Peter's Final Day in Yerevan

Peter with Sophia and Karine on the film set

Peter and I have been enjoying his final day here in Yerevan. We met two Armenian friends at the Cascade at 1:00 to film a short message in Armenian for Sonia Boyajian, Peter's daughter-in-law in the US, followed by a lovely. lunch al fresco at a cafe nearby. Karmine and Sophia, the stars of the film, are great fun. We enjoyed hearing about their growing up in Yerevan under the Soviets, how the school systems have changed, and even where they were the moment they first heard about the 1988 earthquake that devastated NW Armenia. Karine lost 14 members of her close family in that quake, which killed or injured almost 200,000 people and destroyed three cities. At the time, both were teaching school and they remembered exactly where they were and what happened.

My birds

After lunch I took advantage of our proximity to the gift shop at the Cascade to purchase a present for myself that I had found earlier. When we neared the shop, however, I could see it was roped off. The young manager came over to explain that due to some changes in their on-line system they were closed because they could not take credit cards or issue receipts. I explained that Peter was leaving tonight, that I knew exactly what I wanted, and that I would pay her in cash. This did the trick and she made an exception for us and I got my three-bird container for salt, pepper, and red pepper. It was carved by an Armenian man named Karen Khachaturyan (no kin of the musician by the same name). I explained that this item had been my all-time favorite when I visited the Armenian Folk Art Museum and I was thrilled to have a copy to take home.

We then proceeded to have a nice conversation with her. She learned her English (which seems flawless and American, right down to the "yeah" and "like" we heard here and there) from Peace Corps volunteers here in three months. She earned an International MBA in Maastricht in The Netherlands, where her Armenian boyfriend has a small business repairing and updating boats while he waits for his Dutch citizenship. He left Armenia at age 20 because he felt better opportunities would be found elsewhere. She loves her job running this upscale gift shop patronized mostly by Armenians from the diaspora. So it's not clear whether this romance has much of a chance, but this young woman would be a success anywhere.

After lunch we did another errand at the opera house ticket office. I noticed that a cellist named Chausian was playing again in a chamber concert Friday night and I was hurrying to get tickets. We had heard him play a haunting Hayden piece for cello and I was thrilled to think I could hear him play again. Alas, either all the tickets are sold or the concert was cancelled. Something might have been lost in translation there, but bottom line:  no tickets for Friday.  

The opening of the song and dance performance

However, there is a wonderful concert Wednesday night we have great seats for. AND, Peter noticed a poster for the Armenian State Honored Ensemble of Song and Dance After Tatul Altunyan that was TONIGHT at 6:00. So we walked over to the site, got tickets and at 6:00 were in our second row seats surrounded by Dutch tourists. I am out of breath remembering the athleticism, especially of the male dancers. The women dancers were beautiful and very graceful, in what looked like very warm costumes (many changes) and headgear. The dancers were backed up by a chorus and a group of musicians that included four zithers (remember the autoharp from elementary school?), a cello, a violin, two dudecks (Armenian wooden flutes) and three drums. To provide time for costume changes we were also treated to a few folk songs between dances. What a treat!

A lovely and full final day for Peter, who now faces the almost 24 hours of travel time before he is back in Boston. Me? I am getting a haircut and a massage tomorrow.