by Samuel Armen

Day 2 – A Priceless Development

“Be wary of making concrete judgments of people; everything is not factual but rather evidential. There are too many variables that filter and manipulate the actions and visible characteristics of people we watch and learn from. Everything is conjecture.”

It is these words I wrote down first on my notebook and these words I promised to adhere to throughout my trip, but I couldn’t help but notice the feeling of the new people and world around me materializing into solidity.

I was remembering names, birthplaces, qualities, accents, and particular feats of the individuals of our group, all the while notating street names such as Tumanyan and Sayat-Nova. I was already under the suspicion that several of these interns– these  new faces – would develop into friends I'd know forever.

By the late afternoon, our group resembled a clan of old friends, traversing about the Opera House as the sun began setting. The Opera House is a beautiful grand structure comprised of the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall, and the Alexander Spendiaryan Opera and Ballet National Academic Theatre. Circumventing this building are clubs, hookah-lounges, bars, and always hundreds of people.

Together we traversed the Opera House area from day until night.

During the afternoon, we would see families walking about or sitting on benches that immediately surrounded the theatre. Here, men would be reading newspapers, the women would hold hands as they walked together, and the children would be on bicycles, eating ice cream or playing in the outdoor arcades.

During sunset – when the blue sky is introduced to the imperialistic bursts of red and orange hues – we could most appreciate the neighboring attraction sites.

 To the south, we would enjoy the serenity of Lover's Park (Siraharneri Aygi) – where couples whispered romance to each other in ancient dialects as the central pond (Karapi Lij - Swan Lake) mimmicked the sky as it slowly changed colors.

To the north, we could see the Cascade (Kaskadt) – a tremendous temple-like structure with 572 steps, standing 450 Meters (1,476 ft) at the top of the Alexander Tamanyan memorial. (That is several meters taller than the top of New York City's Empire State Building) The exterior of the Cascade displayed cascading streams, gardens, and dozens of statues. The interior housed a museum of modern artwork ranging from paintings to glass sculptures. At the base, one could see cafes and quaint clothing boutiques.

During the nightime, Lover's Pond, the actual Opera House, the Cascade, and the cafes, bars and lounges all illuminated with varying colors.

During this very night – the night of our first full day together – we celebrated. Together, 21 of us interns searched for a lounge. We passed by names like Grammy, Magnolia, Astral, and the Egyptian-themed club, Giza – with its giant, glowing red Eye of Horus – and decided on a place called Melody Cafe.

The waiters scurried about quickly, shifting 4-seaters to accomade our group with a tremendous communal table. In between the hours of bonding, laughing, drinking, shouting, and hookah-smoking, the girls asked our waiter to take pictures of us. After snapping nearly a dozen photographs, he asked if he could get in one of the pictures – so we would remember him.

When the night winded down we asked for our check. On this very first night we spent approximately 34,000 Dram – roughly equalling $90 – which our group found incredible considering we were 21 thirsty hookah-smokers. The average intern had a shot, one other drink (from Champagne to Kotayk Beer), and tried one of the two hookahs – what would be no less than $16 in the cheapest bar in Manhattan or Queens – which turned out to be less than 4 dollars and 1 quarter per person.

This added an essense to our night that was both surreal and eye-opening. An intern leaned close to our side of the table and whispered, “Do you think it's worth it?” Excluding the smile and sarcasm of the inquirer, the question remained in my mind as something remarkable. We celebrated for hours together – we grew closer, began remembering names, took dozens of photographs, created jokes, discovered mutual friends and relatives, introduced our talents, planned upcoming days, drank, and smoked hookah – and, at the end, forked over four dollars.

Again – this was our first night together.