October 31, 2005
Citizens of Armenia are making a difference
As I have stated many times in private conversations, citizens of Armenia need to protest against infractions of their civil and social rights. The more they are active and express their opposition to actions that threaten their own rights, the more changes will take place in the favor of the people, which is how democracies operate.
On Saturday October 29, a hundred or so people gathered in an area of the “Circle Park” alongside Khanjian/Moscovian near the Komitas Music Chamber, where apparently more cafes were being constructed—around the hall there are already at least two cafes, one of them being ostentatious and obnoxious. There are remnants of a decent park but apparently this was to go as well, until the people put a stop to it. The organization that mainly put together the protest was a coalition called SOS Yerevan, in cooperation with several other groups such as the AUA ECRC (Environmental Conservation and Research Center and Transparency International. The protest was followed by a concert in front of the Opera House.
Onnik Krikorian on his blog has posted several photos as well as some information about what happened. One of the commentators, Jeffery Tufenkian of Armenian Forests NGO, had this to say:
… although we never would have believed it would happen so soon, we already have had some success with our first target; they began tearing down at least the portions of the cafe being constructed nearby the Komitas Chamber Music hall (Kamarayin). They were tearing up the pavement they had just put down and the crane nearby the starting point of the rally on Saturday was there to REMOVE the skeleton of the roof they had just built the week before.
Unfortunately I was on my way to Vanadzor that day and could not attend the protest, but I’m sure it was a sight to see. It is another example of how people can bring about real changes in their own societal structures and even ways of life. In this case, residents and employees in the area, namely musicians, refused to see additional cafes occupy their green space as well as tolerate the eye sores and bad music that emanate from them.
A guy I know also from Boston in a debate once said that the construction of cafes on parks throughout Yerevan is good, since 15 years ago they were used as trash dumps, and the cafes opening shows signs of “progress.” Then he went on to say that if people want parks, they should buy plots of land and turn them into green spaces. I wonder what he would say now when people are opposing violations of their existing public green spaces, which are--as seen by recent events--clearly not regarded as being “dumps.”
Labels: Personal Experiences, Social and Cultural
I got pulled over twice in one night
Last night while on my way back from Vanadzor I was pulled over just as I entered Bangladesh after crossing the line from Cheramushka (aka Achepenak). I and several other cars went through the traffic light, but the traffic cop who didn’t see me cross the intersection as I was traveling in the left lane and a minibus was on my right insisted that the light was red, even though my brother-in-law turned public advocate agreed that it was green. I was not happy and told the cop that, after he accused me of breaking the law, he was trying to screw me instead. I gave him my papers, license, etc. and he walked away to consult with one of the other traffic cops. He came back and told me that he was going to write a ticket, then confiscate my car and keep my license, since it was not valid. I lost it then and there and tried to offer him a 5000 dram bribe but he tried to play the hero, play games or whatever and he refused to take it. My brother-in-law got out of the car to reason with the guy, and I got out of the car demanding that he give me his badge information, then threatening to get him fired (which probably would never have happened anyway). He told my brother-in-law that he had the right to impound my car for 15 days, whereby I would have to pay $100 or more to retrieve it. In the end the cop naturally took the 5000 drams and let me go.
Fifteen minutes later on my way from Bangladesh driving towards the city’s center along the Yerevan-Ejmiadzin highway I was flagged down again by some traffic cops but I ignored them. I kept driving for a kilometer, then was actually pursued by another car parked further up the road driving a Zhiguli model 2106. Eventually after trying to shake them off I pulled over. In a frantic as to what to do next, I as well as Ariga exclusively spoke English with the two cops that approached, and I threw in a couple of mispronounced Armenian words to make it more believable. They even checked my breath to see if I was drinking. After a few minutes of scratching their heads they let me go, still trying to figure out why I didn’t pull over in the first place. The funny thing is that the paperwork I handed them save for my license was entirely written in Armenian, along with my signature on the transfer title, so why they didn’t catch my bluff is beyond me.
I may be wrong here but I really think these cops are pulling most motorists over for no apparent valid reason. They basically make up excuses to extort money, including the first young cop, who looks like he just got out of the police academy because he had no pot belly. The problem I have is when men driving expensive German cars with tinted windows speed upwards of 100 km/hour or more through the city center streets, they are ignored. When I pass a green light, I am pulled over for going through a red one. For the most part now, every week (I usually drive only on weekends) I am pulled over, despite the supposed vanity registration plates that came with my car. In fact, they are actually getting me stopped more rather than the opposite purpose. If I had regular plates I probably wouldn’t have had many problems. I would like to believe that the case where a young cop pulled me over and refused to take a bribe is showing that there are a few examples emerging of honest cops. But knowing argumentative-by-nature Armenians well, I have a hard time trying to be persuaded.
Fifteen minutes later on my way from Bangladesh driving towards the city’s center along the Yerevan-Ejmiadzin highway I was flagged down again by some traffic cops but I ignored them. I kept driving for a kilometer, then was actually pursued by another car parked further up the road driving a Zhiguli model 2106. Eventually after trying to shake them off I pulled over. In a frantic as to what to do next, I as well as Ariga exclusively spoke English with the two cops that approached, and I threw in a couple of mispronounced Armenian words to make it more believable. They even checked my breath to see if I was drinking. After a few minutes of scratching their heads they let me go, still trying to figure out why I didn’t pull over in the first place. The funny thing is that the paperwork I handed them save for my license was entirely written in Armenian, along with my signature on the transfer title, so why they didn’t catch my bluff is beyond me.
I may be wrong here but I really think these cops are pulling most motorists over for no apparent valid reason. They basically make up excuses to extort money, including the first young cop, who looks like he just got out of the police academy because he had no pot belly. The problem I have is when men driving expensive German cars with tinted windows speed upwards of 100 km/hour or more through the city center streets, they are ignored. When I pass a green light, I am pulled over for going through a red one. For the most part now, every week (I usually drive only on weekends) I am pulled over, despite the supposed vanity registration plates that came with my car. In fact, they are actually getting me stopped more rather than the opposite purpose. If I had regular plates I probably wouldn’t have had many problems. I would like to believe that the case where a young cop pulled me over and refused to take a bribe is showing that there are a few examples emerging of honest cops. But knowing argumentative-by-nature Armenians well, I have a hard time trying to be persuaded.
Labels: Personal Experiences, Thoughts and Musings
October 26, 2005
Time to Prune the Trees
Winter is already approaching in Armenia. What a better time to start pruning trees throughout the country’s capital?
The first sign of tree vandalism, also known as pollarding, has been seen already, beginning on a short stretch of Tumanian Street alongside the “Brambion” building on the Abovyan Street corner. About five full-size trees and a few saplings have been pollarded—in other words their limbs have been completely cut off. It is a matter of time before the rest of trees on the same side of the street are pollarded, probably around the Opera House as well. I have heard various theories for the reasons behind this sadistic method of pruning, one of them being that it is a form of disease prevention, in this case unnecessary for otherwise perfectly healthy trees. It is also a way to make the trees look “pretty” once small thin offshoot branches grow to a reasonable length in five years time and hang down to resemble an umbrella. This is an odd explanation as well.
According to an entry on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, pollarding can be defined as follows:
Unless Yerevan residents can sometimes enact the foraging rituals of rabbits or deer, pollarding doesn’t seem to be necessary. At most, the lower branches that may get into the eyes of passers by can be simply trimmed down to the trunk, leaving the upper, solid limbs and branches alone. But this apparently is too much to ask.
In some cities, such as the new capital of the Armenian Diaspora, Glendale, California, pollarding is strictly prohibited under law. Apparently, however, pollarding is a problem throughout California, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, and it also goes on in England, where it supposedly originated, apparently for the trees’ own good.
The problems I have with city-wide pollarding can best be summed up in the following text, from the City of Rohnert Park, California Web site:
Indeed, just by strolling around the city’s center (as well as along Gomidas Street in the Arabkir district, on which all the large, gorgeous trees were cruelly pollarded only a couple of years ago) you will notice upon examining the trees that many have formed bulbous growths at the stubs of limbs from which branches grow straight but in all directions, resembling a star shape. After a few years of growth the new branches start competing with one another and they grow crooked. Before you know it, the city municipal workers without understanding what they are doing and how to do it properly cut all the new limbs, and the process starts again. I have also noticed that some trees have simply died from repetitive pollarding practices.
I want to argue that lopping off entire tree limbs is not being done for the sake of preserving perfectly healthy trees. This excuse is a disguise for illegally collecting and selling wood during the winter months. From my past experience with learning about tree cutting en masse throughout Armenia by writing about it as well as discussing it with people—some of who are environmental protection advocates—cutting is a way to make money in this country. According to various sources, at the turn of the 20th century about 11 percent of the landscape in Armenia—I am assuming the area sometimes referred to “Russian Armenia” which for the most part is what we have today—was covered by trees. Today’s estimates of tree coverage are as low as 6 percent, not very high for a mostly arid, rock and sand-covered country.
In other words, businessmen are doing everything they can whether in the city or the forests to make money by selling timber—some of the trees being rare and indigenous only to the Caucasus regions—exporting it to mainly European countries like Spain and Italy. Thankfully, the Armenian Forests NGO—perhaps the leading organization in Armenia striving for forest protection founded only a few years ago—is working to start reversing this trend, putting pressure on governmental agencies such as “Hayandar” to do their intended job by regulating or prohibiting cutting. From what I understand it has been speaking out against pollarding as well.
Let’s not forget that people are also cutting trees down to stay warm in the winter, which naturally is understandable. But there are alternative, very inexpensive alternatives now, such as gas heating. This is slow coming in Armenia’s rural areas, but for the most part there is little excuse in most of Yerevan. Another practice of heating during the winter that I noticed is practiced in Javakhk especially, namely burning dried dung chips, is not widely enacted in the villages here, which I think is strange. Thus people have cut down the windbreaks along main roads that were used to protect their own farmland in order to use the timber for fuel.
Again, so long as “vochinch” continues, unnecessary, drastic tree pruning and widespread cutting will continue unless citizens of Armenia start waking up and demand that the government do something to prevent it. We saw that protest worked in the case of preserving the Shikahogh Reserve in the Syunik Region in June. Now we have to ensure that environmental protection—not to discount the protection of human rights—
is enforced throughout the country.
The first sign of tree vandalism, also known as pollarding, has been seen already, beginning on a short stretch of Tumanian Street alongside the “Brambion” building on the Abovyan Street corner. About five full-size trees and a few saplings have been pollarded—in other words their limbs have been completely cut off. It is a matter of time before the rest of trees on the same side of the street are pollarded, probably around the Opera House as well. I have heard various theories for the reasons behind this sadistic method of pruning, one of them being that it is a form of disease prevention, in this case unnecessary for otherwise perfectly healthy trees. It is also a way to make the trees look “pretty” once small thin offshoot branches grow to a reasonable length in five years time and hang down to resemble an umbrella. This is an odd explanation as well.
According to an entry on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, pollarding can be defined as follows:
Pollarding is a woodland management method of encouraging lateral branches by cutting off a tree stem two meters or so above ground level.
If pollarding is done repeatedly over the years, a somewhat expanded (or swollen) tree trunk will result, and multiple new side and top shoots will grow on it.
The main reason for this type of practice, rather than coppicing, was in wood-pastures and grazing areas where growth from the ground upwards was less practicable, due to the required area for grazing which would have been reduced by thickets of low tree growth. Pollarding above head height also protects valuable timber or poles from being damaged by browsing animals such as rabbits or deer.
Unless Yerevan residents can sometimes enact the foraging rituals of rabbits or deer, pollarding doesn’t seem to be necessary. At most, the lower branches that may get into the eyes of passers by can be simply trimmed down to the trunk, leaving the upper, solid limbs and branches alone. But this apparently is too much to ask.
In some cities, such as the new capital of the Armenian Diaspora, Glendale, California, pollarding is strictly prohibited under law. Apparently, however, pollarding is a problem throughout California, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, and it also goes on in England, where it supposedly originated, apparently for the trees’ own good.
The problems I have with city-wide pollarding can best be summed up in the following text, from the City of Rohnert Park, California Web site:
Unfortunately, the concept of pollarding has been inappropriately extended to nearly any tree that has become too large for the space allocated to it, and these trees are mercilessly headed back into large wood in the name of size reduction. This is not appropriate pruning and is certainly not good arboriculture. Here are just a few of the negative consequences of heading done in this manner: 1) Loss in aesthetic beauty associated with loss of the tree’s natural shape. 2) Loss in structural integrity leading to increased liability due to potential for limb failure. 3) An increase in pruning expense associated with the necessity for reducing the number of profuse regrowth sprouts that result from heading cuts, and from the need for safety pruning when larger sucker regrowth develop mass and begin to fail. Couple this with the need to repeat the heading process at frequent intervals just to accomplish the original intent, which was size reduction. There have been many that have abandoned this treadmill and simply cut the too-large tree down and replanted with an appropriately sized tree for the area, a more sensible approach in the first place.
Indeed, just by strolling around the city’s center (as well as along Gomidas Street in the Arabkir district, on which all the large, gorgeous trees were cruelly pollarded only a couple of years ago) you will notice upon examining the trees that many have formed bulbous growths at the stubs of limbs from which branches grow straight but in all directions, resembling a star shape. After a few years of growth the new branches start competing with one another and they grow crooked. Before you know it, the city municipal workers without understanding what they are doing and how to do it properly cut all the new limbs, and the process starts again. I have also noticed that some trees have simply died from repetitive pollarding practices.
I want to argue that lopping off entire tree limbs is not being done for the sake of preserving perfectly healthy trees. This excuse is a disguise for illegally collecting and selling wood during the winter months. From my past experience with learning about tree cutting en masse throughout Armenia by writing about it as well as discussing it with people—some of who are environmental protection advocates—cutting is a way to make money in this country. According to various sources, at the turn of the 20th century about 11 percent of the landscape in Armenia—I am assuming the area sometimes referred to “Russian Armenia” which for the most part is what we have today—was covered by trees. Today’s estimates of tree coverage are as low as 6 percent, not very high for a mostly arid, rock and sand-covered country.
In other words, businessmen are doing everything they can whether in the city or the forests to make money by selling timber—some of the trees being rare and indigenous only to the Caucasus regions—exporting it to mainly European countries like Spain and Italy. Thankfully, the Armenian Forests NGO—perhaps the leading organization in Armenia striving for forest protection founded only a few years ago—is working to start reversing this trend, putting pressure on governmental agencies such as “Hayandar” to do their intended job by regulating or prohibiting cutting. From what I understand it has been speaking out against pollarding as well.
Let’s not forget that people are also cutting trees down to stay warm in the winter, which naturally is understandable. But there are alternative, very inexpensive alternatives now, such as gas heating. This is slow coming in Armenia’s rural areas, but for the most part there is little excuse in most of Yerevan. Another practice of heating during the winter that I noticed is practiced in Javakhk especially, namely burning dried dung chips, is not widely enacted in the villages here, which I think is strange. Thus people have cut down the windbreaks along main roads that were used to protect their own farmland in order to use the timber for fuel.
Again, so long as “vochinch” continues, unnecessary, drastic tree pruning and widespread cutting will continue unless citizens of Armenia start waking up and demand that the government do something to prevent it. We saw that protest worked in the case of preserving the Shikahogh Reserve in the Syunik Region in June. Now we have to ensure that environmental protection—not to discount the protection of human rights—
is enforced throughout the country.
Labels: Thoughts and Musings
October 18, 2005
Rock ’n Roll Weekend
Last Saturday evening while in Vanadzor Ariga told me that we had been invited to hear a rock band rehearse new material. The band’s name is Eveapple, founded by Marat Avedisyan (see above photo).
We found the band in the basement of an elementary school in the city’s downtown area. The room they were in contains all sorts of film projection and editing equipment, as well as an archive of thousands of films, mostly in 16mm format. In the middle of this stuff was their audio equipment, which comprises a haphazard network of archaic Soviet-era amplifiers, including those of standalone phonographs. When we walked in a couple of the band members were trying to solder some wires together in order to make the proper connections from one point to the other.
Although their equipment is limited in terms of quality (and functionality), the music that we heard was not. The band’s music is fresh sounding to say the least, and very little can be compared to its rock-pop sound from what I’ve heard in Armenia. I don’t want to identify them with a worldly, mainstream band, as this would be unfair, but I will say that their music is definitely radio friendly. The band is a five piece, with lead, rhythm, and bass guitars, keyboards, and drums. Incidentally, the drummer David Grigorian played with the now defunct Lav Eli, an excellent band also from Vanadzor.
We were privileged enough to hear three of their songs going through constant manifestations in the development process, with harmonies frequently changing in order to find the right sound. It was really extraordinary to hear and watch.
Most if not all of the lyrics are written by Marat, while most of the music is written by all members. And most of their songs are sung in English, although one of the songs that appear on an undistributed 5-track EP disc is performed in Armenian. The problem the band has now is marketability, as it still needs to find its audience. Marat explained that “rabiz” pop music is still the mainstream, whereas it seems to me and Marat agrees that rock enjoys cult status here, as the music form has negative connotations associated with it for some reason. Thus, he is not banking on making it big in Armenia, unfortunately.
On Sunday night after returning to Yerevan I went down to the Stop Club on Moscovian Street near Brusov Institute to hear Bambir for the third time. They were playing an unexpected “acoustic” set, although their guitars were still plugged into amplifiers and their drummer occasionally pounded away on his drum kit. They sounded really great that evening with the guitars toned down a few notches, and they performed their usual set of original songs as well as rock covers by the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. I want to note here that their flutist, Arik Grigoryan, is fantastic. Sometimes I hear a tinge of Rahsaan Roland Kirk in his playing, especially when he’s soaring without seeming to take a breath and starts moaning in unison with the melody.
Stop Club is actually a place where I was encouraging Eveapple to perform in—hopefully they will make their way to Yerevan more often. Their music is definitely needed here.
Labels: Music, Personal Experiences
Local Elections Were Held Last Weekend
Throughout Armenia local elections were held, where residents of cities and towns elected their mayor as well as other administrators. For some reason elections are held on Sunday, as opposed to a weekday, perhaps because the government prefers that people cast their votes on a non-work day.
In any case, I had the chance in Vanadzor to briefly witness the elections there as Ariga and my mother-in-law participated in the voting process. I noticed that things in general were very orderly and peaceful, and the entire process was similar to that I have experienced in the US. People are registered by address and groups enter the election hall based on the area in which they live in their district. They are then given ballots and are required to mark a V for the candidates they wish to support. Then before ballots are cast in the appropriate boxes they are presented to officials for them to be stamped valid.
From what Ariga told me the competition between the two candidates was fierce. But she and her mother were giving their support for the incumbent mayor, who despite the odds against him won by a landslide. Armenia Liberty/RFE/RL reports:
Darpinian comes from humble upbringings and is basically the people’s choice as he primarily serves their interest rather than those of big business. Although there naturally is corruption in his administration, it does not stop him from enabling social and public works programs from being enacted. For example, the street on which Ariga’s apartment building is located was in complete disrepair for over 10 years. But when the mayor’s representatives came around to ask people what improvement to their surroundings would earn a vote for him, the majority including Ariga’s mother told the rep that if the mayor repaired the road he wound earn a vote. The next day nearly all the pot holes on the street were filled in with gravel, and it will be a matter of time before fresh asphalt is laid. Most of the main streets throughout the city have already been repaved.
Hovsepian, however, and his family are involved in huge business undertakings, and between him and his brother they reportedly own most of the real estate in Vanadzor as well as some in Moscow. The old Soviet Gugark Hotel on the main square now belongs to them. People were apparently worried that if he was voted into office their interests would have been side tracked. His focus would have been on his own interests as well as those of other wanna-be mega capitalists. Apparently most of the big “mafia” bosses in Vanadzor have killed each other off, so there will be much more to do to improve Vanadzor’s overall state by Darpinian. The next thing to do will be to attract investment in the run-down chemical factories to either rehabilitate them somehow or use them for other manufacturing purposes.
Elections in other places did not go so well, however. Apparently in Ejmiadzin there was a lot of voter intimidation, and supporters of one of the underdog candidates were even kidnapped at one point. The city is controlled by an army general who did everything he could to ensure that his candidate was elected.
Most of the local candidates that won represented the Republican party. But I did not see anything mentioned about the other pro-Kocharian parties, including ARF-Dashnaktsutiun, which probably shows that support for the ARF is still steadily declining—not good for the supposedly most popular political party in the Armenian Diaspora.
In any case, I had the chance in Vanadzor to briefly witness the elections there as Ariga and my mother-in-law participated in the voting process. I noticed that things in general were very orderly and peaceful, and the entire process was similar to that I have experienced in the US. People are registered by address and groups enter the election hall based on the area in which they live in their district. They are then given ballots and are required to mark a V for the candidates they wish to support. Then before ballots are cast in the appropriate boxes they are presented to officials for them to be stamped valid.
From what Ariga told me the competition between the two candidates was fierce. But she and her mother were giving their support for the incumbent mayor, who despite the odds against him won by a landslide. Armenia Liberty/RFE/RL reports:
In the town of Vanadzor where three candidates contested the mayor’s office incumbent mayor Samvel Darpinian of the Republican Party received 25,017 votes, and his main rival, nonpartisan Gagik Hovsepian received 19,800 votes. Candidate Andranik Ghukasian from the Communist Party gathered an insignificant number of votes – 1,283.
District election commission head Minas Sayadian boasted of how elections in Lori favorable compared to the votes in other regions.
“The elections here were held smoothly, without any incidents, and were positively evaluated by the Central Election Commission as compared to elections held in other places,” he told RFE/RL. “The shortcomings observed in the course of the elections cannot affect the final outcomes.”
Darpinian comes from humble upbringings and is basically the people’s choice as he primarily serves their interest rather than those of big business. Although there naturally is corruption in his administration, it does not stop him from enabling social and public works programs from being enacted. For example, the street on which Ariga’s apartment building is located was in complete disrepair for over 10 years. But when the mayor’s representatives came around to ask people what improvement to their surroundings would earn a vote for him, the majority including Ariga’s mother told the rep that if the mayor repaired the road he wound earn a vote. The next day nearly all the pot holes on the street were filled in with gravel, and it will be a matter of time before fresh asphalt is laid. Most of the main streets throughout the city have already been repaved.
Hovsepian, however, and his family are involved in huge business undertakings, and between him and his brother they reportedly own most of the real estate in Vanadzor as well as some in Moscow. The old Soviet Gugark Hotel on the main square now belongs to them. People were apparently worried that if he was voted into office their interests would have been side tracked. His focus would have been on his own interests as well as those of other wanna-be mega capitalists. Apparently most of the big “mafia” bosses in Vanadzor have killed each other off, so there will be much more to do to improve Vanadzor’s overall state by Darpinian. The next thing to do will be to attract investment in the run-down chemical factories to either rehabilitate them somehow or use them for other manufacturing purposes.
Elections in other places did not go so well, however. Apparently in Ejmiadzin there was a lot of voter intimidation, and supporters of one of the underdog candidates were even kidnapped at one point. The city is controlled by an army general who did everything he could to ensure that his candidate was elected.
Most of the local candidates that won represented the Republican party. But I did not see anything mentioned about the other pro-Kocharian parties, including ARF-Dashnaktsutiun, which probably shows that support for the ARF is still steadily declining—not good for the supposedly most popular political party in the Armenian Diaspora.
Labels: Politics
More About the Wedding
The wedding was a huge success as I had mentioned before. Guests from Switzerland, the US, South Africa, Russia, and of course Armenia were with us, including my parents. My dad made a very moving toast/speech towards the beginning of the reception—it was a emotional day to say the least. The reception lasted until 1:00 am, when the band started to sing a song called “Goodnight everyone and thanks for coming.” The organizing of the day’s events was chaotic, however, as I was left to deal with coordinating the taxis as well as trying to sort out my attire problem; the shirt my mother brought with her had a defect as the collar was not straight. Photos of the wedding/reception were taken by friend and photojournalist Onnik Krikorian.
I reviewed the video tape shot by a “professional” videographer and was gravely disappointed. I told him I wanted mostly footage of people mingling and talking to one another, either up close or at a distance with a zoom. Instead he shot three hours of people dancing. But at least the church footage is decent, and a second “amateur” camera with footage taken by Ariga’s uncle Sarkis Hakopian and anyone else who picked it up captured what I wanted, although it was limited. I plan to go through all the footage and edit it on my iBook during the next month, but I need to use a PAL Mini DV video camera to do so, as my NTSC camera is unable to play as well as export footage from PAL-recorded tapes. If anyone reading this living in Armenia has a PAL DV camera who wants to lend it to me, please contact me.
I spent most of the last two weeks showing my parents as much of Armenia as possible. We drove around Lake Sevan one day, and on others visited the Lori Region, including Vanadzor, Odzun, and monasteries Sanahin and Haghpat. We also visited Dilijan, where we visited the spectacular Hagartsin monastery, and Karabagh. A trip to Meghri was cancelled unfortunately due to time restraints.
One afternoon was spent visiting the Kharpert Museum located at one of the schools in Nor Kharpert, which incidentally is in dire need of complete renovations (as are hundreds of schools throughout Armenia)—the first two floors were reeking of urine as the restrooms no longer work properly.
They also had an opportunity to visit Sergey Minasian’s farm in Vosketap, located in the Ararat Region, where they were captivated by Mount Ararat, as is anyone seeing it up close and personal for the first time.
My parents also witnessed Armenian corruption and bribery at their very essence. One day on the way back to Yerevan from Sardarabad we were pulled over by a traffic cop, and thus to get rid of the guy after I understood he was going to give me a hard time I slipped a 1000 dram note to him when he asked for my car’s “passport.” So they saw a bit of everything for sure.
It meant a lot to me and Ariga that my parents were able to come. They left Armenia with lasting impressions and great expectations for a prosperous, hopeful future, which is important for anyone to come away with.
Anyway, above are some photos taken by our friend Dorota Niedzwiecka from Switzerland and uncle Sarkis.
Labels: Personal Experiences
October 2, 2005
The Yerevan Zoo Should Be Shut Down
Some days I wonder what it means to be Armenian, as my mindset doesn’t seem to coincide with many people here regarding certain issues. Animal protection is no exception.
Today Ariga suggested that we go to the Yerevan Zoo, and although I was not too keen on the idea as I have heard that the place was not in good shape, I agreed anyway. When we entered I did not expect the dismay that I witnessed.
The zoo, which is government controlled, is run down and the poor animals are not living well at all. We first went to see the bears and what I saw was upsetting but not as shocking as what I would see later. The zoo has three bears who are not in bad shape, but the ground of the area in which they reside was almost completely covered by their own excrement. There were few clean places for them to sit and as a result their fur was a bit soiled. The water that was provided for them to swim in—which was clean compared to other areas of the zoo—was littered with plastic bags and popcorn.
Speaking of litter, there was trash strewn everywhere, as can be noticed at virtually every public rest/relaxation area throughout Armenia. There was not one patch of space that did not have plastic bottles or bags on it. Naturally the bags and other crap float around when a gust of wind comes through the place and thus you have animals living with litter in their areas.
Many of the animals were clearly sick and malnourished. The ostriches totally ignored the large tub of rotten apples and bits of bread given them to eat. The foxes in their pens were thirsty, pacing back and forth or curled up in a corner. We saw no water laid for them, although a slab of rotten meat had been thrown into one of the pens that had been ignored.
One thing I noticed that really disturbed me is that almost all the animals stand and sleep on concrete or asphalt, which are in turn covered in their own feces. There is no grass or anything organic for that matter for the ostriches or other birds to walk on. And one area that contained swans had only a small pool of standing water about 10 feet long and three feet wide for them to swim in, which was completely filthy with green muck and litter, as were all the water pools in the zoo. There are even two hippopotamuses who do not dare venture into their own swimming place, also very small, as it is unfit for bathing. Both were baking in the sun, and I don’t understand how they survive with no fresh water.
I also noticed that several trees have been cut throughout the zoo, so now there is virtually no shade for many of the animals that need it. Some of the slopes that line the zoo boundaries have been completely voided of their greenery, so now there is only sand and rocks. Many of the animals are clearly not being cared for at all. The llamas have dirty, matted coats that need to be tended to, and the one seemingly confused elephant, who for some reason has a chain winding around its front right foot, is covered in dust and dirt.
I asked the guy ripping tickets at the gate why the animals are living so miserably, whereby he responded, “People are living miserably too. Didn’t you know that?” I don’t know what the hell kind of an answer that is, seeing that animals in captivity are wholly dependent on the human caretakers to provide for them. But I know that his “vochinch” mentality, undoubtedly shared by nearly everyone working in that zoo from what I saw of the place, is not going to turn around.
Since the zoo is government controlled and it can obviously not properly fund the zoo (admission is a mere 150 dram or about 35 cents) for whatever reason, it must be either shut down or privatized. Ariga told me that the zoo in Tbilisi is in excellent shape compared to the Yerevan zoo, so I’m sure many of the animals can be sold or donated to it. It is unfair to these defenseless animals that they be subjected to such disasterous conditions. These animals in public display are meant to be respected and admired—instead they are scorned and humiliated. And I don’t know why the local representative of the World Wildlife Foundation doesn’t do anything about what’s happening—it makes no sense at all.
Really, some of these oligarghs/ultra-wealthy businessmen should be approached to buy the zoo and bring it up to accepted zookeeping standards, if such exist. Despite what people think about his business practices or whatever, Gagik Tsarukian, who is the owner of Kotayk Beer and anything bearing the “Multigroup” mark, would be the perfect person to turn this place around because he is good at keeping public places clean. His home town of Abovyan has no litter on its streets, and the public spaces are in beautiful shape. The small town of Arinj that sits at the foot of his living compound perched high up on a hill on the Kotayk Region border, is sparkling, the streets lined with flowers. Also he has replaced the funicular in Tsakhadzor and seems to be investing a lot of money in the resort area. There is plenty of money to be made in zoos as well, so why doesn’t one of these guys with the megabucks take the Yerevan Zoo over?
Ariga mentioned to me today that when it comes to animals, Armenians are only good at raising then slaughtering pigs and sheep. In a country where driving over dogs is considered a sport, I don’t expect that cruelty towards animals en masse will ever be overcome here. Just by the way I have seen horses and other farm animals being cared for in villages, I know that there needs to be widespread education about animal protection in this country, but I have no idea what children are being taught regarding that.
Today Ariga suggested that we go to the Yerevan Zoo, and although I was not too keen on the idea as I have heard that the place was not in good shape, I agreed anyway. When we entered I did not expect the dismay that I witnessed.
The zoo, which is government controlled, is run down and the poor animals are not living well at all. We first went to see the bears and what I saw was upsetting but not as shocking as what I would see later. The zoo has three bears who are not in bad shape, but the ground of the area in which they reside was almost completely covered by their own excrement. There were few clean places for them to sit and as a result their fur was a bit soiled. The water that was provided for them to swim in—which was clean compared to other areas of the zoo—was littered with plastic bags and popcorn.
Speaking of litter, there was trash strewn everywhere, as can be noticed at virtually every public rest/relaxation area throughout Armenia. There was not one patch of space that did not have plastic bottles or bags on it. Naturally the bags and other crap float around when a gust of wind comes through the place and thus you have animals living with litter in their areas.
Many of the animals were clearly sick and malnourished. The ostriches totally ignored the large tub of rotten apples and bits of bread given them to eat. The foxes in their pens were thirsty, pacing back and forth or curled up in a corner. We saw no water laid for them, although a slab of rotten meat had been thrown into one of the pens that had been ignored.
One thing I noticed that really disturbed me is that almost all the animals stand and sleep on concrete or asphalt, which are in turn covered in their own feces. There is no grass or anything organic for that matter for the ostriches or other birds to walk on. And one area that contained swans had only a small pool of standing water about 10 feet long and three feet wide for them to swim in, which was completely filthy with green muck and litter, as were all the water pools in the zoo. There are even two hippopotamuses who do not dare venture into their own swimming place, also very small, as it is unfit for bathing. Both were baking in the sun, and I don’t understand how they survive with no fresh water.
I also noticed that several trees have been cut throughout the zoo, so now there is virtually no shade for many of the animals that need it. Some of the slopes that line the zoo boundaries have been completely voided of their greenery, so now there is only sand and rocks. Many of the animals are clearly not being cared for at all. The llamas have dirty, matted coats that need to be tended to, and the one seemingly confused elephant, who for some reason has a chain winding around its front right foot, is covered in dust and dirt.
I asked the guy ripping tickets at the gate why the animals are living so miserably, whereby he responded, “People are living miserably too. Didn’t you know that?” I don’t know what the hell kind of an answer that is, seeing that animals in captivity are wholly dependent on the human caretakers to provide for them. But I know that his “vochinch” mentality, undoubtedly shared by nearly everyone working in that zoo from what I saw of the place, is not going to turn around.
Since the zoo is government controlled and it can obviously not properly fund the zoo (admission is a mere 150 dram or about 35 cents) for whatever reason, it must be either shut down or privatized. Ariga told me that the zoo in Tbilisi is in excellent shape compared to the Yerevan zoo, so I’m sure many of the animals can be sold or donated to it. It is unfair to these defenseless animals that they be subjected to such disasterous conditions. These animals in public display are meant to be respected and admired—instead they are scorned and humiliated. And I don’t know why the local representative of the World Wildlife Foundation doesn’t do anything about what’s happening—it makes no sense at all.
Really, some of these oligarghs/ultra-wealthy businessmen should be approached to buy the zoo and bring it up to accepted zookeeping standards, if such exist. Despite what people think about his business practices or whatever, Gagik Tsarukian, who is the owner of Kotayk Beer and anything bearing the “Multigroup” mark, would be the perfect person to turn this place around because he is good at keeping public places clean. His home town of Abovyan has no litter on its streets, and the public spaces are in beautiful shape. The small town of Arinj that sits at the foot of his living compound perched high up on a hill on the Kotayk Region border, is sparkling, the streets lined with flowers. Also he has replaced the funicular in Tsakhadzor and seems to be investing a lot of money in the resort area. There is plenty of money to be made in zoos as well, so why doesn’t one of these guys with the megabucks take the Yerevan Zoo over?
Ariga mentioned to me today that when it comes to animals, Armenians are only good at raising then slaughtering pigs and sheep. In a country where driving over dogs is considered a sport, I don’t expect that cruelty towards animals en masse will ever be overcome here. Just by the way I have seen horses and other farm animals being cared for in villages, I know that there needs to be widespread education about animal protection in this country, but I have no idea what children are being taught regarding that.
Labels: Personal Experiences, Social and Cultural
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