(semi)working man

okay, so its been over a week since ive posted, so im going to have to simply highlight, and all those juicy stories i mentioned, you'll have e-mail me to get a personal touch if you'd like to hear them :)

last weekend, we went to the republic of nagorno-karabagh. the history of karabagh is complex, and intricate, but let's say that its considered a rogue-state by most of the world (or simply considered still part of azerbajan), that its officially under a cease-fire, and that the war for independence that ended 10 years ago was one of the most significant events in recent armenian history. for me, its a place where the hills sing, and the people are ten times friendlier than in yerevan. we ended up eating lunch with barkev surpazan, the archbiship of karabagh after we poked around and found him already eating with another group. to show how welcoming karabaghtzis are, he immediately invited our whole group to eat with him. he's probably the most famous armenian bishop alive today due to his leadership of the people during the war, and also happens to have an excellent presence. he spent much of dinner telling aberantzi jokes (aberan (sp?), is a town maybe half and hour from yerevan where the supposedly dimmest armenians hail from- you can think of them like redneck jokes except for the fact that virtually every armenian knows at least a few, and even aberantzis tell them). on sunday, we went to church at gandzazar monastery, one of the most beautiful churches ive ever been (i was really excited to go back). der hovannes, the abbot of the monastery, is equally a hero of the karbagh war. hayk and i got to serve on the altar, which was a treat, if not intimidating. der hovannes' sons probably knew the service better than this deacon did :) to continue to show karabaghtzi hospitality, der hovannes invited our entire group to lunch after church. basically, i love karabagh and everything it has to offer (this of course, includes the beautiful girls with notoriously beautiful eyes)- next time im in armenia, ill spend a few weeks there.

the next highlight deals with birthright. this past week ive gotten really invovled with all the programs birthright armenia (the group paying for my flight) has to offer- mostly because i have to if i want to be reimbursed. this includes an informal discussion between diasporan armenians and armenians from hayasdan. this week, the lady leading the discussion set a terribly negative tone, and basically the discussion disintegrated into a "you don't understand what im saying" lead by some goofy guy that was pretty insulting to the diasporan armenians. many points well taken, but not the attitude. a lot of us from birthright were sore about it for a couple days. on weds, there was a forum with repatriates, diasporan armenians who made the move back to armenia. everyone on the panel had kept their american/canadian citizenship, and basically lived a life of luxury in armenia with western salary jobs. not quite what i'd call repat, and while their projects were excellent and helpful, im not sure the romantic attitude was doing a whole lot of good for the country. thats not to say that if i were to ever move that i would give up my american citizenship, its just that i wouldnt sit on a panel and call myself a repat and pat myself on the back for giving up western life (i.e. transplanting it to armenia and not really feeling the pains of the people) and coming to armenia. basically having a very odd relationship with birthright, also at the very least its been mentally stimulating, and ive met some interesting people. a couple girls, in particular, have expressed pretty nuanced opinions, and it will be nice to continue talking to them over the next six weeks.

finally, a tad about my internship. at the national leadership institute, they have basically given me free reign to work on my research ideas. ive got a questionarre almost translated, and ive got some young folks helping me to collect some answers, talk to people on the streets, etc. i help two girls with their english- their english is far superior to my armenian, but its a really really cool experience because between their english and my armenian we almost never have a problem communicating, and both their english and my armenian is surely improving. its fun and rewarding, and they are both really nice girls- armine and kristine, armine invited me to watch the da vinci code with a group (probably mostly from nli)- unfortunately it was a birthright forum night.

so basically, i have to stay away from frustrations about what can be accomplished, what is being done, bad attitudes of both diasporans and armenians, and im pretty durn content. OH! i almost forgot the concert i went to last night. our group, plus lusine's cousin sona, sona's boyfriend, and their younger cousin datev went to a reuben hafetjian (okay, i can't spell, and i dont have the ticket in front of me to make an even mediocre translation). he's really poetic, and has a really pretty sound- lusine and i are going to sit down and listen to his songs some more so i can get them translated-ish to really enjoy them. so that was a good clean fun event.

headed to lake sevan for the weekend, and will hopefully post sooner than all the way next week.

tourist

first off, horkoor, not capitalizing is very avant-garde. it gives my blog some edge. just dont tell any of my teachers :) i havent forgotten the rules, its just much "cooler" to break them.

so the past few days have been a lot of touristy stuff... not bad, i just havent started working, and ive been speaking more english than id like (not that i wouldn't be lost if i was speaking mostly armenian). hopefully by tomorrow (thurs) ill be starting my internship at the national leadership institute. we'll see.

sunday was church at etchmiadzin, the oldest above-ground Christian cathedral in the world. there is a professional choir, and services are always beautiful there. there is this hectic tradition where vehapar (the armenian version of the pope) enters the service in the middle of it. old ladies will beat you up in an attempt to kiss his cross or even graze his robe. luckily, we had vip seating for the day, which was helpful in avoiding this craze. in general, the service was really uplifting- its not hard to feel spiritual in such a beautiful, huge, ornate, and historic church during a very beautiful service. it was also the feast of st. etchmiadzin, which was an added bonus- just a few hymns at the end of service, but very meaningful.

monday we all went on the pilgrimage because internships werent set up yet- and im happy about that, because we went to two places i had never been before. the first was saghmosavank(monastery of the psalms), a monastic complex from 1215 (if i remember my dates correctly). it was, as most armenian churches, stunning. the architecture was a little unique, with a very rounded dome as the main dome. im at an internet cafe later, but im going to try to figure out how to add pictures later. the next stop was ambert, a fortress dating from the 7th century used by various dynasties throughout the years. a church was added later, in the 1100's. it is located on a peak where two rivers (the ambert, and another-blanking on the name) meet. it is very easily defended, and really impressive. like i noted, i could probably spend half a career of archaeology just at ambert. finally, we went to oshagan village, and S. mesrob church. This is the burial place of S. mesrob, creator of the armenian alphabet in 405 A.D. there was a beautiful garden with ornate khatchkar (cross-stone) letters, each one with a symbol based on its letter. this is a particularly relevant place for me because it is the place where father daniel became a vardabed (lit. "teacher" a special rank given to unmarried priests) last time we were here. it was nice to go back, and seeing the burial place of S. mesrob is always cool.

finally, yesterday (tues) we went to garni and geghart. i had been to both before, but not a problem going again! garni is the only standing pagan temple in armenia, reconstructed after several earthquakes. but it is a really cool architectural building, and very old/historical. geghart means spear, and is the monastic complex that housed the spear that pierced Christ's side for many years (it now rests at etchmiadzin). one of the upper rooms has the best acoustics ever. if i ever were to become a priest, i would beg and beg until they stationed me at geghart.

after geghart especially, i feel very peaceful. there is just some kind of deep quiet in the armenian countryside and inside the cold stone churches.

there are a lot of ancillary stories that i will add, but im getting tired of typing at the internet cafe, and im sure ya'll are getting tired of reading. so some fun stories including too much vodka, a really expensive dinner, and an interesting proposal, as well as pictures will be added later, perhaps this evening.

settled in

so the flight was long and tiresome. not going to lie. at least we got good food. but noone really cares about the flight.
we arrived in yerevan at just after midnight on friday. getting through the airport took fractions of the amount of time it did last time i went to hayasdan. kudos to zvartnotz international.
right now, we are five of us (although another fellow, areen, is arriving tonight). two guys, hayk and i in an apartment on nalbandian street, and three girls, brooke, tamara, and sossi in an apartment on tulmanyan street. both apartments are amazing and huuge! seriously, the apartment im in is probably 3-4 times the size of my apartment in berkeley.
on friday during the day we took a driving tour of yerevan. sights included erebooni fortress, the urartrian fortress from the 700s BC that was the first settlement of yerevan. there was some digging going on, and the museum had some great artifacts. the archaeologist in me got all giddy! we also visited the statue of david of sassoun (hero of an armenian epic, which is a great read, comes recommended by yours truly), the statue mayr hayasdan (mother armenia) which sits at the end of masdotz street and keeps watch over yerevan, and the military history museum at the base of mayr hayasdan. we also walked down the "cascade" which is a series of fountains and steps leading from mayr hayasdan back down to the main portion of the city. in the evening brooke and i went out for some drinks where i was laughed at for ordering cognac ( i think they didnt know that i knew what i was getting into).
today (saturday) we spent at the vernisagge (sp? of the open air bazaar where you can find just about anything). i didnt buy anything today but thoroughly scoped out the scene for later. if anyone has any random requests, esp. soviet memorbilia, let me know, and if i really like you... well, we'll see.
basically, im terribly happy to be in yerevan. its a great city and walking is very easy. i feel like ive already got a decent sense of direction around the city, and feel quite comfortable. its also a city that stays awake very late with many young folks out and about. the open air cafes and general feel of the city is excellent! well, its time to go eat! will post again... soonish...

24 hours to take-off

so, i suppose im going to do some blogging. i dont expect to spend a whole lot of time doing so, but im required to do so for cyma on occasion anyhow, so i might as well run a better formatted one for my friends, etc. dont expect the dedication of my friend daniel, but i suppose some highlights/updates will be in order over the next two months.

well, to start, ive been approaching this trip (mentally) quite differently from the last one. with all of last semester being devoted to an exploration of armenian identity related to the church (that film thing i was always talking about), and plenty of theoretical nonsense surrounding it, im a little apprehensive about what will happen. as ive noted, as long as i dont come back married, dont end up in a monastery, or come back an atheist, ill be allright.

for all the apprehension, im incredibly excited (as i suppose i should be). ill be living in two different apartments over the course of the two months, and then staying at etchmiadzin (the vatican city of armenian orthodox Christianity) to round out the trip. im still not sure how all the internship stuff will pan out or be organzied, but it will be interesting. i love the prospect of living in yerevan. i love cities, and yerevan is supposed to be a fun one. plus, theres just something about open air jazz in the late evenings with an armenian beer that makes me smile.

so as you can see, all i have at this point is fantasies and rough sketches. i guess this blog will fill out the sketches. enough nonsense or i wont keep anyones attention long enough to read the blog while im actually there. once im settled in, ill have an update.

tsdesutyun im parigamnerus