Kapan / Page 3

the Voghji river runs through Kapan

With the end of the Kapan class on Saturday, it was time to pack up and go home, to Yerevan or to Portland, Oregon. We stopped on our way at a beautiful riverside restaurant for ... more barbecue! We also had trout, pulled fresh from the river.

Avik knows where all the best places are. He should--he traveled back and forth from Kapan at least 3 times on this tour of duty, and he had set up Kapan schools with internet connections as part of a previous embassy program. I was completely charmed by these picturesque dining establishments, where the food was fresh and homemade.

My flight from Yerevan was scheduled for 7:30 a.m. on Sunday (I made the reservations before I fully appreciated the geographical and scheduling implications of my assignment!). We drove to Yerevan and napped a few hours at Avik's apartment, before Aram and Avik took me to the airport at 5 a.m. It was a good thing to have Avik with me--he remembered that you have to pay to leave Armenia! There's a ticket (10.000 drams, about $17) that you need to present in order to check-in at your flight.

Twenty-one hours later I arrived in Portland. Summer seems to have ended on the day I got back: I left a hot and sunny Portland and came back to clouds and rain. Rosie, the guinea pig, seems to have thrived in my absence--she is very persuasive in extracting extra parsley treats from her babysitters.

On the road again Jean, Ani and Lia That's one of the restaurant's tables up above, though not the one we ate at. Imagine being the waitperson...

Given the schedule, I didn't do much tourism. I have few souvenirs, except for the wonderful memories. And 90 new former students whose progress I'll be following. The State Department program officer asked me where do I want to go next! While I am sure there is a great need for web development training in the south of France somewhere, I hope to be invited to come back to Armenia next year.