Embassies, Protesters, and a Dump

It seems like every winter when the leaves fall off the trees and you can see further off the road, I’ll drive down Jeffrey’s Neck Road or 1A and see a house I never noticed before.  I’ve driven down these roads my entire life, and I’m always baffled when I realize there’s something I’ve missed.  The past few days have been like this for me in Yerevan.  Here in the city there aren’t any leaves blocking the view, but the sensory overload of city life makes it difficult to take everything in at first glance.

For example, three days a week when my schedule allows it, I like to take the extra time to walk home from work instead of taking the metro.  I had gotten in the habit of walking down the right side of the road, where I’d pass one of the nicest parks in Yerevan and the National Assembly Building.  But the other day when I just missed the green walk light to get over to that side of the road, I walked down the other side.  Little did I know, I had been walking down embassy row!  Great Britain, Syria, Thailand, plus the National Academy of Science.  Sure, the buildings looked pretty nice from across the road, but I never would have known what they were had I not been able to read the small signs on their tall security fences while walking by.  It wasn’t until I saw the city from a new angle that I was able to learn something new.

Today I noticed a few more things of note on my way home.  One was a sea of protesters, which at first glance just seemed to be a normal crowd of people on their way from work.  I only keyed into it after noticing the large police presence.  They happened to be walking up the right side of the road in the opposite direction, so I was glad I had chosen to walk the left side again today.  I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I later saw them on the news and my host mom did a good job of conveying that they were protesting against the new social security program in Armenia.  The other noteworthy site I became aware of today was a massive pile of trash on a side street by my home.  It’s an abandoned space between two buildings that has become a makeshift dump, piled high with trash.  I have no idea how I managed to walk right by it two days ago without noticing it, but from now on it will no doubt draw me in.  This isn’t just because I’ve never seen such a large pile of trash in the middle of a city before, but it also relates directly to my work here with the Armenian Environmental Network.  Over time this organization is working to prevent scenes like this and clean up Armenia.  It feels good to be a part of this cause to make the world more beautiful (thanks Miss Rumphius).

These past few days of noteworthy observations have reminded me that there will always be something new to learn about this place.  Just as Yerevan has started to feel familiar to me, I’ve realized that there’s still so much to discover.  I have a renewed motivation to keep my eyes open wider, because the next interesting thing might be right under my nose.