karabagh (x2)

so this weekend was by far the best weekend yet- second time in karabagh in the last month- what a treat. this time i went with birthright, 20 bucks for a nice full weekend, what a deal!
so, we rode on a very large bus, and was thus much more comfortable this ride than the last one. the bus was populated by birthright folks, armenians connected to birthright (homestay brothers and sisters/language buddies), and land and culture folk. i spent most of the trip there and back sitting with stella (i hope that's her name...), a girl from armenia.

our first main stop, as with most trips to karabagh, was datev monastery. as mentioned previously, this monastery seriously questions rule #2: no becoming a monk. this time was absoultely incredible as per my soon to be homestay sister (yes, ive decided to do a homestay for awhile, basically i feel its something i have to do given what i hope to accomplish while here and what im currently accomplishing), who went to the conservatory for opera, sang in the church for almost a half hour after most everyone else had filed out to eat. i have a mediocre poem about it (frankly, its one of those things i was debating even talking about since theres nothing that could possibly do it justice). poem to be put at end of post.

we arrived in shushi after a stop in goris and at a church in the lachin corridor connecting armenia to karabagh. we played futbol with some of the local kids right in the shadow of the main church in shushi. ive been wanting to play futbol there since three years ago when we saw some kids playing. after futbol, we had a dinner at the shushi hotel. after this, we met our homestay families. somehow, three boys ended up being hosted by a grandmother, mother, and three daughters. the middle one they told us was 10, but if she was 10, there's something in the water. general consensus was they wanted to make sure we stayed upstairs all night long :) the homestay was an old house, quite large, in mediocre shape now. included was dirt courtyard, 6 rabbits, a cat, and a few chicken/roosters. after tea and a footwash, we went to bed.

in the morning, we gathered at one of the mosques in shushi (probably mentioned in last post about karabagh?). well, andre, one of the fellows i was homestaying with, was going to be doing some business instead of heading to gandzazar monastery. well, i love gandzazar, one of my favorite churches, but it would have been my third time there. so instead, i went to stepanagerd with andre. we made it from shushi to stepanagerd by way of ambulence. first, we got a tour of the stepanagerd hospital, since andre is coordinating a couple doctors from the us coming to work there in a couple months. it was an interesting treat. after this was one of the most unusual events of my life, and something im still trying to come to terms with.

we took a taxi to aghdam, a city of about 100,000 people before the war. all azeri. there is now not a single roof left on a building in the city. although, to some kind of twisted "credit" the mosque is in perfect shape. better shape than the two in shushi. im still not sure how to feel. other places it was easy: sitting in datev monastery, or even in shushi. but aghdam was something else. sitting at the top of the minaret of the mosque looking over a city that was thoroughly decimated. wandering through rubble, finding bits of obviously expensive tile still on walls- something completely different. there was no waving of red, blue, and orange pom-poms. sure, karabagh was 85% armenian before the war, but aghdam is stark reminder that there was a 15%. really something else to be turned over in my mind for a long, long time.



upon our return to shushi, the bus wasn't back yet. so we went to where our dinner was to be held that evening to "help". i.e. sit around and pull the meat off the skewer when the men were done khorovadzing (bbqing... arm-english... awesome). the house was the house of a man named saro, a general during the war, and someone who i really came to appreciate by the end of the night. with andre and i was hratch, from birthright, and hovig, and artist who has a haunting resemblance to arshille gorky. when the bus arrived, we played some more futbol, then came back to saro's for an awesome evening. to be honest, i dont think i ate very much. i was way too busy dancing. i wish i could capture (well, i think there's some birthright video...) some of that night. really danced the night away, and it was at least 2 am before we all finally called it quits. there is no way i can capture what a great evening it was, and how i felt in saro's backyard, dancing and drinking, so suffice it to say it will be one of the most memorable evenings of my life.

sunday morning before church, we went to hovig's studio to see his work. amazing! im hoping if i get the chance to go back, that i may (well, ill be broke, who am i kidding)- there's this great painting this mixes traditional armenian church style with his modern figures, it just caught my eye. on our way to church, barkev surpazan walked out of his place, and recognized me- it was a cool feeling since im a very big fan of barkev surpazan. church was held at the main white church in shushi, and was very enjoyable. after church, we ate lunch at the shushi hotel and were on our way.

basically, an incredibly memorable weekend that spanned the range of possible emotions. i also made/solidified a lot of great friendships. as always, leaving karabagh is terribly difficult.

here is the datev poem:

-abris dghas-
and i cried in a lonely corner of datev vank
how easy it was to be a -good boy-
hugging the stone of a thousand year old church
listening to hymn after hymn
echoing off ancient walls
sung by a young woman
- a trained opera singer
what did i do that warranted
-abris dghas-
from those two old women?
i mouthed a hayr mer
any two year old could do that
did they see something in my posture
prostrated in prayer?
how could you not fall on your knees
under that magestic dome?
faith poured in through the windows
i simply caught a ray
-abris dghas-
and i cried in a lonely corner of datev vank