(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.