The Hermonie File

I’ve decided to start a new post that I will try to update every month. I’ve made a friend here in Artik who I think is rather remarkable. Her name is Hermonie and just about anytime she tells me a story about how times were during the Soviet days and especially the 1990’s Armenia I’m amazed that anybody can do it! Hermonie has befriended just about all of the former Peace Corps Volunteers who have come through the region where I live. And I figure that they would agree with me when I said that Hermonie isn’t your average woman. First of all Hermonie taught herself English by reading translated books and comparing them to the Armenian and English texts. So the other day she told me about the time when she was attending university in Yerevan and because times were hard she couldn’t afford to ride the bus, but still needing to get places she would grab onto the open doors when the bus took off and holding onto the open bus door she would get to her destination by dropping off the door right before the bus would stop. One time she even fell flat on her face trying to hop a free ride. She wasn’t the only person doing this during those days she told me. And these days I don’t see anybody doing that, but the 1990’s were a very tough time for Armenia and the whole Caucus region as well as all of the former USSR. So I can’t blame her for any of it I just find it interesting to listen to the tales of how she and so many others made it through that very difficult time.