Europe! « Armen in China

First of all, I’d like to apologize for not updating the blog for so long! I left for Europe awhile, and then for the past couple weeks I’ve been super busy at work catching up with everything I missed. My trip to Europe consisted mostly of going to Armenia for 2 weeks and then stopping in Amsterdam for a few days with my brother. It was a great break from China, and after all that fun and partying I’m not exactly sure why I decided to come back…

The first weekend in Armenia I attended a celebration for my maternal grandparents’ joint 70th birthday. They rented out an entire hotel on Lake Sevan (Armenia’s biggest lake) and filled it with family, friends, food, and drinking. The hotel had an open bar, pool, volleyball court, and a really nice dining hall where everyone got together to eat and be merry. Needless to say, it was a great time. Here’s some pictures from that weekend:

the dynamic duo

dancing family

A church overlooking Lake Sevan

After the weekend in Lake Sevan, I had a few days to hang out in Yerevan (Armenia’s capital) with some family and friends. A family friend of mine who lives in Yerevan, Gevork Mantashyan, showed us around to some Armenian dancing, cafes, bars, and clubs. We also got a chance to go jetskiing and check out some Armenian gyms! It was interesting to see how Yerevan had changed since I had last visited only a few years ago. The women seemed prettier, the cops less corrupt, and the streets rarely in disrepair. Of course, some things hadn’t changed at all–notably Armenians’ unsatiable desire for laughing, socializing, and relaxing in countless street cafes. I forgot how much I missed the city.

After hanging out in Yerevan for a few days, my family went off for a 5-day Moscow State reunion getaway in Nagorno-Karabakh, a historic but war-torn region of Eastern Armenia. Family, friends, food, and drinking necessarily ensued. We got to see a lot of cool things in the area, including some churches, caves dating back to the Neanderthal era, and even a waterpark! Nine couples from the congregation were also remarried in a nearby church, and yours truly was baptized. Here are some pictures:

the Karabakh crew

church at Noravank

remarried couples (photo by Ashot P.)

we found a kitten! (photo by Lily A.)

the kids of Karabakh (photo by Lily A.)

baptism bling (photo by Lily A.)

My brother also made this sweet video which chronicles the entire Karabakh trip:

After the getaway to Karabakh I spent a couple more days in Yerevan, then my brother and I went to Amsterdam for a few days. Amsterdam is a really cool city, and I was left with a lot of positive impressions. Everyone we talked to spoke perfect English, the transportation system was one of the best I’ve ever seen (cars, trains, trams, bikes, and pedestrians were almost seamlessly integrated), and the weather was great to boot. The lax drug and sex laws also make it an interesting stop for the uninitiated; a German couple we chatted up spoke of how Amsterdam is viewed in Europe as “rather sleazy, but in a classy way.” I was reluctant to pull out my camera during our time in the Netherlands so unfortunately I don’t have any good pictures to show. This guy sums up my feelings from the entire Europe trip pretty well, however: