President Baco Sahakyan presented me with the Vachagan Baripasht medal- named for the Pope-King Vachagan the Pious. A great honor — given for our work during the war and thereafter. Following this was a round table discussion of our impressions and thoughts about what we were seeing after all these years. Including friends the health minister and the foreign minister were present. And then as a group we walked to a terrace overlooking the city before going to dinner. The good never stopped coming. At the Armenian table every fish is repeated for four to six people so you never have to ask for someone to pass the salad or whatever. Everything is st your fingertips. And the man closest to a woman is responsible for offering her food and keeping her drink glass full. Of course that is if the woman is a guest. If she isn’t she is probably in the kitchen. At this dinner we had a record number of women–5!

The Silk Road Hotel was perfect for us. Small with totally Armenian decor and a young cheerful staff who couldn’t do enough to help us. In the area wheee we had our buffet breakfast were two rug weaving looms that were worked each day. The owner of the hotel supports rug weaving and has an “adopt a loom ” project for 14 villages. — and growing. Profits from the hotel are channeled into this project. These women came each day and we got a chance to speak with them and learn about what they were doing.

Below is our breakfast buffet and an adjoining meeting room.