The Taxing Taxation of Microfinance

A business reporter I’ve befriended here in Yerevan once told me, “There’s one thing you can guarantee any businessman in Armenia will say in an interview — just ask him if his company is profitable. He’ll always say no.”

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Here's my second blog entry for the Kiva Fellows Blog. It's about taxes, though not as boring as that sounds -- I hope...

Donkey is not impressed

Somewhere on the mountainous roads through the southern regions of Armenia. This donkey was not impressed by our SUV, which, admittedly, was no match for the pothole-filled dirt roads.

Youth Center for Creative Technologies

Wow. I was lucky enough to get a tour of this stunning, state-of-the-art facility by Marie Lou Papazian (the woman running the center) herself. I cannot wait to see it in operation. They've also accepted my offer to teach a guest lecture on entrepreneurship, social media -- anything they'd like, really. This will go a long way toward getting Armenia's future programmers, technologists, and designers a big head start as children.

Apples for sale (not iPads)

Didn't get a chance to buy any, but the apples in Gyumri were tasty. Fun fact: they're nature's toothbrush - if you're stuck without one and need a 'clean,' reach for an apple to do a pretty good job until you get some proper dental tools.