I really don't like Yerevan heat.

A couple of days ago I got out of the city with about 10 fellow Canadian-Armenians. We went all the way up north to the beautiful city of Alaverdi. The weather was beautiful, everything was perfect. We then went through freezing Dilijan via Vanadzor (a beautiful drive on newly paved clean roads), through the new tunnel, and into Sevan to have some fish for dinner. Of course back to reality (Yereven) was not something I was looking forward to.

I moved out into my new place almost a month ago. My apartment is right smack in the middle of the city between the Opera and the Square. A perfect location, though the dust from the construction of Northern Avenue is killing me. Nevermind the street dogs, which although they mind their own business in the daytime, they become quite evil at night. The other night I was at a friends place, and came home really late. I dropped by a bakery (there are a few of them open 24 hours), got some fresh warm "matnaqash" bread, and head towards my place. On my way home a few big dogs started following me, and one of them tried to take a bite out of my leg. That's when I used my "matnaqash" as a shield, and ended up losing the entire thing.

I had no breakfast the next morning.

i feel good.

the cmf sponsored concerts were amazing and i am back to normal office days (although working in yerevan is hardly ever normal).

it's my brother's last day for this trip, his first ever. it was amazing having him here as i love him dearly. he loved yerevan as well... and hopes to spend more time here in the future.

my friends are coming in august and it is quite a hectic month. i am most looking forward to my girlfriends coming. one of my friends and i used to spend 1/4 of our youth making rice krispies treats and hanging out at home ... eating the sugar bursted treats and going into laughing fits. she is bringing the ingredients and i am clearing the house... just for us.

another friend laughs at everything arthur says... she makes everything soooo much more fun.

so thats my story today... calm, happy and chillin like a villain. :O)

 

oh my head is bursting. i have been working very hard and it seems to be catching up with me this morning. my usual morning tea is not helping.

we have had two concerts, and there is still one to go. the first concert was the british jazz band soweto kinch, and the people loved them. they were down to earth nice guys who had a tale to tell... through sowetos sax. last night was avet terterian's sixth symphony... although the music was avantegaurd and heavy... there were many people who were enthralled... and listening carefully. just as many people did not "get it" and were expecting upbeat and light... but terterian was never marked as light or upbeat so the title of the concert should have been a foreshadowing of the symphony to come. overall, i think that we have raised the bar with the outdoor events we have been hosting. tuesday night we will host anna mayilyan, an armenian folk singer with quite a following. armenian instruments always make the event nice.

the night before our jazz concert in another part of town (where i live)...  an outdoor rabiz festival was in full swing.  the word rabiz was amot (shameful) just a few years ago... yet now we are organizing festivals around the word.

rabiz stands for rabochi iskustvo (culture of the working class)... and it has come to represent anything from men wearing all black with pointy shoes and personal bodyguards... to music which finds the singer elongating each word and singing as if they were swimming. the sounds of rabiz peirced through my window as i was told love stories about a yar (lover) who wrote a goodbye letter and the tears shed by the singer as a result as a result. i guess a bit of everything is needed... but rabiz into the wee hours of the morning was enough to put me over the edge.

last night before our concert, i was part of a panel discussion that raffi nizibilian organized for land and culture, birthrights and interns visiting this summer. it was a nice venue to vent the goods and the bads about repatriation... irregardless, it reminded me of what a good thing i have done for myself but hauling myself to armenia.

during the lecture we discussed: repats... crazy or pioneers. i would like to think the latter... most people i have been coming across agree.

something that made me happy was a commonality i found with most of the other repats. most of their parents flipped when the repats announced their... repatriation. but all the parents who flipped out (my mom and dad included)... after visiting us in armenia and seeing our lifestyle and getting to know yerevan... came around. each one of them are comfortable with our decisions... that made me smile.  

Last night Arto T was amazing. It was a full house with a 30-some LCO volunteers in the front row. Most of these volunteers hadn’t heard of the Armenian Navy Band – they were amazed. This was their first day returning from the village. Imagine after 3 weeks of roughing it with villagers and seeing nothing but calm landscapes of Sevan and the Keghama Mountains, they return to Yerevan and BANG! and Arto concert.
This July LCO had over 45 volunteers in Shoushi, Shatvan (Vartenis) and the Pilgrimage at St-Tade monastery in Iran. You can read their daily logs on the LCO website http://www.landandculture.org/.

The August group will arrive on the same night of the departure of the July group. There will be about 20 of them in August in Armenia with about 15 other going to Kessab, Syria.

As for summer in Yerevan in general, There are many open air concerts and events that Lara and I attend to with the kids. Tomorrow and Tuesday there will be concerts at the Cascade. Thursdays are “barsgahay” at the “Haghtanagi ayki”... last week we went to Tsapatagh for the weekend to attend a traditional celebration of Vartavar – the kids loved it!

The Cafesjian Museum Foundation is pleased to announce the continuation of the Summer Program. Be prepared to enjoy a British Jazz Band, Avet Terterian’s Sixth Symphony, and a special concert by Anna Mayilyan and Varbedner. Please tell your friends and family to join us on these very special evenings.
 
JULY 23
Soweto Kinch
9:00pm to 11:00 pm
Open to the General Public
Organized by: The British Council of Armenia,
And the Cafesjian Museum Foundation
 
JULY 25
Dedicated to the 75th Anniversary of Avet Terterian
10:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Open to the General Public
Organized by the Cafesjian Museum Foundation
 
JULY 27
Anna Mayilyan and Varbedner
Armenian Sacred and Folk Music
9:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Open to the General Public
Organized by the Cafesjian Museum Foundation
 
All concerts will be held at the Base of the Cascade!
 
If you have any questions, please call the PR & Events office of the Cafesjian Museum Foundation at 56-72-62 or 56-72-61 or email mamin@cmf.am
 
Hope to see you all at the Cascade this Friday, for British Jazz and Hip-Hop!

brace yourselves people... i have gone digital.
today, i will post two wonderful pictures for you.
 
picture one is a photo of my father (right) and my father-in-law (left) eating choice berries and cherries from our summer house in garni.
 
picture two is our neighbor shushan tota... one of the prettiest ladies in garni. she was shy about getting her picture taken... but she was so beautiful i could not resist.
 
 
 
  
 

I'm back.
I just hadn't been in the mood to write since Lara and the kids have been away. Someone from California said how thrilled she was reading my logs and Raffi keeps hounding me, but most importantly, my family be back in 5 days, so here I am writing again.

Well. everybody knows how I love to dance, and last night I proved how much. Many of the repats had gathered at Arto Tuncbyajian's club to bid farewell to a very good friend of ours who'll be leaving to study in NY (I'm taking him to the airport in a few minutes – 5:50 a.m.). The music got intense, and I just couldn't sit straight anymore. It was a great night in Yerevan.

7:00 a.m. just came back from the airport. In about 2 hours I'll be heading out to Vartenis (Shatvan village) to visit the first LCO group who are renovating the village school. I will then take them through Kelbajar to Dadivank all the way to Shoushi to visit our second group who are working on renovations of the operating rooms of the Regional Hospital of Shoushi. There will be about 45 of us LCO people in Shoushi. We will meet up with some AVC, Assembly and ASA interns who will be arriving with the Birthright Armenia program. We will have a mega KEF near the Shoushi fortress.

That’s all for now.

Ok, it took place close to Igdir, but also included Igdir as well. I've talked to a few different people here and they've all told me that they actually woke up when it happened. Igdir is actually only 23km from the Armenian border, and very close to Echmiadzin. So far 18 people have died on the Turkish side.

Are the other expats alive? tu-tu-tu!

Apparently there was an earthquake last night around 3am, but I didn't feel anything. And I was sitting at the computer working till past 4. Anyway, there is nothing on the news just yet.