Jan 15 Excursion to Yerevan

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 We met up with other MIT students in Yerevan today. When we got into the taxi, I noticed that the driver would frequently pass slower drivers and would not slow down too much on bumpy roads. Soon enough, we got pulled over the police, probably for speeding. The poor driver looked quite upset and he must have lost most, if not all, of the earnings from this trip.

We went to the Armenian Genocide Museum and I realized that the Armenian genocide had a lot of parallels with the Jewish Holocaust. Armenians were ethnic / religious minorities in the Ottoman Empire and prospered when the Empire thrived. However, they were persecuted when the Empire began to lose power and used as scapegoats for the decline. They were exterminated with the pretext that it was necessary for the Ottomans to win WWI. I also think that the reason why the Armenian genocide is recognized today (while others may not be) is that it was well-documented by foreign journalists - in particular journalists from the predominantly Christian Allied Powers.

The memorial for the victims of the genocide, built by the USSR

SHEREP RESTAURANT - so much food!

Cool elevator coat check

  • Pickled vegetables - I really liked the okra, khta (Armenian cucumber), and cauliflower
  • Mixed cheeses - lori, hats, checil
  • Hummus - really rich and creamy, less chickpea flavor, more refined than usual
  • Hummus with eggplant - also really rich and creamy, also walnuts and pomegranate
  • Mushrooms
  • Eggplant rolls with bell peppers
  • Bell peppers stuffed with eggplant - the flavors were almost Asian! Like soy+sugar (sweet but umami) - probably from pomegranate molasses
  • Kufte - fried bulgur dumplings stuffed with meat, served with lemon
  • Dolma - grape leaves, mostly rice, some meat
  • Nraneh soup - lamb chunks, yellow peas, beet greens, spinach, pomegranate juice, spices. umami but light
  • Beef kebabs
  • Kompot - not too sweet / thick as I've had before
  • Pomegranate tea - really good! addition of cinnamon stick, orange, mint (primarily warm spices)
  • Sea buckthorn tea - slightly tangy, also some spices
  • Ghapama with lavash - pumpkin with dried fruits, rice, and lavash?? (more like puff pastry to me)
  • Crazy tart dessert - labne at the bottom, fruit, meringue, cookie, chesnut (??) gelee?

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