I went to Yerevan for a few days with the Mayor and his family on their summer vacation.
On the way, I was telling the Mayor about Lena�s experience in Georgia and what she learned about the police having to have a daily permit for the area they work in. I told him the next time we get stopped I�m going to ask to see their permit. He asked me if I had heard about the arrests of over 100 traffic police officers? It seems that they had been photographed taking bribes and all at once, they were gathered up and off to jail. Sure as can be, the whole trip was without ever getting stopped. In fact on the way to Yerevan, we didn�t see one traffic cop. In Yerevan, I saw a couple of traffic cops, but didn�t notice them stopping anyone. Just standing there looking scared and confused (no exaggeration). I guess when your buddies get caught for something illegal, you think twice before making the same mistake. Let�s see how long this will last.
We stayed in a village on the outskirts of Yerevan with the Mayor�s sister and her family. They are from Baku and are one of the more fortunate ones who were warned by their Azeri friends as to what the Armenian were going to be facing and were able to trade houses with an Azeri family living in the house they now live in. They left Baku just before the real problems started.
The highlight of the trip for the Mayor�s kids was Water World. For me it was in interesting experience, as it seems the day we were there, quite a number of the well to do were also there. You can tell who they are from their big bellies and cellular phones. There were also some of the less well off who were skinny and swam in their underwear. What was interesting is that irregardless of what social class you come from, during that time that we were all swimming together, we were all equals and all having fun together.
In the village the weather was so nice that I decided I would sleep outside. One night at 4 AM, I was woken by a dog barking and for some reason could not fall back to sleep. I laid there thinking about the day before and a visit we had with the Mayor�s wife�s aunt.
The aunt and her husband live in the town of Noubarashen, which is right next to Erebuni. They are refugees from Baku and live in an apartment that they share with 3 other families. The husband is a mechanic and was working for the trolley repair plant near Noubarashen and told me that someone from Lebanon recently privatized the repair depot, laid-off all the workers and had turned it into a coffee grinding plant.
I asked him where they repair the trolleys now and he said that there are still 2 other repair depots, but there is word that they too will be privatized and converted to something other than what they are now.
It seems that for the last couple of years, the government has been planning the removal of parts of the electrical transportation system and this year was successful in having a few kilometers of the rail removed, claiming low usage as being the reason for no longer having a need for it. Though some have argued to discontinue the service in those areas, but leave the rail system in, the tracks were still removed. This reminds me of Los Angeles in the 1960�s and the oil and tire companies that were able to successfully influence the removal of the electrical transportation system, thus increasing the need of fuel and tires. 30 years later, Los Angeles realized that they needed electrical transportation and have spent millions and millions of dollars to put back in what the oil and tire companies were able to convince them to take out.
Well guess what? Armenia is facing the same game, but to me it�s worse. I guess you have to be here to know, but I�ll say this much without exaggeration. The same people who have their hands on the controls that steer which direction our country goes in happen to also be the fuel monopolist.
With Armenia being land-locked and having no oil producing resources, yet having a surplus of electricity and the whole world steering in the direction of environmentally friendly transportation, which Armenia already has (for now), this whole thing is makes no sense at all.
I also noticed the other day that there are places that the electrical busses use to run, that the cable they use has been removed.
On the way, I was telling the Mayor about Lena�s experience in Georgia and what she learned about the police having to have a daily permit for the area they work in. I told him the next time we get stopped I�m going to ask to see their permit. He asked me if I had heard about the arrests of over 100 traffic police officers? It seems that they had been photographed taking bribes and all at once, they were gathered up and off to jail. Sure as can be, the whole trip was without ever getting stopped. In fact on the way to Yerevan, we didn�t see one traffic cop. In Yerevan, I saw a couple of traffic cops, but didn�t notice them stopping anyone. Just standing there looking scared and confused (no exaggeration). I guess when your buddies get caught for something illegal, you think twice before making the same mistake. Let�s see how long this will last.
We stayed in a village on the outskirts of Yerevan with the Mayor�s sister and her family. They are from Baku and are one of the more fortunate ones who were warned by their Azeri friends as to what the Armenian were going to be facing and were able to trade houses with an Azeri family living in the house they now live in. They left Baku just before the real problems started.
The highlight of the trip for the Mayor�s kids was Water World. For me it was in interesting experience, as it seems the day we were there, quite a number of the well to do were also there. You can tell who they are from their big bellies and cellular phones. There were also some of the less well off who were skinny and swam in their underwear. What was interesting is that irregardless of what social class you come from, during that time that we were all swimming together, we were all equals and all having fun together.
In the village the weather was so nice that I decided I would sleep outside. One night at 4 AM, I was woken by a dog barking and for some reason could not fall back to sleep. I laid there thinking about the day before and a visit we had with the Mayor�s wife�s aunt.
The aunt and her husband live in the town of Noubarashen, which is right next to Erebuni. They are refugees from Baku and live in an apartment that they share with 3 other families. The husband is a mechanic and was working for the trolley repair plant near Noubarashen and told me that someone from Lebanon recently privatized the repair depot, laid-off all the workers and had turned it into a coffee grinding plant.
I asked him where they repair the trolleys now and he said that there are still 2 other repair depots, but there is word that they too will be privatized and converted to something other than what they are now.
It seems that for the last couple of years, the government has been planning the removal of parts of the electrical transportation system and this year was successful in having a few kilometers of the rail removed, claiming low usage as being the reason for no longer having a need for it. Though some have argued to discontinue the service in those areas, but leave the rail system in, the tracks were still removed. This reminds me of Los Angeles in the 1960�s and the oil and tire companies that were able to successfully influence the removal of the electrical transportation system, thus increasing the need of fuel and tires. 30 years later, Los Angeles realized that they needed electrical transportation and have spent millions and millions of dollars to put back in what the oil and tire companies were able to convince them to take out.
Well guess what? Armenia is facing the same game, but to me it�s worse. I guess you have to be here to know, but I�ll say this much without exaggeration. The same people who have their hands on the controls that steer which direction our country goes in happen to also be the fuel monopolist.
With Armenia being land-locked and having no oil producing resources, yet having a surplus of electricity and the whole world steering in the direction of environmentally friendly transportation, which Armenia already has (for now), this whole thing is makes no sense at all.
I also noticed the other day that there are places that the electrical busses use to run, that the cable they use has been removed.
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