The cold as an economic indicator
It seems I'm prone to skipping a few days at a time. Anyhow, today was our first day off from filming. We should finish by Tuesday. In the meantime, I came down with a nasty cold yesterday and spent the afternoon in bed, drinking Theraflu and watching Armenian MTV. Lemme tell you, it rocks. Mix that in with some bad Russian music videos, two Tylenols and a wintery haze and you've got yourself quite the afternoon. Top that off with a night out until 3:30 a.m. (sorry, Mom) and you have one sick puppy.
We went to the Lady Blues jazz club last night for what turned out to be a rather long evening. Heard some good jazz with a great young singer who could definitely hold her own against Ella Fitzgerald. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) I was not drinking with the rest of the group, which included a mix of Russian and Armenian journalists, artists and other eclectic types. Perhaps the sobriety offered me a better chance to appreciate the evening.
From there, we took over a jazz club in the basement of the journalists' union and spent the rest of the night there, while I recovered from sitting in a sea of smoke. Like I said before, I don't mind the smoke, but when I'm already having trouble breathting, it's not that refreshing.
Armineh (I'm going to start spelling her name that way because, as she said, you may read it as Ar-mEYEn otherwise) has started to open up on camera. We had a good hourlong interview where she talked about when and why she wanted to become a doctor, what her social life is like now and what continues to drive her in life. She's not a shy girl, but a bit reserved, so it's taken a few days to get to this point, but it was exactly the interview we needed, so huzzah for that.
All this was at Pyunic, where none of the rooms have central heating and we interviewed Armineh while she tried to warm herself with the room's lone heater. So I sat there getting sicker and sicker but keeping my mouth shut for fear of ruining the interview's flow. I'm just thankful I didn't throw up on the spot. Actually I'm more thankful for the material it wrought. I got lots of good stuff that should fit nicely into the story.
Tomorrow we shoot Armineh hosting a spaghetti part for all her friends, who will hopefully have plenty of stories to tell about her. Monday will be spent gathering footage of Yerevan's streets. Walking down the street, the contradictions are plenty. The brand-new, tricked-out Merecedes parked next to a dilapidated old Lada. (Russian car) A girl in Versace jeans turning her nose up at a homeless woman. Oh the things you see in Yerevan. It's become a regular big city.
Interesting side note: For some reason, I don't get CNN in my room, but I do get BBC World. I guess one cancels out the others. So I've mostly been watching BBC and they're practically gleeful when delivering reports of the weakened dollar. Today, however, the dollar climbed in Yerevan. Two days ago it was down to 465 dram for $1, today it's back up to 490. Maybe it's tied to my illness? As I get better, perhaps it'll reach 600 dram.
Bachigner polorit! (Kisses to you all!)
We went to the Lady Blues jazz club last night for what turned out to be a rather long evening. Heard some good jazz with a great young singer who could definitely hold her own against Ella Fitzgerald. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) I was not drinking with the rest of the group, which included a mix of Russian and Armenian journalists, artists and other eclectic types. Perhaps the sobriety offered me a better chance to appreciate the evening.
From there, we took over a jazz club in the basement of the journalists' union and spent the rest of the night there, while I recovered from sitting in a sea of smoke. Like I said before, I don't mind the smoke, but when I'm already having trouble breathting, it's not that refreshing.
Armineh (I'm going to start spelling her name that way because, as she said, you may read it as Ar-mEYEn otherwise) has started to open up on camera. We had a good hourlong interview where she talked about when and why she wanted to become a doctor, what her social life is like now and what continues to drive her in life. She's not a shy girl, but a bit reserved, so it's taken a few days to get to this point, but it was exactly the interview we needed, so huzzah for that.
All this was at Pyunic, where none of the rooms have central heating and we interviewed Armineh while she tried to warm herself with the room's lone heater. So I sat there getting sicker and sicker but keeping my mouth shut for fear of ruining the interview's flow. I'm just thankful I didn't throw up on the spot. Actually I'm more thankful for the material it wrought. I got lots of good stuff that should fit nicely into the story.
Tomorrow we shoot Armineh hosting a spaghetti part for all her friends, who will hopefully have plenty of stories to tell about her. Monday will be spent gathering footage of Yerevan's streets. Walking down the street, the contradictions are plenty. The brand-new, tricked-out Merecedes parked next to a dilapidated old Lada. (Russian car) A girl in Versace jeans turning her nose up at a homeless woman. Oh the things you see in Yerevan. It's become a regular big city.
Interesting side note: For some reason, I don't get CNN in my room, but I do get BBC World. I guess one cancels out the others. So I've mostly been watching BBC and they're practically gleeful when delivering reports of the weakened dollar. Today, however, the dollar climbed in Yerevan. Two days ago it was down to 465 dram for $1, today it's back up to 490. Maybe it's tied to my illness? As I get better, perhaps it'll reach 600 dram.
Bachigner polorit! (Kisses to you all!)
posted by eva at 7:16 AM
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