Trafika Europe 4 - Armenian Rhapsody

the granny on the head, her white, white head. I drag the strawberry-flavored hookah deep into my lungs and go happily numb. It is the woman’s daughter or daughter-in- law who is hanging the laundry out to dry. Smartly, quickly, her fingers hang out four lines of clothes in just three minutes. They’re the granny’s clothes – her embroidered underwear, some black skirts, and a robe that looks like it belongs in a Parajanov movie. Bravo, granny. You have good taste in colors. In the evening I rush home, holding a small television under my arm. Regular people should have a television at home, and watch movies in the evening with their family or, most importantly, watch or listen to the news. Most importantly. People think that if they are unaware of what is going on in the world, then the planes will not crash without them, there won’t be floods, or volcanoes erupting, and no fighting. Those news items are a tribute to their existence. My cousin was serving in the army, her mother would dutifully watch the military news. Her son was serving in one corner of the army and the television would show military exercises from the other corner, but my aunt would try to spot her son among the soldiers, stubbornly, coming closer to the television. I was at their house once, and it seemed like she had found him, she was hopping about in front of the television.

My family had seen that I had bought a television and were surprised – what do you and watching television have in

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