The Blue Mosque of Armenia

The Blue Mosque, Yerevan, Armenia 

We set out, of course, first for food. We were so hungry, we dashed down the stairs of a sketchy looking restaurant that had an overwhelmingly large menu and a button to call the waiter if we needed anything! The only bad thing about Post-Soviet countries? There is a whole lot of chain smoking in restaurants. Gross. But regardless, we ordered a wide spread of food. I tried cow tongue, a village cheese platter and a salad. We were satisfied after trying all the local dishes- the cow tongue was by far the best! We left bellies bulging and headed over to the only remaining mosque in Armenia, the Blue Mosque. The mosque was brilliant in color, with jeweled blue and yellow tiles. In the old days, it was also utilized as a madrasa (a religious school) and today, those rooms are used to teach English. The mosque no longer calls for prayers, but several Iranian students in Armenia use it for prayer. The inside of the mosque was different than anything I'd even seen, black signs with neon-colored letters hung from the walls. It was incredibly unique and the only Shiite mosque I'd ever seen. I walked into the office where the most adorable Iranian little old lady proceeded to meet us, ask questions and take us on a free tour of the complex. It was freezing outside and while she led us around the vast complex, her tour stops became exceedingly shorter, and at the end she said "ok, thank you, nice to meet you!" She wobbled away so fast, yelling over her shoulder, "the weather is cold!"

Apostolic Church: lighting prayer candles

We split up into two groups, Alyson, Ramsey and I decided to explore central Yerevan.





We first (accidentally) entered a wrestling training center we mistook for a church. Don't ask how. It was only after we entered in and peeped through the frosted windows and noticed the huge flyers plastered to the cement walls, that we scurried out as quickly as possible. Oops. Shortly thereafter, we did ever our 1st Armenian apostolic church. Dark, formal and hanging a picture of baby Jesus and the Virgin Mary centrally located at the altar- the church was lit only by candle light. A room to the side was filled with large tin rectangular boxes filled with water and lit candles. The flames reflected so beautifully off the water, dripping wax into the water. A little old lady walked around and collected all the waxy drips in her little rusted old bucket.