-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.

-Georgia-

- Georgia-

-The craziness of the Caucuses-
10-28-2007

After a long stretch of time in Armenia, I finally decided to travel onward……..
I took the 7pm train from Yerevan to Tbilisi, Georgia …………It was an absolutely horrifying experience! The old soviet style train had open bench seats that each passenger was assigned to……….no doors…….just a bunch of happy Caucasians sleeping together dormitory style……. in harmony. My first gripe about the train ride was the smell………The train smelled like a wicked combination of urine, worn vinyl and feet.

I spent the first 30 minutes of the ride in total darkness,……..the power had not kicked in, and it was quite awkward sitting alone on a dark train with a brutal language barrier. After the lights came on I was able to find my assigned seat; it happened to be a bench seat parallel to the tracks, which meant it was about a foot shorter than the perpendicular ones. Not cool! I tried desperately to read…..but the dim lights of the train came and went so frequently that reading became an impossibility. At about 10pm……….I drugged myself up with some potent sleeping pills and tried desperately to get some shut eye………I was struggling with this because……I did not have enough Armenian currency to purchase blankets and a pillow…..and the train was absolutely freezing. The size of my bench seat bed was also a major issue…….it was about 1.5 feet too short for me. My feet hung diagonally into the hallway, which really pissed off the drunk and angry train attendants.

My final gripe about this miserable 17hour train ride was the lady beneath me. She was puking into a bag all night and all morning………it was horribly disgusting. The sound of it was so hideous……it made it really hard to sleep without feeling nauseous myself. Of course she must have been feeling a bit worse than I, so I forgive her. It is truly only selfish of me to feel inconvenienced by her misery.

After the worst train ride of my life (so far)……..I arrived in Tbilisi Georgia at a collapsing, ugly, concrete soviet style train station. I managed to track down the subway line and began my descent into the underground. The soviet subway system is quite deep underground……the massive escalators are about 100yds long. The large escalator descends quickly through a dimly lit tunnel……and at the end more tunnels that take you to the metro platforms. The atmosphere and feel of the metro is quite unique…..and interesting. It is like stepping back into time about 30 years….

After getting lost……..and using my Bulgarian skills to create broken Russian and get directions, I was at the Nika Hotel. The Nika hotel is the closest thing Tbilisi has to a hostel…….it has dorm style beds……..and an incredible selection of VHS movies.

The next day I hooked up with a few PCVs and went out for dinner and drinks. We ate traditional Georgian food, and had an enjoyable evening trading war stories over Georgian beers.

12-31-2007

I woke up early and took a mini-bus to a small town out west called Senaki. I was invited by John (PCV) to spend new years with he and his host family. John’s town was a typical small Georgian town……..almost zero plumbing….a few old soviet block apartments……..and large groups of young, jobless, Georgian men loitering around the city’s center.

John’s host family welcomed me into their home with open arms…….and immediately began feeding me traditional Georgian food. This is something that became continuous throughout my stay in Senaki.

John’s 21 year old host brother Giga; spoke perfect English(near), and plays rugby for the local team. Nearly without delay after arriving at his home…….I had my first ‘Supra’.

Supra: a supra is a small dinner party………that lasts about 3-6 hours and always includes mass quantities of home made wine.
-Their will always be a Toast master: usually the host, he is in charge of making the toasts……and deciding what sort of cup or bowl to drink out of for each toast.
-Another role is for the youngest person…….and he is required to constantly fill up the wine glasses. It is improper to toast without a full glass.
-Usually the glasses used are about 4 ounces………and each toast is ended with a word that means “to the end”……….at this point everyone must drain the glass.
-These toasts give honor to family, dead relatives, hosts, guests etc…………..
-After a handful of toasts the ‘Toastmaster will bring out random cups and bowls to drink out of…….cow horns, bowls, wooden cups with a rounded bottom (impossible to put down full).
Ohh……..and almost always the cup is expected to be completely emptied(down in one)
(OK so I think you now get the idea)

It was about 3pm when Giga, John, and I began drinking wine…………after about 15 toasts…..we had downed 2 large pitchers of home made white wine. The wine went down smooth, but I retired shortly after for a pre-game nap.

I awoke about 8pm…….and was immediately bombarded with more food and wine. After a nice meal and some pleasant conversation; Giga, John, and I went for a walk around the center of town. The town center was packed with teenagers and adults cheerfully conversing and mischievously throwing fire crackers at each other.

We headed back to John’s home a bit before midnight, so we could bring in new years with the rents. After a bit more food………and about 5 bowls of wine, we headed across the street to Giga’s cousin’s house.

The men across the street were already pretty much hammered before we had arrived. One guy stood up while we walked through the door and unsuccessfully attempted to give a toast. His bowl of wine was spilling due to his lack of balance…..and before he was finished speaking he had dropped the bowl on the floor and shattered it. Another bowl of wine was immediately presented to the drunk guy……….and again he dropped the bowl on the floor before he had finished his toast. It was hilarious! After strike two…..he sat down and was given a small cup of wine to drink while someone else made a toast.

At this Supra, I was introduced to the brotherly toast in which you lock arms with another person while downing the wine. It is considered an honor to do this with someone, because it shows respect and friendship on both ends.

After a couple hours……..and way too much wine,…… we stumbled out of the drunkards den and headed down the street to another Supra. After a short walk we had arrived at another supra, this time with a younger crew, more food…..………and a lot of wine.

The night gets a bit hazy at this point………..but I do know it involved a high and heavy language barrier, loads of food, way too much wine………….and ended with shotguns.

1-1-2008

Ouch!...........I don’t think I have had more than 3 cups of wine in one sitting since my sophomore year of college. My head was pounding, and my stomach in knots when I awoke at around 2pm. After a quick lunch…….and a couple (forced) horn-fulls of wine;……….I went back to sleep. The entire day……….John and I were pretty much out of it……..and in pain, while Giga was running around the neighborhood drinking heavily at local Supras. He returned home late that evening stumbling drunk,…….with a glassy smile, and some quite interesting things to say.

1-2-2008

Well……….January second was absolutely crazy! John and I went to a Supra at his tutor’s house. The Supra consisted of John, His tutor, her sister, her mother, and I………..lots of wine-lots of food-and a house full of women turned out to be trouble!

I will not get into the details of the evening,………but needless to say the evening involved massive quantities of food, wine, and sloppy dancing. John and I have some great memories of that evening that I am sure we will be able to recall fondly in the future. John is from Portland …….so we will definitely be meeting up for a few North West micro-brews in the not so distant future. John is an excellent volunteer……..and it was quite evident that his community thought very fondly of him as well.

Staying with John in Senaki was great, he introduced me to the Georgian Supra…….and showed me around the citadel and old church on the edge of town. I feel very grateful to have been welcomed into a Georgian home for such an important holiday. My new years with John……was quite memorable, and one I will always recall with warm feelings and attachment.

The only downside was the lack of bathing…………and of course the outhouse……..which was a small shed at the edge of the yard containing a hole the size of a basketball……….this toilet was a bit tricky to use at night time because there was no light.

1-2-2008

Stalin-Territory

I arrived in Gori, Georgia by mini-bus at around 6pm…….and was dropped off on the edge of the highway. I walked about 5km along the dark icy road before making my way into the center of Gori.

Gori is on the map mostly because it is the town that bread none other than Joseph Stalin. Surprisingly the town is actually proud of thi, and seems to have forgotten about some of the minor details of his rule. Such little things as the fact that he was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 45-65 million people!

-My hotel: Soviet era, shitty, should be demolished, cold, high ceilings, cracked walls, stained-peeling wallpaper, worn out wooden / linoleum floors, cob webs, bee hives(empty), no TP, no hot water, broken lock, Russian whores, Johns, horribly disgusting toilet, and no shower.

I stayed at this hotel in Gori for two nights……..and probably slept less than 2 hours each night. It was by far the worst hotel I have ever stayed at in my life. It was absolutely disgusting…….in more ways than one. I had to wear pretty much all my clothes in order to stay warm enough through the night.………All in all, I just did not feel safe or comfortable in the hotel room.

The room next door was occupied by some pretty dodgy characters doing god knows what……..and coming in and out until about 5am each night. The prostitutes and drunk Georgian men I saw in the hallway did not ease my mind as I slept in my cold dark room without a lock. For peace of mind, I wedged a chair and a small table against the door…..in hopes that it would obstruct a potential intruder………….anyways……….the hotel sucked!

1-4-2008

Gori, all in all was a pretty nice town……..the streets were relatively well kept……..and the economy seemed to be on the up. As I walked around the town I observed a massive Stalin statue situated next to giant Christmas tree………..I guess nothing spells Christmas quite like the pleasant remembrance of one of the most heartless and cruel dictators in recent history.

The next stop was Stalin’s childhood home…….this small brick home was turned into a shielded shrine, and is currently situated at its original location in the center of town. All of the other homes of that era were demolished a half a century ago. Situated next to Stalin’s home and another vibrant Stalin statue…….. is the Stalin Museum.

I was the only visitor in the museum as the guard opened up the large wooden doors at the entrance of the exhibit. I felt a bit awkward and uneasy as I walked through the bitterly cold and shrilly dark museum. I was surrounded by pictures, and artifacts displayed proudly in glass cases. The room was so cold that I could see my breathe………..I think that the darkness and the cold added to the eeriness of the museum. After wandering around the giant rooms with obscenely tall ceilings, I came to the creepiest room of all. At the end of the museum was a small blood red room containing a 10ft wide circle of white pillars and red velvet carpet. In the center of the circle of pillars was the cast iron death mask of Stalin………and on the wall was a portrait of Stalin lying in his grave.

I find it hard to believe that this man is actually remembered fondly in Georgia. I suppose a thick cloud of ignorance can make even the most monstrous people seem noble.

Another night in the hotel!................This time I slept slightly better……..but was plagued with vivid and twisted dreams of blood, death, broken teeth, and dieing dogs……….I will not elaborate……..but I imagine my less than peaceful surroundings may have played a role in my warped imaginings.

1-5-2008

I woke up early and hiked to the freeway, where I waited for an hour and a half in the freezing snow before finally flagging down a van headed to Katice. I arrived in Katice at around 3pm……..and unfortunately had missed the one and only bus to Oni.

After a bit of confusion I was able to find a hotel nearby the village bus station…….Next, I grabbed a much needed shower and was soon off to grab a bite to eat. I treated myself to some Hotchepouri at a nearby restaurant………Hotchepouri comes in all shapes and sizes but my favorite kind looks like a football shaped pizza containing massive amounts of cheese, butter, and two eggs in the middle over easy. It is excellent and fills you up for a good 12 hours.

After dinner I took another shower……….it was quite a treat.……it had been over a week since my last shower, and I found myself smelling a bit like a bean burrito. I imagine that had something to do with my diet……but I may never know.

The hotel was equipped with a small space heater that I situated next to my head………The downside to the hotel, was that it was too,…. a bit of a whore house. Most budget hotels in former soviet countries are used frequently by shady characters……and the ever so common prostitution rings.

My room was next door to the bathroom……….and my door had a hole in it the size of a grapefruit…….which meant not only did all the warm air leak out of my room…….but I ended up hearing everything going on in the hotel. People were in and out of the bathroom until about 5am……….so again I did not sleep so well.
My suspicions were confirmed when I found an empty condom rapper on the floor of the bathroom the next morning……F’n gross!

I scowled at the hotel owner on my way out the door……and headed to the bus station, where I caught the 9am bus to Oni.

Oni is a small mountain village…….and one that is quite hard to get to. The bus I was on was equipped with tractor tires, and sported a back end jam packed with supplies for the villages. It had been snowing all night……so the bus only moved about 15 miles an hour as we weaved through the snowy roads on the desolate mountainside. It was interesting to see the remote villages and primitive looking houses as the bus drove toward Oni. It became a common site to see primitively dressed farmers using large ox to pull carts of firewood through the deep snow.

After about 6 hours of beautiful winter scenery…….I had arrived in Oni. I was immediately greeted by Eric (PCV)…..and given a welcoming hand shake and a warm smile.

Eric was taller than I, a bit thinner……….and was sporting a puffy jacket, a pair of rubber boots, and a charismatic smile. We walked around the snowy mountain town a bit before dropping my bag off at his host parent’s house.

Oni is situated right in the middle of a giant mountain range………the jagged, ice covered peaks of the mountains created scenery that was absolutely breathtaking. The town itself was situated partially on a hill…….and had roads that resembled glaciers……slipping and falling in Oni became a frequent occurrence for both Eric and I.

Eric seamed to always be falling,………throughout our 3 days together, he would constantly fall hard on the ice……or point out a certain ice patch that he had fallen on in the past………it was hilarious!

The night I arrived in Oni was Eric’s host father’s birthday……..so a Supra was inevitable. The Supra began at about 7pm,…….and consisted of mass quantities of excellent food and large cups of home made wine. At one point we all had to pound a pint sized cup of wine…….which I was OK with because of my educational experiences in Senaki.

After the Supra Eric and I wandered around they icy streets of Oni with some local friend and discussed our Peace Corps experiences. Eric went to Gonzaga,….and grew up in Puyallup . It was great to meet another cool PCV who I would be able to hang with someday stateside.

The following morning was Christmas(Orthodox)………so after staying warm inside and playing backgammon for a few hours we agreed to go to church with a few local girls. On the way to church we stopped by a friend’s house and got absorbed into another Supra.

Our intentions to go to church were pure……..but the Christmas Supra was also predictable……so we gave in. The toast master at this Supra constantly brought out new and unique things to drink out of……….perhaps the most interesting was a foot long horn that held about a pint of wine…………ahhhhhh good times in Oni.

The evening evolved into some drunken dancing………and a long walk around the town with the local girls. Eric is quite liked by everyone in town,……and it was nice to see how his intelligence, drive, and pure heart made him a successful and integrated PCV and a welcomed community member.

Eric is one of the coolest and nicest guys I have ever met, we had a blast together….and I really hope we meet up on the other side. John and Eric are good friends………so a reunion in Portland is definitely in the cards.

I am now back in Tbilisi………..and waiting for my Azerbaijan visa to come through. It should be ready by Monday…………

The Election here in Georgia seamed to go relatively well,……..the protests have not been too violent, and Georgia has continued to be a safe place to be. Except for the glacier like sidewalks that are near impossible to walk down without a couple painful slips.

I am sorry it has been so long since I have updated this thing……..I have been jotting down my experiences on paper…….but have not really had the time or resources to type them up. Also it is a bit tough for me to write in these internet cafes………I am currently surrounded by a crew of annoying kids yelling and playing computer games………..not the most pleasant atmosphere to write in.

I hope all is well stateside………..I really do look forward to returning to the states……but at this time, I need to get some traveling out of the way before I return. That’s all for now………..

Trevor

Pics have been difficult to load............I put some of them up on my myspace account so if you go to
http://www.myspace.com/trevorrugbybulgaria
the click on pics........and go to the Georgia folder you should be able to see some