It had been one year since an in-law died, and according to Armenian tradition family members gathered at the in-law’s family home to honor the deceased. All of the proper toasts of remembrance were said, with dinner including the traditional khashlama, potatoes, and various salads. After an hour or two had passed, most of the guests left, while several of us stayed to visit and enjoy pastries and coffee. As several of the guests were from Tbilisi, talk turned to the political situation in Javakhk and Georgia in general. One of the Tbilisi-born Armenians said he thought that Javakhk and Marneuli would soon be breaking off from Georgia (a wide-spread opinion in Yerevan these days), Javakhk to Armenia and Marneuli to Azerbaijan. “With Abkhazia and Ossetia already gone, that will pretty much leave Georgia with Ajaria and Tbilisi. And who knows what the Ajarians will do. The Georgians deserve this. One day they’re Christian, the next day Moslem. I’m sure you know that Georgia was Moslem for nearly 200 years. One day they’re on Russia’s side, the next day the US, the next day Turkey. Already, the oil pipeline isn’t in operation, so slowly Georgia will lose whatever importance it has to the West. This will help Armenia, of course, and is probably why Turkey is talking about opening the border with Armenia, as they still need to keep a route open to Central Asia. And you know what? We should stick with Serge as president, even though he’s definitely no saint. He’s more of a patriot than Levon, no doubt. Without Levon’s interference, Serge would have a much easier time with the Karabagh negotiations. All Levon wants to do is come to power, make deals with the West to give up Karabagh and give in on the Genocide issue, and then leave power. Do we really need that? Do we really want people like Hrant Bagratyan and Pashinyan running the country?”