Pete Torola's Homeless Page

Started our trip to Armenia Monday. Took a day and a half to get there. 8 hour layover in London, and 8 hour difference in time from UP. Had jet lag big time at the airport. Tried to stay awake but it didn't work. London airport was a high class shopping mall.

Margie said don't look up her nostrils.

At Harrod's department store in the airport. Lots of rich stores, out of our league.

Margie and jet lag having a conversation.

Famous Harrod's Dept Store at the airport in London.

FACTS of Armenia:

A is always pronounced as in "ahhh."

Money is called dram. (as in drama)

R is sometimes rolled as in Finn. Oh wait, there is no r in finn. I mean the Finnish language.

Mt. Ararat is a sacred symbol of Armenia which is strange because it really is in Turkey. It was given to Turkey as a gift many years ago, but then there was an Armenian Holocaust, (called a Genocide here,) which was the systematic killing of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was implemented through wholesale massacres and deportations, with the deportations consisting of forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees.

At the Genocide Museum. Monument and Eternal Flame in background

The Eternal Flame. Many flowers are regularly placed here.

Many trees are planted here by dignitaries around the world,

 and foundations, in memory of the people who died.

 The total number of resulting Armenian deaths is generally held to have been between 1 million and 1.5 million people. The entire Turkish/Armenia border is closed to all travellers because Turkey doesn't recognize the Genocide. You can see Mt. Ararat from Armenia. (remember how to pronounce the a)

It is a huge mountain where Noah's Ark landed.

Mt. Ararat

Women dress up a lot! They wear fancy tops, tight pants and very high heels. It's hard to understand how they can walk on the sidewalks because the walks are very uneven and have lots of holes.

Many of the men smoke. Cigarettes are around $2 to $3. Gasoline is $1.50/litre.

Armenia separated from the Soviet Union in 1991. Lots of the buildings that were under construction by the Russians were abandoned and the Russians went home. So they sit unfinished and empty, just concrete shells.

There were 3.6 million people in Armenia. 1 million live in the capitol city of Yerevan. Population has decreased to about 2.9 million. They are leaving because there's no work. Husbands live and work in Russia, and wives and kids live here trying to survive on very little.

View from our Yerevan 4th floor apt. balcony.

There was an earthquake in 1992 that destroyed a lot of tall buildings. An architect who designed the city recommended no more than 5 story buildings so they are more earthquake safe. With the boom in population, this is often disregarded.