When I was visiting my hometown for Christmas "How is Albania?" was one of the most asked questions I received and it did not come as a surprise to me. I also had no real clue about this country I was about to live in for a year, before I did my research. The genocide in the first world war, the conflict with Azerbaijan and the connection with Russia were the only things I remembered about Armenia from documentaries and these things do not work as pull factors in general.
No wonder some of my friends and family members were a bit irritated at first by my choice or even assumed I was going crazy and to be honest - I was not able to disprove that with good arguments. It just felt like a great adventure is waiting for me in this small but interesting country on the edge of Europe and Asia, where I could also improve my very rudimental knowledge of the Russian language. Spoiler alert! It is indeed better than the majority of people in the western world would guess and in a lot of regards the picture they have in their head is incredibly far off reality.
Anyway, let me tell you a little bit about my life in the last six month, which was not always without struggles but also seldomly boring. The small city I am staying in with my fellow volunteer Frank, called Dilijan, is situated in the north of Armenia, not far away from lake Sevan (a lake so big, that it is making up for the missing access to sea) and surrounded by beautiful mountains with a lot of forrest - I agree with the people I spoke to that see it as the most scenec city and sometimes even call it "the Switzerland of Armenia". The water is known to be the second best in the world (even though this is just a joke from an old soviet movie) and I can confirm it is clear and very tasty. Public water dispensers are installed everywhere and frequently used - also by the local fauna.
At our hosting organisation Youth Cooperation Center of Dilijan NGO we usually work from Monday until Friday on preparing and hosting European Clubs at three local schools, to present the European Union, as well as English Conversation Clubs for people in every age, who are interested in improving their language skills. During the European Clubs we present another member country of the EU each week in an informal way by including traditional games or dances for example.
Besides our volunteering activities we have a lot of time do explore other parts of the caucasus as well, together with our co-volunteers and more new friends. On my two trips to Georgia I already discovered the lively capital Tbilisi with its beautiful old buildings, the popular holiday destinations Batumi and Kobuleti at the Black Sea including the gorgeous botanical garden, the medieval fortress in Akhaltsikhe and the ski resort of Gudauri next to the occupied region South Ossetia. Despite having a great time there with a lot of good memories, the tense situation concerning the conflict with Russia is tangible everywhere for understandable reasons.
For sure we did not just visit other places in Georgia, but also had time to see more of Armenia and there is indeed a lot to see! Gymri is the second largest city and is known for its nice old town, statues and other sights, for example Sev Berd (Black Fortress) or the Statue of Mother Armenia. I also enjoyed strolling through the old soviet amusement park, where a few attractions are still in use while others are abandoned and might be great locations for influencer's photo sessions.
Taking part in a Youth Exchange in Aparan for one week, we got to know nice people from Armenia, Estonia, Belarus and Portugal while exploring the town, learning about entrepreneurship, making campfires, playing games and experiencing the different cultures. I am certain that I will take part in these kind of activities more often in the future!
Last but definitely not least, the capital city of Armenia: Yerevan. I love spending my weekends there, meeting up with friends and exploring new places. Even though a lot of people do not agree with me on that - calling the city either too modern, too flat, too Soviet, too small - I really like it very much, maybe for exactly these characteristics. You can find a lot of nice spots there, no matter if you prefer traditions, culture and history, want to go out with friends or feel like enjoying a cozy western atmosphere - a variety of museums, historical places, cafés, cinemas, pubs, abandoned places and so much more is waiting for you and mostly it is not necessary to go far away from the centre of the city, where you can reach every location easily by walking. On the way from the Republic Square, over the pedestrian area Northern Avenue, past the National Opera up to the Cascades, where you can finally have a great view on the city and in best case on the national symbol Mount Ararat in the back, you can surely feel the lively - and at the same time relaxed - atmosphere, that makes Yerevan so special for me.
Fountains in Vardanyan's park - water plays a big role in the city planning and in the warmer times of the year a lot of children and adults can be found jumping through the fountains. I am already excited for the big water battle on the holiday of Vardavar!
Art can be found everywhere in the city - street art, museums, paintings in the Martiros Saryan Park or the variety of beautiful sculptures from the Cafesjian collection at the Cascade are just a few examples.
View on a sunset from the top of the Cascade - a great spot not just for tourists, but especially for couples to enjoy the evening together.
The Cascade illuminated - at night Yerevan turns into a whole different city, that is not less beautiful nor interesting than at daylight.
At this point, I have to apologise for not having better pictures of the Armenian dishes I tried so far - food influencer will not be my future profession I suppose. I can say that there is so much tasty food, I did not manage to eat all of the suggestions I received so far and as long as the dishes do not contain coriander (arrants hamem, khntrum em), I can warmly recommend them! Besides some of the dishes that are part of a shared culture with neighbouring countries, such as Dolma or the Georgian Khachapuri, there are also a lot of dishes with Armenian origin, like Khash (soup with animal feed), Spas (soup with the Armenian yoghurt Matsoon), Lavash bread, Arishta (Armenian pasta) or my favorite food Gata - a sweet bread, that you can find in every shop and supermarket. The best ones, in my opinion, are made freshly at the Haghartsin Monastery close to Dilijan, in a round shape and with different fillings. Oh, and not to forget the tradition of Khorovats - Armenian barbecue!
There is so much more I could talk about and so many more pictures that I would like to share, but I feel like this is getting too long already, so I will just finish with a conclusion about this country, that keeps surprising me to this day on a regular basis. One reason I feel good here, is safety. Despite the bad driving skills and the non-use of seatbelts, living in Armenia is surprisingly safe. The number of violent crimes is very low and on the 2023 Numbeo Safety Index it was ranked 7th (!) out of 142 countries. Just be careful to not get scammed, especially by the taxi drivers at the airport. Talking about transport, the low prices for a taxi when using an app like GG are incredibly low and when using a Marshrutka (line minibuses established in Soviet times), you just have to pay 1000 Dram (around 2.50 Euro) to get from Dilijan to Yerevan. Also, getting in touch with taxi drivers often is a very interesting experience. They might even speak a very good level of German or another European language, tell you about their time living there and are eager to learn more about your life and your time in Armenia.
People in general are very hospital and always smile when I use my slowly growing Armenian skills, but usually they start speaking Russian with me first. They always take their time for family and friends, so be prepared to wait some time for Armenians when you agreed on a time to meet - it is totally normal to be late some minutes (or even a lot). Also, starting a new business while working in other jobs is very common. The Armenians I met usually are very busy with that and always seem to have another business idea in their mind. Since the Velvet Revolution in 2018 the whole country is somehow on the move and trying to reinvent itself in different ways. The democracy index and freedom of press increased while corruption is effectively being fought. The arrival of more progressive Russians, Europeans and people from all over the the world, furthermore brought a modern mindset, new perspectives and ideas, especially to Yerevan.
In general, because of all these things, I am very happy to stay here for the next half year and would definitely not want to change my decision. With lake Sevan, Mount Aragats and other places I still need to explore, there will be no chance to get bored and I probably have to come back several times to see everything I want to and because I feel like I found a little treasure here in the Caucasus.