didn't expect it to be like this
For a long time I wanted to visit my husband's homeland in Armenia. Finally, on May 9th, we went to the office of Lavan's company in Cheboksary and bought two tickets - for me and the child - back and forth for July 4-18. I must say right away that the company turned out to be cheaper than taking an electronic ticket on the Internet. They have more choice of fares and discounts, as a result, an expensive fare turned out to be a big discount and a cheap ticket. We paid about 27 thousand rubles. Yes, the road to Armenia has always been expensive. Before the road, we bought gifts for relatives - Cheboksary sweets, Soviet perfumes, something else. And so we went to Kazan. Kazan Airport unpleasantly surprised with its small size. Only passengers are allowed into the airport building, luggage is checked through X-ray already at the entrance, but this is not yet registration. Immediately, one Armenian handed over a passport for his relatives through us to Kirovakan, and another passenger, Rimma, was loaded in excess of the norm, she asked us to share her luggage with us. We agreed - is it difficult. They asked why she was bringing so much to Armenia - it turned out that Tatar butter, she says, her children have been living there for a month and cannot eat Armenian butter, tasteless, so she is lucky for them. She also carried our Akkondovskie sweets - indeed, the best in Russia. We took the lady night with prunes, and she scored a little bit of everything. At check-in I was asked to show the bottles. I had to open my air bag in front of everyone, unwrap two bottles - with balm, the customs officer made sure that the packaging was factory-made and unopened, he said - wrap it up. As a result, my luggage went to the plane, and we went to passport control. Back in Cheboksary, I made a power of attorney from my husband to leave the child, and the notary assured me that this was necessary, although I already knew that, according to the latest law, a power of attorney was not needed, I did it more for Armenian customs officers (as it turned out, they are more loyal than ours). As a result, they asked me for a birth certificate of the child, asked if I was going for a long time, and I even offered a power of attorney myself, but no one was interested in it. We passed the control, then again the frame, we were probed with our hands and we began to wait for landing. Of the passengers - only Armenians, only I am Russian, the girl was one Armenian, but with bare shoulders and in breeches "a la I crap myself and carry my shit with me. " We went to the toilet and heard a lot of ridicule from the Armenians - like, it cannot be compared with Zvartnots. Well, dear hai, then they would live in their hayastan. They boarded the plane 20 minutes late, took off at 6:30 pm, a Yak-42 plane, although a Boeing 737-500 was declared. the plane pleasantly surprised us with air-conditioned fresh air, although it was in the heat. Inside everything is neat and clean, polite flight attendants. I specially read the entire Internet on the Tatarstan airline - there was a lot of frank discontent. I liked everything, because I value safety first of all, and only then how they are fed on the plane. Plus, I must say right away that there are such annoying passengers, and there were enough of them - they are told, but they do not understand. Is it really impossible to understand a simple thing - an airplane is not even a personal car, it is a huge responsibility, so don’t show your character there in front of employees. Many did not even turn off their cell phones - and yet they were asked. Well, who's bad after that? They fed us so-so - but for me this is not the main thing, the juice was poured to the fullest and they even offered different juices to choose from, tea, water and coffee without a limit. When approaching Yerevan, a chatter began - I had gloomy thoughts, Rimma began to pray, the neighbors also became nervous. But everything worked out, we skillfully sat down on the land of Armenia and clapped. We entered the zvartnots up the sleeve. I must say right away that I have read everything about zvartnots - the fact that many consider it a technical breakthrough is, in my opinion, very stretched. An ordinary beautiful airport, no better than Sheremetevo or Domodedovo, only there are fewer people. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the speed of service. They clicked a stamp in our passport without any questions, we went to the carousel to get luggage. We got it, and Rimma loaded our bags onto a cart, and the worker rolled it to the exit. Finally met with relatives - my husband's mother, his sister and sister's son Artak were already waiting impatiently at the entrance. We were kissed and hugged again, I was handed a basket of roses - about 20 or more, which pleasantly surprised me. Artak immediately took the bag and we walked to the car. I have already heard that people in Armenia love cornfields - the artak has a white cornfield. It’s a pity that the nights are black in the south, I didn’t see anything on the way. everywhere is dark, rumors about nightlife in Armenia are greatly exaggerated. it turned out that our phones are not picked up here - I somehow relied on auto-roaming, in Russia my parents were alarmed that they would not let us out anymore. My husband's sister Alvard gave me her cell phone, I called my mother. We stopped in a steam room to buy lavash. I got out of the car - it's amazing how cold it is. It was raining and I was literally shaking from the cold. But I tried the water on the street from the faucet - just wonderful water, not to be compared with ours. Everyone looked at me with interest - there were no Russians on the streets here. We moved on. an hour and a half later we arrived at Vanadzor - and as soon as Artak could navigate in such darkness. We went to my husband's house - the house has two kitchens, 5 rooms, many utility rooms, a garage, a piece of land. We were immediately set the table, but it was already 2 am, we went to bed. Nowhere in Armenia have I seen oblique dissatisfied looks on myself - on the contrary, complete cordiality, it is worth asking something, as everyone immediately explains in a friendly manner, and everyone understands and speaks Russian, and I was very afraid that the Russian language in Armenia had already been forgotten . Everywhere on the street they sell coffee, which is then finely ground. We went to the market - I would call it unsanitary conditions. The smell of cheese makes you feel sick, everyone touches them with their hands, meat is hanging in the heat, next to it is chicken legs. On the street, the legs lie with haberdashery, next to it is fresh trout, which they immediately bought for me. In general, Alvard, Artak and Artush constantly fulfilled any of our desires - you just say what you want. I was surprised that in Armenia there are no powerful Duracell and Energizer batteries, I had to constantly refill the camera. Food is cheaper compared to Russia - cherries are 65 rubles for our money, apricots 30, strawberries 60, cheese was expensive even there - about 500 rubles, all equipment is more expensive than in Russia. A small laptop from 15 thousand rubles, refrigerators from 20.000. But gasoline from 40 rubles and more. In a furniture store, I liked a glass two-story large table with colored stones - 4.000 rubles with our money, I even wanted to buy it and take it to Russia, we have such 10-12 thousand. Everywhere they really want to buy something from them, even in a jewelry store the seller spoke to me in a friendly manner. In Russia, in a jewelry store, sellers will first consider whether it is worth spending their time on you. In the evening we met a young daughter-in-law - the wife of Sergei's nephew, Artak's brother, her name is Alvard. Trained as a lawyer, but works as a salesman, they say, for $2 a day. We went out into the city again. But nothing in the city, except for the surrounding mountains, impressed us. There are countless parks and entertainments in Cheboksary, moreover, such that in Armenia one still has to go and go. We decided to take us to khor-virap the next day. I personally was ready to be taken anywhere - everything is interesting to me. We went along the same road as from Yerevan. On the way, mountains surprised everywhere. In front of us, a high mountain suddenly shone with ice - this is Aragats. We went out to take a picture and Artak refueled the car - while we waited - we froze, after all, 2000 above sea level, although the sun is shining. Closer to Yerevan, it starts to fry. We went to the nephew of my husband's mother in Yerevan - they have a decent apartment, they even have a washing machine and a Mercedes-automatic machine on gasoline. Again fruit-coffee-baklava-gata and went to Etchmiadzin. It's really impressive when you think about how old the churches are and what they've seen. We looked inside the temple, visited and photographed everything in the museum. Everything is quite expensive in the shops, although there are no tourists in sight. I was struck by the garden, where the trees are studded with apricots. And everywhere you can drink delicious water. Next Khor Virap. From reverence, I envy myself - it is necessary, where else can you see the cradle of Christianity. My son climbed into this very virap - 14 meters along a sheer ladder, I did not risk it. Ararat is right in front of us, and there is a road - this is the Turkish border. From a height in front of Ararat they called to Russia. Again surprised by the lack of tourists. We ate excellent khorovats under mulberry trees. We returned home around 11 pm. The next day - Sevan. The road goes through the Molokan villages of Fioletovo and Lermontovo, which, as Artak said, live very richly. We were struck by the passes - now it is clear why the Armenians are the best drivers of all, and my husband generally feels better behind the wheel than without a car. We drove through 2.180-degree turns and ended up in Sevan. It's like the word blue - it's really a deep blue framed by mountains. Beauty is indescribable and captivates with admiration. We went into the water - I have not seen anything more transparent, even in the Mediterranean Sea. You can see all the pebbles at the bottom, even deep from the shore. We took a ride on a catamaran, Alik and an artak swam - the water is cold, I was surprised that few women swim, and those who swim lie on the shore under towels, although they could sunbathe. Well, yes, I don’t impose myself with my mentality - I myself went everywhere in jeans. We climbed Sevanavank - again I was captured by the feeling of belonging to eternity and inviolability, which is confirmed by the harsh and ascetic masonry of basalt churches, a collection of khachkars in front of the entrance. Bakes great, alvard burned. In general, they live in the south and do not know how to sunbathe - and I sunbathe perfectly, because without a tan I feel naked. We bought Sevan crayfish - their shells are very hard. We drank dogwood compote, Jermuk water. In the evening they moved back. The next day was dedicated to the alvard house - they bought meat, eggplant-pepper-tomatoes for my favorite barbecue. Before that, we were already fed matsun from our cow, scrambled eggs from our chickens with tomatoes, I tried okra and pickled dogwood. Again a feast, looked at the recording of the wedding of Sergei and Alvard. I gave them perfume - tete-a-tete and gold of the Scythians, both alvards were sincerely happy, as well as bed sets. The next day we visited the Pushkin pass - this thing is stronger than the Sevan road, I was constantly surprised how it was possible to drive with such turns and without fencing. It turned out, to the surprise of my husband's mother, that there was no longer a monument, no water fountain, no cafe upstairs - they were very upset and upset about this. They picked mountain herbs - they said that for meat, some blue flowers, I took plenty of pictures of the views from above. Then we saw pambak and something special in nature - Debet. The rocks there are steep and stony, without grass and trees, the debit river flows below, the water in it is 10 degrees. They said that there are also snakes. Even here it turned out that they know the Cheboksary traffic cops, and the Armenians on the shore spoke unflatteringly about them - what is true is true. We tried the water from the tap - a completely different water, but it's hard to say where it tastes better. In Vanadzor, mineral water spouts directly from the rock, I have never drunk such water anywhere - it is naturally carbonated and naturally mineral, you can compare it with a perfect miracle. The day of departure has come. It rained all night, in general, Armenia surprised me with the cold. We packed two cans of murab buttocks, a can of tus, dogwood, gata-baklava into our luggage, I also bought tracksuits with Armenian symbols for my child and my husband, T-shirts, ground Armenian coffee, shoes made of Armenian leather for the child, and some other little things. They took dry wine Aireni, sweet Gayane, cognac Ardvin. On the day of departure, we stopped in Yerevan at the house of my husband's mother's brother. Their father also lives there - that is, my grandfather, he is 93 years old, but he himself walks up the stairs, thinks and hears everything, speaks Russian. In the garden, for the first time, they saw a fig on a tree - my uncle plucked it for me right from the bush, and I tried it. There is also a huge grape - not to wrap your arms around, mulberry, quince, persimmon. We went to garni and gegard. Geghard surprised with its caves, again you can drink water everywhere, interesting khachkars right in the walls, steep stairs and with holes from many years. Surprised by deep grottoes and caves. The garni temple impressed with its pagan contrast and its panorama of mountain cascades. There were tourists here, they spoke French. The village itself is all in gardens, everywhere there are apricots and cherries. Uncle again had a feast, again khorovats and a plentiful dinner, fruits, cheeses, coffee. I never thought that we would be so cordially received, not only “make yourself at home”, but this is your home, this is your homeland. Everywhere I left the most pleasant impression of the people of Armenia - even on the streets people were glad that they were coming from Russia, Neighbors on Mashtots Street in Vanadzor all came to say hello and look at the daughter-in-law from Russia and their son Artur - Alik, everyone wished all the best. As soon as I said - what beautiful roses you have in the garden, the hostess ran for scissors and cut red roses for me - a whole armful. Everywhere we were invited to visit, treated. Probably, in Russia we do not accept it that way, but all the same, it is difficult to live in Armenia, there is no work at all. Everyone asked - would you like to live in Armenia? Well, what can I say? In terms of comfort, Armenia still has a long way to go to Russia, there is no confidence in the future, in the eyes of people, especially parents - despair, all the money is only in Yerevan, and even then not everyone has. Now I hate their President Sargsyan even more - how can you keep the people in such poverty, when you can make everyone rich on one monument. After all, there are no such monuments either in Switzerland, or in Monaco, and even more so in Luxembourg. By the way, at the entrance to Yerevan, artak showed us a house that is not even in Russia - and indeed, there is one fence with sculptures and statues worth, I think, a billion dollars, and the whole site is like a whole block of the city. Alvard and my husband's mother gave me a ring. And I, although Artak refused, made him a gift with money, although they spent more on us (I always love myself for the sinful thought that I regret that Artak is 9 years younger than me and he is my husband’s nephew, his strength is so captivating and kindness). We visited Tsitsernakaberd. Here we are in Zvartnots. I was very afraid that there would be problems with the departure - they write everything about Zvartnots. But it turned out that everything is easier and better with them, we checked in our luggage and checked in, they also wished us a pleasant flight. Luggage exactly 40 kg + baklava hand luggage. Then farewell kisses and hugs, and we alone go to the customs zone. First, index fingers are scanned, then they ask me - do you have cans in your luggage? What's there? - I say - buttocks and tus muraba. - Okay, go ahead. Next, passport control, the border guard looks at us sternly, but silks the stamp in the passport, I tell him aprè s and he barely noticeably smiles. Free shop next. Choice cognac costs 720 rubles - I took it without talking, then I got another 20-year-old nairi about 2000 rubles. And the pilots generally stocked baskets of cognac. I had to take everything here - in the city I took a bottle of 20-year-old ardvin - 20.000 drams, pomegranate wine, dry and sweet Gayane for our money, 130 rubles each. Everything is cheaper here. Finger scanning again and we are in a Boeing 737-500. The flight went faster and without turbulence, the food surprised me - it would be better if they didn’t give it at all, hello to Ararat Muradyan, how much did he put in his pocket on these cartons? Upon arrival, all non-Russians filled out migration cards, and here we are at the airport. The creaking carousel carries luggage, but it is short and the workers shout at us to unload the trunks ourselves - otherwise they will spin and our bags will not arrive. The Russians are the first to go through passport control, and the rest of the cattle meekly waits. Then the child and I drag our 40 kg across the floor - they cannot be lifted, and the customs officers look at us with a smirk. The husband sees all this, but, of course, they won’t let him through, which is unnatural - this is again a luggage inspection. We are the first on the tape - they ask us how much alcohol we have? I don’t remember myself, I start counting out loud and think about a bottle of plum moonshine in a Jermuk bottle - if they ask me to unpack it now, then something will obviously be taken away. The customs officer begins to force me that up to 18 years of age, the norm for carrying alcohol is 2 liters, and we have more. I explain to him that we are alone with the child, and he - what does this have to do with it. It is a pity that I did not take a printout with the import rules. You could make some noise. But everything turns into one word - go. Thank God, they didn’t gut anything, and there were apricots the size of a fist and cherries on top. Now we are at home, looking at photographs, remembering Armenia, its delicious water, the blue of Sevan, the strict and enduring churches, our washing in the yard - what nonsense it is compared to such beauty. We almost ate baklava and gata, fruit - “so that not a single fruit is lost” - that’s what my husband said, after all, they passed two customs, tried ardwin - excellent, but we save wine and other cognacs for now. We really miss the Armenian roads and mountains, especially the artak, and I suddenly really liked the motal cheese here, but it will also end soon, like muraba and titsak. But the memories of kind and hospitable people whom we sincerely loved will remain forever.
