Yerevan VLOG 🇦🇲 Comparison of Armenia and Georgia | How I feel as a Russian in Armenia

Armenia developed "friendly" relations with Russia to survive in a hostile geographic environment. Now, Armenia's diplomacy is slowly but steadily drifting away from Russian influence. And I can surely state that Armenia might be a little more democratic than Georgia in terms of freedom of speech.

Love seeing you and Alena together. Thank you for taking us with you on your wonderful adventures. ❤

I’m Russian and I’ve lived in Yerevan for more than a year now. I LOVE Armenia and Armenian people so much! 🇦🇲 I have never felt not welcome here. Most people here understand what it means to have shitty politicians, they know that you as a person are not defined by whatever your “officials” do. Most people I’ve met here say that no matter what governments do they wouldn’t be able to divide us as people. And even though Russian government betrayed Armenia in recent Artsah war - we still can sit together with Armenians and shit on Russian government together and it makes us even closer. Armenians seem very compassionate. And also so proud of their country that you just can’t not fall in love with it too. People here are always willing to help even if you’re a complete stranger. Neighbours care about each other. Having lived in Moscow all my life it took some time for me to get used to this relaxed and friendly vibe. It felt strange at first, but in a very good way. People say that it’s easy to spot a Russian who came here for the first time because they are so tense and don’t trust people. But after some time you can just relax, feel at home, trust people. And it feels so good!

27:35 I'm so happy to hear that Armenians treat people (including Russians) well. I'm really proud of my people for being kind.

Interesting comments about Armenia. In my home town in the NE of Iran lived several Armenian families. The town’s only movie theater was owned by Mr. Arshak, who also owned the town’s only hotel and liquor shop. Mr. Griygorian owned the town’s cotton ginning plant. Mrs. Haratunian was the head mistress in girl’s high school and her two sons went to the same school as I. And finally Mr. Estepan was a construction and road contractor/engineer. Very good community, respected by everyone.

Thank you Natasha and Alena for taking us on your Armenian trip! We need more of your videos.

Natasha, thanks for taking us to Armenia with you. My great grandfather immigrated to the US from there many many years ago. I met him when I was a small child, he was 101 years old and passed away soon after. It was very cool to see a small part of his country.

Love to Armenia❤ from 🇷🇴! We owed them everything and will not be forgotten. In Transylvania they preserved Orthodox religion and helped romanians keep our culture.

I ve already visited Armenia before , and ..... had the time of my life there! So sacred and emotional place.

Thank you for your video! I like how you contrast cultural and societal differences between Armenia, Georgia, and Russia. I hope to continue seeing your video tours throughout Central Asia.

Alright, so I love Yerevan and Tbilisi both but in different ways. Yerevan to me feels like a very energetic, dense and bustling city with lots going on, and for that reason it feels like a much bigger city than it actually is — it's also quite a unique place with architecture that you don't find anywhere else and a whole aesthetic that is unmistakable. Tbilisi to me is much calmer, feels much more chill, and gives me the same vibe that I get in many small to mid-size European cities. If I wanted to just relax for a week I'd rather stay in Tbilisi, if I wanted to explore a lot and do a lot of walking I'd rather stay in Yerevan. Another thing to mention is that Armenians have had very close ties to France and the US for a long time since both of those countries are home to very large Armenian diasporas. Many Armenian families have relatives in Los Angeles or Marseille or Paris, and for me as a French-American it makes it feel comfortable in the same way that it felt comfortable for you as a Russian. Many people speak English of course (which you didn't get to discover since even more people speak your native language 😄) but what's really surprising is the number of people that speak French — my wife is Armenian but we live in France and we speak French with each other and with our son. Almost every day we go out somewhere and we are speaking to each other or our son in French, an Armenian will come up and start speaking to him or to us in French. It's a very warm feeling, and in general the love that Armenians have for France in particular really makes me feel connected to the people in a way that I feel less in Georgia. I love Georgia for its unique beauty and almost alien language, but the relative lack of cultural ties makes it feel much more foreign to me — and I want to emphasize that I do not mean that as a critique at all — it actually makes Georgia more fascinating in some way, since it feels truly unknown. But on the other hand I feel much more comfortable when in Armenia because of those ties, and probably also in large part because of the Indo-European links we share. It's not so hard to pick out familiar words in spoken Armenian. Mother is mayr, moon is lusin, light is luys, bad is vat, cow is kov, dog/chien[fr] is shun, the root for the verb "to bring" is ber-, which is related to the English verb "to bear" or the identical Russian verb stem "ber-" (to take), and so on. There are even sentences in Armenian that are almost completely intelligible for me as a French speaker without knowing any Armenian — for example, the word for "this" is "sa" (սա) in Armenian, and the verb "to be" conjugated in the third-person singular is "é" (է), which is exactly the same as in French ("ça" for this and "est" for is). And to continue with the verb "to be", the first-person singular conjugation (I am) in Armenian is "em" (եմ) which is pronounced almost the same as "am" in English. All of those little things meant that I was able to start understanding basic context in spoken Armenian in a very short time. One last thing that I'd like to mention — I was told by many people (Armenians included) before going to Tbilisi that everyone there speaks English and to not speak Russian, but that was not my experience at all... I got MANY blank stares and rather rude responses when trying to speak to people in English, and had a lot more luck using Russian with anyone over the age of like, 30. That happens a lot less in Yerevan in my experience, at least in the city center... almost every shop has a few people who speak English (young and old) and you don't really need to speak Armenian or Russian. To put it in perspective, my mother (who only speaks English) is able to walk around and do basically anything in Yerevan, but when we were in Tbilisi she struggled many times and had to rely on other people to help her. It was a rather funny reminder of how the stories people tell each other can be so different from the reality!!

We lived in Yerevan for 3 months last fall. We left for Tbilisi because the prices for renting an apartment here are much lower. Tbilisi is an insanely beautiful city and I love it very much, but I miss Yerevan and Armenia a lot. It's somehow more sincere and warmer there. People are more open and friendly. I felt completely safe there. Unfortunately, there is no such feeling in Georgia.

Natasha, I once again found myself fascinated with your video. Your insights, your interpretations, your observations, your comparisons and contrasting of the various things you see, your noticing of small things like the beauty around you all together make your videos must watch for me. It is good to keep your guard up around strangers. Trust comes with time. Respecting once’s space and privacy is important. You have correctly deduced that certain topics of discussion are indeed red flags. Especially when you are traveling. Thank you for another enjoyable, informative, interesting, and entertaining video. Stay safe.

You guys have a simple, uncomplicated, almost matter of fact style that sets your videos apart from the style of those on YouTube here in America! You have a kind of innocence and down to earth manner that portrays a totally difference of upbringing, unlike most tubers here. Not better, not worse, just different and refreshing. Simple things seem to matter to you, where here, opulence ,braggadocio , and snobbery prevail!

Armenia is indeed a nice little country. I would like to point out that your vlog style is really unique, having a nice and calm vibe to it. Also, I like your storytelling. And nice to see Alena again. You two are a great duo.

Thanks Natasha for your very informative and amazing tour of Armenia. I was so surprised how different Armenia and Georgia was in their language. That's another thing I learned today, so thank you and keep safe! Love, from Minnesota, USA.

I am from Canada and living in Dubai. Two years ago, I went to both Georgia and Armenia. I love both countries. When it comes to compare the capitals I felt very good in Yerevan (maybe better than Tbilissi) and Armenia in general. Restaurants have a better service in Yerevan. And the people in general. To me Armenia wins. 😊😇

Well I'm Georgian and despite me standing with Ukraine I think you made the right decision! I wish freedom to Georgian, Ukrainian, Armenian and Russian people and all the other countries that are not yet free ! 💙💛

You two have a pleasing chemistry. You make a good reporting tag-team. Spaceba for giving us a look at current day Armenia.

Great journey! This country must be really interesting to visit mainly for its history and culture, but also for its awesome landscapes. Mont Ararat, seen from the capital, looks so majestic! I am really happy that you and Depressed Russian enjoyed your stay in this wonderful country. Thank you for sharing.