Culture and Culture

On Friday we went to a section of town called the Iranian Market, where you can buy fabric, foam and other raw materials for crafting. You can get materials in the regions, but the supply is inconsistent and the prices more expensive, so Tim has been doing a lot of the buying here (where the supply is also inconsistent) and sending the materials out to the artisans - with someone going back and forth, or with a taxi willing to take it as a favor, or via another transport option that works on a given day. Not necessarily sustainable, but so far that has been the reality. My daily walk goes past some fancier stores, and it was good to see a more lived-in area. We also passed the Blue Mosque, which is used by the Iranian embassy personnel and is open as a sign of good relations between Armenia and Iran (so much gets shipped from there that they have to have good relations). I want to go back there and see it - on a warmer day.

I also want to go to the Vernissage, the outdoor flea/craft market, but can wait for a warmer day and for no more ice on the ground. Our day of climbing the Cascade was sunny and warmish; since then it rained a couple of days and then it snowed and then it has been colder and icy. I can wait; I'm also eager to visit the tourist shops in town to see what craft items they sell. I've passed some antique rug shops too - I should check them out, no? Just to see what they have?

Friday night a group of us (Gordon, Jeanne, some of the mid-career and older PCVs and a Fulbright scholar one of them knows - it just happened that way; we heard that the other PCVs in town were at the new Pizza Hut) went to an Armenian restaurant that also had traditional music. The food was great - eggplant salad, bulgur wheat pilaf, dolma (stuffed grape leaves), chicken with rice and apricots, and a dish made of beef, garlic, yogurt and mushed-up lavash. And the music was good too; it was especially enjoyable to see Gordon, who stayed in India after his Peace Corps service to learn the Carnatic flute and who plays it still (including at the place where I did my yoga retreat...small world), enjoy it so much.

Last night we went to the ballet! Peace Corps paid for one museum visit/tour, last weekend, and for one cultural event, this - but it's not so pricey that we can't go again on our own. The ballet was Gayane, one of Armenia's treasures; it includes the Sabre Dance, music that is well-known to us. It was a great performance - the sets, costumes, music and dancing were great. The crowd was mixed in age and in dressiness, given to outbursts of applause at spins, lifts or other displays of ballet excellence. What a treat!

I'm at Artbridge right now, for lunch and internet. This week I'll buy one of those Internet sticks, and then when I get my computer back I can do Internet from home. More culture is on tap for this afternoon; Gordon, Jeanne and I have tentative plans to go to a museum. There are a lot of them in Yerevan and a lot of weekends! We were planning to go to one last Sunday, but then I fell. Who knows; I could end up here all afternoon, talking and doing internet.... Tonight Brian and I are having dinner with Tim and three PCVs from the south who work with the NGOs and artisans there. Tomorrow we'll be meeting with those PCVs, the NGO partners, and their financial sponsor-to-date, the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe). The funding is for three years and it is halfway through; the NGOs have to start thinking about what will happen when the funding ends.

So I posted about the bells yesterday, and then last night and this morning they chimed on the hour and the half hour, no longer on the :23 and :47. Not nearly as much fun, but probably better for noting the time.

And elsewhere in the world, there's this thing called the Super Bowl later today. I asked one of the PCVs I met yesterday if and where they were planning to watch it; she said somewhere north of town. She also mentioned a place in town where she thought the Marines might watch, but she described it as hard to find. It's on in the middle of the night here anyway. Perhaps if the Bears or Jets were in it I might make more of an effort to see it, but since I haven't seen one since 2006, I can skip this one too. And a final cultural note for today, on Peace Corps culture - here, the PCVs call each other on the phone, as opposed to texting. Brian and I text, but maybe I will get used to talking on the phone again!