-Armenia-

-Armenia-
(pics are in my myspace account)
This post is a bit belated…….but I just have not had the time or resources to type it up.

12-4-2007

I took the 7pm Armavia flight from Aleppo to Yereven, Armenia. After boarding the plane……I took a quick nap….and about 40 minutes later the plane had landed. I was shocked………how could we have possibly flown to Yereven in such little time……….it turns out we were making an unannounced stop in Beirut. The chaotic and angry mood of the other passengers suggests that they did not know about this Beirut stop either.

At 9:15pm the plane left Beirut……and at around 10:45pm I had arrived in Yerevan. It was -3C……and snowing during my first evening in Armenia. After securing an Armenian Visa for $50…..I hopped in a cab for the center.

Soon after I met my hosts…..$@$, $$$%, and $#$#$……….they are Iranian……and turned out to be excellent hosts. They are all architecture students studying at the Yerevan University. I pretty much did nothing for the next week and a half……..I watched movies……..ate Iranian food………and slept a lot. I had entered into a relaxed and carefree atmosphere……..that was hard to shake. We would stay up late (5-6am) talking, discussing, or watching films…….and sleep until about 3pm. It was a pleasant change from my previous month and a half in the Middle East.

The interesting part of this situation is that I was completely sheltered from Armenian culture. It was like living in a dormitory at an Iranian university. Everyday we discussed Iranian history……and tried to break down the stereotypes and generalizations that western media has created about Iran.

-Iran 101-

They are not all terrorists…….actually most Iranians despise Hezbollah………and hate the fact that Palestinians and Lebanese Hezbollah soldiers are being imported into their country to act as police.

-About 80% of the population live a very secular lifestyle…and are only Muslim on paper.

-Most Iranians think their president is a joke………but are not in favor of another bloody revolution.

-Iran has the oldest flag in the world. 2,500 years. It changed during the Islamic invasion however……..the female lion changed to male…..and the torch turned into a sword.

-Iranians are not Arabs…….they feel that they are above them…..and that Arabs are cultureless desert people……..

The Revolution in Iran that took place 3 decades ago: (from an average Iranian’s point of view)

-Iran owned a large oil field above the UK……..later Iran was forced sell it back to the UK and USA for next to nothing………the King (government was under Monarchy) immediately began to boycott UK and USA goods. This pissed of the US and UK, so they began to infiltrate Iran with anti-government; specifically that the people should overthrow the government and get rid of the Monarchy in favor of a more democratic institution. The USA and the UK……then trained revolution leaders in Europe and once trained, sent them back to Iran.

Once the revolution began…….the Monarchy fell……and the royal family was forced out of the country……at this point Nationalist, Socialist, Democratic, and Islamic groups began to fight each other for control of the Government.

Later the new government expelled or killed all former government employees…so at this point Iran’s military was week and defenseless. The only army was an untrained civilian one, because the former army was killed off or expelled from the country.
During the bloody revolution the US embassy was attacked, at which time many Americans were killed. The Israeli Embassy was also attacked……but rescue efforts yielded no survivors.

-USA ends all relations with Iran.

So basically the Iranian government fell into the hands to ultra conservatives(Islamic)…..a Hezbollah group…..but not actually called Hezbollah in Iran.

Now Iraq sees the weakness in Iran and decides it wants to take over their most important oil fields. The war between Iraq and Iran lasted for 8 years and over 2 million Iranians were killed. Eventually the UN stepped in and promoted a peace treaty that was signed by both countries……affectively ending the war.
-USA gave nothing to Iran during the war.

Persecution:

During and after the revolution…..it goes without saying the Jews were heavily persecuted…..and many were killed or expelled. There are currently around 4 million Iranian Jews in Israel.

Perhaps the most persecuted were the people of the Bahai faith. Bahai is similar to Islam but believe in a different prophet (not Mohammed). During the revolution…..openly Bahai Iranians were immediately killed. Because of this most Bahai Iranians fled to Israel to avoid persecution. To this day it is not acceptable to be Bahai in Iran.

Personal stories:
-@#@#’s aunt……14 years ago had possession of an anti-government newspaper. For this she was put in jail for 4 years…..and eventually executed.

-Also about 15 years ago another of ##%#$’s relatives who was slightly political and rebellious was sent to prison and sentenced to death. While in prison the guards forced her to have sex with another prisoner…….because according to the Islamic faith…..a women must lose her virginity before entering heaven.

-$%$#, who is half Jewish told me a story of his grandfather. His grandfather(Jewish) fled Poland during world war II and ended up marrying an Iranian women and moving to Tehran. His grandfather had a daughter #$#@$’s mother.

Immediately after the Iranian revolution, soldiers came to $#$#$’s grandfathers home and took him to jail. The soldiers seized their home and gave the family (minus the father) one hour to gather one bag of things each. Their lives had been torn apart because of their Jewish ethnicity and religion. After 4 years in prison $#%#$#’s grandfather was executed, and sent for $#$#’s mother to retrieve the corpse and bloody clothes from the prison.

Religion:

Before the Arabs invaded Iran in the 8-9th(I think) century,………Iran was a mostly Zoroastrian country.

-The religion began around 3744BC……(I think)….The religion is centered around God:Ahoura-Mazda……..and the principals are thinking well, Acting well, and speaking well.

-Fire is the sign of Zoroastians

Language:

-Before Persian Iranians spoke Pahlavi-Avestaei

After the invasion of the Arabs…….Arabic was forced on the Iranians……not long after a happy compromise as attained. A guy named Ferelos created Persian, or Farce.

The alphabet used in Farce is Arabic but has 4 extra letters P, G, CH, and ZH.

OK………..so that is what I learned while living with the Iranians.




Well my time in Armenia was great………I spent close to a month and hung out with several PCVs. Most of the PCVs I hung out with were pretty cool…..but a few took boozing a bit too far. All in all my time in Armenia was amazing. Instead of doing a play by play of my time in Armenia……I will just outline the highlights……and maybe throw out a few interesting cultural differences.

Gyumri: I met a large crew of PCVs in Gyumri and we had a wonderful Christmas dinner(a week early).

Hosh day in Gyumri:
-Hosh is a traditional soup containing a cow foot. If you are to partake in Hosh……there are a few guidelines you must observe in order to eat it properly.

-Hosh is eaten in the morning….so before 11am
-Hosh is eaten with bread, and lots of onion and garlic
-Hosh is always eaten with mass quantities of Vodka!

OK………so this is my Hosh experience- Brian(PCV) and I woke up around 8:30am and headed down an old dirt road toward the formerly Russian part of town. This is where we found the restaurant that makes Hosh. We ordered a bottle of vodka and some kebabs to warm up……..and soon were on our way to a traditional Hosh feast.

We had finished the bottle by the time the other PCVs showed up……….we then sat around a large table and ate Hosh and drank Vodka for a couple hours.

After Hosh we went on a long walk around town and visited some of Gyumri’s historical sites. One of interest was the Black Fortress. This was once the furthest Russian outpost before the Soviet era. It was basically a circular fortress/castle…….it was quite interesting. We were able to sneak in through the gate……and wander around for about 30 minutes before the drunk guards spotted us. They were drinking vodka in their trailer……and completely ignorant to the fact that the fortress was occupied by a group of 10 curious and half drunk Americans.

After a bit of bad noise……we befriended the guards…and were on our way out of the fortress. I was given a piece of sausage and a shot of vodka by the guards before my departure ( I told them I was Bulgarian).

Villages: quite primitive………yet charming. I visited a PCV in a small village in Eastern Armenia. He lived in a dorm sized apartment with a bed, a couch and a small table……..his toilet was the outhouse (the schools outhouse) about 20yds across the field toward the school he works at.

We spent our time visiting families and drinking vodka with the locals. I really enjoyed spending time with the very warm and generous villagers.

-Culture: Like many Central Asian, and Caucasian countries……..wife stealing is still alive and practiced by many. By my friends estimate about 45% of villagers still use the ol wife stealing method to get their wives.

Another interesting……and slightly bizarre piece of info……..is the red apple tradition. This tradition is very common…..but mostly takes place in rural villages and smaller towns in Armenia. Basically after a wedding, the wedding attendants cheer the newly weds by putting a red apple on the stick and raising it in the air as the newlyweds leave their wedding.

The next morning the newlyweds are to put their bed sheet on the clothes line for all the villagers to see. If the sheet ends up looking like a peace flag……..the brides parents…….as well as the bride are shamed by the community. However if the bed sheet ends up looking like the flag of China…………they are in good shape, and as a token of gratitude the grooms family will present the brides family with a box of red apples.

So……….since I have written this blog so late………….and do not have the energy to write the Armenian adventure play by play…….I will just leave you with the red apple story. I will attempt to be a bit more detailed with my blogs in the future…….but life on the road is pretty tough sometimes………and finding a computer to write on is not all that easy.

PS. I wrote this blog in about 2 hrs….and do not have the time to proof read it……I am at an internet café…..and am getting really annoyed by the kids sitting next to me……so I am out of here.