Longings

I am going back to the States for a short visit in December at which time I will have been in Armenia for almost nineteen months. My primary purpose is to see my two daughters, my sister and five brothers, other family, and close friends. All these people are asking me what I want to do. I do not specifically want to “do” anything. I am looking forward to satisfying some of my “longings”. These are things that I miss, but they are not needs. My longings include:

Water available 24/7. Hot showers.
Good wines. Homemade cherry wine fermented in the sun doesn’t cut it.
Navigating streets without constantly looking down. Looking up.
Browsing bookstores. (There are none in Gyumri.)
Food with labels. Labels that I can read.
Drivers who observe speed limits. Women drivers. Driving a car.
Ground coffee for filters. Rich Columbian coffee.
Soft pillows vs. hard-as-a-rock filled with sheep’s wool pillows.
Washing machine and dryer. No hand washing and line-drying.
“Safe” cars. No Ladas, bald tires, or broken windshields.
Salads, with red leaf, Romaine, butter, and Belgian endive lettuce.
Anything but cabbage, turnip-sized carrots, and potatoes to eat.
Recognizable cuts of meat. Refrigerated meat.
Dogs that sleep at night, instead of wandering the streets in packs.
Fresh chicken breasts vs. frozen breasts from China.
Pizza without mayonnaise.
Mexican food. Any ethnic food but Armenian.
Fresh juices. Juices that don’t taste like sweetened water.
Central heating vs. small gas heater that heats space within three feet.
Men who dress in anything but black. No pointy shoes.
Milk with a shelf life beyond one day.
Artisan breads: raisin pecan, challah, and rye.
Raisins without seeds.
People who smile when photographed. Healthy teeth.
Cranberries. Berries of any kind.
Thick fluffy towels that do not have to be hand-washed.

Four buckets of water and I'm bathed. The spray does not work!
Yogurt, flour, baking soda, sugar, and oatmeal.
Emma and Anahit, two of my favorite people.  They do not smile for pictures.

Armenian Relationships

I’ve been doing some snooping about Armenian oligarchs because in every report I read about economic conditions in the country (by the World Bank, USAID, IMF, etc.), the influence of the oligarchs in politics and the economy is central to the country’s problems. Armenian oligarchs control the importation of goods into the country and the few commodities that the country exports. It is nearly impossible to find out who is on the list of the top ten, although interestingly a list that came out a few years ago (put out by a bogus Forbes Armenia) showed that six of the top ten were important figures in the government; I.e., president of the leading political party, Chairman of the State Customs Committee, Mayor of Yerevan, President of Armenia, Minister of Justice, and Minister of Transport and Communication.

Then I read something interesting: “…all of us, including oligarchs, are carriers of an archaic national mentality, in correspondence with which one the zone of the responsibility of each Armenian is confined by the family and his own “village”. In present-day, urban conditions the concept of village was transformed to concept of the district of habitation, in this connection some oligarchs psychologically limit zones of the responsibility to known Yerevan quarters or to the region of origin." And, "Therefore, an estrangement, the absence of feeling of belonging to the country and responsibility for it is characteristic not only for the ordinary citizens of present-day Armenia, about what the sociologists and the publicists speak during last years with an alert, but also for oligarchs." This struck me because it is my impression that Armenians generally do not identify strongly with Armenia the country, but rather with Armenia the ethnic group. I hear discussions about the "fatherland", which included those parts of historic Armenia given to Turkey by Russia in 1922 and parts of southern Georgia, Nagorno Karabakh, and loosely includes the Russian diaspora (who will return.) Armenians identify strongly with their families, loosely with their communities, and not strongly with their current country. So there does not seem to be much outrage about the power of the oligarchs who take care of their families, perform token projects for their immediate community, and show little responsibility for the whole of the country.

In the current economic downturn, the average Armenian has suffered greatly as the amount of remittances from family working outside of Armenia has greatly decreased. These transfers make up 20% of GDP. However the government came out with a report suggesting that Armenia has recovered faster than expected, which feels misleading because this was a result of increases in the price of commodities controlled by several oligarchs; increases which I don’t see trickling down to Gyumri.

I was in a meeting several months ago where a member of the mayor’s office said that his office did not care about the farmers in the community. And I felt that his comment reflected the general attitude of many Armenians. I am not responsible for my country, for my marz (like a county), or for my community. I am responsible for my family. I see this in a larger sense where organizations hire family members first, then friends, and then whoever can pay them for a job. Actual qualifications are immaterial. This is a country built on relationships. So what is discouraging about this is that the country has a highly (though poorly) educated populace who cannot find or create jobs without these relationships. This country of three million people is just small enough that this Soviet-era mentality seriously hampers development and growth.

Nestle for MEN

“Nestlé is a Nutrition, Health and Wellness company committed to increasing the nutritional value of our food while improving the taste.”

This candy bar is in the checkout aisles of most larger Armenian grocery stores. Hidden in the ingredient list (which I cannot read because it is in Russian) is testosterone and Viagra, I’m sure. Because why else would it only be marketed to men?

I’m boycotting this Swiss company.