Day 2: Friendships Are Formed As Our Trip Kicks Off

Hello everyone,

it's Christian here, live in Yerevan reporting back on a riveting Day 2 in the books for our Armenia trip. What a day it has been! We had a completely wonky sleeping schedule, with all four of us later discovering that we had all, at separate times woken up between the hours of 3 and 5 a.m. because we simply could not sleep. Here is to hoping that we have a little more luck tonight with a stable sleeping schedule.

During those two hours in the early morning, we heard noise and movement in our hallway, but I personally was too tired to go outside and find out who had arrived or what they were doing making noise at such an ungodly hour. However, when I got up this morning and stepped into the hallway, who did I see but my beloved Maroon 20 partner Sona, who is here for the conference from Greece (Maroon 20 was the nickname we gave our 2015 Armenia missions team). It was such an amazing surprise to see her there, especially because she had not told anyone she would be attending and I was not expecting to see her there, let alone know she was staying two rooms away from us. I had not seen here in three years, so it was a special moment to embrace and realize that we would get to serve together again in Armenia.

Because today was technically a free day for us as all the groups from around the world are flying in to begin the trip, the four guys decided to head out to grab a tasty breakfast before beginning our day. We decided on a quaint sidewalk café called Hemingway's (he's made his way out to Armenia, apparently). Nicholas and I both ordered omelettes, but they did not come in the traditional American half moon shape. My omelette came in a bowl, watered down with the juice of tomatoes I ordered in it, while Nicholas' came on top of pita bread and served with vegetables. It was a switch-up from what I'm used to, but it tasted fantastic, so I can put that down as another amazing meal here in Yerevan. It seems you can't go wrong with the incredible variety of food available to you here. Certainly a far cry from the boring, bland Russified cuisine of the Soviet era that many people may envision when it comes to Armenia's cuisine (borscht, anyone?).

After breakfast, we decided to explore the central area on our own a bit more, and somehow ended up stumbling onto a little gem of a gelato shop down one of Yerevan's main streets, Northern Avenue. For some reason, even at 10 in the morning, gelato went down fantastically well after our meal, and especially given how hot it already was, gelato was a good choice for everyone. As we were walking, we stumbled across a comical and hilarious scene of a truck that must've been from the time of Stalin parked in the middle of a busy intersection as an older Armenian man was fixing an electrical line that ran over the street. It looked like dangerous work, and ever the kind and caring servant for the public good, George could not help but wonder if this man was unionized or not and was being compensated properly for his exertions (hint: he's not). Picture is included below for your viewing pleasure.

We returned back to the AMAA headquarters to relax and wait until a driver came to take us and our luggage to the Ibis Hotel in Yerevan, where we would be staying for a portion of the missions trip. We ended up napping (or in my case, reading) for about 3 hours, until our very Armo but very awesome driver Samvel (not Samuel, you must call him SamVEL) arrived to take us over to the hotel. We all had our own worries about what a hotel experience would be like in Yerevan, but I am happy to report that the hotel is fantastic, modern and chic, with all the amenities and then some that anyone could ever want. Nicholas and I are sharing a room, as are Pat and George. The rooms, in typical European fashion, are extremely small, but we are all making due. I guess they model the hotel room size after Armenian men's pants here in Yerevan; too tight in all the wrong places. The beds are barely big enough for Nicholas and I both if we are laying straight, but we are enjoying the experience nonetheless. Being on the ninth floor and having incredible views all around doesn't hurt my opinion of the hotel either. We managed to catch an episode of Spongebob (hilariously dubbed in Russian) before we nodded off for a little while to rest.

We took a little time to relax before getting a knock on our door. When I answered, it was none other than our own cousin Alyssa from Ohio! We were overjoyed to see her, as it was her first time traveling to Armenia, and she had wanted to come on this trip specifically so she could serve with us. Alyssa is only half Armenian (her dad is black), and so she doesn't know any Armenian and isn't very close with her Armenian roots, but from the time she first heard about this missions trip, she had her heart set on coming and serving in her home country, and we encouraged her to pursue that goal! Originally, we thought she had missed the reservation deadline for the trip, but somehow she managed to finagle her way onto the team and it was such a funny yet odd feeling seeing her in a place that is completely foreign to her. We normally see her in Ohio or California, so it really was crazy to see her here, thousands of miles away from her normal territory, ready to serve with us. I admire her courage to travel to a country whose language she does not know, and whose people she is not necessarily close with. She has a servant heart and we are delighted to be with her!

At 6:30, we gathered as a group and walked back over to the AMAA headquarters to meet up with the other 100 or so youth from around the world for fellowship and dinner. It was fantastic to see people I knew from Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Lebanon, Armenia and beyond, and to meet new people from around the world as well. The kind women of the Evangelical Church of Armenia, Yerevan had prepared a delicious meal of chicken, salad, and pasta, and it was safe to say we destroyed our plates. Thank you Armenian women, we love you very much. We had the rest of the night to ourselves, so we decided to go as a big group of about 20 of us to a lounge and cafe near the city center where we hung out, ate, laughed and reminisced until around 10.

George, Pat, Nicholas and I headed back early so we could get a full-body workout in before bed. We are determined to stay fit and healthy on this trip, and that means getting in regular exercise, whenever and however you can. It is so helpful when you have other guys who care about fitness just as much as you, pushing you to work harder and achieve maximum results, and so even though we were doing exercises in a tiny hotel room, we got it done and we all feel great as a result! And so, that draws an end to a relaxing but eventful day in Armenia, as we prepare for our first day with the entire group tomorrow. Stay tuned and thank you as always for reading and sharing your thoughts. I am so happy to hear from each and every one of you, even while we are thousands of miles away. Thank you.

Love,

Christian

Non-Union, which stressed George out ;)

Pyoorker Kink, anyone?

The lobby of the Ibis Hotel Yerevan

Alyssa is here!

We Are Back Baby!

Hello everyone,

Christian here. I know you have all been anxiously awaiting my next blog post for the past two years after I traveled to Lebanon in 2016 for missions work.

And now, after much hard work (and about an hour of typing) I bring you our new blog, this time so cleverly titled 'Men On A Mission' (see what I did there?). You see this time, it's not just me traveling alone across the world for missions. No, this time I've somehow managed to convince three other strapping young lads to join me on my misadventures and hijinks in Armenia. I guess my powers of persuasion haven't waned yet. George Doctorian, Patrick Hovsepian, and my brother Nicholas Manoukian will be my constant companions and sources of support on this trip, a shoulder to cry on when things get rough and friends to laugh with when times are happy (or when I just don't understand our Armenian taxi driver).

We left LAX as a group on Tuesday (July 31) afternoon around 4 p.m., flying Aeroflot to Moscow. I can now officially confirm Aeroflot is the worst ever airline around; cramped living conditions on our twelve hour flight, sub-par in-flight meals, REALLY sub-par and malfunctioning in-flight entertainment, and flight attendants who refuse to smile no matter how funny you think you are. I warn you, don't fly Aeroflot if not absolutely necessary. Luckily, George and Patrick brought sour gummy worms along for the trip, which cures all ailments and sicknesses and certainly made the flight experience more bearable. I found out Liam Neeson is still an absolute boss when he's thrown into crappy situations (go watch 'The Commuter' if you have not yet), and we all experimented with every possible upright sleeping position in our seats, with no success whatsoever.

We landed in Moscow at 2 p.m. the next day (August 1), and let me say, I have no clue how an airport that size accommodated so many of the fans of the World Cup just last month. The airport is very long and narrow, not a comfortable walking experience for just our group of four on a normal Wednesday, let alone when thousands of fans are arriving for World Cup games. I don't know how they did it, but credit goes to them because it appears they pulled it off fantastically.

I will never forget the smell of Moscow bathrooms, and wasn't surprised one bit when I stepped inside one and realized the smell hadn't changed; a stench of stale urine and cigarette smoke, topped off by no functioning A/C in the restroom. You'd do well to bring a gas mask along with you for vitality's sake.

After about an hour's layover, we boarded our final flight to Yerevan, knowing our long journey was nearly up. It was comforting yet unsettling to see so many Armenians in the same place on the plane, hearing your mother language being spoken like it's no big deal is always a special feeling. The perpetually 'screaming-bloody-murder' Armenian babies magically appeared like a trial from God during the last hour of our flight to test our patience, but praise the Lord, we prevailed and no babies on that plane were hurt in the writing of this blog post.

We arrived in Armenia as the sun was setting over the capital city, and the view as you're landing still does not disappoint. Mount Ararat, it's snow-capped peak glinting in the distance, is a constant reminder of our rich heritage and beautiful culture, as well as an awesome statement of our Creator's power and might. The rich green of the surrounding countryside, dotted by houses here and there, reminds one of Armenia's status in the world as a developing nation, still working on dragging itself out of the third world and into first or second-world living conditions for its residents. More on that later.

When we arrived, we had a long delay in getting our luggage, which caused a brief fright, before we realized that George had come prepared with six pairs of underwear and four shirts already packed into his carry-on bag and that we would not have to worry about lost supplies with him in our midst. We had a very friendly driver sent by the Armenian Missionary Association of America pick us up at the arrivals area, and drove us the 25 or so minutes to the AMAA headquarters at the 18 Marshal Baghramyan Avenue in Yerevan.

It is such an amazing feeling to travel back to Armenia and see everything written out in a language you can read and are familiar with, to see people who's features and characteristics remind you of people who may be close friends or family members back home, and so on. We realized that when we arrived at the headquarters around 9:30 p.m., we were absolutely starving (and eager to put the experience of Aeroflot food behind us), so we decided to head out for a late dinner on the town. We are so lucky that our residence is literally five minute's walk from the city center and all the main shopping and dining, and we will definitely be taking advantage of that proximity over the next few days.

One awesome thing about Armenia that you may not be able to appreciate unless you've been to Armenia before or lived in a culture where isolation isn't the norm like it is in the U.S., is that even during the very late night, there are thousands of people milling about, walking around, sitting at roadside cafes talking and laughing, face to face, without the distraction (dare I say, scourge) of cell phones bombarding them with pointless notifications, and just enjoying one another's presence wholeheartedly. It is an intoxicating feeling, and one that quickly infected us with the same joy for life as those around us. For Patrick and George, it took a while for the shock of how lively and vibrant Yerevan is at night to set in, especially because this is their first time in the country and I think they didn't know exactly what to expect of the country as a whole. I have been pleasantly surprised both times here, and it seems like since Nikol Pashinyan became prime minister of Armenia, there has been a new surge of optimism and joy in this country and in a part of the world where optimism is traditionally in short supply. It is something we could literally feel, tangibly, as we were walking the streets at almost midnight with people all over the place still laughing, hugging, kissing, and talking. How beautiful it is to see a changing Armenia.

After much excited discussion at the variety of restaurants available to us, we eventually settled for a Lebanese cafe tucked away down a cozy side street near the Cascade Complex (because how can you possibly go wrong some good old-fashioned Lebanese food), and WOW, it did not disappoint. Tabbouleh, fattoush, mutabal, sarma, soujoukh pizza, and a chicken shawarma sandwich, all for a measly $24 USD. It is still unbelievable how cheap food is here. We were floored when we got the bill. The same meal at a restaurant in Glendale would've cost us at least double the price. I could get used to this, Armenia.

Now it is 4 a.m. here and I am typing this because my sleep schedule is non-existent as of yet, so as I adjust, hopefully the timing of these blog posts will be slightly more forgiving on my beauty sleep. In the meantime, we are so happy to have landed safely in Armenia, and cannot wait to see how the Lord will use each on of us individually as the trip gets underway. Speak with you again soon!

Love,

Christian