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September 2006
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shnorakalut’yun

That is “Thank You” in Eastern Armenian.

I’m leaving quite soon–less than 48 hours from right now. This post is testing my ability to post while traveling in Armenia–I’m going to use a different username and password, just in case the ‘net is not as secure as it ought to be.

That said, I do not expect to be able to post while traveling, but my hotel in Yerevan–the Bass Hotel–does have a business center with Internet. Among their other services that they list on their homepage: “Organization of coffee – brakes, banquets.”

Happily for me, there is another way to say “Thank You” in Eastern Armenian: mersi!

9 comments to shnorakalut’yun

  • I hope you have an AMAZING trip!! I’ll be thinking of you. And needless to say we all want loads of details and photos when you get back. Stay safe, be moved, banter/pantomime with people, take lots of fabulous photos, and have fun!

  • MT

    Wow, Nome’s advice is so much more positive than mine was. Mine was: “Don’t get arrested, esp. since you don’t know the language.” LOL.

  • J

    I might have missed this, but why are you going to Armenia? I assume it’s not business. Armenia just doesn’t seem like the first place to pop up on one’s travel radar.

    However, have a fantastic time. I’ll be looking forward to the photos too.

  • I told my guest that was in from the UK last night about your upcoming trip and she said, “Is he mad?” *grins* I wasn’t sure how to take that. Her concern seemed more about flying Aeroflot than it was with going to Armenia.

  • have a safe trip…take pictures and don’t get arrested 😛

    i heart you!

  • Thanks all!

    My German teacher showed me one of those little point and understand booklets you can take to foreign countries. The book had received a good review which was printed inside it: “Never again will you have to pantomime roasted chicken!”

    J: I’ve been asking myself the same question lately–but the initial reasoning can be found on my long “Armenia Planning Update.” If you don’t want to read that, the short answer is that easyJet and RyanAir do not fly there.

    CQ: Aeroflot should be fun. I have expectations of it being like domestic US flights. Aeroflot despite its poor reputation has not had an accident since ’94 (at least not one due to their fault). The only thing that has unnerved me of late, and this is only a slight unnerving is that two Tu-154s have crashed in the past month. This is the type of plane I am flying from Moscow to Yerevan. I’m not that disturbed though: CRJs crash, DC9s crash, and DC10s crash–yet I don’t think twice about stepping on these planes. Well, actually I do–but not for safety issues. CRJs are uncomfortable, DC9s can be loud if you’re in the back, and DC10s shake, rattle, and roll a lot.

  • Perhaps if you flew an airline (as a standard) with newer planes? Gosh, still flying Douglass Corporation planes! That company hasn’t been around in a while.

    I think the last DC I flew on was a DC8 flown by United in 1990; a plane that was certainly due for retirement even then. It looked alot like those beat-up old buses stunt motorcycle riders jump over for the amusement of toothless rednecks at monster truck shows and had interior decor straight from an Austin Powers movie.

    I not so affectionately called that plane the (D)eath (C)r(8). It was loud, cold, and generally uncomfortable. I felt like that plane was going to fall out of the sky simply because it was underpowered and looked like it was missing about half the rivets that held it together – probably much like the Tu-154 you’re going to board.

    I used to like CRJ’s mainly for the fact that carry-on and checked luggage ended up in the same place, ultimately. This made it possible for me to take my luggage with me between flights to ENSURE it would arrive at the appropriate destination.

    Now that my medicine is consider a safety hazard (how ridiculous) I probably will be checking EVERYTHING from now on.

  • What interests me is that nobody comments on “Organization of coffee – brakes” from the Bass Hotel web site. This is something that actually got me thinking–brake is a more logical spelling for a “coffee brake”, so why do we spell it “coffee break”? Nothing’s broken, but we do stop, eh?