On Friday I went to the Golden Apricot film festival with Haykaz (my Finance and Law* guy for RAU). Every year they have a big festival, with directors coming from all over the world as well as lots of Armenian films. I went to see From Ararat to Zion, a documentary about Armenians in Jerusalem. It was pretty interesting, although the power went out 5 minutes in, so we had to start the whole film again. They also said the film was in Armenian on the program, so there was a massive rush for the door when they then announced it would be in English with no subtitles.
Me at the Moscow CinemaIn the evening we had more AIESEC elections, this time for the vice presidents. I was acting as an 'international observer' so I counted all the votes and announced the results. On Saturday we were meant to do the same for the MC* but not enough people showed up so we didn't have quorum. Instead we went to another of AIESEC's favorite pubs, West. It was a Wild-West themed bar, with swinging doors and electric guitars on the walls.
On Sunday I headed off to the University for the AIESEC RAU member meeting. Afterwards Tatev's family picked me up in their car and we all headed off for my first trip out of the city!
We headed north into the mountains (although pretty much any direction you go in Armenia is into the mountains). The roads were quite windy, but in much better condition than the guide book had led me to believe. We stopped briefly at the family's summer house to drop off the food for the evening before heading on to Garni Temple.
It was built in the 1st century by an Armenian king using money the Roman emperor Nero gave him to say sorry for destroying his capital (he was meant to use it to rebuild the city). When they converted to Christianity it got turned into a summer palace for the royal family. In 1679 it got knocked down by an earthquake, and was a big pile of stones until the Soviet Union decided to rebuild it.
The result is pretty impressive, especially as it's surrounded on 3 sides by sheer cliffs. However if you looked a bit closer you could pretty clearly see the bits that the Soviets filled in (see if you can spot them)
After this we went to another Armenian 'must see', the Geghard Monastery. This is meant to be the place where the spear that pierced Jesus' side is kept, and is part of a large complex of little cells carved into the cliff walls. Monks would come here to get away from earthly desires, and would live in these little holes, which could only be reached by ladder, for years.
By the entrance there were 4 little holes carved into the cliff, which people try to throw stones into while making a wish. If you can get one in then your wish will be granted. I managed to throw one in, but it fell out again, not sure what this means).
The larger caves have been carved out over hundreds of years, as the springs inside were worshiped back in the Bronze ages. I collected a bit of the spring water in a bottle to take back home.
Armenian Priest in the MonasteryAfter a long day of sight seeing we headed back to the summer house for Horvats, Armenian barbecue. It's quite similar to British barbecue, but with more fire. First everything is put on massive skewers while a big pile of wood is collected. The wood is set on fire, and the vegetables put straight into the flames. They quickly get completely burnt, but this is meant to happen. Once the fire has died down they take the veggies out, and someone picks off the burnt outside while the meat and potatoes are cooked on the ashes.
Expert Chef*Finance and Law - Does the budget and the compendium (constitution) for the Local Committee. Makes sure we don't break any AIESEC rules.
*Member's Committee - The National Committee for AIESEC in Armenia
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