I leave for Armenia Wednesday, July 5. I'll meet 17 Japanese who flying in from Tokyo on LOT airlines, Tokyo to Warsaw and then to Yerevan. We'll meet at Zvartnots Airport in Yerevan and we'll be bused to the Hyatt Place Hotel right next to the Republic Square. Then it's seven days of full activity with several excursions planned, dinners at a variety of restaurants, concerts, visiting dance rehearsals, and going to several of the famous Armenian museums. This will probably continue annually and I'll want to plan a similar tour for my Armenian dance students. Several of the restaurants we are going to have live orchestras and I've arranged for them to play Daldala, Tamzara, Kochari, dances of the Hamshen, Pompoori, etc. You all know that over the decades I've collected a variety of these dances I just listed and I've shared them throughout Armenia over the years I've been traveling annually to Armenia. For example, Tamzara from Paloo, Kharpert, Tamzara from Shatakh, Tamzara from Erzerum, etc. These trips are not a culture shock; the reason why is dance brings us all together. Don't you agree? Yerevan is like visiting Glendale CA. Restaurants serve the same food we see here in Los Angeles. Our hotel room is like any Hyatt worldwide. Shopping is very exciting and cheap and there are always discounts all the way down to verchi geen, which means the final price. Summers are hot and remind me of Fresno, CA where I was brought up. Also exciting are the other tourists that you run into, both Armenian and non-Armenian. One will find it very surprising that more and more English is spoken. The Japanese know no Armenian but we have excellent guides. I'll have more to say about my trip when I return on July 14. Don't forget my short summer course at the Karavan Dance Studio in Glendale CA starting August 2. Check my Dance Class page for details.