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I just wanted to wish all the female readers of this blog Happy International Women's Day.  In Armenia, today is a national holiday, and everything is closed except for food stores, florists and restaurants, all of which will be jammed packed since everyone is taking out their wives and mothers. I hope you're able to celebrate this special day with lots of laughs, wine and song. Here's to you.

On Footprints, my other blog about Armenian issues where I concentrate on political topics now, I wrote about my thoughts regarding the passing of the Armenian Genocide resolution by the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on March 4.

Here are some excerpts:

People are probably wondering whether President Barack Obama will actually say the “G-word” this year. It could happen. Some believe that Washington may be trying to pressure Turkey to move forward with the protocols by properly recognizing the Armenian Genocide. After that happens, Turkey is likely to fess up and go through with opening the border, despite its reservations.

I doubt that Turkish officials want to look like absolute hypocrites by walking away from the protocols at this point. The protocols are already up for discussion in the Armenian parliament. They already look bad by demanding that a resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict be resolved first before the shared border with Armenia is opened. Naturally the international community (with the exception of Azerbaijan, of course) thinks that doesn’t make much sense. Then again, Ankara is too proud to let anyone boss them around, including Washington. Nevertheless, in the end Ankara can’t do much about Genocide resolutions and condemnations. The Genocide has been recognized by national legislative bodies around the world, and that’s not about to stop.

Since I wrote that post, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her statement to the press was adamant that the Obama administration will not let the resolution reach the House floor for debate. I really don't know if politicians can let this keep happening every couple of years. The last time a similar resolution came to light was in 2007, and it was shot down at the last minute despite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's promises that it would be considered for a vote by congressmen.

No one can tell what will really happen this year since Turkey is playing games with the fate of the protocols and is about to infuriate the West, but I can safely say that Turkish officials are really looking like imbeciles in the world's eyes by continuing to deny the facts of the Armenian Genocide. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a dumbfounded Charlie Rose back in December that “I can say very clearly that we do not accept genocide. This is completely a lie.” How long can this pompous repudiation continue?

March 1 is considered to be the first day of spring in Armenia. In actuality, the entire winter, if you can call it that, was an early spring.

I can't recall the temperature in Yerevan falling below freezing at any time in December, January or February.  It snowed only twice in the city, and both times the temperature didn't seem to drop below 32 degrees Fahrenheit during the day or even at night. My wife and I had to go to Tsaghkadzor as I wrote in a previous post to recall what winter is supposed to be like, but even there, on Sunday afternoon when we were about to head back, the weather warmed up quite suddenly and the snow started melting very fast.




About two weeks ago flower vendors nearby the Gomidas Market started to sell crocuses on the sidewalks. Now you can already find tulips, violets and daffodils. I've never seen such flowers bloom so soon in the year in Armenia before.



 This poor guy selling pussy willows is just about to sneeze... bad timing.


I also ran into some spring chickens being sold only inches from someone selling crocuses. Don't ask why--the reason should be obvious: Why not?



Photos taken on my Nokia N86 8MP.

When you're working day in and day out for nine hours a day, only to return straight home to your wife and demanding, co-dependent puppy, your life isn’t afforded the time to go out and about on adventures, especially in the winter when the snow and ice on the roads in the regions can make traveling perilous. I'm basically in that situation now. Even on the weekends I can't always manage to leave Yerevan because errands and family commitments restrain me from exploring on a whim. So blogging as often as I would like to is not always possible.

Right now I am focusing on more personal projects-- I have taken a renewed, dedicated interest in my personal writing and am aiming to get a story or two published in literary journals this year, assuming that whatever I submit is accepted by a publication's editorial staff. There’s no telling whether any of it will be considered worth printing by any publisher, nevertheless I am resolute in my quest to emerge in the world of literature.

I spend my free time with family and friends so I rarely even go out at night to the theater or concerts, unfortunately. But Yerevan seems to be constantly transforming which is obvious whenever I walk around the city. New apartment buildings are still going up despite the reported lull in the construction sector. Even new banks are opening despite a shrunken gross domestic product, an inexplicable paradox. The regions, however, still have billions of dollars in infrastructural and industrial development potential. This is nothing new to report, and things aren't about to change anytime soon simply because the vision and commitment are not there.

In any case, I was just chatting with co-workers about the transformation of languages, and how Russian words that have been essentially borrowed from the French have made their short journey into Armenian lexicon. I was conveying the fact that "street Armenian" is fast becoming literal Armenian, demised by the way I hear people talk using a sort of illiterate, “criminal” tone in public and now even on television. They can speak pure Armenian if they really wanted to, but they’re too accustomed to speaking using jargon and words taken from Russian, Turkish, and Farsi. Now that the language is clearly transforming, with the media being partially responsible, the literal Armenian of today is in serious jeopardy of disappearing in 20 or 30 years time when the older generations who know better are no longer around to keep the language pure and alive. The response was essentially that people are too concerned with materialism and communications than to worry about the decimation of vocabulary and proper grammar, and that the only solution to preserving the Armenian language is for each of us to keep ourselves in check, to maintain discipline. After he said this he reverted to intermingling Russian words in conversation because it's natural for him as well as hundreds of thousands of other Armenians living in Armenia and spread out around the world who took this bad habit with them when they left in the years since independence. Perhaps Armenians born and raised countries like France, Argentina and America are no better. Back home we tend to mix both Armenian and English when talking with each other—it’s a normal thing for us. I guess the question is where do we draw the line? As far as I know there has never been any kind of consortium held to address this global problem of the language’s future and how to keep it alive, unadulterated. It’s a huge challenge that probably won’t ever be tackled. Mild animosity between Western and Eastern Armenian speakers has been in effect for decades, so breaking the barrier of who’s right and wrong is challenge in and of itself. You have two distinct, unrelated forms of the fundamental verb “to be” to contend with for starters. I think a global evaluation of the language is definitely in order. It’s time to save the language, especially here on Armenian soil. No one should allow the Armenian spoken on the streets to be embraced in official, written form.

These are the philosophical thoughts of the day. I hope my next blog entry will be a bit more exciting.

I just read an entry on The Armenian Observer Blog about the top Internet service providers (ISPs) in Armenia providing the fastest services. Universal Communications (UCom) is number one on the list. I would say that these findings are very true. Armenia Datacom is also up there, which makes sense since both companies employ fiber optic backbones for their Internet services. UCom even offers cable and phone services as well.

Several months ago I wrote that Icon Communications was the way to go for Internet access. That was written long before UCom entered the picture last December. Icon, with its WiMax Internet service, had been charging 8000 dram for a connection with a download speed of 128 kbps and an upload speed of only 64 kbps—now it’s down to 7000 dram apparently.

Yet for the same price--8000 dram--UCom offers a direct fiber optic connection rated at 512 kbps, for both uploads and downloads. The downside is that the connection speed is not stable--in fact it doesn’t always quite reach the claimed download rate based on bandwidth speed tests that I have conducted online. Remarkably, however, upload speeds can be much faster than 512 kbps--sometimes double-- usually in the evening.

We made the switch to Ucom last month since it no longer made any sense to stick with Icon, unfortunately. The company has shown no real signs of competing with Ucom’s rates, which are arguably the best around.
Internet service is definitely getting better as well as cheaper in Armenia, and apparently the price will drop even more from what I heard through the grapevine. Last year the Armenian government managed to break the Internet service monopoly controlled by Arminco/Armentel to allow competition. The Russian firm Vimplecom, which now owns Armentel and offers services under the name Beeline, had to comply. As a result several Internet service providers have been popping up here.

Communications services in Armenia are turning about face to meet ever-increasing demand and compete healthily to offer faster, reasonably priced connections. It’s like a dream come true.

Video shot with my Nokia N86 8MP.

Anush and I made our annual weekend trip to Tsakhadzor this past weekend to detox from the hustle and bustle of Yerevan. Without going into too many details about the overnight stay, the only complaint I have is that it went by way too quickly. I at least was in no hurry to leave and made sure we stayed until checkout time at 1:00 pm.

Now I want to write a bit about places to stay--they are plentiful and you should be able to find something at this time of year without concern at the last minute. And you'll probably end up paying about the same no matter what lodging you choose.

After calling about five places before we headed out early Saturday afternoon we came to realize that most hotels in Tsakhadzor offer similar rates, give or take about 10 dollars at the most, depending on whether you choose to eat breakfast. The Alva Rest House (translated literally from the Armenian), where we stayed, charges 12,000 dram ($32) per person for a double room, and that price includes breakfast, which alone costs 2,000 dram. Alva is located directly beside the resort town's main skiing area--the ski lifts were visible from our room. Chi Chi stayed home with the mother-in-law--none of the hotels we called accommodate pets.

Yesterday when walking around Yerevan's Cascade area Anush and I decided to pop into the new Cafesjian museum, officially known as the Cafesjian Center for the Arts, which has only been open for a couple of months I happened to see an advertisement for an Arshile Gorky exhibit there which apparently ends on January 31, so we made a decision on the spot to see it.

Our puppy Chihuahua named Chi Chi, now just over two-and-a-half months old, has taken over our lives. Most of our free time is spent on placating the puppy's whims and demands for affection and a hand to chew on. She hasn't quite doubled in size but she is significantly larger than when she came home in mid-November.

On Sunday we hosted our first-ever khash party, something I never thought I would see myself doing. But in life, there's a first time for everything I've often been reminded.

My father-in-law did the hard work. He stayed up all night on Saturday boiling down the cow hoof bones that had been soaking for days. Apparently he once promised me that he would put the khash on for me and others who would appreciate such a marvelous feast. It's hard to find an Armenian male who doesn't. Anush has a cousin--an European Taekwondo champion actually--who is repulsed by the sight and smell of khash; he can't be in the immediate vicinity of where it is being slurped and savored. I can't say I blame him.

I admit that I am a typical American living in Armenia who longs for my mother's cooking, especially her chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Never mind that they were nearly always made from a boxed mix that you can find in any supermarket from Boston to Los Angeles. No one can make brownies like her.