Went on a day tour today so we got some awesome pastries from the grocery store and headed to our bus. The tour was to Sardaranpat which is the impressive war memorial outside of Yerevan. It was so hot today just walking a few metres required an abundance of water. We have purchased so much water here so thank goodness it is so cheap. You know what else is cheap? Beer. You can buy beer like you can buy water and pop at the roadside shops and all for less than a dollar!
The tour continued to another history museum called the Armenian Ethnographic Museum. The outside just looked like a plain brown boring building but inside was quite nice and made to look like a fortress. It was actually considered the best designed museum building of Soviet Union. There were some great rugs and carpets on display as well as the machine (is it called a loom?) where a woman came and demonstrated how one would make a rug. That would be some time consuming business. From what I understand about our last name of Kalagian it means we were in the rug business but I am not positive. I have yet to see our names anywhere in this country. I am guessing since I grew up with all Western Armenian families I will not recognize any names while I am here.
There were two, let's call them "husky", Armenian boys who were touching EVERYTHING. Apparently I was the only one concerned since no one said anything even though I was certain they were going to knock something down off a wall. There mother was taking pictures though which we were told was "forbidden" so I guess they are just a family of rulebreakers. The guide we had was knowledgeable but man was she a fast talker. Our friend she she might have just memorized the tour so that is why she went through it so fast but I thought she was going to collapse due to lack of oxygen. There was not even one pause. Poor Ashley gave up trying to make notes just to keep up was difficult enough. The end was priceless since she didn't even say goodbye to the group she just trailed off and walked away. Ashley and I just looked at eachother confused and just started laughing.
We had a chance to have a toliet break but there were no seats just a ceramic hole in the ground and we were handed toilet paper. I decided to hold it til we got into the city. I think I have been in Canada too long and this system seemed like way to much effort and coordination I did not possess. SO far I have been lucky with washrooms in this country. I was expecting way more holes in the ground so I have been spoiled. I will see what happens when I venture out to the smaller towns.
We had time when we got back into the city to head to the genocide museum and memorial. The taxi took us to the wrong spot so we had to walk around to find it. The museum was mainly displays of books and writings on the accounts of the genocide made by various artists in different countries. They had blown up photographs of the events and art work depicting the horrors. I was expecting more of an emotional connection but I think I thought there would be more personal stories, letters and survival stories. We met people who really liked the museum for it's subtlety so I can understand why they wouldn't want to be over sentimental and "in your face" about what had happened. The memorial was impressive and it featured an open dome with a flame eternally burning it the middle. It is a place where people can leave flowers for the lost people.
Trying to leave the area we were sort of lost and we just took a guess as to the direction. We passed a dog who seemed okay with us but as we continued to walk we noticed there were puppies coming out of the woods. This made the dog super sensitive to us being there and was following us a bit which made us super nervous but it was all ok cause we finally made it to a street where we got a taxi. We picked up our laundry (we had it sent out) and headed to the hotel. We met with Ben and saw the fountain display which is a light show accompanied with classical music. It was really fun and it was a nice night out. We met with Taline and her friends from the States and this guy Fred who we met the other night. He is Iranian and a funny guy who I was shocked was also a dentist after hearing his stories of drinking and partying. Another lively debate about Armenia and nationalism and retributions. I again just listened and took in their opinions. It was all very interesting but I try to stay out of the political side. We did have fun conversation after and I wanted to stay out later but I had an early tour to get to so sleep was needed.
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