The sights to see
The life of a tourist ain't bad. Wake up late, lounge around, do some sightseeing. The last few days have been fun.
Friday: In the evening we saw "La Chambre des Officiers," a bit of a downer French flick (is there any other kind of French film?) It was showing as part of the European Film Festival at the Moscow Cinema. Seeing a movie in Yerevan is indescribable. Understanding a little French, I figured I'd try to follow along with the dialogue and pick up the English subtitles, where needed. But we saw the screening that included a voiceover Armenian translation, with the French only slightly tuned out. The best part? The voiceover is one woman reading all the parts in a film whose cast is largely male. Then there's comparing the two translations with the original French. Add to that the inevitable commentary from Armenians (we're incapable of watching movies without commentary... ahem... mom, dad...) and you have one very unique Armenian experience. I haven't been in a theater with that many Armenians since mom and I saw "Ararat" on opening night in Glendale.
Last night we went to the Yerevan Chamber Orchestra's concert, which was excellent, followed by dinner at The Club on Toumanyan. I think it's now my favorite restaurant in Yerevan. We ended up sticking around at the club for another concert; this time a jazz band, Time Report. They were excellent, too, but it meant getting to bed at 3:30 a.m., which was unfortunate because we woke up early today for a trip to Garni and Geghard.
Garni is an ancient pre-Christian temple and Geghard is a monastery carved out of a stone mountain and one of my favorite places in Armenia. Seeing them in the snow and cold was a new experience, if a cold one. But the best part of the trip was heading down into the Garni "dzor," or canyon. We had two four-wheel drive Nivas (little Russian.. I think?... SUVs) to go down the unpaved, often snowy, icy and muddy road. It felt like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland.
But what a sight to see at the bottom. It was beautiful. The stone walls look like they've been carved into thin columns, but they're naturally occuring. When I get back home, I'll post the pictures. It's unbelievable.
But from nature, we returned to something unnatural, namely, a beauty salon. I had an appointment to dye my hair. Don't worry, nothing drastic, a dark brown with some hints of red. I think it looks lovely. Regardless, it was only $11. What a steal!
In the midst of all this fun, I nearly forgot to report on the work. We watched most of the footage yesterday. Most has turned out extremely well. The most important interviews are all excellent. All that's left is some more footage of the streets and a few other sights and we should be done. I've started writing, but to little avail. Not sure if it's the weather or our hectic schedule, but I can't seem to concentrate. Maybe when I thaw out in Dubai next week the words will flow like the water at the bottom of Garni dzor. And maybe a little less cliched than that.
Friday: In the evening we saw "La Chambre des Officiers," a bit of a downer French flick (is there any other kind of French film?) It was showing as part of the European Film Festival at the Moscow Cinema. Seeing a movie in Yerevan is indescribable. Understanding a little French, I figured I'd try to follow along with the dialogue and pick up the English subtitles, where needed. But we saw the screening that included a voiceover Armenian translation, with the French only slightly tuned out. The best part? The voiceover is one woman reading all the parts in a film whose cast is largely male. Then there's comparing the two translations with the original French. Add to that the inevitable commentary from Armenians (we're incapable of watching movies without commentary... ahem... mom, dad...) and you have one very unique Armenian experience. I haven't been in a theater with that many Armenians since mom and I saw "Ararat" on opening night in Glendale.
Last night we went to the Yerevan Chamber Orchestra's concert, which was excellent, followed by dinner at The Club on Toumanyan. I think it's now my favorite restaurant in Yerevan. We ended up sticking around at the club for another concert; this time a jazz band, Time Report. They were excellent, too, but it meant getting to bed at 3:30 a.m., which was unfortunate because we woke up early today for a trip to Garni and Geghard.
Garni is an ancient pre-Christian temple and Geghard is a monastery carved out of a stone mountain and one of my favorite places in Armenia. Seeing them in the snow and cold was a new experience, if a cold one. But the best part of the trip was heading down into the Garni "dzor," or canyon. We had two four-wheel drive Nivas (little Russian.. I think?... SUVs) to go down the unpaved, often snowy, icy and muddy road. It felt like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland.
But what a sight to see at the bottom. It was beautiful. The stone walls look like they've been carved into thin columns, but they're naturally occuring. When I get back home, I'll post the pictures. It's unbelievable.
But from nature, we returned to something unnatural, namely, a beauty salon. I had an appointment to dye my hair. Don't worry, nothing drastic, a dark brown with some hints of red. I think it looks lovely. Regardless, it was only $11. What a steal!
In the midst of all this fun, I nearly forgot to report on the work. We watched most of the footage yesterday. Most has turned out extremely well. The most important interviews are all excellent. All that's left is some more footage of the streets and a few other sights and we should be done. I've started writing, but to little avail. Not sure if it's the weather or our hectic schedule, but I can't seem to concentrate. Maybe when I thaw out in Dubai next week the words will flow like the water at the bottom of Garni dzor. And maybe a little less cliched than that.
posted by eva at 9:39 AM
1 Comments:
Ah, cherie! I'm so glad you're having fun. I can't wait to read whatever you write, cliches n' all, and of course I'm curious to see the dye job. :)
The OC isn't the same without you.
-Becca
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