Sleepless in Yerevan (August 2004)

No I don’t have insomnia, neither am I suffering from jetlag, it just happens that I am more operational during the early hours of the morning (between 3 and 6 am). Of course there are several reasons for this. The first is that the Internet in Yerevan is faster during those times since less people are online. The second reason is that nights in Yerevan are cooler and it’s more pleasurable to work during those times when there are less cars driving around honking their horns and making a mess out of my nerves.

I would be a liar - who hasn’t lied before anyway! - if I say that checking e-mail and working at night are the only reason why I enjoy the nights of Yerevan. There’s something amazing about Yerevan nightlife. The cafis are of course one unfortunate feature of that but also whoever has taken a stroll in the streets of Yerevan during late night feels that there is something charming about the city at night. It’s not that the night covers the inequalities of people, it’s that when one is walking in the streets of Yerevan looking at other passers by, one gets a feeling of belongingness. This feelings is not based on any identity or socio-economic status - although political hotshots are always there to disturb the peace with their police escorts which pull aside everyone in their path, car or pedestrian.

Has anyone wondered why Armenian ‘politicians’ - be it in Armenia or Diaspora (in the Diaspora they are called party members) - have to act so seriously? Now come on, nobody ever said that to be a viable and trustworthy politician (those two words are sort of contradictory in nature) one needs to be serious. Perhaps it’s a macho thing where to overstate one’s machoness, a serious look could do the trick. That’s one of the reason I could never get along with Armenian politicians since I always manage to be not serious and that of course is a major no - no for a politician. Of course one other issue making my job much easier is that no politician wants to be associated with me as well, since I’m not enough Armenian for them!