Letters from Cyprus: Mariah Carey in rural Armenia?? A strong measure of cognac please sir!

Downtown Yerevan last week

Last week I travelled to Armenia for a meeting of operations directors from across the region. The Caucasus is having a heavy winter this year, and the capital of Armenia, Yerevan was already under a blanket of snow when we arrived and it continued to snow all week. We had a few days of meetings in Yerevan, and then travelled to the field to visit some schools and rural development projects in a region a few hours from the capital. Yerevan is a stately city, with large squares and promenades. Evidence of former Soviet architectural influence is everywhere. Overlooking the city are two large cognac factories, Ararat and Noy, for which Armenia is well known, and in the distance the looming presence of Mt Ararat, located in what is now a part of Turkey.

An Armenian high school

Conditions in Armenian schools vary considerably, but many are very run down and have major problems with even the most basic components of infrastructure, including water and heating. We visited several schools where development and refurbishment projects are either planned or underway. Students and the broader community are active partners in all aspects of planning and implementation of the projects, and it's always good to meet the students behind these initiatives. Many are doing remarkable things to transform their communities and schools. There was a somewhat surreal moment at one point during a school visit when we were meeting with students and the bell rang to indicate change of lessons. Then over the loudspeaker system came the haunting strains of Mariah Carey's 'Hero', played at some decibels. Apparently the song is played at each break to 'motivate' the students (to do what I'm not quite sure). It would appear that no corner of the planet is safe from Ms Carey's warbling vocals.

The trip back from Armenia turned out to be quite eventful. I arrived at the airport around 5am Fri with some colleagues to pick up a scheduled flight to Moscow and then Cyprus. Despite the blizzard outside, we were dutifully checked in, loaded onto the aircraft and prepared with safety briefings etc. I guess if anyone is going to fly it will be Aeroflot with it's Russian pilots, who spend their winters flying in heavy snow and ice conditions. After sitting on the plane for a few hours and looking out the window as a snow storm continued to rage outside (somewhat nervous at the 30cm of snow now sitting on the aircraft's wings), it soon became clear we were not going to fly. So off the plane and back into the terminal we went, where we were asked to wait for any further updates. A long delay ensued, with the snow outside just getting heavier. Some 11 hours later, we were finally asked to reboard the plane, despite the fact that the conditions had not really improved. So back on the plane again, this time with many of our Russian passengers smelling heavily of vodka and other drinks consumed during the delay period. As the plane was pushed back it got bogged several times, and graders and men pushing were needed to clear more snow from the tarmac and allow the plane to move. Then a somewhat convoluted process to de-ice the wings just before rolling onto the runway and we were off, the only plane that managed to depart that day.

Trying to look comfortable in -23 degrees

Obviously by this stage we'd long missed our connection in Moscow so had to stay overnight in a 'hotel' for passengers stuck in transit but without Russian visas. It would be generous to describe the facility as a hotel, actually it was more like a detention centre, with heavy Russian security and a menu that consisted of pickled cabbage and spam. Appetising stuff, especially after you're already 15hours into a flight that should have only taken 2hrs. I had hoped to take a brief walk or a run to see what it felt like to spend much time outdoors in -23 degrees, but alas our Russian 'hosts' had other ideas, and we were pretty much confined to our rooms or a small common area which atleast had a piano (although badly out of tune.....). Interesting to see how many of our fellow passengers knew the lyrics and tune to David Bowie's Space Oddity! Finally we got off the next day back to Cyprus. I don't think the green fields and turquoise mediterranean have ever looked so good as when we flew into Cyprus, especially after 3000km of a white and frozen Eastern Europe. It's always to good to come home, but seemed especially so after this trip.