Photo for February 15, 2006.

Vanadzor sculpture sponsored by LA brothers, originally uploaded by loretsi.

These are sculptures created by sculptors in Vanadzor. There were a couple of good ones and a few quite untalented ones including one depicting a gay cowboy playing a flute, and another one depicting a family or something whose faces looked like owl faces.

The owl faced family sculpture has been placed near the pedagogical institute. I don't know where the gay cowboy and the others have been placed.

The best one was a fish. Unfortunately, it was dstroyed by sledgehammers one night. I suspect it was a jealous sculptor.

These sculptures (the commissions and the tufa blocks) were sponsored by two brothers who were originally from Vanadzor but now live in Los Angeles.
Վանաձոր սերիա։

Photo for February 14, 2006.

DSC00084, originally uploaded by nazarian.

Clouds and mountains, near Aparan, Armenia.

Photo for February 13, 2006.

Cemetery, San Juan, PR., originally uploaded by loretsi.

This is a cemetery in old San Juan city that is still being used albeit its old age and overcrowding. Some graves belonging to the same clan were actually stacked on top of each other due to space shortage.

The El Morro fort is in the background.

Photo for February 10, 2006.

DSC00043, originally uploaded by nazarian.

This is the view of the Sevan lake from the top of the Sevan island. In the distance, upper right corner, you can see the Harsnakar hotel.

Notice the ship docked at the shore. It had a BBQ grill on board. When we were at the beach, there was another, smaller ship next to it. A few armed men, the body guards of the President, boarded and headed towards the presidential 'dacha'. It is surprising to see armed people in Armenia - even the vast majority of cops don't carry guns there.

Photo for February 8, 2006.

DSC00024, originally uploaded by nazarian.

Heading for Sevan. The car in the picture is a ZroVets, aka VAZ 2106. It's still the most popular vehicle owned in the country but I suspect they will start disappearing slowly as they pass 25-30 year threshhold.

In the background is a roadside vendor selling sheep. The boxy vehicle under the tree is a Moskvich version of a pickup - that's as close as the Soviets got to utes.

Photo for February 7, 2006.

DSC00028, originally uploaded by nazarian.

A train near Sevan, Armenia. These are trains from the Soviet era. They don't look like they have been renovated since the independence. At first I thought it was graffitti but upon getting closer I saw that it was rust.

Photo for February 6, 2006.

DSC00197, originally uploaded by nazarian.

This is the signature of the guy who built the entrance gates for the school I went to - school number 6 in Vanadzor named after Stepan Shahoumian.

I was a kid when the gates were being built. The master was a fairly young guy - I don't really remember his face but I do remember the construction process. And I did remember this signature so when I visited my school a couple of years ago, I took this picture.

Photo for February 3, 2006.

Next to Dilijan, originally uploaded by loretsi.

This was taken from our car window when we took the Sevan-Dilijan road instead of the tunnel. The nature is quite beautiful there.

Photo for February 2, 2006.

Landscape, originally uploaded by loretsi.

Armenian landscape.

Photo for February 1, 2006.

Lori, originally uploaded by loretsi.

Lori, Armenia.