los angeles mania
from my previous log you know i am in los angeles. so is one of my kids from my office. wait... i guess you need the history. i work at the cafesjian museum foundation (www.cmf.am)... we are building an art museum in armenia at the site of the cascade. this huge undertaking is a symbol of mr. cafesjian's hope and vision for the future of the country. i do public relations and events. i have an office of over ten young armenians who work really hard and are each bright and passionate human beings. they are the biggest hope i have for my nation... each one of them is so passionate about their homeland and so eager to contribute. six of them are students in university. one of them was accepted to a study abroad university program and ended up in the los angeles area... so yesterday we decided to get together.
she was full of stories and exciting tales about her adventures here. she has managed to experience LA, do well in her studies and teach her new friends about "back home". we sat and compared notes about what we like here... and what we cannot live without there. it was so inspiring to talk to a 20 year old girl who was in the process of being enthralled with the stimulus of america... yet had the passion, heart and understanding to still love and yearn for her homeland.
although los angeles is not my pick of the us cities... i must admit it is wonderful to be around friends and family. last night i went to the grove and they had santa's castle and a big christmas tree and christmas music and it made me so happy. i guess you can never take your upbringing out of you... meaning i grew up with this christmas cheer... and the music and the magic stays with you your whole life. while new year is celebrated joyously in armenia... and those traditions have also etched into my heart.... this was nice too... to see santa and his reindeers (although plastic)... hanging from above.
this is the mix that i love... the ability to know this culture and armenian culture.... and not only the armenian culture that we celebrate here in the diaspora... but the warmth of running around yerevan for thirteen days... respecting friends and family by sitting at their new years table to eat the thigh of the pig and stolichnaya salad. having your own pig thigh at home and answering each doorbell with excitement... wondering who will be at your door with warm hugs, smiles and most importantly warm wishes. i will miss new year in armenia this year...
at first i thought i had to reject one culture to embrace the other. now i understand that they beauty in knowing both ... is loving the good elements of both... and in turn hurting for the faults of both. this has made me feel complete as an armenian... and as an armenian-american.
she was full of stories and exciting tales about her adventures here. she has managed to experience LA, do well in her studies and teach her new friends about "back home". we sat and compared notes about what we like here... and what we cannot live without there. it was so inspiring to talk to a 20 year old girl who was in the process of being enthralled with the stimulus of america... yet had the passion, heart and understanding to still love and yearn for her homeland.
although los angeles is not my pick of the us cities... i must admit it is wonderful to be around friends and family. last night i went to the grove and they had santa's castle and a big christmas tree and christmas music and it made me so happy. i guess you can never take your upbringing out of you... meaning i grew up with this christmas cheer... and the music and the magic stays with you your whole life. while new year is celebrated joyously in armenia... and those traditions have also etched into my heart.... this was nice too... to see santa and his reindeers (although plastic)... hanging from above.
this is the mix that i love... the ability to know this culture and armenian culture.... and not only the armenian culture that we celebrate here in the diaspora... but the warmth of running around yerevan for thirteen days... respecting friends and family by sitting at their new years table to eat the thigh of the pig and stolichnaya salad. having your own pig thigh at home and answering each doorbell with excitement... wondering who will be at your door with warm hugs, smiles and most importantly warm wishes. i will miss new year in armenia this year...
at first i thought i had to reject one culture to embrace the other. now i understand that they beauty in knowing both ... is loving the good elements of both... and in turn hurting for the faults of both. this has made me feel complete as an armenian... and as an armenian-american.
posted by Madlene at 9:29 PM
1 Comments:
I was in the Grove probably the day after you I think. Sunday evening. Yes it was packed and vibrant with in a pleasant, relaxed but holiday-charged atmosphere. A kind of intensity, but a calm one not exactly "mania." It sounds from your post that holiday observance differs in Armenia, and maybe you implied New Years gets more emphasis than Christmas? I only know what my immigrant grandparents and their crowd did at the holidays, in America, when I was a kid in the 50s and 60s. It was all about Christmas (for that matter, they emphasized Christianity quite strongly to us kids in general) with New Years not very important. And I don't know about the pig thigh thing. Any posts about the way the holidays are observed in modern Armenia would be interesting.
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