Accelerated

http://models.ww.am/models_dir/valentina/valentina1_1.jpg This is the only decent looking photo/person in the whole site.

Maybe, see how fun much fun its is... It depends, but I certainly dont expect to come first, my goal for this season is not to come last

Hehe, I signed up, even though I dont have a clue, and have probably never seen a complete match of American football, but I'll try not to come last Chose a crap team name though, should have been 'ImGonnaMakeYouBleed', can I change it?

From what I heard, the current head of our Church bought his 'seat' and is some young 'samplyak' who should not be in the clergy, let alone at its head!

university Yes, things are pretty grim, nothing I have said is made up or exagerated.....things I have seen with my own eyes. And to answer the second part of the question, the regime is corrupt, as things are now we dont have a hope of having a goverment in place that wont be corrupt. Peoples way of thinking must change before anything else does IMO...... After what I saw in Armenia, Im completelly in love with our (Aussie) politicians, in fact I think they should get a raise. After all, Grzos monthly income is more than our PMs (after-tax) yearly! - LOL. Personally, I dont think I belong to that 'system'. And the current administration was elected into office by the dead and the absent.... Thats the dilema. A (large) percentage of every cent we send to our relatives or aid ends up in the 'lords' pockets because they have monopolised everything and set the prices as they please. Yes, every Hyeastantsi, but their lives are also not to envy. A few months ago four were killed as two 'groupirovkas' were at each others throats. On the subject of 'lords', I remmeberd something funny, will post later when I have time........ I agree with you about everything except the last sentence. Peoples mentality can and will change, it will not (or rather it CANT) remain like this forever because we as a nation will ceaze to exist.

Thanks all....... Yes, I am not at all surprised... This was beyond absurd. At Zvartnotz, it is almost the equivalent of US$100 for every kilo above the allowed. They have made sure that the only way you could get extra weight on was by paying a bribe - LOL. We did have extra weight, 25kg more! Unloaded, and left it to be sent by ship, cheaper and less headache. We had 20kg extra going from Sydney, the Qantas registration officer told us to unload as much as we can, so we took out a couple of things (no more than 2-3 kgs) and put into hand luggage, the rest went through. Had to pay a US$30 bribe to get it through at Moscow though.......mother Russia wont let anyone pass without giving some salt. I used to laugh when I heard such stories, thinking to myself: after all, how bad can it be? Go see for yourself, it really is depressing when a former university professor has to sell shemushka (sunflowerseed) to make ends meet........its pretty f*%@ing bad, and I dont see it getting better in the near future The Feudals have all profitable big business underwraps. Yes, some medium/small businesses are doing well, but these are few and farbetween. Investment from the diaspora is mostly smallscale. There is some construction going on (apart from the street renovations), but there are many more abandoned, rotting and rusting factories than working ones. mmm.....the majority of yerevantsis I have spoken to have little hope, they just do what they have to do, put food on the table. Paradoxically, even without hope most want to stay, so I guess there is something to look forward to.... There is a saying in Armenia now...."The only thing a man can be ashamed of today is not providing for his family".....thats it. Well, the people would starve to death if things got much worse than '93. Otherwise we are a third world country, and we have a LONG way to go to reach standards of living achieved in the West. The peoples culture and way of thinking must change for there to be significant improvement... Aparently this 'Argentinian magnate' is not the real owner/buyer, who is apparently someone high in the government, but naturally he cant afford an airport on his 'salary' - LOL, hence the Argentine.....I dont know, wether its true or not, but in Armenia anything is possible, and I mean ANYTHING! - Nothin much mate, getting back to my usualy routine of uni/work/party/recover/uni/work/party/recover/uni/work/party/recover/..................

Basically because there wasnt enough time . We hadnt seen our relatives/friends for over 10 years, so there was a lot of catching up and we did a fair bit of travelling also. I didnt get a chance to ride in the Metro, but people say its the 'same'. The many underground passes around Yerevan have become public toilets though, literally. Zvartnotz is falling apart . They were repairing the runway so all flights took place during the night. Its poorly lit (probably to save electricity) and is really ageing. The employees showed little professionalism, probably because they got their jobs through family/friends/money and have minimal or no qualifications, take ages to perform simple tasks. ....mmm dont know what this is.... Some top restaurants in Yerevan, and they are inexpensive. The best one I dined in (including on the night of our departure, 2 hours before we were still eating and drinking here at 3am - LOL) was called 'Old Tbilisi' and served Georgian cusine. A full on dinner including khincali and drinks (tarkhoon lemonade ) etc. for six cost around US$50. A restaurant like that here would cost $50 each! There are other places as well for good Armenian cusine, but nothing is better than homemade stuff . Dont eat at the chinese restaurant, its terrible. Didnt do any shopping. Went to Malatia market once....that was it. Only souvenir I got myself was a black Armenian special forces beret with the badge, thats it. I couldnt tell, really. But I didnt see a single person that was dressed like me, even at the nightclubs. I suspect there is going to be an influx of youth now though, with the Navasatrian(?) games being held this month. Yes, very much so. Didnt see much chess, but nardi is deffinetelly in . Outside my uncles place you could hear nardi from noon till 10pm (sun goes down) mmm......Stormy, I know you really like me, but I dont need to be constantly reminded of my own wisdom.

Yes, Im surelly going for another trip if not 2005, then 2006, to get married if not for any other reason I think - LOL What sort of feeling? Unfortunatelly none! Our camera broke in the baggage we only have video. Unfortunatelly not, but we did go to Sevan, got there at 8pm on an unusually cold day (according to the locals). I wasnt brave enough to test the water when I was freezing in two shirts and a jumper! I have swum in the Sevan before though. Again a stark contrast between the large two storey houses for the rich and the 'domiks' for the poor, with Nemetz Rubos modern hotel on a bluff nearby. No, but we did visit tsaxkadzor and braved the tzopanoghi. Unfortunatelly, only the bottom one was working, but after walking an additional 30 mins up that hill (toward the snow patch covered Ali Beck peak) we were presented with a breathtaking view of the tsaxkadzor valley and Sevan in the distance. The air was really something outworldly and I managed to get my face burnt in a couple of hours, despite it being quite cold. I took off my shirt, and the gentle cool wind........i cant describe my feelings, but it was really something....probably the most memmorable part of our trip.....very VERY RECOMMENDED! Armenian icecream surprised me though, its very creamy and tasty, certainly on par if not better than our local premium Aussie stuff. hhehehe, this was another great trip, to Garni valley. There is a police post there that guards the Garni water supply (river). The police there are friends of my uncles (fathers cousin). We went to the police post there, got approx 20 karmraxayt from the fish farmers next door. And what a feast we had.........again something amazing....karmraxayt khorovatz and khashlama, best fish I have ever tasted (apart from well prepared Salmon, a couple of times) plus the cold Garni water and vodka, I really cant put it into words. btw chicken imported from the US is half the price of the local produce, but the local chicken has taste! And vodka is cheaper than Coca-Cola, thats right you heard me right. You can get 1/2Ltr of vodka for say 70C US. Thats the cheap stuff of course, you'll have to spend a little more to get something thats drinkable, not much more though, there is decent vodka for only a buck Some vodka brand names: "Luys Astgh" - this is the cheapo that makes people go nuts - LOL - hence the name I guess "Okno v evropu" - "window to europe" - LOL - this was approx US$5 "Dar 21" - good budget vodka - LOL only US$1

....you should see the palaces these 'lords' have built for themselves. On top of bluffs and high places behind 3 metre high walls and armed guards. Each with a personal church on their territory. While the rest of the city buildings, including such masterpieces as the Hamalir crumble into oblivion...

oh pictures........no pictures bro, our photo camera broke on the way, so we just had a video camera.....

Theres too much stuff man! And I dont touch type, it took me over an hour just to get the above post. I'll answer questions and post highlights of my trip as I remmember them, but it'll take me ages to put everything into words... btw. they've built a 'waterworld' (jrashkhar) on the Massiv/Shrjanayin road, its pretty good too, but too packed. And they also got karting and paintball now, same prices as here though.

My impressions of my trip to Armenia…. Its been exactly a week since my return back to Sydney, I thought I should delay writing these impressions just to put them a little more in perspective. I stayed in Armenia 3.5 weeks. Political System If the political system can be described in one word it would be, feudalism. That’s right we have reverted back to feudalism, turned back the clock 500 years. The entire area of Armenia and all profitable big business has been divided up among the ‘lords’. Lords who have such colourful nick names as Grzo, Lfik Gago, Dodi Rubo, Nemetz Rubo. The biggest lord (ie. king) is Serj Sarksyan, minister of defence, he has the petrol trade monopolized. During the three weeks I was in Armenia, I did not see the petrol price change ONCE! Here it changes on a daily basis, sometimes with swings of up to 10%. 75% of the people ‘elected’ into parliament this year have nicknames, most don’t even have full high school education, but being deputies makes them free from criminal prosecution. When you have a person called GRZO as one of Armenia’s top five, in terms of power, you get the idea. And just to hammer the point, this event took place sometime last year: Dodi Rubo (his father was called ‘Dodd’ (idiot) in his village) and Lfik Gago (former truck loader) closed off the road going from Planni Glukh to Massiv (one of the main arterial Yerevan roads that is in good condition) at 2 in the morning (with their own personal security), and proceeded to race their sports cars there, without even notifying the police. The police discovered what was taking place, but of course, they cant tell the ‘lords’ to pack up and go home. So instead, they drove up and stood with the security to make the closure look official! – LOL. I know, its no laughing matter, but that’s what it has come to… btw. The police is probably THE MOST corrupt government organization in Armenia. Social Issues If the social system could be described in two words it would be, organized anarchy. The only law is money. ‘Connections’ are of small importance now, if you got enough money you can become the next Armenian president, or for that matter have whatever ‘seat’ your heart desires. Of course, once you have made the investment, you would want a return, and this can only be achieved my milking the system. The middle class in Armenia is very small. Probably, 85% are making ends meet, 10% represents the middle class (ie. living comfortably, nice car, house, business etc.), and 5% are the lords and the ultra rich, actually probably even less than 5%. My guesstimate is based on the cars I saw on the streets of Yerevan. The vast majority are run down old Soviet (Russian) models. The thing that struck me most was that there were many more S-class Mercs and 7-series BMWs, than C-class Mercs and 3-series BMWs. This is in stark contrast to Moscow (spend 3 days there) where 80% of the vehicles were either new Russian models or cheaper Jap and German cars (ie. middle class). The chief of the military police drives around in a H2 Hummer. A car that is double the price of the locally made Holden (GM) product our Prime Minister travels in. What gives me some heart is the fact, that it seems that the people have realized that communism isn’t going to come back, and they will have to dig themselves out of the hole and not rely on anyone else (diaspora), but without a responsible and functioning government this will never happen. The economic position of the people has also seemingly improved. My mum was in Yerevan in ’99, and she observed the many beggars roaming the streets. These seem to have largely disappeared, I was only approached 3 or 4 times the entire time. And 2 of the incidents took place outside Paplavok (most famous Yerevan café). Unfortunately, the exodus seems to continue. Many people still seek to leave Armenia, and some (pessimistic) estimates put the entire population of Armenia at 1 million! Admittedly we did travel around a fair bit and the lesser cities and villages did leave the impression of emptiness. I must also note, the sheer beauty of the landscape around Alaverdi and Dilijan. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit Jermuk, Megri and Artsakh like we had originally planned. Youth and Night Life The night life in Yerevan only exists for the tourist and the rich, or rather the rich making money off the tourist. The rest of the population certainly comes out, but only aimlessly strolling and sitting around. The women are (very) well dressed and have a sense of fashion, but many overdo things and look like tonatsar (Christmas tree). Oh, and I take back what I said about Armenian women being ugly, it seems they become ugly when they arrive on Australian shores (LOL). Men, in the heat of the summer wear (mostly) black (like it’s a funeral every day) with ridiculously shaped shoes, especially those pointy ones, they are a sight to see. I didn’t mind standing out with my white puma ‘walking’ shoes, jeans and brightly coloured shirts. Picking up was a doozer, as the locals long for something different. I really feel sorry for Armenian girls though, when a guy lashes on to them, there is no escape – LOL, Yerevantsi guys just cant take no for an answer. I shouldn’t brag though, I had very little time to mix with the youth, as most of the time was spend eating and drinking with family and friends. One day, I got drunk in the morning, at one place, then we set off to Stepanavan, we had something to eat and drink on the way, I passed out in the car. Woke up at Stepanavan and eating and drinking again before going to bed at 2am. We were visiting my dads cousins wifes cousins (LOL). In my entire life I have never experienced such genuine goodwill from complete strangers. These people, had never seen us before and are likely to never see us again, yet a lamb was cut-up almost immediately and a huge table set. Needless to say, the food was delicious. And that is really the essence of Armenia, its people. The majority of Yerevantsis have been corrupted by materialism and the need to show off, but travel to the provinces and villages and its almost a different world, you really need to ‘taste’ these people and their spirit, before God forbid the government (or rather, the circumstances) corrupts them also. Travelling to Armenia. Despite all the bad, traveling to Armenia is certainly recommended, in fact it is a MUST for every Armenian. Not only will you thoroughly enjoy it, you will be able to contribute a dime or two to the economy. Everything is cheap, except for 5 star accommodation of course. Save by leasing an apartment near the center, its much (MUCH) cheaper. The food is great, the roads and driving manners are not. In fact (I forgot to mention this earlier) the roads are torn up, as they are being rebuild, as is the Republican Square. But even the non-arterial roads that arnt being renovated are in a terrible condition. Traffic is hectic and the lack of direction from street signs, traffic islands and traffic lights (at some places all three lights are on, at others nothing or the lights are simply out of sight) doesn’t help. There are a couple of good night clubs, Astral and Atlantic, though I still cant get over the stupidity of having mirrors on the dance floor walls, must be the showing off thing (there is a culture of showing off in Yerevan). The music they play is less impressive, they change from one style to the next, from fast to slow and back again, trying to accommodate a wider audience, but probably turning everyone off. mmmm…..what else….it really helps to have friends, relatives in Armenia to show you around and save you from getting swindled a lot of the time, otherwise travel in a group, the more the merrier, as the saying goes. That’s about it I guess, it really has become the wild west and is quite an experience, hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing this, questions and comments here please… And just to cap off, a popular joke from Armenia: “There are two means by which the Armenian economy may be fixed. One is fantastic (ie. so unreal that it is fantastic) the other realistic. The fantastic way would be if the Armenian people united and everyone started working thereby fixing the economy. The realistic way, would be if aliens came and gave money” - LOL

mmmm........I got 20. LOL - I have given up on one of my exams again, but should do ok in the rest. Damn Circuit Analysis, its easy crap, but I can never motivate myself to keep up with the work, and when I do something happens to get me off my rhythm, this time around - getting the flu. Anyhow, boys and gals in less than 56 hours I will be off to Armenia .

Thanks for the links Arpa...I will just add a couple of important points. The Mongols did not take religion seriously, wether it be Christian or Muslim and mostly only converted for political reasons. Also, the Mongols were almost successful in wiping out Muslim domminance of the Middle East. Their defeat at Ayn Jalut, was to the last remaining Muslim power in the region, the Mamluks of Egypt. And the Mongol force that was defeated was only a scouting/probing force that was outnumbered at least 2:1 (a conservative estimate, some say 5:1). A more powerful army would have been sent, had their emperor (Odegei Khan) not died, throwing the empire into uncertainty over the succession and the permanent postponement of the certain end of the Mamluks. The Mongol Army and its style of warfare (largelly thanks to the cavalry archer) dominated the world since the end of Rome, untill the widespread use of gunpowder. Even so, many cavalry archers were used in the Russian Imperial Army in the Napoleonic Wars. Well....maybe more that a couple of points

Thanks for the link Azat.....those Japs are a crazy bunch.

WOW! A very interesting discussion....I really wish I had the time to go over everything. . I will just comment on a couple of things that caught my eye.... Im MAZOD and proud of it baby! I look like a man, not a faggot like you! And I bet, maybe in 50 years time, being hairy is going to be the new fad, and everyones going to rush for hair implants (LOL - wishful thinking maybe ) And the Armenian Legion never saw action, I doubt it was even trained and uniformed etc. Just a bunch of guys signed up and formed into units (on paper only). There was also an Azeri Legion btw.

LOL - Dont get mushy with me Azat, its just the chorus lyrics from 'Its my life' by Jon Bon Jovi. Download it, its a top song, great for kicking up the spirit.

Azat, It's my life It's now or never I ain't gonna live forever I just want to live while i'm alive (it's my life) My heart is like an open highway Like frankie said I did it my way I just wanna live while i'm alive It's my life

Honestly, I really dont know why everyone is making this BIG deal out of this (assets for debt exchange). These assets are still going to remain on Armenian soil, arnt they? So, if their Russian owners blatantly use this against ROA interests, then the goverment can always nationalise. The presence of Russian troops coplicates matters, but they too are on Armenian soil. It is obvious the ROA govt is bankrupt financially, and in terms of ideas, maybe the new Russian owners will invest more into these enterprises and create jobs, expand etc. Factor in, the elimination of interest payments and much of the debt, I really dont think we have been skewered. As for Armenian Aerlines, sure, its a source of pride for ROA, but as things stand now 'lack of pride' is the least of our worries. In fact, some of us have too much (misplaced) pride in our nation.....

Nah man, I'd really would have liked too, but we dont have time. My uni leave is only one month, and my dads got a major project. Factoring in travel time and 2.5 day stay in Moscow, we're only going to have just a little over 3 weeks in Armenia . Some people think its more than plenty though.... . I really do wanna visit the States though, maybe within next few years (I know YEARS! - LOL).

I think society puts MORE pressure on men. We have a higher suicide rate and die earlier/age faster etc. Because he was drunk and speaking from his heart, obviously some bad experiences with women in his lifetime... Sip, you should know by now when Im being sarcastic.....LOL

I dont care anymore! These days women get turned off EVERYTHING, and you have clearly demonstrated that on this forum. Some girls are even afraid of lists! - LOL. like wtf! Several years ago I got my first 'lesson' on women. Happilly coming home from school (by bus) I was about 14-15. This heavilly drunk middle aged man (prob 40-50 years old) got on the bus, keep in mind this is at around 3pm - LOL. Cant say he was well dressed, but I doubt he was homeless. Anyhow, he stumbled on and went to the back, I was sitting close-by and some girls/women also around. About 5 mins after getting on, he started mumbling, soon the bus stopped and one of the young women was about to get off, when this guy suddenly started swearing at her. Cant remmember all he said, but the main point was 'ALL THAT WOMEN WANT IS MONEY AND C@#K! - LOL. And he repeated that over and over - LOL. Dont know why, maybe that woman gave him a dirty a look or somethin........They should erect a statue for that man! - hahahaha

Im sorry to say, but after inspecting (LOL) some of the photoes on the above mentioned sites I have come to the conclusion that we are one ugly race! . I mean, the Armenian party I went to last month, there wasnt a single girl that was 'hot' (and this is despite me being drunk), a few 'ok' ones and a vast majority of fuglies. I really hope I change my mind when I go to Armenia this summer...

I will be in Moscow in less than 3 weeks

Talking of satisfaction, I few years back, when I was a bit of Age of Kings nut, I used to get SO MUCH satisfaction from watching my Hussars (light cavalry) waltzing into the enemy town and massacring the villagers (ie. killing the economy) that it was almost sadistic! - LOL. And to makes things worse, I always played with the Turks! - yeah! gotto love those jannisaries, I think I might get back into AOK when I get back from Hayastan.....