Well, it's getting worse. There are fist fights between Dems and Republicans in Florida, lots of vandalism to cars with bumper stickers, and rediculous numbers of lawyers. Are we on the verge of a civil war?

Well, I needed a day off from all this. We have three days left and I wanted to take a day to breathe and do some photography. Here are some photos from my back yard to bring some beauty into my world. And although there are a lot more to com, I updated my photo site a bit more: www.digitalrailroad.net/Arsineh

Alrighty! Almost a week left for voting. The end of mshagooyti (cultural) month is coming too, and also Halloween. Can you PLEASE imagine all the fuss at school?(work) This week we'll have a pre-Halloween costume parade on Wednesday the 27th, and a huge Armenian Cultural Festival organized by the school on Friday the 29th (open to the public - Nersik will be singing).

This past weekend there were so many Armenian events I was very confused, cause I wanted to attend them all. There was a performance of Levon Shant's "Hin Asdvadzner" at the Alex in Glendale, and there was the Lark Musical Society's "Leblebiji Hor Hor Agha" operetta at the Pasadena Civic... and that's just to name a couple. I did attend the operetta, and I must say that it was up to par with last year's "Zvart". This year's operetta had a similar storyline, and and even more extravagent set and beautiful costumes. The singers were incredible, as were the musicians. Excellent Job!

As October is ending, I look back and think of how fast the past 2 months have gone by. It seems like the first week of school (work) was yesterday! My days pass really fast, and by the time I have a minute or two to sit down and think about something or to actually take a breather, it's already my lunch break at 2pm and I'll be heading home in less than 2 hours. The day just zooms by! It seems my only real issue is the "shadakhosootyoon" of my students, as it really hinders me to go through simple lessons quickly and effeciently. Instead, I have to stop every 2 minutes and get their attention again. I blame TV!!!!! (and video games) GEEEZ, if I was a kid who was used to flashing images, and there was a lady standing in the front of the class and talking to me for more than 10 minutes, I'd stop listening too. So I've started to change things up a little... let's see how it works. I feel like teaching is a constant experiment. In the end, I guess if I help a few kids.... it'll be worth it.

As for the voting stuff... I definitely know that a lot of people I personally know who don't usually care and don't even bother registering or voting - they are definitely caring this year. I also know that no matter who wins I don't really believe that a lot is going to change. A lot of people are saying, "Bush got us into this mess, let him get us out" and others are saying, "Bush had a chance, now it's Kerry's turn to try." The reality remains that we have some REAL problems affecting REAL people in our everyday lives.

On a lighter note, kids crack me up. During my half hour at kindergarten, a little boy told a little girl, "when I grow up I'm going to marry you". She looked at him with this blank (zzvadz) face, and just got on her tricycle, tossed her hair, and went off. Hmmmm. Where's MY tricycle?

I don't think I've mentioned our little "Knitting Circle" we've created. My cousin and I started a Knitting Circle with about 15-20 of our friends and cousins. We've gathered twice already and the main objective of the project is to knit (or crochet) scarves, beanies, mittens, little blankets for the orphans in Armenia. Different people have heard about our project and we've even received a few donations - some brownie troops from NJ are sending a bunch of stuff for us to take, and a few kids donated their some of their birthday gift money to our project. Aside from making this stuff to give to people who really have nothing, the knitting circle creates a relaxed environment for us to get together, chat, have some snacks and just spend quality time with one another.... something that we all felt was lacking in our lives. If you'd like to start a circle of your own, please let us know. We're hoping this catches on... and we can take a few boxes with us when we go to Hayasdan in the winter. You can email me... shooshigavakian@hotmail.com


TSUH! :)~

I agree with Hagop that its a great feeling that we are taking part in such an important and historical process. I highly recommend that people consider who they are voting for, not just for President, but for your Senator (if your Senator is up) and your Representative. I just got a call from the Republican Committee asking me to vote for Bush for President and Frank Wolf (R-VA) for Rep. I think it's obvious by now who I want for President, but I'm happy to vote for Wolf since I know his background on issues I care about.

We are definitely seeing something amazing this year. There are so many newly registered voters this year which is one of the reasons I don't put too much faith in the polls out there. I think there is very little certainty on the turnout of this year's election that no one can so confidently say who will win. So for all the people telling me that I'm naive to think Kerry will win, please do not belittle the phenomenon that is taking place here. Whether he wins or not isn't the issue. The only thing I can find as a reason for someone to be so confident in Bush's win is to know that the votes are fixed. Otherwise, please put a little faith in the democratic system and wait until Nov 2 to be so sure who will win.

So now that all these people are registered, the question is how they are determining the issues that concern them. Hagop, I think it's great that stem cell research is so important to how you vote. I myself have so much more to understand about some issue and stem cell research is one of them. I agree with you and that is something I care about too. The most important issue that is determining my vote is foreign policy, but one thing I hope everyone reading this log considers is how people stand on Armenian issues. If you vote for that reason or not is another issue, but it's something to consider. For example, I hope that some people from Florida might take into consideration that they might have a Democratic Rep. that fights more for Turkish issues than American. In my case, I have a Republican Rep who has supported Armenian issues consistently and that is a major factor in my choice to vote for him. The ANCA has questionairres available on our website that are meant for people to send to their Reps. We have also published evaluations in the Armenian Weekly and probably Asbarez that will help people understand how their candidates stand on our issues. Again, don't vote JUST on that one issue, but please consider it.

Otherwise, I'm still waiting for a Vodka Lemon viewing in DC. No word yet. I might just have to wait til its out on DVD. If anyone has seen it, PLEASE share your comments. Last night I just watched House of Sand and Fog about a family from Iran who moved to America. I highly recommend seeing the movie. It won an Oscar for something, and if that's not enough, there's a scene with ANDY!!!!!!! All you barsgahays represent!

Oops! (to those who noticed :-)

I must say that the last couple weeks have been some of the hardest lately. I had a photo exhibit in NY and Boston over the weekend, submit a photo essay to a contest on Friday, and many other projects are going on right now, so I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed... on top of my job. But it's all been worth it. The event in NY was great. Here's one of the photos



I got to meet a lot of interesting people involved in different projects and that was probably the best part of the night. It's one thing to see these organizations and efforts results, but it's another thing to meet the people behind them to understand their drive. Tufenkian Foundation, Narekatsi Art Institute, Iranahye Miutyun, and even 1001kefnights.com are among the list. It's nice to put faces to foundations.

Otherwise, I submit photos of refugee families I met through the Norwegian Refugee Council my last trip to Armenia and now both photo collections are available on www.digitalrailroad.net/Arsineh. But one photo that isn't up there yet that I wanted to share is the following... a woman at vernisage who seemed to have very strong views.



She was very pro-Kerry. Apparently the fact that Kerry promised to recognize the Armenian genocide was enough for her. I didn't want to break her heart and tell her that Bush did the same when he campaigned in 2000, but her hopes are not completely misplaced. After 20 years of supporting Armenian issues in the Senate, he's bound to do more for us than Bush who has closed all his doors to us and kicked us a bit while we were down too. I can't say anything about people's views on these candidates otherwise, but if you are concerned with Armenian issues, I think that the choice is as clear as it gets.

I thought for sure I'd be "fired". (For those of you who don't know, one the reality shows on TV nowadays is called Apprentice and it's popular cause Donald Trump says "You're Fired!" each week.... barab pan). :)

Sorry I haven't been logging as often as before. I think the main reason is because my life is not as exciting as before. Since starting my teaching job, my daily routine is basically to wake up and drive my one hour drive to Montebello (in traffic), teach the whole day, then come home, make dinner, grade papers and go to sleep by 9:30pm. By the end of the day, I'm so tired that sometimes I don't even make the effort of turning on my computer to check my email. For people who know me, that would be SHOCKING! :) haha So really I'm kind of anchadvadz (detached) from the rest of the world.

A few interesting things I've noticed since teaching.... I teach at an Armenian school, and I've noticed how different today's generation is... tomorrow's future Armenian community. My students have a common attitude of "I don't care", for just about EVERYTHING. Getting them to do homework and classwork is VERY difficult, as they don't even care about the common consequences. I have students who turn in half of their tests empty, because they didn't feel like writing anymore. Where does all this apathy come from??? I'm still trying to find the answer.. maybe if I can answer that question, I can somehow inspire them to try and do better.

I've also noticed soooo many students who are children of Armenian and non-Armenian parents. This was somewhat weird for me at first, but now I'm so proud to see them at an Armenian school. I've also noticed that those students sometimes try harder than others...

Other than teaching... the time to vote is coming up. I'm still unsure about who is going to win.. I know who I will vote fore, but I'm not even sure that is the solution... if there even IS a solution to the huge mess. I hear people around me discussing and debating... not too many people have the "who cares" attitude. Everyone is caring this time around.

K, that's my update for now... I promise to write more often.

TSUH! :)~
p.s. - Nor Dari in Hayasdan! yay!

Happy Day of the Translators!!!


Before giving you more news about argentinean-armenians, i would like to remember this month, October...the month of the Armenian Culture...

I would like to share with you the krapar version and english version of the Birth of Vahakn, an epic song that retells the birth of the Armenian Deity VAHAKN, that symbolizes the sun and the fire...still in our armenian souls...

There it goes...

ì³Ñ³ ÝÇ ÌÝáõݹÁ




ºñÏÝ¿ñ "ñÏÇÝ"
ºñÏÝ¿ñ "ñÏÇñ"
ºñÏÝ¿ñ Ã?¨ ÍáíÝ ÍÇñ³ÝÇ©
ºñÏÝ ÍáíáõÝ áõÝ"¿ñ
ºõ ½Ï³ñÙñÇÏÝ "Õ" ÝÇÏ©

Àݹ "Õ" ³Ý ÷áÕ ÍáõË "ɳݿñ"
Àݹ "Õ" ³Ý ÷áÕ µáó "ɳݿñ©
ºõ Ç µáóáÛÝ í³½¿ñ
ʳñï"³ß å³ï³Ý"ÏÇÏ©

ܳ Ñáõñ Ñ"ñ áõÝ¿ñ"
²å³ ÿ µáó áõÝ¿ñ Ùûñáõë"
ºõ ³ãÏáõÝùÝ ¿ÇÝ ³ñ" ³ÏáõÝù£

Birth Of Vahagn



Heaven and earth were in labor,
And in labor was the purple sea,
And in labor was the red reed in the sea.

Out of the reed smoke came forth,
Out of the reed flames came forth,
And out of the flames a blonde boy came forth.

He had hair of fire,
And a beard of flame,
And his eyes were two suns.

Translated from the Armenian,
N. Ouzounian.
"Armenia, Subartu and Sumer"
by Martiros Kavoukjian
Montreal 1987

Hello hello hello! I am back from Armenia and have so many experiences I haven't posted about yet... but I haven't found 5 minutes to sit and reflect, sadly. I'll give a quick summary, which will be hard since every day was jam packed. I did go to Artsakh, stayed in Shushi, visited Stepanakert and Karin Dag, and realized there is more to Shushi than just a bombed out city. It is beautiful.

I also went to Gyumri and surrounding villages to visit refugee families who are being helped by the Norwegian Regfugee Council. The NRC is doing amazing work building homes and centers for these people and the two families I visited were on the verge of moving into their new homes. It was an inspirational and humbling experience.

Otherwise, a lot of time was spent at Square One, catching up with friend, etc. I spent my first Armenian Independence Day in Armenia (Sept 21) and went to the performances at the Cascade steps. Not as exciting, but I loved the fireworks.

So now I'm back in the US trying to catch up with my life. The photos I took in Shushi will be displayed at a Tufenkian Event in New York this Saturday, and then Boston on Sunday.

That's the very brief update for now.