I'll start this week with the important things: shawarma. I have always been a fan of food you can wrap, such as the burrito and the gyro, but shawarma and I became particularly close when I was living in London. Shawarma is the Arab version of the wrap sandwich, and is commonly eaten across the Middle East, Europe and the Caucusus. In London I fell in love with their version using fresh cabbage and chili sauce. It varies everywhere, sometimes using tahini, sometimes garlic aioli paste, sometimes including pickles or turnips, etc. Here, my favorite version includes not only hot peppers, but, wait for it - french fries. A friend introduced me to a great place where for less than $2 you can get a fresh shawarma, with meat off the spit and cooked with real charcoal briquettes and expertly wrapped with hot french fries. The one small complaint is in true Armenian style, they use mayo and ketchup in lieu of chili sauce.
So moving on. This weekend there wasn't an organized excursion, which was a welcome break and opportunity to just hang out in Yerevan. Friday after work I met a friend for drinks at an outdoor cafe by the opera, then tried a restaurant outside of the city center (in typical Armenian fashion we ran into about five people we knew there, including the priest who married the friends I was with), and then we went to the Chicago Pub for dancing. The Chicago Pub was recently opened by a Diasporan Armenian who grew up on the south side of Chicago, "Gappo." Gappo did the Birthright program a few years ago and now lives in Yerevan. He is hilarious. I also had the chance to talk with some friends who have lived here for a longer period, especially my friend, Armen, who is in medical school here and fascinating to talk to. We talked a lot about crime - the crime rate here is astonishingly low. His take on it was that it has a lot to do with a village mentality - he described Yerevan as a lot like a larger village, where everyone knows everyone and there are extensive social networks. So you don't mess with anyone, because next thing you know, your mother will know about it, and your neighbor's brother, and so on. It also has a lot to do with being a closed society and also so homogeneous. As I've mentioned before, there's not a lot of difference here generally. If you look different, the first thing people will ask you is if you're Armenian (you're probably Russian), and if you are Armenian, exactly how Armenian you are. Of course there is also a difference between street crime and organized crime and corruption, which is very much present, especially in the Soviet aftermath and during the years of what some consider the "brain drain."
Saturday was Museum Day in Armenia, so all the museums were free in the evening and open late. Some friends and I did a pub/museum crawl and stopped at the quirky filmmakers' Parajanov Museum and also some contemporary galleries. Sunday was another sunny day, so I visited some more museums and cafes and also took pictures of some of the flowers in town. The flowers in Armenia are really amazing - some of the biggest callalillies I've ever seen, and beautiful variations of roses and lilac, and poppies grow in every crack in the sidewalk. Someone once told me that flowers could be a great untapped industry in Armenia. I also enjoyed watching the old men playing chess outside - chess is considered the national sport, and it's taught to young children.
This week I'm going to the two day women & politics conference, which I'm really looking forward to. I'm hoping to get the chance to speak with a lot of people for my research. I know that Robin Carnahan will be there, who is the current SOS for Missouri and a familiar face from my work in Boston. I also have a meeting on Friday with a woman deputy in parliament, which should be interesting.
Hard to believe I only have three weeks left.
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