April 24th

I was going to write a blog about the Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide and our trip to the genocide memorial but one of the Birth Right Volunteers works at a news station and did a piece about our experience there. Here is the link to the video: http://civilnet.am/2012/04/24/diasporans-in-yerevan-go-to-the-memorial/

My Last Weekend

My final weekend in Armenia, what can I say? A month has passed so quickly and I think it will take me many more months to evaluate my time here.

I spent this weekend trying to fit in as much of the Armenian experience as I possibly could. I even made an effort to find time and savor the views. On Friday afternoon I went to the Yerevan Zoo and enjoyed seeing all the animals, even though I felt their conditions could have been a bit better. I really enjoyed the camels, because they were more than willing to let me pet them. It wasn’t totally clear if that was allowed but no one seemed to really mind.

An elephant made of recycled water bottles

My favorite camel

From the zoo, I continued onto the Mother Armenia Statue in Yerevan. It was huge and surrounded by missile, tank, and airplane replicas. I thought the best thing about the statue was the view of the mountains. The statue was also located in a little amusment park so I stopped to shoot a bow and arrow, that made my day. Finally, I finished up the night walking down Cascade, it’s a huge staircase that offers spectacular views of the city.

The Mother Armenia

The view of the city, the mountains just visible in the background

The next day I traveled out of Yerevan and went to Khor Virap. The monastery there was built in the 17^th century. However, the site is famous because Gregory the Illuminator, credited for bringing Christianity to Armenia, was said to be imprisioned in a pit there for 13 years. Climbing down into the pit was in itself was  a big part of the experience.

Inside the Khor Virap Monastery

Beginning the climb out of the pit

The view from the Khor Virap Monastery

That night we had a Birthright party at Diamond Pizza. Which turned out to have a swanky open-air top floor. It looked right into Republic Square and I was able to watch the water show taking place in the square.

The view of Republic Square

On Sunday, I finally made it to Vernissage, the outdoor market place. I was stunned by the endless rows of paintings, jewelry, carvings, and of course left over Soviet military items. I was also slightly overwhelmed by the endless sea of people. It didn’t take long for me to empty out my wallet because I currently know exactly enough Armenian to ask, “how much?” and then I have no language skills that would allow me to haggle.  

The Lori Province and Gyumri

This weekend I was able to get out of the city of Yerevan and explore a bit more of Armenia. I started out taking a crowded Marshuka , which is a white van that shuttles people around the country. On the Marshuka, we headed to the Northern part of Armenia near the Georgian Border. After driving past some mountains and through a tunnel that looked more like a cave we reached Vanadzor.

I had the opportunity to explore Vanadzor a little before we traveled on to Alaverdi. In Alaverdi we took an old soviet cable car up the mountain into Sanahin. When asking one of the cable cars operators how old the cable car was he responded by saying that it had just always been there. When we got off the cable car, we headed to a church that was tucked away on the mountain side. On the way, we discovered we were at the Museum of the Brothers Mikoyan. As we walked towards it we saw an old Mig immortalized in the picturesque setting. Artem Mikoyan designed fighter jets for the Soviet Union.

From the museum we walked up a hill until we reached the Sanahin Monastery, which was founded in the 10^th century. Next, a short cab ride took us to Haghpat monastery.

On Sunday, we went to Gyumri, the second largest city in Armenia. In Gyumri, we went to the park there where I got to ride the ferris wheel. From Gyumri, I took the train for about 120km back to Yerevan.

The Map of the Old Soviet Union in Vanadzor

An Abandoned Building in Vanadzor

The Cable Car in Alaverdi

The View from the Cable Car

A Horse in Sanahin

The Mig at the Mikoyan Museum 

The Sanahin Monastery 

The Haghpat Monastery 

Tufenkian

Yesterday James Tufenkian came to speak with us at the Birthright Office. He told us his story and it illuminated how one man’s vision can help propel an entire country forward.  

His parents were first generation Armenian immigrants to the US; they were in the US because their families escaped the genocide. He grew up in Oregon and when he studied the genocide he knew he wanted to find a way to help his people. In addition he wanted to reclaim his Armenian roots so he legally changed his name from James Frances to James Tufenkian.  

Seeing the profit margins he could make buying and selling rugs he got into the business. After the fall of the Soviet Union he knew that Armenia had it’s freedom but the blockades from Azerbaijan and Turkey made living and working conditions impossible. Still in 1993 Tufenkian felt it was time to leave for Armenia, which he felt would be like ‘the wild west.’

On his plane to Armenia when he was asked what his plans were he said that he was on his way to find sheep. In reality he was planning on starting a rug manufacturing business in Armenia. He figured he could have an impact on the Armenian economy through finding the sheep that produced the ideal wool for carpets and hiring local women to weave the carpets. He found success in a country that at the time was practically devoid of infrastructure.

His next venture was to open hotels in some of Armenia’s villages, even though tourism in those areas was nonexistent. His Tufenkian hotel chain is currently doing well and he’s now opening another in Yerevan and then branching in to Tbilisi, Georgia. In addition to providing jobs he opened a foundation to pursue charitable work in Armenia as well.

James Tufenkian speaking to the Birthright Volunteers

Some Extra Wedding Pictures

Nara's Wedding

I only met Nara twice at COAF before she was kind enough to invite me to her wedding. Nara grew up in a small village but spent sometime in the US, worked with the Peace Corps., and now works at COAF.  Her wedding reflected how well rounded she is because it integrated Armenian traditions and was held first in her parents village then two hours away in her husband village, but her guest list included people from around the world. Some guest traveled from Germany, the US, Canada, Kenya, and Uganda to attend the wedding.

Although I only attended part of the wedding I will try to tell the whole story and hope that it is accurate. Nara began her day on Saturday dressing at her parents’ home in the village of Tatev, which is traditional for Armenian weddings. Then her husband’s family came to get her, which she was very happy about. This is not traditional for Armenian brides because typically the wedding day is a sad occasion for the bride and her family. The wedding means the bride will be taken from her home and will go and live with the husband and his family often in another village. One Peace Corps volunteer said that at one wedding she attended the bride’s family was so sad to see their daughter go they were crying like it was a funeral. However, Nara had already moved out of her parents’ village to work in Yerevan. Another tradition that Nara broke is that brides are not supposed to smile on their wedding day. Nara was all smiles and said that in her case she was very happy to be getting married.

Then the couple traveled to a restaurant where we had a great party. There was a live band playing Armenian music and everyone was dancing. Then I got to see the khoravats (Armenian Barbeque) dance where the waiters brought out the food in an elaborate dance and presented it to the bridal party. The bride and groom then had to take their glasses and go around the room to toast with every guest. Later they presented the cake which was lit with fireworks.  Then the night ended with a war dance, which was the highlight of the evening for me.

That night I stayed in one of the villages with some other American guests and in the morning we traveled to the church where the ceremony was held. The church was really beautiful; it was on a cliff of all red rocks. Although I didn’t understand much of the ceremony it appeared like wedding ceremonies I’ve seen in the US, except at one point the bride and groom both got to wear crowns. 

The Church 

The View from the Church

Chad, a PCV, with a young boy from his village.

The War Dance

The Khorovats Dance

Nara toasting one of the guests

Emily

I’ve met an extraordinary Peace Corps. Response Volunteer with whom I work at COAF. Her name is Emily, she’s 82 years old, and she has twice ridden a motorcycle through the Arctic. This is not her first time with the Peace Corps., she first joined as a volunteer when she was in her sixties, after she had a family and a career as a French Teacher and in TEFL. She was sent to Kazakhstan for two and a half years right after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

She worked teaching English and developing curriculum for the English classes in a school that was previously under Soviet control. She was there before the Internet and there were virtually no supplies available for the teachers. However, she dived into her work in Kazakhstan and immediately got the English teachers in the school confident in their own English speaking abilities. Soon her school had a leading English program. She branched out and trained not only her teachers, but also those in the town and the oblast (state), and then the country. At the time the only copier in town belonged to the government, and she had to convince them to allow her to use it for her training. From there she got grants and purchased a computer and successfully led more trainings.

For those two and a half years she spent all her free time in her village learning about Kazakh culture, bonding with the people and attending their events. She said that when her time was up she felt confident leaving because her community in Kazakhstan had come so far with their English instruction that they could succeed without her. Next she went on to do similar work in South Korea.

Now Emily is here in Armenia, using her considerable skills to put together an English curriculum that can be integrated into COAF village schools and can be utilized by Peace Corps Volunteers who are teaching English through out Armenia.

Emily practicing her Armenian dance skills. 

Emily and I at Nara's Wedding

The Poetry Reading

Tonight I attended a poetry reading organized by one of the Birth Right Armenia Volunteer (http://www.birthrightarmenia.org/). Native Armenians and volunteers from abroad all attended and were invited to share their work in the language of their choice. Some people read in Armenian, others in English, and one poem was even read in French. What was really amazing was that many of the participants read their work in both Armenian and in English. I read two of my poems and I really enjoyed the opportunity to hear poetry read in other languages. I am learning that the emphasis Armenian culture puts on the arts transcends the border and is a value shared by a lot of the diaspora community as well. 

Tatev

This weekend I went on an exercusion into the mountains with a large group of Birth Right participants. The drive was almost six hours. The majority of it was spent winding up a mountain road. When we left Yerevan it was a nice spring day, but by the time we stopped to enjoy a picnic while admiring the mountain views it was snowing. Eventually we started winding up again until we hit a wind storm so strong that it blew open the drivers door which hadn’t been completely shut.

Eventually we reached my current favorite place in Armenia, Tatev Monastery. Its ancient stone sits atop a mountain cliff and offers breathtaking views. While exploring the inside of the old church I thought of my grandmother Meme,just then a fellow volunteer offered me a candle, which I was able to light in Meme’s honor.

After leaving the monastery we wound down the other side of the mountain and almost made it to the village of Tatev, when we were told that if it rained the buses would never make it back up the road in the morning. Still we ventured on and made it to the village. In the village we were divided into groups and were sent to the homes of the villagers who had agreed to host us. Although I can barely speak a word of Armenia and the other two girls I was with were both nearly fluent, the elderly man we stayed with seemed to love us all equally. He expressed to us his joy that even though all our families had to leave Armenia that we still found a way to return, and then he said we were all his granddaughters.

Then… he brought out the homemade vodka. He insisted that we all have a toast. However, the vodka was so strong I knew I could never swallow it, so I grabbed my bottled water, which may have broken his heart a little. Then the villagers organized a party for us where they brought out countless bottles of the same vodka. After all the toasts, where I pretended to drink so as to not be rude, the Armenian dancing began.  It felt a bit like a scene from my Big Fat Greek Wedding.

The next morning our “grandfather” was up early trying his hardest to prepare a meal for us. Then he brought out the vodka again and when we all refused he found a male volunteer that was staying with his friend and they sat him down and convinced him to drink. After that we hiked down and then with a great deal of effort back up some of the mountain, but we did find time to stop and do a little yoga at the remains of an old nunnery that was tucked into the mountain.

The Church at Tatev Monastery

Tatev Monastery

The First Toast of the Evening

My First Day at The Children of Armenia Fund

          Today was the first day of my volunteer placement at The Children of Armenia Fund (http://www.coafkids.org/). I had to go in extra early because for my orientation because they decided to let me accompany three of the woman who work with COAF’s finance team on a trip. We traveled a couple hours away to see the different projects that COAF has successfully implement in some of Armenia's villages.

            Our first stop was an extremely impoverished village with gray crumpling stone homes but on the left side of the village visible from miles away stood a beaming white school, built and funded by COAF and its amazing network of donors,  it shined in the distance like a beacon of hope for the entire community. We went inside and saw teachers who were having a training in their new technology lab so they could implement more modern teaching methods.  We also traveled to another village, that housed COAF's newest school, which was even more impressive then the last.

            However, on the drive between the two schools I saw that the organization wasn’t just providing educational opportunities but they were also working to build infrastructure and a viable economy were those skills could be put to use. We stopped at a community center where a COAF employee was offering business trainings to the villagers. After the training they could write their own business plans and apply for an interest free loan.

            After that one of the new business owners took us to his house where we saw the small lavash (flat bread) factory he had in a stone hut in his yard. Then we traveled across one of the only smooth roads and I learned that the organization was responsible for the road as well. Then we continued to a lovely bridal shop that rented dresses to women in the village, and finally we saw a small general store, both funded through the interest free loans they received.

            Everyone was so grateful for the assistance they attempted to feed us everything they had. At the lavash factory we were given lavash by the feet with lots of fresh cheese to roll in it, at the schools we were offered fresh fruit and homemade juices, and at the bridal shop one of the women I was with had to wrestle the shop owners finest box of chocolates out of her hand as she attempted to open it for us.

            And of course, the day wasn’t without laughs because our car did get stuck in the middle of a flock of sheep not just on the way to the villages but on our way out as well.

Our car caught in a sea of sheep 

The women working at the lavash factory

Arriving in Yerevan

I went to Logan airport at about 5:30pm on the 25^th and I finally arrived at my home-stay family’s house just before midnight yesterday on the 26^th. My flights in themselves were quite the adventure. I arrived in London without much trouble and after following the maze of signs that sent me spinning around Heathrow I made it to my connecting terminal, where I began my 8 hour layover. All the time waiting left me feeling a little nervous for my trip until I met some of my fellow passengers traveling to Armenia. They all were so friendly and had nothing but good things to say about the Country. One even waited with me when we arrived to Yerevan and made sure I got through customs and found the driver.

I was also nervous because I found out that my flight to Yerevan was actually a flight to Tehran that would drop the few Armenia passengers before continuing onto Iran. I felt that being an American I may not be well received by a plane full of Iranians, however I was very wrong. All the passengers around me chatted happily with me and told me all about their lives in Iran. I really enjoyed getting to meet them and having my preconceived notions proved wrong.

When I got off the plane getting a visa and going through customs was very easy. Then I was picked up by the programs driver who laughed when he realized I spoke no Armenian. He tried to teach me a few words and judging by his amusement my pronunciation could not have been worse. Still he attempted to point out all the landmarks we passed with his limited English and my nonexistent Armenian. I did understand when he pointed to a row of buildings with flashing lights and said, “Mini Vegas.”