It's been an insane week. Last weekend, I drove to Worcester for an AYF educational weekend (I was on the committee organizing) and slept in a van for one night because there was no room for me in the church hall on the cold hard floor where the kids were sleeping. It was suppose to be at Camp Haiastan, but they couldn't open the camp because of freezing temps. Anyway, long story short, with accidents on the road, last minute relocation, rescheduling, and sleeping arrangements with a seatbelt in my back, it wasn't pretty... and yet the weekend went surprisingly well. There were no serious injuries, no serious acts of defiance or vandalism, and the kids seemed to have learned a thing or two. I even got to see my good ol' friends, Baykar and Narine before I left.
And so I arrived back in Washington... with a cold. Just the worst timing... with the Congressional Observance of the Armenian genocide on Wednesday. With all sorts of physical problems, I ran around last night at the event, probably got everyone sick, and heard the joke about hanging out with Chinese men and getting a disease from them about a million times. But the event was fantastic. I haven't heard the final count of how many Congressmen made remarks or attended, but I know that out of the 4 main photographers, I personally took photos of maybe 30 Congressmen myself. The room was comfortably full and the general vibe was good. The Der Hayr made a beautiful statement in the beginning regarding the war, and the genocide, and asking for peace for all of us. I can't relive it for you... had to be there. The presence of youth was tremendous. More and more young kids are coming out for this event every year, and we had a good group from LA as well. Afterwards, we had a party back at the ANC office... a good 20-30 kids hung out before they were on their ways back to Philly, New Jersey, Worcester, Boston, Providence, New York, Richmond, etc... the LA kids are still here or flew out this morning.
Today, a new resolution is suppose to be introduced on the House floor commemorating many genocides, including the Armenian, Cambodian, Jewish, Rawandan, etc. genocides. For once, the entire Armenian community is united behind this resolution. All Armenian organizations are together on this. It's a good day to be Armenian!
And so I arrived back in Washington... with a cold. Just the worst timing... with the Congressional Observance of the Armenian genocide on Wednesday. With all sorts of physical problems, I ran around last night at the event, probably got everyone sick, and heard the joke about hanging out with Chinese men and getting a disease from them about a million times. But the event was fantastic. I haven't heard the final count of how many Congressmen made remarks or attended, but I know that out of the 4 main photographers, I personally took photos of maybe 30 Congressmen myself. The room was comfortably full and the general vibe was good. The Der Hayr made a beautiful statement in the beginning regarding the war, and the genocide, and asking for peace for all of us. I can't relive it for you... had to be there. The presence of youth was tremendous. More and more young kids are coming out for this event every year, and we had a good group from LA as well. Afterwards, we had a party back at the ANC office... a good 20-30 kids hung out before they were on their ways back to Philly, New Jersey, Worcester, Boston, Providence, New York, Richmond, etc... the LA kids are still here or flew out this morning.
Today, a new resolution is suppose to be introduced on the House floor commemorating many genocides, including the Armenian, Cambodian, Jewish, Rawandan, etc. genocides. For once, the entire Armenian community is united behind this resolution. All Armenian organizations are together on this. It's a good day to be Armenian!
posted by Arsineh at 10:03 PM
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