Soviet Armenia

I took another long lunch earlier this week (though it did not last all afternoon this time!) to do a Soviet Tour through Envoy, the tour company run out of the hostel where most of the PCVs stay. It’s where my Silk Road friends stayed while they were here – and it’s where I’ve decided I will stay on my last night in the country. I’m going to be the first of the PCRVs to leave – since I will be taking off the day I COS; Gordon, Jeanne and Melvia leave later that weekend. I’m also going to be the last to leave, since I am coming back and flying out of Yerevan; Brian will have left a couple of days before I do. Rather than go back to Zina’s, I thought I would stay at the hostel – I’m there often enough, and that way I can guarantee myself a shower before I leave. Everyone raves about the Envoy showers! Envoy also has other interesting and imaginative tours; I’ve tried to go on others but they need a minimum number of signups in order to run them. The Soviet tour is a new one and it was very interesting. Gevorg, the creator and guide, said that so far it’s just the Americans who want the tour. And I said it was probably only the Americans who remember the Cold War, right? I recalled my conversation with our Safety and Security Coordinator, in which he said, “of course not, we were the most powerful country in the world!”

Gevorg dressed in period costume, with a bandana and a Soviet medal; the car had a banner and an Armenian SSR flag (same colors, but with a hammer and sickle). He also spoke in character, every so often telling about the future (i.e. present day), explaining how the rules of the Soviet Union made people so happy. We passed the Aeroflot office and started the tour in Lenin Square, today’s Republic Square – there had been a big sculpture of Lenin there, but that’s all gone (an even bigger Stalin was where Mother Armenia is today). Our next stop was the train station, from which you could travel all over the Soviet Union. In Soviet times, someone from perhaps the KGB would have been along with us and could have told us about everyone who lived in the buildings across the street and what they do. We had a Soviet snack lunch (a piroshki) and then took the Metro down to the factory area. All of the factories were close to the city, to make it easier for people to get to work. Never mind the chemical waste or pollution – the people had work! Now the factories are closed and there are weeds growing. It all disappeared overnight. He told some good Soviet jokes – I’d write them here but just in case they’d be deemed inappropriate for this forum, I’ll refrain. I did an internet search and noticed that there are several web sites that have some, so if you’re interested, you can find them.

We then went to the market – which is more or less the same as it was in Soviet times, except that then there were collective farms. Some of the produce at the market did come from individual farmers, but most of the land was collectivized (in the present day, Gevorg bought some apricots – they’re getting better!). Then we went to a Soviet housing complex. One of the old men sitting outside said something to Gevorg about him looking like a communist, and Gevorg had to explain why – that made my day. The housing complex was built in the shape of the letters CCCP. Gevorg described a daily routine – exercise 7:00 am, 7:30 go to work, work 8:00-noon, have lunch until 1:00, work again until 5:00, eat dinner when you get home, father play with kids while mother does dishes, everyone watch TV, 45 minutes or so for intimate relations, man leaves woman alone so she can cry, bed at 10:30. This was law. Not that everyone followed it, but everything was programmed by the state – down to the complete daily routine.

The next stop was left as a surprise – the only Lenin sculpture still in the country. When Gevorg was planning the tour, a taxi driver showed this to him; it’s in a courtyard in a residential area, outside the sculptor’s studio (and is available for sale). As he put it, the taxi drivers here know everything.

Our final stop was the house museum of the last president of the Armenian SSR, with displays that showcased all of the things he did for Armenia. It wasn’t at all a celebration of communism or of the Soviet Union, but rather a testament to what he was able to get done for his country within the system. It was a good way to end the tour on an up note (and the museum is conveniently located right across the street from the hostel). It was very interesting to see another side of Armenian history – of world history, really. And though it already seems long gone, it’s very recent history. And very interesting!