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>> serj: there's certain things about especially the last maybe 20, 30 years of the soviet union, '60s on, not the brutal early bolshevik stalinist times, but later on where in terms of investment in culture and education. >> pegor: well, i mean it's very much a legacy of the soviet union. armenia was kind of a nerd republic in a way. and then you specialize the different republics, and armenia was where they concentrated science, technology, particle accelerator, radio, telescope, all of that. and so we've benefited from that and you see a lot of armenians attributing that to our genes, and so on. but of course our genes are the same as anyone else's, it's the culture that's, you know, you take the good with the bad, and the good is we're a cerebral nation in a way. that's how we grew up. we like chess, we're nerds.
to complement their formal education. the curriculum is not mandatory. you pick what you want. you can pick music, graphic design, 3d modeling, or programming, game, whatever, photography, robotics. >> anthony: the managing director, marie lou papazian and her husband pegor, are two former members of the armenian diaspora. both extraordinary, but not unusual in the new armenia. they are not expats, but repats. people who, though not born here, have chosen to come home and help build a nation. >> pegor: we grew up together in beirut and moved to the states. and the reason we moved was because of the armenian thing. our kid was growing up, so we told our friends we're going to move, we need him to go to armenian school, so they said, "you're going to armenia?" we said, "no, glendale, california." but eventually we did move here, 12 years ago. >> marie lou: living in glendale and keeping, always saying, "you have to keep your identity" was
to our country, to dilijan, and to this home hosting us at the moment. >> sam: guys, with khash we do like lots of toasts, but it has to be short. this is the - armenian toasts are very long. >> arman: because people have to be concentrated on khash, only, they don't. >> inna: no, no because it will get the whole. >> sam: yeah, well, we were always between iran and rome, so we're used to being between to survive. you remember you asked the very first question, "what is the guy who comes back to armenia, what they feel?" they feel, "i survived, i did what my grandfather wanted, what
with that came purges and paranoia, but also a rapid industrialization, the evidence of which is still seen today in the abandoned factories and workers blocs of another time. and a soviet mentality, and sizable russian presence still hang over the country like a dead weight. no matter how you felt about soviet rule, the transition was a rough one. after the collapse of the ussr in 1991, armenia suffered terrible food shortages, and a ruined electrical grid that allowed only a couple of hours of power a day, if you were lucky. >> nazareth: the worst of those years would be 1992 to 1994. >> anthony: right. >> nazareth: but then a few years after '94 as well. >> serj: there was a lot of pilferage in the beginning, there was a lot of -- it was dark, dark days. >> mariam: i'm the generation who literally learned the alphabet with a candlelight. back then we had only two hours maybe. [ speaking foreign language ]
voluntarily migrate. you know, they were forced migrations, pogroms, you know after the genocide, so they ended up in the middle east, and europe, and different parts of the world. so, we have this kind of being -- feeling of being kicked out. um, and that longing is different than other diasporas i think, because of that. >> anthony: diaspora armenian communities, wherever they are, have been held together by deep feelings of nationalism and injustice for what happened to them, and how the world refused to acknowledge it. dolmama specializes in modern versions of armenian classic dishes. khashlama, a braised lamb shank served with rice pilaf. >> serj: it's a big, little snack. >> anthony: that is a leg of -- a leg of lamb. little guy, yes? >> serj: yeah. >> anthony: wow. it's pretty, too. >> serj: so, monti is like, my grandmother used to make it, but it looks completely different than this because this is vegetarian monti. they're like little boats with spices and onions. >> anthony: you probably thank genghis khan for this.
a roasted beef bones. >> sam: in armenia we say khash, it means just boiled. so there is big debate on whether it's georgian or armenian. of course every armenian is sure it's armenian. don't do the lavash first, please. we're going to do the- >> inna: garlic, first comes garlic. >> anthony: i see. >> sam: but pay attention to the salt, if you're not leveling it with the right level. >> george: the salt -- the garlic level for you, it's okay, you can add. >> anthony: so it's garlic -- so far so good. >> sam: and then, okay, you have one more plate, you remove the meat. >> anthony: wow, you take this
switzerland of armenia, it's one of my favorite spots actually. >> anthony: what am i eating today? >> serj: i think you're eating khash today. >> anthony: that's said to be a hangover cure. >> serj: that's it, yeah. it's made out of legs of cows, i think. >> anthony: cool, i like legs of cows. >> serj: i like their eyes. not to eat, but just to look at. >> anthony: me too, they're so dreamy. >> serj: they are, yeah. no, it's beautiful here. >> sam: i'm offering it short -- i want to do it for armenia, for the host, and for the khash makers. so -- >> anthony: joining serj and i at the table are george, his longtime manager and friend. meline, the proprietor of the place. and sam, a restaurateur from yerevan, along with some friends. khash is what hipster goofs these days would call bone broth. basically a stock flavored by
armenia tried sometimes, cook it, but not the same taste, no. >> anthony: armenia and karabakh. >> saro: yeah. >> anthony: two different things or the same? >> tigran: not really. karabakh is definitely a part of the armenian civilization, the armenian culture. i wouldn't separate them. >> tatul: i think karabakh is a part of armenia, but not a part of the republic of armenia. it's like a continuation of armenia. we are the same. >> anthony: tigran is a war veteran and aspiring politician. tatul is a journalist. saro, our host, is armenian but born in azerbaijan having fled during the war. he now runs a guesthouse here in shushi. >> anthony: to what extent is this not just a religious conflict -- >> saro: no, no. >> tatul: it's not religious? >> anthony: not at all? >> tatul: no, no, no. nothing, no. >> anthony: this is a christian island in a sea of muslims. >> tatul: well, this is a christian island. it's true. this is christian island, but the conflict of nagorno- karabakh is not religious. >> anthony: there are people, hardliners here who refer to
strange. and every time coming up with stories for the kids, you have to love your country, you're armenian, you have to speak armenian. >> pegor: whereas once you're here, you just forget all about that and it's more about being a good person, having ambitions, all of that. and the armenian-ness part, you can let that happen naturally. >> anthony: apricot vodka is a good way to start a meal. gayanes is a local favorite, a restaurant operating out of what was once a private home. something of a throwback to soviet days. like the cuban paladares, when private enterprise, not to mention the spending of money on entertainment could be frowned upon, and privacy was at a premium. trout wrapped, and baked in lavash. this is not light cooking.
employment opportunities and most significantly, its borders, of which approximately 80% have been closed, due to relationships with its turkish and azeri neighbors. things have not been easy for armenians. ♪ >> anthony: on a hillside overlooking yerevan sits a sprawling memorial to the genocide of 1915. on the other side of town, another memorial, the yerevan cascade. richard giragosian is an american-born professor and political analyst who now lives here in armenia. >> anthony: how many were lost during this? >> richard: most estimates, historically, put it around 1.5 million. >> anthony: that's a lot of people. >> richard: especially a lot of people, when we look at the per capita. when we look at the impact this had. >> anthony: so, what happened?