Tinsel Town
Late October in Los Angeles offers its own unique symbols of a 2020 America.
Where did all the people go? It was midday on a Monday and the airport was empty. It felt like my plane’s passengers had privately rented out LAX. Customs was a breeze.
“Where are you coming from today, Sir?” *Stamp*.
Once outside the desert heat laughed at me for wearing a scarf. I peeled my layer of rainy Berlin morning off and stashed it away in my pack. Looking around I noticed that most of the people waiting for rides on the sidewalk were still wearing their masks. My European covid instincts had ripped my mask off my face as soon as I was outside in the open air. I am not, however, in Europe anymore.
Covid is not the only oppressor here. As my gaze zoomed out from the people around me, to my surroundings, I noticed the air quality. Even for Los Angeles it was awful. The smoke from this year’s record setting fire season has settled over the city, hiding the normally visible hills and mountains. The dirty streets have a lonely emptiness masked by the hazy air, and the shimmer on the buildings is dry and dull. It hasn’t rained here since May. I then understood a little better the people who just kept their masks on.
Los Armenia
Before I head north, my home is with a friend in the Glendale area of Los Angeles. This area is home to one of the largest collections of Armenian people outside of Armenia. It’s a melting pot of Armenians, Iranian Armenians, Turkish Armenians, Lebanese Armenians, Soviet Armenians, etc.; with lineages coming from the first wave in late 1800s/early 1900s during the Armenian Genocide. However the majority of the Armenian community here came as part of another wave in the 1970s and 80s. One that stemmed from a combination of eased US immigration policy and a destabilized home region thanks to a 15 year Lebanese civil war and a 1979 revolution in Iran, follwed by a monstrous earthquake that destroyed several Armenian cities and killed around 50,000 people.
The point is there are a lot of Armenians in Glendale, and it seems like one in five cars have Armenian or Artsakh flags flying on each side. Flags arouse mixed feelings for me, but here they act as good motivation to take the time to install an update on what events are encouraging such flag waving. In brief:
The current Armenian/Azeri conflict over the Republic of Artsakh/ Nagorno-Karabakh region is another difficult chapter for the Armenian people. The tribes of their ancestors showed up in the area around 2800 BC. Those tribes united to form their first civilization around 800 BC. In the following 28 centuries the Armenian people have survived occupation and oppression from much larger groups such as the Hittites, Assyrians, Parthians, Macedonians, Romans, Persians, Byzantines, Tartars, Mongols, Turks, Soviet Russians, and now Azerbaijanis. Armenians are no pacifists and naturally the whole situation is incredibly complex.
The disputed territory is a mountainous enclave with 80–90% Christian Armenians right in the middle of Islamic Azerbaijan. Such borderly foresight is of course the work of the British as they crafted the post-Ottoman Middle East with the care and wisdom we’ve all come to appreciate. Stalin as well kept Nagorno-Karabakh inside Azerbaijan, albeit with autonomous powers.
Eventually the region declared its independence and fought a war that it did quite well in during the 1990’s, trying to connect itself to Armenia.That war reached a ceasefire, but not a consensus about what land belongs to whom. Now Azerbaijan has upgraded its military with oil money, and so the war continues.
Launching Pad
Other than diving into Armenian conflict history, my first week back in the states was spent laying low until I could get a covid test and catching up with an old friend.
He works as an audio engineer in Los Angeles, so I got quality tips on recording in the coming months, as well as some gear. The conversations that await me salivate my ears. I’ll be honest, watching videos of airstrikes, artillery, and bombed out buildings this last week has made my invasion of the US feel a lot more calm and safe.
The last stupid debate is over, the election draws closer, and the growing anticipation of late-stage 2020 is starting to bubble up in my stomach. I woke up this morning to a message notifying me that my covid test results are negative.
And away we go…
