And there’s a lot of stuff we could do while we’re there. This is not an ordinary trip for me, though. When I step into the city next week, I’ll be experiencing a special kind of time warp. I was in Yerevan when it was fresh from Soviet occupation. It’s now been decades since Armenia was Soviet, and things have changed a lot.
If you don’t follow my main blog, you might not know that Bill got to come home from Bavaria yesterday, instead of Wednesday. This is a good thing, since it will allow us more time to prepare for next week’s trip.
For now, we’re focused on visiting the city that was my home for 27 months in my 20s. I have a lot of memories to unpack and places to show Bill. Mostly, though, I expect I’ll be absorbing the atmosphere and watching people… reflecting on how different it is there now. When I lived in Armenia, it was a place mostly undiscovered by Americans and Europeans. Now, people go there for fun. There is a lot of fun to be had, too… Armenia is an ancient country, with many places to see. I think we’ll need more time.
I found out a few days ago that one of the people I was hoping to see on this visit will be out of town during our trip. She’s going to be in Italy, of all places! She told me that she and her daughter had planned this trip a long time ago. I understand, especially since they have to have visas to visit Europe. Maybe at some point, we can meet up in Europe… or, if all goes well and nothing dangerous happens in Armenia, Bill and I will go back. I’d like to show him more of the country than Yerevan.
As for today, I don’t have a lot to write. It’s raining today, as it was yesterday, so we probably won’t go out anywhere. We did get a phone call yesterday from the frame shop where our Czech paintings are being framed. Two of the three are ready to pick up, but they called us an hour before they closed, and it wasn’t a good time to go get our art. Bill is still going to be working the conference he’s been working on in Bavaria, so he may have a couple of late nights. But on Thursday, we should be able to go get two of the paintings and arrange for framing the third (which had to be stretched). Then Friday, it’s off to Yerevan, by way of Vienna. I’m really looking forward to it and taking a lot of photos!
My old friend, who is also my former teacher, says the weather in Yerevan has been beautiful lately. I hope it holds for us next week! And I’m sure I’ll find a lot of ways to keep us occupied, even if I haven’t booked a bunch of tours.
The featured photo is an Armenian bus I took with a Peace Corps buddy in the summer of 1996. We were on our way to Istanbul! It took three days to get there… I am glad we took that journey, but my days of that kind of travel are definitely over now!