Well, here it is: Thursday evening of our first week already – the time has just flown by since arriving Saturday night. 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. 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. 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.
The first group of trainees, who “graduate” tomorrow, has been a total joy to work with. 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. 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. For some, this is their first trip outside of their villages of 5 or 10,000 residents. 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).
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. 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. My class will remember this week, whether or not they remember the lessons.
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. 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. 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.
The department also hosted Nancy and me Tuesday at a dinner in a local renowned Armenian restaurant that is ingeniously named Caucasus. 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. 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.
Speaking of Nancy, she now knows the city far better than I do. She has started the habit of selecting one major city street each day to stroll and peruse, including ventures onto side streets. 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. Tonight, on the way back from dinner, I was thoroughly disoriented while she quickly led me back to the hotel. We have had dinners this week in Georgian, Armenian, and dumpling restaurants, with many more to try in our limited time. 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. So, we find ourselves essentially double-tipping. 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. No doubt we will be remembered if we return there.
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. 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). 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.
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