tsavet tanem (let me take your pain away)
in armenian, the saying above can be used in many different situations, anything from the most heartfelt, to sarcasm. for me, i wish i could take the pain of my entire family- or at least be there with them as monday my grandfather passed away. as many of you know, he wasn't in the best health for quite some time, but it was still quite the shock. he went into the hospital last week with a minor stroke, but came back home and was back to his usual self. so it was quite the surprise. the hardest thing is being here. the funeral is set for thursday, and even if i had left on a plane this morning, it wouldnt have been 100% that i would have been there on time. so ill be staying another week and a half or so, and then cutting my trip about 10 days short so that i can be with my family. the hardest thing in the world is not being close enough to just hop in a car or a train and be home. the 15 seconds i spoke with my grandmother last night were enough to break my heart in pieces.
besides the most blatant thing of not being there, the hardest part for me is remembering the best things. the last ten years or so, grandpa wasn't exactly in perfect health. so the best memories are ones from when i was significantly younger. some of my favorites will be the hours i spent sprawled out in the linoleum floor sorting through pennies, nickels, and dimes for my coin collection. grandpa was an *avid* coin and stamp collector, with one of the most impressive stamp collections ive ever heard of- it was something i always enjoyed learning from him and sharing with him. i dont think this is the place to list all the best things, but obviously this is what has been on my mind. its painful to me that i have to spend time thinking of logistics, like moving plane tickets around, when i should simply be with my family.
so to go back to sunday, vartavar is the feast of the tranfiguration of Christ (this is where moses and elijah show up when Jesus is praying)- in the church the ceremony includes a small sprinkling of water. somewhere along the lines, the folks here decided to take that concept, move it to the streets, and make it a huuuge water fight. well, i loved it- as a kid in visalia, we used to organize huge water fights. but there's just nothing like the whole city participating (and dumping water out of 8th story windows). the day started by going to church in nork-marash, S. Asdvadzadzin (Mother of God), with my host sister and tamara. somehow or another, i managed to be the deacon of the day. not only did i bring the chalice around, but i did the reading also. let me tell you, reading the gospel in front of armenian-americans where about half the crowd is fluent is one thing, but to read the gospel in armenia... well it was an experience. the folks there were really nice, and there was actually a special service on monday, so i went back with kristina.
on to the water- so i was going to go to the open-air market to finish gift shopping. decided to go by the fountain. well, by the time i got to the fountain (about a 7 minute walk), i was about 50% soaked. when i reached the fountain, i saw my friend arpi, drenched, in a bathing suit, being chased around by about 25 little boys. badly outnumbered (see, the boys find it quite entertaining to soak the girls, and im sure a 21 year old, american girl was probably the best target they'd found all day). so i played around at the fountain, and was completely soaked. arpi headed out, and i continued on my way. i ran into ani and anoush (my language teachers), they were thoroughly soaked themselves, then make it to vernisagge. finished the shopping, went out to eat, and called it a night.
monday, like i mentioned, i went back to the church in nork-marash, then had language classes... relatively inconsequential day.
ah! i forgot to finish saturday. after going to vernisagge on saturday, i went to yerablur, the national cemetery (mostly for karabagh soldiers, but plenty of other national heros/etc. there). the main reason was to see monte's grave. most of you know who monte melkonian is, either because ive talked your ear off about him, or you already knew. but a quick re-cap. from visalia, went to mt. whitney, went to berkeley, left to chase revolutions- iran, lebanon, etc.(freedom fighter/terrorist, depending on how you'd like to look at it), and finally became very very instrumental in the war for karabagh. for various reasons, he's been fascinating for me for quite some time, so i was glad to get the opportunity to visit.
okay, thats all. please, keep my family in your thoughts and prayers. to everyone at home, ill be there soon, i love you all very much.
besides the most blatant thing of not being there, the hardest part for me is remembering the best things. the last ten years or so, grandpa wasn't exactly in perfect health. so the best memories are ones from when i was significantly younger. some of my favorites will be the hours i spent sprawled out in the linoleum floor sorting through pennies, nickels, and dimes for my coin collection. grandpa was an *avid* coin and stamp collector, with one of the most impressive stamp collections ive ever heard of- it was something i always enjoyed learning from him and sharing with him. i dont think this is the place to list all the best things, but obviously this is what has been on my mind. its painful to me that i have to spend time thinking of logistics, like moving plane tickets around, when i should simply be with my family.
so to go back to sunday, vartavar is the feast of the tranfiguration of Christ (this is where moses and elijah show up when Jesus is praying)- in the church the ceremony includes a small sprinkling of water. somewhere along the lines, the folks here decided to take that concept, move it to the streets, and make it a huuuge water fight. well, i loved it- as a kid in visalia, we used to organize huge water fights. but there's just nothing like the whole city participating (and dumping water out of 8th story windows). the day started by going to church in nork-marash, S. Asdvadzadzin (Mother of God), with my host sister and tamara. somehow or another, i managed to be the deacon of the day. not only did i bring the chalice around, but i did the reading also. let me tell you, reading the gospel in front of armenian-americans where about half the crowd is fluent is one thing, but to read the gospel in armenia... well it was an experience. the folks there were really nice, and there was actually a special service on monday, so i went back with kristina.
on to the water- so i was going to go to the open-air market to finish gift shopping. decided to go by the fountain. well, by the time i got to the fountain (about a 7 minute walk), i was about 50% soaked. when i reached the fountain, i saw my friend arpi, drenched, in a bathing suit, being chased around by about 25 little boys. badly outnumbered (see, the boys find it quite entertaining to soak the girls, and im sure a 21 year old, american girl was probably the best target they'd found all day). so i played around at the fountain, and was completely soaked. arpi headed out, and i continued on my way. i ran into ani and anoush (my language teachers), they were thoroughly soaked themselves, then make it to vernisagge. finished the shopping, went out to eat, and called it a night.
monday, like i mentioned, i went back to the church in nork-marash, then had language classes... relatively inconsequential day.
ah! i forgot to finish saturday. after going to vernisagge on saturday, i went to yerablur, the national cemetery (mostly for karabagh soldiers, but plenty of other national heros/etc. there). the main reason was to see monte's grave. most of you know who monte melkonian is, either because ive talked your ear off about him, or you already knew. but a quick re-cap. from visalia, went to mt. whitney, went to berkeley, left to chase revolutions- iran, lebanon, etc.(freedom fighter/terrorist, depending on how you'd like to look at it), and finally became very very instrumental in the war for karabagh. for various reasons, he's been fascinating for me for quite some time, so i was glad to get the opportunity to visit.
okay, thats all. please, keep my family in your thoughts and prayers. to everyone at home, ill be there soon, i love you all very much.
posted by chrisdapor | 11:54 PM
3 Comments:
You are in our thoughts and prayers, too! You are loved more than you can imagine. See you soon!
Horkoor
You have my condolences Chris. Hope everything else is going well.
Areen
Astva& ko me&hor hokin lusavore. Irok &avt tanem, yeghbayrs.
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