Well L.A. hasn't changed much in the month that I've been here. Some minor adjustments, for example my Armenian neighbors have sold their home and now Koreans will be moving in. That's gonna be the first time I have "odar" neighbors....interesting.

My departure from Armenia was sad. I couldn't believe a month had passed already, and I sort of felt like those people convicted of a crime who are being taken away to prison agaist their will. Ok fine... I'm exaggerating - I'm Armenian aren't I? :) But really, it was difficult to leave.. and I still hadn't done SO many things. I went to the airport with 6 of my friends, who insisted on coming with me even though they would need to go to work right after and hadn't slept cause they were with me all night.... and that by itself was really touching. The man who checked me in at the counter died laughing when he asked what was wrong with my ticket and I told him that my ticket needed a dose of tooti oghi too. hehehe :)

My trip back to LA was simply, OK. Armavia was full... and thank goodness I sat next to the cutest 1 and half year old in the plane. He kept me busy for five hours. In Amsterdam I became the leader/translator for all the Armenians trying to bring with them (on their final move to America) cognac and other weird things like empty yet huge picture frames and one lady even had a car horn. (huh?) You can imagine my vijag, because first off I was thinking that this is a HUGE day for them... and I was sad cause I had to actually help people who were LEAVING. Anyway, I decided it's not my place to judge... just cause I don't believe in something doesn't mean other people see it the same way (right?). And then there was the confused look on the custom dude's face when I had to translate that the lady was taking a car horn with her... Oh--and one more thing... the Armavia people in Amsterdam (actually he's one man) is retarded. He was sending everyone to the gate instead of to the transfer desk... and the people who actually listened to him had to wait in long lines and get rude treatment from the people working there since they hadn't followed the "transfer" procedure correctly. Why would that guy do that to people who don't even know english? Chi hasgtsa.

By the way, it's almost 7am now and I've been awake for a few hours. I went to the supermarket and did some shopping, since I guess in my absence my family doesn't believe in having food in the refrigerator... and they keep ordering out. So when I woke up at 4:30am and there was no coffee to brew, or bread, or milk, or cereal, or.... you get the idea... I just went to the market. What a difference.

I wish I could say it's good to be back... but I'd rather be where my luggage still is.. ya, YEREVAN!

TSUH! :)~

3 days left....

I'm definitely not prepared to leave yet. Even though I've done most of my gift-shopping, I don't think I've spent enough time preparing myself for my departure. I don't know if it's because I'm leaving this place that feels SO much like home, or it's because I know that once I get back "real life" awaits me in L.A. ... chem kider.

Saturday I went to a wedding at St. Hripsime and then the Ararat Hotel. I must say that after seeing the modesty of this wedding, the thought of having one here is even more appealing. (But first I have to find a groom.. hahaha) But really, I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to have a wedding in Armenia where their closest family and friends can not only be present at their wedding but then can go touring in a big group and discover Armenia! You know, my entire trip I've been trying to find that "thing" people still haven't created or brought to Armenia yet.. and I think I found it! What if I become a wedding planner, but for Diasporan Armenians, and I can organize everything for them from flowers, to buses, to tours for their family.... Hmmmmm.... Well this is something to fall back on if my laundromat idea gets stolen! :)

I went to the Lilit Pipoyan, Vahan Ardzruni and Armen Movsesyan concert too on the 22nd, and it was AWESOME. I absolutely loved it. I was even able to record 3 of the songs on my digital camera which can record mpegs... first time using it!

I really do love this place. Everyday has new adventures awaiting me. Now, someone might think these adventures might get annoying.. but honestly.. try explaining to a taxi driver that the house you need to get to does NOT have an address.. and it's simply on the "paved road". Hahaha! Or what about talking a random man on the street, after almost tripping over a pile of rocks and sand, about why they had to ruin the whole city's streets and then work on reconstructing them... the logic of which even HE didn't get! :) Never would I have a conversation with a randomite on the street in LA about the work CalTrans is doing.... but in Armenia... it's different. :)

Someone asked me today what I miss most about L.A., and I have to honestly say the only thing I really miss is being able to sit in my car and go somewhere whenever I want. Of course this can't be traded with the whole "marshotni" experience. By the way, let me say that my cousin and I have the marshot thing down! We sat at our window for 15 minutes and wrote down all the marshots that pass by... so now wherever we happen to be in the city, all we have to do is take out our little notebook and I read off the numbers that pass by, and she checks the book..."no.. no.. no... bingo!" It works.


for now...
TSUH! :)~
p.s. - it was GREAT meeting all the loggers who I met... and whoever I missed, I'll see u guys next time! :)

Still in Armenia...

Well my days are passing quite quickly now. It seems like next week is gonna come and I'm not gonna realize it, but I'll be headed over to everyone's favorite airport in the world - Zvartnots. Except my trip there will probably be a lot more interesting than most people's since my tickets got drenched in something (I won't say what) that was in a bottle in my backpack...and now my tickets look like a rare piece of artwork (abstract form of course) -- ink running all over it. Also, they smell a lot like that something... Although Levon Travel told me I can still travel with my tickets in that state, I still say... it should be "fun".

Today I was walking home from lunch at Gohar's Place, and I saw the exact scene Alex described in his log. A guy (obviously a tourist -- you can tell from the shoes), was standing on the corner of Mashdots and taking a picture of, I assume, the Madenataran. I think he didn't realize that cars making a right turn onto Moscovian would definitely not pause for his little picture... I'm glad to say, he survived.

That's my update for now... I'm having a great time just lounging here, and it's a shame I'll have to go back to L.A. next week and get stuck in the rut of Cali life again. I'm definitely not looking forward to that!

TSUH! :)~

Richard Hovannisian ;-)
Berg Agemian ;-(

One is a good news, the other a sad one...

Today Richard Hovannisian talked at the Austral University about the Armenian Genocide. Buenos Aires is happy to receive such a good professor. I had a nice talk with him, a tiny interview where he gave me some points of view and advices about the web site of www.GenocidioArmenio.org. He brought some of his books, very useful for argentinean armenians, that sometime feel the lack of printed material for study the armenian history. Professor Hovannisian visited two decades before this community of Argentina. He was surprised about the progress he saw...

On the other side, a sad news...

On October armenians cellebrate the month of the Armenian Culture and the 11st October the Day of the Translators. The best and unique translator of Armenian works to Spanish, BERG AGEMIAN passed away ten Days ago. He was a a very good friend of my father, i mean, a close one. He translated poems of Vahakn Davtian and a novel of Antranig Zaroukian: Hombres Sin Infancia (Mangoutean Chunetsogh Martig). But his best work started when he translated Raffi?s Gaidzer (Chispas). There are no doubts that these two books (Vol. 1 & Vol. 2) are the best legacy that Berg gave for Armenians and Armenia. He begun very young, at the age of 20, translating Raffi?s Khachakoghnere (Las Memorias Del Hurtacruz). All his books were given for the Armenian Fund. An example of life...

When Professor Richard told us about how surprising was to see the swimming pools and the gyms of the Armenian institutions i thought that these human losses we have are the most terrible things we are suffering. The years are passing and those institutions are getting empty. Also the armenian church...
So??? Is time to re-think and re-plan our institutional life here??? I do not know...

Berg, Rest in Peace, the tango orchestra is still playing that song for you...

Hayasdan has definitely been one adventure after another. By the way, let me just say that I love this internet cafe, but it could be majorly improved if there were NO SMOKING signs all over.... ahhhhhh will that day ever come? Sometimes in Armenia, you just have to shrug and light one of your own, cause in reality, it's better than breathing in whatever others are exhaling!

One thing I'd like to comment about is definitely "Armenian Logic". The logic here is so different than ours... and it's really quite difficult to explain. It's just one of those things you need to experience and say, ohhhhhhhhhh ok.

Today I went to YumYum for breakfast and then did some grocery shopping from the nene in the alley, and I'm looking forward to cooking a nice dinner at home for my cousin and her dad. Then later on in the evening my cousin and I went up to Mayr Haiastan to watch the sunset and take some nice pictures. We had dinner at Broshian and now we're back at the internet cafe chating.

Well, there's a wedding this weekend, so it's gonna be interesting!

for now....
TSUH! :)~

So Hayasdan is awesome... no wait... beter than awesome!!! I had a chance to meet some of the loggers... and of course we all rock and had ice cream with sparkly July 4-th thingies coming out of them.

My trip, thus far, has been quite eventful. I have visited my favorite places, seen my favorite people, been splashed by mud on the street by a car, been bit by a weird insect which caused me to have a foot infection and was forced to stay home for 2 days and put weird black-tar stuff on my foot, met random people I haven't seen from Brazil in over 4 years, met the loggers, went to Sevan and froze--didn't even swim and came back, counted how many mercedez, bmw-s, and Artur-s pass by my apartment in 15 minutes, danced and celebrated at a hair salon cause the owners just got married (this is lena's salon btw), helped raffi move one plant five stories down and six stories up, cooked dinner after shopping at the nene's market in an alley, bought thousands of cd's, had dolma at a real sepagan house in bangladesh, met the funniest armenian alive from mexico... and yet.... the excitement goes on.

I'm not quite sure what the deal is with the whole east coast USA and Canada no electricity deal, since I only saw 2 minutes of the CNN broadcast at Nigol's place this morning. But all I know is that when we were having rolling blackouts in Cali, everyone else was laughing at us... let's see who's laughing now! (copy cats!!!) And, I don't know, but I heard 33984723948 movie stars are running for governor in Cali...what is that about? So does this mean, the east coast is gonna copy the west and have 30459834059 movie stars run as their governors? (chem hasgnar)

That's my update for now... and for now, i'm doing grrrrrrreat (like tony the tiger).

TSUH! :)~

Wow, hackers should be put away for life... The big news around here is that this virus... or "worm," whatever it is, has infected MANY computers, including all the computers at work. Sadly, the only person that knows IT stuff in our office is in a village in Kharabagh without phone or internet access. I just learned more about computers in a span of 3 days than I ever wanted to know. I've been fiddling with these computers for the last 3 days now and I suppose I've become the new expert. Ah, but then I get to come home to my Mac at home, it's GREAT! But seriously, hackers, please, give us a break. We're lucky our computers work in the first place.

So on top of that, it seems that there is a power outtage that spread from New York to Ontario to Detroit and then some. Then entire Northeastern region of the US is OUT OF POWER! Oh my lord, what is going on?

Of course, I would watch news to find out, however, they are showing the Armenian documentary on PBS, so I've been watching that for an hour. Interesting. The shots of Armenia and Yerevan are a little painful to watch... I confess, (sorry Kojian) I have avoided reading the "Diaspora in Armenia" log for so long just because it hurts to much to read and see things going on in Armenia when I'm not there. So that was difficult, but overall a nice documentary.

The announcer guy is talking right now about how Armenians are like one big family... true. And with that, come all the family members that fight all the time, rebel, conserve, etc. and this family sure ain't short of that. But in all, yup. One big freakin' family!

Nothing much going on around here in Boston. Aside from my 9-5 job, I am currently working on a small piece for Global Rhythm on a musical ensemble called DuOud. I interviewed one of the members last month and the article should appear sometime in January 2004. This month, my article on Serart (Arto and Serj) is on newstands for Global Rhtyhm.

Recently, I've been on the warpath to find a good kemancha CD. The problem is that the Armenian kemancha alone is a tough instrument to carry an entire album. Word has it that there is a French production that has the double bass and the Armenian kemancha on one album with the artists doing strict improv on disc. I can't find it here in the States and may have to do a Amazon.UK thing.

The PBS documentary "Images of Armenia" was shown here in Boston last Sunday and I sat down and watched it with good friends of mine. Not bad at all. I think it gave a nice overview of Armenia in the last 1000 years and is a good piece for people who are just learning about our culture. For PBS, I am sure it was a subscription drive cash cow because we are all suckers for seeing things Armenian on TV and will support it. I think it was the third in a series.

Today I start work on my Fullbright application. It's a long process and I probably do not stand a chance in terms of getting an award. But, it's worth a try. My angle is to work in Armenia for one year and do as much research as possible on the music industry there. Specifically, I would like to see the effects of illegal pirating of CD's and their effect on the artist. There is an interesting tradeoff where although the musicians do not get direct revenue from the sale of CD's( since they are pirated) , the upside is that their music gets circulated to more people who can afford to buy CD's for $2-$3 (as opposed to $15-$20) and in turn may lead to live shows where they can control the ticket sales and directly benefit from that.

After work today, I went to the CD manufacturing plant in Southboro, MA. Luckily, it is located about 10 minutes from where I live. I checked out the "proofs" of the new Hover CD and everything looked fine. Once everything is checked and approved, the next step is the printing of the booklets and the creation of the CD's. In about 3 weeks, we will have 1000 CD's ready to go. It's an interesting process from the beginning of the idea for the CD to the final stage when you have a fully finished product. Like a baton being passed from Hayastan to the Diaspora, the idea originates in Armenia from the local musicians and then the music is recorded there as well. From that point on, I receive the master CD and get to work in hiring a designer (Arsineh Khachikian has been my only designer and Ivana the only illustrator) Then, after you have the product, you have to sell it. This is usually the most challenging step of the way. I just switched my California-only mom and pop Armenian distributor to Garni Music run by Stepan Partamian. He does good work out in LA. Our North American distributor for the major stores is another company. So, all of the channels are secured and the product is sent out. Next is the obvious "machine" that cranks out press releases and gets the word out any way possible that a great recording is available and for people to buy it. (This is your cue and is shameless marketing use of this website to illustrate my point). Most semi-major to major labels pay about $2000 a month to promote and publicise an album. This gets the album or artist into what I call the "bloodstream" of the world music buying public. Anyway, I think the merging of knowledge and talent between the good people in Armenia and our good folks who volunteer for Pomegranate have created a nice model of how things can succeed when working together. Now, let's all sing "Kumbaya".

Shoosh, I'm so happy you made it to Armenia. It was your time! Raffi M, we're next.

The ANCA interns returned home today. Another chapter closed, another summer experience ended. What next for the fresh new activists? Who knows, but after dozens of congressional meetings, conferences, lectures, research, projects, etc., I'd like to think they are that much more prepared to become leaders. The office will be quiet tomorrow morning. There were certainly quite a few characters that will be missed, some of whom I wish we could clone. All in all, I'm proud.

Where one experience ends, another must begin. We have another group coming in this weekend. Four new graduates are coming to find work in Washington, and my job is to help them find it. So far, the wheels are in motion and great things are ahead. That much I can sense.

Sometimes it's hard to truly grasp your surroundings and the people around you when you are so emerced in the middle of it all. I try to imagine sometimes what the me from a year ago would think of myself now. There are so many things I wish I did differently, did better. But overall, it was good.

Well this is my 2nd time trying to log. Here it goes.. I'm in HAYASDAN!!!! I've been here for a while now, but I was participating in the Baze Armenian Youth Forum in Dilijan. It was an absolutely amazing experience. I met a lot of great people, who I look forward to spending more time with! :)

Hayasdan (or should i say Yerevan) is definitely "Under Construction"... literally. Everywhere I go there is some sort of remond happening. Right now I'm staying with my cousins who are visiting, and they have rented a cozy apartment across the street from Yum-Yum. I'm just "chillin" while they all go out and do some sightseeing. So far I've visited all my favorite places like Yeraploor and Noravank, and if I hit a couple more on that list I'll be more than satisfied since this was an unplanned trip.

I guess that's pretty much it. I'm having a great time just being here. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see some of the loggers...

TSUH! :)~

Well, it's been an interesting week here on cilicia.com. After a little good hearted bluster, seems like everyone is settling in with their new ventures and we bid Ara good luck. If I may indulge a bit, I remember Raffi Kojian asking me two years ago to be a guest on this log after my 2001 trip to Armenia. It was my second time to Armenia after a disappointing first trip to Armenia/Karabagh in 1998. Since then, I've been to Armenia two more times and have started and continue to run a world music label, Pomegranate Music. I must admit that the reason I bring this up is because the 2001 trip re charged a lot of personal internal batteries as well as changing my outlook on Armenia, etc. I was in a professional and personal rut at the age of 30 and decided to visit a good friend of mine who recently moved there at the time. Having the "first time" let-down experience behind me, it was time to go to Armenia to just enjoy being there on vacation without worrying about trying to "do something to help the people". Obviously, people in Armenia can help themselves if given the resources and having a view of working in cooperation with our brothers and sisters over in Armenia was the way to go instead of thinking that "we, the Diaspora were going to save Armenia."

The longer I have been away from Armenia (Feb 2002), the more out of touch I feel with Hayastan. Luckily, really good people are carrying on well with some of our music projects in Armenia such as Rhoda Manook with Hover Chamber Choir of Armenia. Also, we are trying to get Bambir to finally get their butts to Yerevan from Gyumri to put on a few concerts to celebrate the Pomegranate re-release of "Quake" and their new self produced "J&G" album which is not available just yet. My very first artist signed Gor Mkhitarian is now staying in LA these days getting ready to tour and promote our biggest release yet, "Godfather Tom: Music from the Armenian Underground". I will be going to WOMEX (www.womex.com) for the largest and most important world music convention of the year in Seville, Spain during the last week of October. I hope to land a UK distributor for our CD's. There are some meeting set up with a Benelux and French distributor. Hover Chamber Choir of Armenia will be traveling to the UK (thanks to Rhoda Manook, Tom Samuelian, Tamar Hajian, etc and some really awesome sponsors) to give a set of 5 concerts with the European premier of our new recording, "6 Fables: Based on the Writings of Vardan Aigektsi".

There's nothing interesting going on here in Boston to report regarding Armenian issues. That's usually a sign that it is time to visit Armenia again. That's where the real action is at.

I don't want to go into it much, but I agree that as this website is a creation of Kojian, that he has the right to allow what he wants on it. I may or may not agree, but that really doesn't matter.

Update in Washington is that there's a lot of talk about who's running in California... what a mess. First, Arnold, now Larry Flint. I truly pity Californians that this is the best they have. Since we have many Californians in the office right now, it hits home with them.

Interns leave this Sunday. More are coming in the following week... more on that later.

The AYF Olympics are just around the corner. Providence has always proven to be a good one. However, I think the partiers will find a nice surprise when they see a bigger security presence. No more stupidity this year... AYF sure ain't payin' for it. But overall, looks like it's gonna be a good year.

It looks like Olympics is in Washington 2 years from now, so I'm already getting contacted about starting the preparations. So if anyone was wondering how long it takes to prepare for Olympics, your exact answer is 2 years. :)

Once in a while, I'd like to share a CD review or two for papers or magazines I usually write for. Enjoy.

Kim Kaskashian
Hayren
ECM Records 1754


When word first leaked out of collaboration between world renowned violist Kim Kashkashian and contemporary Armenian composer Tigran Mansuryan, I began to count the days until the official CD release. When news filtered in that the recording was going to be released on one of the world’s premier record labels in ECM New Series, I frothed at the mouth. Add to that the fact songs by Komitas were also going to be featured; this CD had all the markings of a classic recording. Oh, how looks can be deceiving.

Hayren is a collection of short pieces either written or arranged by Tigran Mansuryan, one of Armenia’s most recognizable living composers. The pieces Mansuryan chooses to arrange are by none other than Komitas. For the most part, Kashkashian braves along playing her viola with Mansuryan on the piano along with percussionist Robyn Schulkowsky. When Kashkashian is featured, as in Mansuryan’s “Duet for Viola and Percussion”, the audience is reminded just how much of a positive impact the talented violist can have with such an ambitious piece. The remaining 12 tracks are all Komitas compositions/arrangements that Mansuryan has re-arranged for the purposes of this recording. If the recording were that simple, we may have something here. However, somewhere along the line, a terrible decision was made to let Mansuryan actually sing the Komitas pieces and thus we have a major disaster of a recording. As Mansuryan points out in the liner notes, “I am not a singer”.

The piece that should be center stage in “Hayren” is actually Mansuryan’s own “Duet for Viola and Percussion”, which is at the end of the CD. Unfortunately, the road to get there is marred by an artistic gamble that fails miserably and ultimately sinks the overall CD. The wager in question is having Mansuryan sing Komitas in an off key, warbled, and untrained manner. The price at stake is Mansuryan’s reputation and perhaps the music of Komitas in the public eye as well. Mansuryan asks the listener to imagine that his vocal interpretation of Komitas, off key and all, is the way that “common folk” would have sung it in the day. While this may be true, why is this relevant or even appealing to a music lover or a consumer looking for works by Komitas? While it is certainly admirable that Mansuryan takes this approach, it doesn’t mean that the concept has to be successful or even interesting. Sure, I’ve tried to sing Komitas in the shower at times, but, does that mean that someone would shell out $18 to hear it and embrace it as the voice of the people? I doubt it.

There are several angles at play with this ECM recording. There is the statement that ECM has put out claiming that “this is Mansuryan’s artistic interpretation of Komitas, showing us the rich soil from where Mansuryan’s own music has sprung”. Then, there is the reaction that most people in the Armenian community will have once “Hayren” is brought to their attention, which is, “because this recording is on a major non- Armenian classical/world music label, it has to be good, or even profound for that matter.” Finally, the dopey general press such as iclassics.com has curiously stated that, “it is precisely the heartfelt "artlessness" of his (Mansuryan’s) delivery that draws out the charm of the material, which returns it to "folk music", in the best sense”. None of these statements actually are truly accurate and are open to fierce debate.

To answer some of these statements, one has to keep in mind that when a label knows they have a stinker, they have to invent creative ways to get around that and sell the CD to the public. The iclassics statement is among the most creative and preposterous. Substitute “tasteless” for “artlessness” and you have a more accurate picture. There is no charm in listening to a man that is out of tune sit and tries to vocally interpret Komitas for more than 20 minutes. If I wanted to hear “artlessness”, I would go back to the original 1912 recordings of these songs sung by Komitas himself. The original recording has been made available on the fine Traditional Crossroads label. While the Armenian community is usually muted in criticizing a “famous Armenian” in public, Mansuryan’s unfortunate decision blew an opportunity for wider audiences to hear one of our generation’s great violists interpreting Komitas straight on. Typically in the music world, promoters or the musicians themselves mask their shortcomings in a piece of work by creating a myth that the music is almost too sophisticated to understand, even if it sounds terrible. “Don’t worry, you don’t like it because you don’t understand it, but, it is great and you should know that if you were sophisticated like us” is the usual line. But, to paraphrase Duke Ellington when asked what good music is, “Good music is good when you like it and bad is when you don’t”.

Over the last decade or so, ECM New Series has become the most innovative and stylish classical record label in the world. They’ve been around since 1969, but it is recently that they have really emerged as an industry force. Run by the trailblazing Manfred Eicher, ECM has put out fascinating works and in turn has become one of the larger record companies in the game. I must admit, I am a huge fan of the label and appreciate the fact that they are unafraid to put out recordings that may not sell. By having a strong track record, Eicher has wisely branded ECM as a daring and avant garde music label characterized by minimalist artwork and photography for its CD design. Anything that is put out on ECM is immediately considered a legimate project. The mere fact that Mansuryan’s works will be featured by ECM in the present and future is exciting indeed- for him and his fans. Word has spread that there is more Mansuryan to come on ECM later this year. Good for him.

That being said, it is generally accepted that while Komitas is revered by Armenians worldwide, his works are not well represented in the traditional musical catalogs. Thus, it is safe to assume that for many outside of our Armenian circle, their first introduction of Komitas will be through this new ECM release of Mansuryan’s interpretations of Komitas. I doubt that many people will be silly enough to buy into the “gimmick” of this album being representative of the “common man singing folk tunes” and then passing it off as Komitas. Remember, Komitas had Armen Shahmuradian interpreting his works on record, not an off tune peasant in the field. “Hayren” is just a bad album that wastes a major talent in Kim Kashkashian and diverts attention away from the real gem on this album, Mansuryan’s own “Duet for Viola and Percussion”. Most people won’t even keep the CD long enough in their players to get to that piece. Too bad, really.

Remember, the French think that the comedy of Jerry Lewis is “high art”. I guess it depends on your point of view.

The "dog days" of August are upon us and that usually means a few things. On the East Coast, we are talking about AYF Olympics (www.ayf.org) and winding down Cafe Anoush at the ACEC as well as the last weeks of Camp Hayastan. AYF Olympics, for those who are not familiar, is the annual sports weekend for the Armenian Youth Federation. As an alumni, it's an even that cannot be missed for the sheer scope of an event. Sure, you've got the sports events, but, the dances and after hour parties are where the fun really is. This year it is in Providence, RI and I encourage all that want a true Armenian-American experience to attend.

Camp Hayastan is the AYF's youth camp for kids 8-15. It is located in Franklin, MA. The camp attracts kids from all over the world and is a great place for young Armenians to learn and share their Armenian culture with each other. There is a similar AYF camp in California. Usually, there are picnics on the Camp grounds every Sunday so visitors get a chance to roam the area of the Camp.

Cafe Anoush is fast becoming a Watertown institution in the summer time. Located in the courtyard of the ACEC (Armenian Culutral and Educational Center) in Watertown, MA, it is open every Thursday from 5-9 and great food is served by the ACEC and local AYF vulunteers.

If you are in town for any of these dates, please check them out as you will get a great feel for Armenian-American culture on the East Coast.