of the land to help her plan her week. Some of the highlights of our 8-mile stroll were:<br />
<br />
Armenia's largest brandy distillery (we will visit it later in the week)<br />
Republic Square, the acknowledged center of town<br />
An extremely upscale outdoor shopping/office/apartment mall, under construction, where little has progressed since last year <br />
Opera House<br />
The largest local fresh foods bazaar in the area<br />
Outdoor art show across the street from the opera<br />
Grocery store about 2 blocks from the hotel, where we can stock up on soda and snacks at about 1/4 of mini-bar prices at the hotel<br />
<br />
And a bunch of places in-between. A good part of the time was spent in areas that were new to me, since I only had one day to explore when here last fall, and we wanted to find a restaurant for dinner that did not cater to tourists. We finally found one just outside of the fresh food mall, and had a fine meal of tabouli, spiced shredded chicken fried in lavash, mushroom soup, and grilled lamb. Expensive by local standards, with a tab of about $19 including drinks and tip, but delicious.<br />
<br />
Back to the room with some snacks and sodas, Nancy to plan her travels and me to go over my training notes one last time. I'm looking forward to this trip, but hope Nancy doesn't get bored while wandering around this week...or doesn't see everything available. With the number of museums and other historical attractions, that shouldn't be a problem. At the opera house we did see a number of coming attractions on various posters, and have tentatively decided to attend a classical music concert on Thursday night. Unfortunately, cultural event promoters here don't seem to see much value in listing events that occur beyond the next weekend or month. And, this being the end of October, we can't get any online listings that cover past tomorrow. <br />
<br />
OK, that's it for tonight. Many more things to muse about, but we have to leave some material for later during these three weeks. Take care and have a great Sunday.Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-15917724619824218622010-10-11T20:42:00.002+05:002010-10-11T20:42:20.770+05:00Personal Tour of Central ArmeniaBrace yourselves for about 100 photos, folks.<br />
<br />
http://picasaweb.google.com/ndbrown1701/PersonalTourOfArmeniaOct102010#Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-69542486848997488032010-10-11T20:24:00.002+05:002010-10-11T20:24:15.016+05:00Absolutely Perfect Tour of Central Yerevan<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://www.blogger.comhttp://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Monday, 11 October</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Back again, everybody.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Let’s pick up my heading out to a concert Saturday night by Daniel Decker, billed as a German of Armenia heritage.<span> </span>Since it was billed as a pop concert I left with low expectations…and those were barely met.<span> </span>The dude couldn’t speak Armenian, so he used a translator, but he phonetically sang several songs in Armenian.<span> </span>But, his style was like watching Jack Jones or Steve Lawrence 40 years ago.<span> </span>At the intermission, I drifted outside and, dang nab it, totally forgot to return.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Still early, I drifted into the locally-famous Mahklas Jazz Club, and had a most pleasant pepper steak dinner while listening to a local trio.<span> </span>Resurrected a failed evening.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Up this morning and out the hotel door at 11:00 for my personal tour of a good chunk of Armenia, hosted by my three friends in the bank’s training department and the 2 YO daughter of one.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">From downtown Yerevan we first headed south and slightly east through the fertile Ararat Valley, the prime cropland of Armenia.<span> </span>There were major fields of wheat, and some corn, with many roadside stands of veggies and melons.<span> </span>I was told that the valley typically hits about 110 degrees F during the summer, so life is not all that easy.<span> </span>In addition, some pockets of soil are tainted with salt concentrations – I’m guessing that the valley used to be an inland sea that has since dried.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We quickly drove through the small city of Artashot, which was one of the old capitals of Armenia in past eras.<span> </span>It was also the site of the first theatre in Armenia, dating back to a couple of centuries B.C.<span> </span>The drive outside of there was replete with fruit (apple) orchards and grapevines.<span> </span>The harsh weather seems to make perfect grapes for brandy.<span> </span>We literally saw a farmer an average of every 100 meters, some with build roadside shacks and some just sitting in a chair with a few baskets of produce to sell.<span> </span>From the human activity in the fields immediately behind, it was obvious that many offerings were only minutes from being picked.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next leg took us up a major hill (part driving, part walking) to the monastery at Khor Virap, dating back to 301 A.D. (309 under the current calendar).<span> </span>The monestary was founded by St. Gregor upon being released from 13 years in captivity in a stone room some 4’ x 4’ x 7’ (yes, the room was available for viewing and fitting).<span> </span>We happened upon a Sunday mass being said in the chapel, so I couldn’t take pictures.<span> </span>Interestingly, the practice was to exit the chapel door backwards, so as not to turn one’s back on the altar.<span> </span>Outside, on the ramparts of the monastery, we also viewed the Turkish border less than 200 meters away.<span> </span>I could have crossed the border without a problem.<span> </span>Armenian citizens, however, must enter Turkey by first flying to Georgia….they cannot directly enter Turkey because of the lingering dispute over the Turkish genocide of several million Armenians near the end of WWI.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next few kilometers took us past the village of Ararat, noted for having the largest (only?) cement factory in Armenia.<span> </span>Shortly beyond that lay the village of Rasdan, with numerous small lakes in which fish are naturally raised.<span> </span>My hosts, of course, had to stop at a roadside store where live fish were being vended from ersatz vats made from converted small dump truck beds.<span> </span>I made friends with a Russian kingfish that was supposed to weigh 50 kg.<span> </span>We opted not to buy any such souvenirs. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My hosts also noted that a good proportion of<span> </span>the autos in the country run on natural gas, instead of petroleum.<span> </span>In this petrol-poor country, natural gas tends to have a more stable supply.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next photo is of the large village of “Dream”, notable only because the road alongside also abuts the hills that form the Azerbaijani border (totally closed along the Armenian border, of course).<span> </span>That particular road only recently reopened…I am told because Azerbaijani snipers made it too dangerous.<span> </span>Cease fires CAN be good.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We then headed north past Tigronashen into the Kyarki Mountains.<span> </span>For those of you following this on a map, the route took us through Vardashot village, the Vyotsdvor region, and the Chiva village.<span> </span>The latter is particularly known for the quality and quantity of peaches and grapes, both of which were in full harvest on this delightful Sunday afternoon.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Just outside of Areni, we stopped at one of the larger roadside stands to sample some homemade wine….many farmers brew it themselves and sell it along the road, pouring it from 20-liter jugs into 1-liter reused soda bottles.<span> </span>The sweet wine offered by one vendor was OK, while the dry red was quite good.<span> </span>I bought a liter for $2.78.<span> </span>While sipping yet more Armenian coffee, I also sampled a snack of ghavrma, the local winter food.<span> </span>It is prepared in autumn by boiling any meat for several days in salt water, which preserves it throughout the harsh winters (elevation at this time was close to a mile).<span> </span>The meat is wrapped in lavash for easy eating.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Just a few kilometers we climbed a beautiful, steep road leading to the Noravank (New Church) monastery, sating back to the 1300.<span> </span>Here, we were also fortunate to encounter a christening, attended by perhaps 20 of the newborn’s relatives.<span> </span>Houses and farmsteads are few and far between in those parts.<span> </span>Most of the activity I saw was sheepherding….given how thin and rocky the soil is, I cannot imagine anything growing there.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We departed the monastery along the same road (OK, the ONLY road) and stopped at some Paleolithic caves.<span> </span>The caves supposedly go back some 1.6 km which has been explored, but your claustrophobic writer had no intention of confirming that.<span> </span>Signs of civilization dating back 16,000 years have been found in the caves.<span> </span>Elsewhere, remains dating back 40,000 years have been found here.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">From there, we tailed the Arpat River towards Lake Seva, the only large lake in the country and the source of most of Yerevan’s water.<span> </span>For you geographers here, we then stopped in the village of Hagavauadzdor for lunch, which consisted of:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>tomatoes (grown on the premises)</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>cukes (ditto)</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>Greek olives</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>Cilantro</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>A bitter local lettuce</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>Hot and sweet peppers</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>Lavash</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>White bread (both breads baked on the premises)</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>Homemade dry red wine</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>Pear juice</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>Pomegranate juice</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>BBQ pork</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>BBQ beef</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>BBQ fish (from a Russian fish that was introduced 20 years ago, and has now devastated the local lakes because it eats all of the other baby fish)</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>And, of course Armenian coffee</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We killed about 90 minutes over lunch.<span> </span>The locale, as you will see when I upload the pics, was by a pretty mountain stream.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We’re nearing the end of the trip, and our endurance.<span> </span>My next photo is of the switchback we were about to challenge to get to the highest part of the land around here (Caravangerai), about 6600 feet.<span> </span>It is typical for cars to encounter problems navigating this road, between the low oxygen and poor maintenance on most autos.<span> </span>Due to a lack of good communication, my host did not stop at the apex, so you will not enjoy the panorama that I did.<span> </span>Eat your hearts out!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">From the high point, we trailed down among another switchback towards Lake Seva, to the city of Nortvok.<span> </span>This city is noted as the wealthiest (per capita) in Armenia because most residents work in Russia, sending their earnings back home for years before returning and retiring.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This last village reminded me that I hap passed (probably) a dozen signs on the tour indicating bird sanctuaries.<span> </span>I found this notable and commendable in a relatively poor country.<span> </span>Someday, if I am fortunate to return, they will bear checking out.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">By this time, we were really burned out.<span> </span>So, my hosts headed back along the highway to Yerevan, skirting the villages of Martun and Vardadzov, and we burned back into home about 8:00 at night after a glorious 9-hour personal tour.<span> </span>The celebration of Yerevan’s 2,792<sup>nd</sup> anniversary was still going on, but I chose to stay in my room and avoid the crowds.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, that is the story of my Sunday.<span> </span>One could not hope for better hosts, a more beautiful countryside, or more perfect weather on any day of life. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Thanks for reading.</div>Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-11344244786644834152010-10-09T17:45:00.000+05:002010-10-09T17:45:05.563+05:00PhotosHere is my photo tour of last night and today<br />
<br />
http://picasaweb.google.com/ndbrown1701/YerevanBeautifulSaturday#Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-13600580498527144432010-10-09T16:46:00.002+05:002010-10-09T16:46:49.990+05:00A Perfect Weekend Day<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Saturday, 9 October</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Good afternoon, everybody.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It has been a busy almost-two days since the last posting.<span> </span>Let’s see if I can remember everything that has been going on.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Successfully moved from the 5-star non-internet hotel Friday morning to the 3-star yes-we-know-we-are-in-the-internet-age hotel where I started.<span> </span>Life is much better.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My new room has a balcony that overlooks a garden restaurant next door (where they have had 3 weddings in the past 24 hours) and, just beyond that, the French embassy.<span> </span>There is a lovely view from the room.<span> </span>I am writing this from a café in the park across the street…when I get back to the room, many pics will be uploaded.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ended the training at the 1:00 lunch break yesterday, giving the willing trainees a bonus.<span> </span>I have no sympathy for those who skipped the morning session and showed up at 2:00 for the afternoon training.<span> </span>Hope they got caught in severe traffic on the way home.<span> </span>:>)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After unpacking and a quick nap I headed out about 4:00 to see what Friday evenings were like around here.<span> </span>Strolled a few blocks north to the city center (actually an oval), which is the focus of tomorrow’s celebration of the 2792<sup>nd</sup> anniversary of the city.<span> </span>Nobody can yet tell me why they are celebrating this year instead of waiting until 2018, when it will be an even 2800 years.<span> </span>Any numerologists reading this?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I went from there to walk along the main shopping street, filled with brand names anyone in the world knows.<span> </span>Prices were universally high, by Columbus standards.<span> </span>Although there were many people on the streets, most stores did not seem to have any customers.<span> </span>There is no recession here, so maybe I just caught the area at the wrong time.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The end of the shopping street conveniently abuts the opera house.<span> </span>It was heavily surrounded by police, and I am not sure why.<span> </span>Police here are fairly plentiful but, unlike Baku, few carry firearms.<span> </span>They are a comforting, rather than menacing, presence, and there is precious little street crime at any hour of the day.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyway, I got several good pics of the opera house (built in 1932), and stopped at the box office to see what was playing over the next week.<span> </span>Last night was sold out and, not knowing what my evening schedule might be during my final week, I dropped 10,000 dram (about $27) on tonight’s concert for a German pop artist of Armenian heritage.<span> </span>I may be out of my league in the crowd.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Unforecasted rain then dropped in, and I spent an hour drinking Armenian coffee (about 85 cents a cup) at a covered opera-side café) while crowd watching.<span> </span>An hour of this was enough, and I hit a grocery store for provisions before returning to the room for the night about 8:30.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Now, to today’s fun…and it WAS fun.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I have walked just over 8 miles today, so far. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>Slept in until 9:00, checked email and world events over a light breakfast before showering, and was on my way before 11:00.<span> </span>The sun has been shining all day, and the temp right now is about 68 F.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Just to orient correctly, I headed back to the city oval and parked my butt at a streetside café to enjoy two Armenian coffees and a sausage sandwich totaling less than $3.00.<span> </span>I then ambled along another major thoroughfare that seemed to be the main tourist trap in town..airline offices, tour buses, and too many souvenir stores to mention.<span> </span>I stopped in one of the souvenir stores, but swear that they changed the price tags in the time it took me to cross the street.<span> </span>I’ll find some little momento over the next week.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That random road too me to the city outskirts…conveniently, the main city is in a valley, with a concentric road encircling it.<span> </span>Heading NW along that road, I came upon Cascade park, which flows from city level on the NW up to the monument near my non-internet hotel.<span> </span>The hotel, from which I took the pics with the overarching view of the city, was build to commemorate to 50<sup>th</sup> year of Soviet cooperation with (domination of) Armenia.<span> </span>I’m sure the city leaders would love to remove it, but it would be incredibly expensive.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Leaving that park, I proceeded counterclockwise along that concentric road.<span> </span>This led me along “minor embassy” row….Syria, Thailand, etc.<span> </span>All embassies have attractive buildings, courtesy of their respective taxpayers.<span> </span>When you multiply that over 200+ countries in the world, you can see what an expensive game diplomacy is.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Along that walk, I also got some good shots of the city university (lovely campus even by American standards).<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Next to the University, I just happened to stumble into a refuge called Lover’s Park.<span> </span>Absolutely beautiful (you should have been with me, Nancy!).<span> </span>Of course, there is a café (100% organic and natural) in the park and, of course, I had to stop in for more coffee (are you sensing a trend here?).<span> </span>I wound up buying a fine pasta & red pepper salad, coke, and coffee for just over $4.00.<span> </span>I also tipped heavily.<span> </span>The park concessions are run by volunteers.<span> </span>All tips are donated to a fund to assist juvenile cancer patients.<span> </span>In addition, profits from food sales are donated to the park for maintenance.<span> </span>I was told that my 2000 dram purchase paid to maintain 2 square meters of the park for the next year.<span> </span>Works for me.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">From the park, my strolls wound around to the Church St. Paul-Peter, built in the 5<sup>th</sup> and 6<sup>th</sup> centuries.<span> </span>The inside was gorgeous, and hopefully my pic of the altar will turn out OK.<span> </span>I decided not to nose around too much because there were about 30 people inside for some sort of death commemoration (funeral or anniversary, I do not know which).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Finally finishing the half-circle tour of the city, I visited the Museum of the History of Yerevan.<span> </span>After visiting each of the 3 floors, I happened to encounter the Director in the lobby, and he insisted on showing me the lobby displays of crafts that citizens have made to commemorate tomorrow.<span> </span>They were truly astounding, particularly the woodworking and tapestry.<span> </span>He was deservedly proud of his people.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And that is all so far today.<span> </span>In a few minutes, I shall return to my room to upload this blog post and associated pics.<span> </span>Tonight is the concert and, on the way back, there is a famous jazz club that I shall investigate.<span> </span>It may be a late night, but I have only one weekend to discover what I can about this city.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Tomorrow, my hosts will show me the country outside of Yerevan.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And now, for some commentary.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I have only Baku to which to compare Yerevan.<span> </span>While that is a limited comparison, it may be enhanced by the fact that the two countries have been at war for 14 years.<span> </span>I had a good time in Baku and made many friends, albeit mainly expats.<span> </span>People there were friendly, once you got to know them individually.<span> </span>But, there was a prevailing sadness and reservation which I attributed to the recent Soviet domination.<span> </span>Also, nobody would ever position Baku as a tourist destination.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Now I am seeing the other side of another former Soviet state.<span> </span>The people here are happy and optimistic, and I cannot imagine a higher level of friendliness and hospitality.<span> </span>My hosts speak of diplomatically solving the Nogorno-Karabach occupation dispute with Azerbaijan diplomatically, instead of constantly referring to potential war.<span> </span>There is a calm approach to life, and everything is oriented towards outdoor activities and interaction.<span> </span>The State lays a light hand on the people and, again unlike Baku, one does not need top bribe his way into a job or for necessary documents.<span> </span>The streets are clean, and people put their litter into waste baskets instead of dropping it at their feet.<span> </span>It is just a bunch of little things that combine to set the character of a locale, and Yerevan had discovered them.<span> </span>I would look forward to returning here (WITH Nancy) at any time.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Enough with waxing philosophically…back to the room to connect online. Thanks for reading.</div>Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-1266889293382601482010-10-07T22:50:00.002+05:002010-10-07T22:50:41.512+05:00This was a good day<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://www.blogger.comhttp://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Thursday night, sitting in the hotel lobby at 10:30 so I can access internet and get some work done.<span> </span>And, more importantly, chat with Nancy over gmail.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Today was a tiring and frustrating, but productive day.<span> </span>We had several good discussions during the training exercises, but I perceive that those who should be there (small business calling officers) are not, and those who aspire to be said officers ARE.<span> </span>We shall see next week when we get into financial analysis, but there may be a disconnect between those who think they need training, and those who think their employees need training. <span> </span>That is one of the dangers of an assignment like this – since I did not negotiate directly with the bank, I had to depend upon others to correctly and competently convey the needs and assignment.<span> </span>It is not until one arrives on site that any discrepancies become apparent. <span> </span>We shall do the best we can with the time we have.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My hosts ( the two top people in the training dept.) have been nothing short of spectacular during the visit….going out of their way to show me nearby sites, make recommendations, and do things for me before I even know I need them done.<span> </span>They need to work at least a half day this weekend, but are tentatively planning to take me on a daylong tour of Armenia, outside of Yerevan, so I get a proper feel for the country of which they are so proud.<span> </span>Of course, it is an opportunity I cannot pass up.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">If I happen to be in town Sunday, the city is also celebrating (Big Time!) its founding 2,792 years ago.<span> </span>Kinda puts our “old” cities to shame, doesn’t it?<span> </span>I have no idea exactly what it planned, but the epicenter is about ½ km from my hotel, so I shall be there if possible.<span> </span>I caught on a marketing newsletter, a month ago, that the world’s largest candy bar had been created for this event.<span> </span>The 1,000 kg+ bar was reported to be scheduled to be cut up and distributed during the celebration.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Training ends at 5:00 every day (the work day ends at 6:00).<span> </span>Today, instead of going back to the hotel, my hosts included me in a party for a co-worker whose first child was born Monday.<span> </span>About 15 people attended, around a formal table with traditional Armenian dishes (ALL delicious).<span> </span>Of course, there were also several traditional Armenian toasts with 8 YO Armenian brandy.<span> </span>They really go out of their way here to make one feel welcome.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">OK, it is late and I need sleep.<span> </span>More over the weekend.<span> </span>Have a great day, everybody. </div>Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-77193366576446733332010-10-07T20:55:00.002+05:002010-10-07T20:55:56.227+05:00Photos on a Clearer DayHere are just a few more for you, folks...my new hotel, clear views, and the city from the other side of the valley.<br />
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http://picasaweb.google.com/ndbrown1701/SomeBetterWeatherInYerevan#Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-27693572157642139902010-10-06T20:18:00.002+05:002010-10-06T20:18:36.068+05:00New Hotel<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">7:10 local time Wednesday evening, and I’m in the restaurant of the Golden Palace Hotel in Yerevan, my abode for 2 nights until I can return to my first hotel.<span> </span>This is the only(?) 5-star hotel in the city, and it certainly looks and feels that way.<span> </span>Far above my norm.<span> </span>But, it is deserted.<span> </span>There is a couple dining across the room and, otherwise, I’ve only seen one guest.<span> </span>The impression after my first hour is that I would not stay here again.<span> </span>The first reason is that it is across town, on the main hill, and there are no shops or other attractions to walk to.<span> </span>So, not only is the neighborhood boring, but one must dine here or use a car or taxi to head down the hill.<span> </span>The other problem, and the killer of the deal, is that there is no internet in the rooms.<span> </span>There is wifi in the lobby but, of course, I would be much more comfortable upstairs.<span> </span>Plus, I am not going to use Skype from the lobby.<span> </span>The wifi does not extend to this restaurant. But, it is only for two nights.<span> </span>And maybe, when I check later, the TV will pull in more channels than my first hotel.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The reason why I was booted out of my hotel for two days became obvious this evening – we went to retrieve my luggage, and a large bus of German tourists had pulled up.<span> </span>This city seems to be popular with that nation…I am hearing German spoken all over.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">For those curious ones, I am dining on a fresh (local) tomato/cuke/spinach/soft feta salad, local lake trout with veggies, a chocolate brownie, and my first Armenian beer.<span> </span>And fresh Armenian bread, of course.<span> </span>Can’t complain.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">A piano player just started in the lobby, and the music is penetrating the restaurant walls.<span> </span>They really do seem to be trying hard here…perhaps the hotel just opened, or perhaps the location is just too relatively inconvenient.<span> </span>Hope the restaurant staff isn’t surviving on tips.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The last two days have been a tiring whirl.<span> </span>Training is draining, whether one is listening or delivering, And the participants are a little less prepared than I had guessed…most are very junior lenders who have been in their positions for less than a year.<span> </span>Because of the need to go over some material in more detail, and eliminate some other parts that I’ve judged to be worthless to them, I have had to substantially rewrite my approach each of the last two nights.<span> </span>Tomorrow should pretty well go as originally scheduled.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The trout just arrived – whole. I hate having my dinner stare at me.<span> </span>He seems pissed.<span> </span>Maybe tomorrow night will be something benign, like spaghetti.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It has hailed each of the past three days, and residents are really complaining about the weather.<span> </span>This is unusual for Yerevan in October.<span> </span>We have already exceeded the average October rainfall.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Traffic here is quite manageable…drivers obey the traffic lights, stay in their lanes, and do NOT just back up on the street when missing their turnoff.<span> </span>Much better than Baku.<span> </span>Downtown parking is a problem, but they do no use the sidewalks for parking.<span> </span>The only thing to be alert about walking in a crosswalk…drivers obeying a turn arrow do not feel obligated to yield to pedestrians.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My hosts (training managers at the bank) took me on a brief tour of center city on the drive here…shopping seemed robust and storefronts and buildings clean and updated.<span> </span>The opera house was most spectacular…if there is a production this weekend, I shall take it in.<span> </span>I sincerely hope the weekend weather cooperates so some good pics can flow your way.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This server also looked at me twice when I ordered Armenian (essentially strong Turkish) coffee without sugar.<span> </span>Obviously a very unusual request.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Coffee is here, dinner is over, and I shall tie up this missive and retire to the lobby to upload it, check email, and (hopefully) IM with Nancy.<span> </span>Have a great day, everybody.<span> </span>Back in the States in 10 days.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-79323912523446658992010-10-03T20:24:00.000+05:002010-10-03T20:24:04.977+05:00Final Shots for the First Day<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://www.blogger.comhttp://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Time for a few more observations, since I have no idea how busy the next few days may be.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On my 5-mile stroll this afternoon, before the rains returned, I was pleased with how green the town is compared to Baku.<span> </span>This area doesn’t get much rain, since it is surrounded by mountains.<span> </span>I have to chalk it up to the fact that the sun and heat don’t pound down on the turf as much.<span> </span>It is definitely much more of a pleasure to walk through.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It’s a good thing the internet connection at the hotel is strong….the TV variety is not.<span> </span>I have 11 channels…3 in Russian (which I can vaguely follow), 1 each in Italian and Spanish (no major problem), BBCEuro News in English, and the rest in Russian.<span> </span>It is a bit surprising, since Russian seems to be much less used here than in Baku.<span> </span>All of the signs are in Armenian, which I can’t read for anything; but 80% of them are also written in English.<span> </span>No problems getting around or reading anything important yet.<span> </span>Anyway, TV watching will be at a low priority for the next two weeks.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I exchanged 200 USD today for 72,000 AMD….makes one feel quite rich!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Also hit a local supermarket late this afternoon, buying about $20 USD of groceries that should take me into Tuesday.<span> </span>Most of the pricing is nice….a 5-pack of sandwich rolls for $.65, a kilo of local grapes for $1.75, cheese, soda, water, yogurt, and nuts.<span> </span>Of course, the relatively low prices are a function of the average laborer wage here of around $165 a month.<span> </span>I also wandered a large (roughly 2 acres) indoor food mart with over 200 farmers’ stalls.<span> </span>The food looked great, but no prices were marked.<span> </span>I passed up buying anything, figuring my gross disadvantage in not knowing the language, not knowing the pricing, and obviously being a “wealthy foreigner”.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The forecast for the next week is routine…30% chance of rain (typically at dusk, I am told), with partly sunny skies and highs around 70F.<span> </span>The deciduous trees today look as ours did in late August…no major foliage falls in the next few days.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The drivers here are also a pleasant surprise compared to Baku.<span> </span>They do speed, but maintain lanes, obey signs, yield for pedestrians, and do not drive backwards on the freeway when missing an exit.<span> </span>Petrol prices are roughly double what we pay in Columbus, which is unfortunate given the low wages.<span> </span>There are precious few natural resources in the country.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">OK…time to call Nancy soon, so I’ll tie this off.<span> </span>More exciting musings to come your way Monday, as I start earning my pay.<span> </span>Enjoy what remains of your respective Sundays. </div>Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-88632193476382986512010-10-03T16:35:00.000+05:002010-10-03T16:35:28.477+05:00First Pictures of YerevanWell, folks, the rain has returned, cutting short my stroll after about 5 miles.<br />
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Here are my first pictures of central Yerevan, to enhance your morning coffee.<br />
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http://picasaweb.google.com/ndbrown1701/YerevanAlbum1?authkey=Gv1sRgCIa1pZfgzKKADw#Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-18076124944310236572010-10-03T12:56:00.000+05:002010-10-03T12:56:10.313+05:00Day 1 in YerevanGood morning, everybody.<br />
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It's about 12:30 Sunday afternoon in Yerevan...about 3:30 Sunday morning back in Columbus....and the skies here are just starting to clear from the steady rain that started right after breakfast. A few more comments, then off to explore this new city for the afternoon.<br />
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Now, where did we leave off?<br />
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The plane from Paris to Yerevan, on Air France, left right on time and got us in here just before the scheduled 8:55 landing last night. Another flight with every seat taken...of course, with only two incoming flights yesterday (the other originated in Moscow), choices do not abound. The woman sitting next to me, coincidentally, grew up in Upper Arlington (about 5 miles from where we live now), so that evoked a bit of conversation. It was her sixth trip here, so she gave me some pointers on food, culture, etc. Most useful. Otherwise, the plane was largely filled with Armenians returning from Paris vacations and shopping.<br />
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With both foreign flights arriving at about the same time, the airport was ready. I already had my visa, so could bypass that line. Passport control had 10 officers on duty, so I was only in line about 5 minutes. Baggage claim took about 20 minutes, and then Customs waved me right through without any inspections or questions. Guess this old guy doesn't look too dangerous. My contacts at the bank were waiting in the lobby, and had me at the hotel within 20 minutes (roughly 15 km. from the airport). A quick check-in, unpacking of clothes, and hopping online to check email; and I was in bed by midnight. Slept solidly for over six hours.<br />
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Initially, the city looks to be quite a step up from my only previous experience, in Baku. There was still much activity at 10 last night (I am almost dead-center in the city). Much of the highway from the airport to the city line was lined with gambling casinos on both sides...not as large as Vegas, but with the usual garish neon signs. I'm told the casinos are a dying business here and, not knowing the language or gambling laws/cheating norms, I'm not inclined to find out about them directly.<br />
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The streets around the hotel are much cleaner than in Baku...people actually put their litter into trash cans. The few (maybe a dozen) locals I have dealt with so far are universally friendly and helpful...maybe it is because fair skin and blond hair are both rare, so one can tell from 10 km. away that I am a foreigner. They will also look you in the eye, which was not common in Baku until both parties knew each other.<br />
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My bank contacts offered to show me around the city today, but I punted so they could spend the free day with their families. We will do the tour next weekend. The work starts tomorrow, with meetings with bank management; then nine full days of training before I depart on the 16th. Conveniently, the bank is only 2 blocks from the hotel - no need for a driver or taxi.<br />
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For those of you who love food, I will tell you that I took advantage of the breakfast buffet in the hotel this morning (so I could bill it to the room, since I have no local currency yet). For 3500 AMD (Armenian dram, with an exchange rate of about 360 to the USD), I spent 90 minutes navigating 8 types of pastries, three cereals, yogurt, oatmeal, bacon, ham, sausage, cheese, melon, fruit cups, an omelette station, baked potato pieces, rice with peppers, and some of the best coffee I've had in a long time. No, I didn't sample everything....just a good chunk of the offerings.<br />
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OK...the rain has ended, and I need to buy some dram and take some pictures to post later. Hope all of you are happily sleeping right now. Later! Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1166507507203229258.post-48013129511254071852010-10-03T12:07:00.000+05:002010-10-03T12:07:18.391+05:00Start of a New Trip<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">October 1, 2010</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Yerevan Musings, Inaugural Edition</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Good evening,. all.<span> </span>It's approximately 7:40 p.m. Columbus time and we just entered No. Atlantic airspace, north of St. Johns, on the way from Cincinnati to Paris.<span> </span>I am one of about 20 people awake on this full flight of about 270 passengers...too early to fall asleep, but I will probably regret it tomorrow.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The plane left Columbus about two hours late today, cutting it a little too close for my liking to get the connection in Cinci.<span> </span>Delta blamed the bad weather in NYC, but I don't buy that because our plan was just doing the Detroit – Columbus – Cinci shuttle all day.<span> </span>This is the first time I've flown Delta in about 20 years, so I'.m stuck in the back with cramped seats and babbling vacationers from KY.<span> </span>Also flanked by a couple of dudes with wicked colds, and who never learned to cover their mouths.<span> </span>Never thought I would miss the perks that came from flying United all of last year.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We are scheduled to land at deGaulle airport in Paris just after 6 a.m. local time (midnight Friday in Columbus)<span> </span>But, with a tailwind of 138 knots, we expect to get there an hour early.<span> </span>That will give me 8 hours to kill, instead of 7, before Air France whisks me to Yerevan for the next two weeks.<span> </span>Hope French coffee is decent.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It's a relief to get this trip underway...there has been too much prep time involved over the past month without having a chance to field test it.<span> </span>No doubt changes will be required eaxch night for the next day's training, so I've brought roughly three times more material than could be covered in the time allotted.<span> </span>It's also a bit unsettling that I have yet to speak directly with bank management about their expectations – all of the arrangements so far have been made by Bankworld.<span> </span>At least the bank in Yerevan agreed to delay the start of training until Tuesday, giving me Monday to meet wityh them and make any necessary adjustments.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I only have one full weekend in Armenia, so I need to make the most of it.<span> </span>The consulate in DC only issued me a single-entry visa, so any thoughts of visiting nearby Turkey have been stomped.<span> </span>But, there seems to be more than enough in the city of 1 million (1/3 of Armenia's population) to keep me on the move for two days.<span> </span>It may help that I am here on a solo project – unlike Baku where I was part of an on-site team – so I can reasonably expect to field no social invitations.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">If this training goes decently, Bankworld is planning to pitch it to a bank in Tbilisi, Georgia.<span> </span>It would be nice to get some additional mileage out of the prep.<span> </span>They have also asked me to be available for projects in Azerbaijan and Vietnam next year, should their shortlist bids succeed.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">OK...we land in 3 hours, so time to get some reading done and a quick nap before facing French customs.<span> </span>More from the airport.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">October 2, 2010</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is now 6:58 a.m., and I’m sitting in Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris, planning my next 6 hours until the next flight boards.<span> </span>Originally, I had this stupid idea of just firing up my laptop and using the airport wifi (don’t all airports now have wifi?).<span> </span>Unfortunately, here, only the first ten minutes is free….from there it’s 4.9 euros (roughly $6.15) an hour.<span> </span>I have nothing THAT important to say….especially when you statesiders are peacefully sleeping right now.<span> </span>On the plus side, the gate seating areas each have multiple outlets by the seats for PC & phone recharging, and Samsung has several central kiosks for additional recharging. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Virtually nothing in this airport is in English….good thing we all have encountered enough French and pictures to figure things out.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Just finished breakfast at the one restaurant that is open at this hour.<span> </span>A little serve-yourself café.<span> </span>A fruit cup, raisin roll, OJ, and coffee cost just under $21.00.<span> </span>I am in the wrong business.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The various terminals are connected here with a clean, fast, totally automated train that comes around every two minutes.<span> </span>Most impressive.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">One of the customs inspectors told me it only takes about 30 minutes to get into Paris by train from here.<span> </span>Too bad I don’t have a visa to enter France….they are not hard to get or expensive, but combining that with the hassle of getting back through security just makes it not worthwhile.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Time to wander around the terminal a bit…the old legs still need stretching from the flight.<span> </span>Later!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290530834509078462noreply@blogger.com0