Getting Settled

I am in Armenia!  I arrived about 3 days ago.  My apartment is great, except for the fact that the toilet didn’t flush, and I had no gas heat or hot water upon my arrival.  For the first couple of days, I took cold showers and relied on electric heat since the machine they call a “baxi” wasn’t working properly.  The “baxi” appears to be the gas regulator machine.  Mine happens to be a fancy (i.e. complicated), digital type.  Unfortunately, everything is in Russian, including the manual.  So randomly pressing buttons wasn’t a successful strategy.  Luckily, my attentive Realtor brought over a handyman who speaks Russian, who was able to fix it after about 5 return visits.  My apartment is now an inferno, and my water is scalding.  But having felt the alternative, I can’t complain! 

Yerevan is certainly a different city in the winter since all the outdoor cafés are closed.  Still, it does not appear to have lost its charm, though I don’t think I have been here long enough to judge that yet.  I will keep you posted.  

So far, the only new thing I’ve seen is a hospital in the outskirts of town.  A family friend recently had surgery, and I went for a visit.  It was quite interesting.  On its face, the hospital appeared to be clean, functional, and equipped with most everything needed to care for patients.  The place was also clean and kept very simple.   In both the U.S. and Canada, we are used to seeing decorated lobbies and waiting areas.  This place was much simpler.  You also have to bring your own bed sheets and food.  Anyway, decorations are not part of medical care, so it doesn’t really matter.  And who really wants to eat hospital food anyway?  But what got to me was that it was deserted.  During my time there, I only saw 2 nurses and one doctor.  There was no nurse’s station, and someone pointed to a doctor’s office with bare desks and no bodies.  Maybe it’s because it’s the weekend.  I am usually an optimist, but I can’t find the positive in this one.  I would really hate to be stuck alone in that place.  I think our family friend is lucky to have a family to care for her.  

The weather has been sunny and great.  It’s in the 60s during the day and in the 30s at night.  Coming from Florida, I am naturally curious about the cold.  I asked the driver who picked me up from the airport if they predicted a cold winter.  He said they look to the onion to predict the harshness of the winter.  If the onions have thick peels, then they expect a cold winter.  So I asked him the obvious, and he replied “I hate to have to be the one to break it to you, but the onion peels this year are a little thick.”   Being a skeptic, I went and bought some onions yesterday.  Sadly, he appears to be correct.  Now I am wondering about the accuracy of the ground hog, which I consider to be a similarly ridiculous tradition.  A quick Google search reveals Punxsutawny Phil has a 39% accuracy rate.  But I am not taking any chances.  I am going for a walk.  It’s beautiful outside!