Going somewhere?? Are you in a hurry?? Wanna take a cab?? No problem, just pop on over to Armenia and we'll get there really fast. Too expensive, hey, you're a guest here, we'll get you a special deal. Right.
So every single Armenian male from the age of 21-99 is (or was) employed at some point in his life as a taxi driver. It's unreal, going into villages there are line ups of like 8 cabs and there don't seem to be a lot of people taking them. And that doesn't account for the random cars stopping, throwing the doors open and shouting - 'taxi nado??' No. No, I don't need a taxi.
However, there are some definite pluses to this system. First of all, people get to practice driving, and from what I've heard about other Caucasus capitals, this is a good thing (looking in your direction Tbilisi). Second of all, they can practice holding a straight face when they make jokes. Like when they ask for 2500 Drams to take me about 3 kilometers, overcharging me by a rate of 830%. Third, I get to laugh a lot. Well, that's about it for the merits, but I think we can all agree that Armenia is a better place for their taxi services.
Another thing that I wanted to mention is my change in attitude towards obese people. Most of the time, I've kinda looked at them with indifference. You know, well, it's your choice, not mine - no problem, do what you want. But WOW, things have changed. There was this ... hefty... woman on the plane and all I could think of was ... uh oh, I hope I don't have to feed her. Well, I didn't, but I DID have to sit beside her. I was a little worried until I noticed that she bought TWO seats on the plane and there was just enough room on the second seat to put my bag there to. Meaning, I didn't have to sit with anything on my lap for the three hour flight!!! Thanks tubby!!!
Other than that, things have been really cool recently. To get past the less interesting (for you) stuff, I saw some cool places recently - the scenery in Armenia is just gorgeous - sbsolutely stunning. I've been in Yerevan for four days but really haven't seen much of the city - I've been heading out all the time. Incidentally, the day trips are great if you hire a cab (thumbs up). But I'm heading to the south for a couple of days - I don't really have a plan, but I'm sure I'll find someplace to stay or something. I'm going to climb down into a 60 metre pit tomorrow, apparently this saint was held in there for like 12 years before he converted the Armenian people to Christianity - I figure that 8 minutes will probably be enough.
But I met a friend for dinner tonight - I mentioned in the hostel one day that I would really like to learn how to make some Armenian food. I was thinking cooking in the kitchen but I was surprised with an invitation to a big dinner with her family as well as her aunt, uncle and cousin. It was incredible!!! I had such a great time and it was a really cool way to show Armenian hospitality!!!
I had more to write, but when I sit in front of the computer, my mind tends to blank... I don't know why, but it does!! Additionally, I'll post some pictures when I get to a cafe with my camera. Oh, incidentally, the guy who is working the cybercafe is watching naughty adult videos. How do I know? Because the sound is on. C-l-a-s-s-y.
