I've Moved.... so "move" me :)

It's already been a month since I moved to Armenia. :) :::Cough, cough---Raff, you need to move me over::: he he he

Since I've arrived, it's actually felt like I never even left. The first week or so I was still adjusting, and now that it's been a month, I'm getting kind of antsy -- mainly about not having a job yet. I've sent my resume to any prospective job I've seen on careercenter.am and I've had one interview, so far. I don't think it's the fact that I don't have a paying job, it's that I'm not used to not having anything to do all day-- that by itself is frustrating.

Other than that, it was GREAT spending Easter here. I went to my favorite church in Mughni for badarak, then we went to Kuchak (Davit's village) where we played with and ate eggs all day. I also got to experience April 24 in Armenia for the first time. I went to the march ("Chaheroo Yert") on the 23rd and was impressed with the amount of people who had come to participate, but unfortunately I felt like it could've been organized a little better. From where I was in the crowd, it felt like the youth around me were not aware of the "cause". The next day, I went to Dzidzernagapert around noon... in the snow. It was an incredible experience, because for soooo many years I had seen pictures of all those flowers around the fire, I'd even seen it on TV, and yet--- it was completely different to actually be there and place my own flowers on top of the thousands of others.

During this month, I've also had the great fortune of needing dental work. Let me just say, that my dentist (who is my fiance's friend) is only a couple of years older than me, but did such a superb job on my root canal, that I am willingly going back for more dental work tomorrow. :) Also, the day I was having my root canal done, the Hanrapetutyun party was giving a concert just one block away.. and I got to hear singers like Leyla Saribekyan and Arsen Safaryan live in concert while getting a root canal...... only in Armenia :)

I'm going to keep this blog short, because I can assure you... I have taken notes on what I'd like to blog about as a repat.... elections being a main item on that list. Before I go though, let me just say something about the elections that I found totally hysterical--- The other night, I was watching an interview with Gagik Dzarukyan (Dodi Gago) who is the chair of Parkavaj Hayasdan (a new political party he created)... and aside from the fact that the man was sitting there in a maroon silk shirt, legs stretched open as if he's sitting on his cousin's patio, lots of hair plugs - which I'm sure he paid lots of laundered money for... he kept referring to himself in the 3rd person!!! I dunno... it totally "tickled" me, because he kept saying, "People are saying, Dzarukyan is this and that... --- Dzarukyan has created this and that"... etc. lol

More to come...
TSUH :)~

"The World" Program Link and Broadcast - YerazArt

http://www.theworld.org/?q=taxonomy_by_date/2/20070427

National Public Radio to Air YerazArt Interview on Friday April 27

Please check local listings at www.theworld.org.

Pics

Poor media coverage of 24th demonstrations here, sad to have personnaly noticed only turkish TV news trucks on the place...

None of the 2 potential president came itself ("ils ont brillé par leur absence"!) They simply sent their representative and a message... legislative elections are still to take place in june.

But here are some pics i'd like to show : http://www.collectifvan.org/article_photo.php?r=6&id=148 ; Taken last week end at Notre Dame by Collectif Van
The kind of pics I like :o)
It's about the results of the sensibilisation action they've realised last week end, more than 4 000 people signed and put their hand print on the wall. Given the touristic place and the wonderful weather of this april, it reunited not only armenians but every kind of persons. Most of them get very touched by the solidarity expressed between victims, armenians yesterday or darfouris today, same fight.

The Day After

Many of us are closing a week and a month of activities that allow us to reflect upon our history as Armenians. Every year since I can remember the protocol is eerily the same. The signs, marches, shouts, debates that carry one message – to recognize a truth. A truth we all know, yet some choose to not recognize because of the economics of money and power in this world.

How many more it is going to take before the truth is finally spoken by everyone. I was once one of the kids in the uniforms at the Hooshartsan laying flowers and saying prayers. I didn't know then that I would be doing the same thing 20 years later. Is it possible that my kids will go to the same venues that I have to fight the same fight?

I just don’t know what to think anymore when I see a story about the Armenian Genocide in the OPINION section of the Los Angeles Times and then learn about the events that have unfolded at the paper with a managing editor from Istanbul. This is one of our most powerful news outlets.

“When they own the information, what you get is what you got”. John Mayer lyrics. Take from it what you will.

In this political climate, in this age of information and awareness, how can there still be Genocide going on, how can the truth be allowed to be overpowered by other people’s agenda’s, and how can propaganda be allowed to prevail. This isn’t the attitude of the masses, their voices just aren’t being heard by the few who control what will happen and won’t happen in this world.

So, this time I wondered, if George W. Bush had used the word Genocide in his yearly statement yesterday and if the United States officially recognized the Armenian Genocide, how would it have made my life as an Armenian different today?

YerazArt Musicians Arrive in Boston; Free Performance at Massachusetts Statehouse Today at 1PM

The YerazArt group arrived safely here in Boston a few days ago. Today, as part of the Armenian Cultural Month program, Rep. Peter Koutoujian has invited our group to perform at the Grand Staircase inside the Massachusetts Statehouse at 1PM. The mini-performance is free and open to the public. Peter has always been a supporter of our program and this year is no different.

YerazArt Musicians to Appear on National Public Radio (NPR)

I wanted to hold off on this announcement until we received confirmation. After my final conversation with a producer from "The World" on Friday (www.theworld.org), some of the YerazArt musicians and myself will be interviewed on Thursday at the WGBH studios in Boston, MA. We will be interviewed by either Lisa Mullins or Marco Werman. "The World" is a joint production initiated by the BBC/WGBH radio Boston/PRI (Public Radio International) and is distributed by 219 stations in the United States by National Public Radio (NPR). "The World" is an hour long program that brings international news to the United States. For listings in your area, please visit their website. As soon as we hear when the piece will be aired, I will post it on this blog. There is an outside change that it will air on Friday April 27, 2007, with a more realistic air date during the week of April 30, 2007. Each piece is no longer than 8 minutes. I believe we will be included in the "Global Hits" section. More news to follow...

History (ies)

It’s taking place in front of Notre Dame Paris, today and tomorrow

a wall of hand prints in the center of the notice boards of the collectif VAN (vigilance arménienne contre le négationnisme) in order to make sign 2 petitions
one for helping stop Darfouris genocide
the other for passing the law penalising the denying of armenian genocide to the French Senate

From one genocide to another… showing practical results of inaction, passivity : "le déni, ça suffit" (to say that it's time to stop it, denying and inaction)


Tomorrow, most of us French citizens will go to vote.
Make your choice: here’s the leaflets-programs of the 12 candidates of France presidential elections.

Each citizens receive this pack : 1 m² when those documents are spread on my floor, double if the pages are open. Most of the time it’s in the town hall that those letters are prepared and it’s a frenzy activity… One of the strict crazy rules of valid elections here, the price of democracy.

Monday, 2 candidates left to choose, and in the evening it’ll be the Armenians youth associations turn to occupies the place in front of ND, with more particularly the projection of Screamers. The day after, we’ll all remind our losses and urge authorities to recognise it properly.
Tense days are coming, in our lucky lives.

Imagine My Surprise

So it’s Friday night and I’m reading Wednesday’s newspaper. Not only must this be ridiculously faux pas, but borderline questionable behavior. What the heck, it’s just the food section and a nice breather after a long week.

Imagine my surprise though when I turned to page two and started reading about Armenian Bakeries in Los Angeles! It isn’t particularly a great written article and goes to show that there is still much exploration a food writer can do into the world of our edible treats, but this was really nice to see.

The writer became intrigued by “Tahinov Hats” and went bakery hopping to figure out what it was and try some desserts out. Tough job, huh. lol Apparently our Armenian baker’s are treating their recipes for our age-old treat like it was their first-born but managed to get one to share. There is more where that came from, just ask the grandma's.

Here is the link to the abbreviated article.

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-armenian18apr18,1,2820540.story

and

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-armside18apr18,1,7376986.story

YerazArt Recording Now Available

For those who will not get a chance to attend our United States tour, we have made a recording available entitled "Seeds: Classical and Folk Music Miniatures" by the YerazArt Young Musicians from Armenia, Spring 2007. 100% of the proceeds will go towards the YerazArt program as spelled out on our website in the "what we do" section. www.yerazart.org for more info.

To purchase the album, and make a direct contribution towards the improvement of the music scene in Armenia for young people, please visit www.cdbaby.com/yerazart

Lastly, here is our star duduk player at the Massachusetts Statehouse last April 2006 on YouTube. Courtest of State Representative Peter Koutoujian of Massachusetts.

YerazArt Young Musicians from Armenia Documentary, Part Two

Here is the second part of the documentary produced by YerazArt on our program. I am going to make this available on YouTube this time. Both parts are available on Google Video and You Tube. For more information on the Spring 2007 United States Tour by the YerazArt Young Performers of Armenia, please visit our website at www.yerazart.org

No comment

At least the UN's attitude has been pointed...
Here's the New York Time's editorial for last 13th of April edition

YerazArt Young Musicians from Armenia Documentary, Part One

Just in time for our tour of the United States, the YerazArt documentary is getting ready to be released. We're calling it, "A Short Film". Here is a sneak peak at the first 5 minutes of the documentary that was shot in Armenia by Anush A. Hovsepyan for YerazArt. We started this project in September of 2006 and wrapped everything up at the beginning of March. I will be getting the finished product from the DVD plant here in Boston on Tuesday. The DVD is free to the public. Those attending the YerazArt concerts while on tour will be eligible to receive a copy upon request.

My goal in getting this DVD project was to have something to show potential donors, interested performing arts groups, and new media outlets what YerazArt is all about.

YerazArt Soundbooth Now Open

As we continue to develop our website, a new feature we are going with is the "Soundbooth". In late March, we recorded all 8 YerazArt students who are going on tour here starting in a few weeks. The album is due out on April 26, 2007 at the Boston show and will be sold throughout the tour when it will eventually be made available in stores and online. 100% of the sales of the album will go to the YerazArt program.

The three songs that are on the website are "Bonus Track" from the sessions that were left off the album. It's not that they weren't good enough, rather, that they did not fit the overall flow of the album. Thus, we are making them available online to listen.

Click HERE to go to the YerazArt Soundbooth and listen to the next generation of Armenian musical talent.

Our revised and final concert dates/times/venues are now available, as well as full ticketing information HERE.

Calm Before the Storm

As the YerazArt U.S. Tour approaches (April 26-May 11), the preparations have intensified. 10 concerts in 8 cities, with a DVD and CD project in production mode at this time as well. You can catch all the details at www.yerazart.org. As a Diasporan living in America, whose job is to work with our counterparts in Armenia on a daily basis, I though I would share some quirky tidbits about doing business in this fashion.

Federal Express To Armenia- You can ship packages/documents to Armenia and it will get there in 4 days. It's expensive, but, it works. Example- a standard "overnight" document in a document envelope will cost about $80-$100 to get there. We had to ship film footage in the form of Mini-DV's our film maker in Armenia and it cost about $130.

Federal Express From Armenia to the US- This one is a life saver. There is Federal Express service from Armenia to the United States. It's significantly cheaper than the other way around. For example, our YA Country Director sent me 10 DVD (in wallet jackets), three CD's, and 5 Mini DV's in a FedEx "Medium Box". It cost around $75. It was sent on a Friday, and I received it Wednesday (5 days) by 10am at my house.

Phone Calls- I am on the phone every other day with either our YA Country Director, Deem Communications, or our film maker. I usually use www.skype.com or www.pingo.com to make calls. There is a science to all this. If the other party has high speed internet access in Armenia (Deem), then skype is used because we can talk for free, Skype to Skype on the computer. If we have to go the traditional route, I use Pingo at 7 cents a minute for a landline there. Otherwise, if you call a mobile phone in Armenia, it will cost you around 25 cents a minutes. That's usually a last resort.

Emails/Chats- Of course, emails are the best way to go to contact people in Armenia. However, I find that using Yahoo chat, or Gmail chat works well if the person you are doing business with does not have to (or I don't have to) actually speak to you over the phone. It's free, and gets the job done.

Armenian Laws and Other Tomfoolery:

Oh, the logic of Armenia. It defies explanation and imagination. However, in the end, things aren't really so bad. So, we have a group of 10 YerazArt participants visiting the United States in a few weeks. Eight of them are students, and the other two adults. While 9 of them are cleared to travel, the last one (a student) is not so far. It seem that if you are under 16 years old, you possess a "kids Armenian passport" that is either renewed every 3 months, or 6 months. Once you turn 16, you are issued normal "adult passport". I believe that one lasts for 10 years. So, our kid turns 16 the day the whole group is supposed to fly from Yerevan. So, if he comes back to Boston, he won't be able to enter into Armenia. Thus, he needs an adult passport. However, the passport issuing agency doesn't care if the kid is going on tour, representing Armenia, etc. They don't care. They can't issue an Armenian adult passport before his 16th birthday. So, our kid may not be able to travel, since then he has to take his Armenian passport and try and get a US VISA. It makes no matter that they can issue the passport two days before his birthday and make the whole thing easy in anticipation of the trip. Nope. Rules are rules. I wish it was always this principled in other facets of Armenian bureaucracy.

Recommendations for Business Ties in Armenia:

Websites: I recommend the following companies if you need a website up, at a reasonable cost. These companies are bi-lingual and have very quick response times. They are all local to Yerevan. Very realiable.
- http://psy-host.com
- www.broncoway.am
- www.deemcommunications.com

Designwork- There is only one I can recommend at this time. Always on time, reliable, and dynamic design solutions. I have forward non-Armenians their way from the States, Canada, and Italy. Armenian based company started by two Diasporans, Arsineh Khachikian and Raffi Niziblian. Actually, two cilicia.com bloggers as well. They can pretty much meet all of your design needs. They are cheaper than Western rates, but, expensive for Armenian rates. You do get what you pay for in this industry and saving a few bucks in this business usually is not the way to go. Deem charges a fair fee and delivers more than expected. That is rare.
- www.deemcommunications.com

Photography- There are a lot of choices and talent in Armenia. The trick is finding a person who is actually sane and reliable. Otherwise, from professional experience, you can get burned given the fact that you are not on location with them. So, you have to trust their style and focus on their professionalism. (i.e. do they actually do the work, do they deliver what they say they will for the price you agreed, etc.)
-Zaven Khachikyan (well known local Armenian photographer)- He's a true pro and has really done it all. Reasonable rates, always professional. Can be reached at eastwest@arminco.com. Or just ask for him anywhere in Armenia, and you'll get a response within a day. He specializes in studio shots, as he has a full studio in Yerevan.

Film Makers- This is a growing a very lucrative market in Armenia. In fact, there are a lot of companies who are trying to get in on this. To be honest, you really can't go wrong in this field in Armenia as there are so many talented folks. However, if you are looking for a person/company who can do it all in terms of writing/shooting/directing, etc. I would point you in the direction of Anush Hovsepyan. She can be reached at anster_am@yahoo.com
VEM Studios- www.vem.am

Recording Studios- Interesting choices here.
- VEM Studios- www.vem.am
- Mika Margaryan- Don't know how to reach him at this minute, but he as great ear in Armenia.

The Genius of Google

For those of you who may have logged onto Google this morning you would have found a new link advertising revolutionary FREE broadband with TiSP (beta).

If you are interested you can read about it here, http://www.google.com/tisp/faq.html and http://www.google.com/tisp/install.html.


It's revolutionary!