Housing in Hayastan

So I'm going to be in Yerevan helping to renovate 3 kindergartens with my frat for 6 weeks starting mid June until the first of August and like many diasporans embarking on their yearly pilgrimage to the homeland I am looking for housing. It's a very precarious situation to be in, looking for a place to stay that's thousands of miles away from where you are... and I have to say it's a hell of a frustration coordinating this endeavor with a bunch of contacts.

What really amazes me is that the housing market is growing like crazy! Prices range from $50/day to $70/day. When I was in Yerevan during the summer of 05 I remember hearing that people were getting apartments for $35/day and even renting two room salons for $200/mth... two years have gone by and the prices have skyrocketed!

I suppose this is a good thing, a testament to the growing tourist industry which helps the economy, but add this to the continual appreciation of the dram, the rising prices of goods, and the construction of Northern Avenue, I wonder where/when/if this will end. Only 15 years of independence and already Yerevan is making giant strides to be a major tourist hub for the Caucasus, I just hope this wealth will transfer to the people and contribute to the betterment of the country.

Emptying Out The Camera

I have always been fond of traveling, ever since my first real adventure in 1991 with a couple of very close Armenian friends touring Europe after graduating from undergrad. In 2006, the travel schedule for business and personal trip was at a record high. Given I am taking two weeks away from YerazArt and Pomegranate to just decompress and spend some time with my wife, I have begun to empty out my digital camera I rarely use. In any case, I have some random shots from around September 2006 up until the Albuquerque YerazArt concert performance at Civic Plaza. I am throwing in some other shots as well. I am not a photographer by any stretch of the imagination.

Cancun, Mexico (vacation with my wife, Natacha)










Columbus, Georgia USA (for the Guitar Foundation of America Annual Convention)










Key West, Florida










Courmayeur, Italy (photo shoot with photographer Arsineh Khachikian, guitarists Lorenzo Micheli and Matteo Mela)










Montreal, Quebec, Canada (SoloDuo Concert in Downtown Montreal)










Albuquerque, New Mexico (Civic Plaza Concert rehearsals and soundcheck sponsored by the City of Albuquerque, New Mexico)- Harut Chkolyan, Duduk; Meri Khojayan Violin










Albuquerque, New Mexico (Civic Plaza Concert rehearsals and soundcheck sponsored by the City of Albuquerque, New Mexico)- Gayane Khachatryan, Cello










Albuquerque, New Mexico (Civic Plaza Concert rehearsals and soundcheck sponsored by the City of Albuquerque, New Mexico)- Anahit Dilbaryan, Kanoon










Albuquerque, New Mexico- (YerazArt Group Shot with Albuquerque Cultural Affairs Director A.J. Carian)

Release the Stars

"Release the Stars" by Rufus Wainwright.

I've landed back in Boston after an intense and rewarding three week tour with the YerazArt Young Musicians of Armenia. They left on Monday from LA back to Yerevan. On Wednesday I drove from LA to San Francisco to catch my plane back to Boston. I decided to spend that evening in the city doing what I love to do, shop for records at Amoeba on Haight Street. I needed some time alone, free of responsibilities looking for music I have been looking forward to hear. I picked up "Hey Eugene!" by Pink Martini, "Momento" by Bebel Gilberto, "World Passion" by Tigran Hamasyan, "American Oud Master" by George Mgerdichian, and finally "Release the Stars" by Rufus. I picked up Lilit Pipoyan's "Blue Flower" while in LA. So, I was well stocked for my JetBlue red eye back to Boston.

I'm going to take a few weeks off for vacation and probably hang out here in New England and catch up with my wife and local friends. Maybe a trip to New Hampshire, Maine, or Vermont may be in the cards. I usually try to get out of "Dodge" and go West, but, it may be time to explore my local surrounding more. I will say that I really need the time off given the intense experience a tour of this magnitude and responsibility throws at you. Overall, the experience was rewarding for all and thanks to all of you who took the time to visit us at the concerts as I really enjoyed meeting many of our readers.

For those who are familiar with my writing style, I will end up writing about the tour in episodes. I'll try and pick out the most entertaining and interesting and post them. I do have pictures and videos I will post.

Finally, I've noticed some new additions to our side of the blog. I like it. As someone who has written here since June 2001, I concur with Raffi Kojian that it would be great to see some new blood on the blog.

Good to be back, lots to tell.

Another new guy? Oh I have a story too...

Surprise! Another new blogger for cilicia... my name is Levon btw, you might have read my ultra famous (or not so famous) blog http://eastwestarmos.blogspot.com/

Ok so chances are you haven't read it (hence the shameless plug). Well onto bigger and better things I suppose, I will try my hand at cilicia blogs, a brief bio then an interesting story...

Name: Levon
Location: Los Angeles (Pasadena)
Organizations involved with: Alpha Epsilon Omega; An Armenian fraternity.. yes you heard me, there's an Armenian fraternity! Shameless plug #2: http://www.alphaepsilonomega.org/

Other info can be found on my other blog, now to the story

So my university has a National Model UN team where every year we go to New York for a week and compete at the national conference. I was in it last year and this year, my final year. Our team is made up of people from around the world: a handful of indians, a brazilian, latinos, whites, and of course the token Armenian guy (me). But last year there was a Turkish fellow on our team. Now, relations weren't the greatest between us, I mean, they were polite and cordial but we kept it at that. Although it may seem like a pain to be on the same team as a Turk, it was a learning experience because not only did I have to tolerate it, but I had to be on the same team as him! I'm sure the feelings were mutual, however I realized halfway through it that as much as it bugged me that there was a Turk on the team, it bugged him just as much that there was an Armenian on the team. I later learned, through talking to others about the genocide, that it really irked him when I talked about it. I never talked to him openly about it, mainly because I knew he was a denier, but others noticed the tension and would approach us individually about the issue. Well, eventually he graduated last year and I had the fortune to redo the experience this year without him. But the other day I learned through a friend an interesting tale about this Turkish fellow that put things into perspective...

Apparently the guy was walking in the Glendale Galleria and was appraoch by a group of Armenians, 4 to be exact, who noticed that his keychain brandished the Turkish flag (not a smart thing to do in Glendale) and the group of Armenians later assaulted him. Apparently when he was telling this story to a friend of mine he was visibly upset at the experience. Yet although he openly admitted contempt for those extreme Armenians, the ones that jumped him, I don't suppose he has a universal animosity towards us.

It really puts things into perspective, when I hear about stories like this. Just imagine if I walked into Ankara brandishing an Armenian flag and suddently get assaulted, just like my ancestors did. Now, obviously that's wrong, so I can't help but sympathize for the guy who got assaulted just because.... of who he was. A terrible thought, although I understand where the Armenians are coming from, it still leaves a mark on this fragile thing called Armenian-Turkish relations...

Ask and you shall receive...

Hi...I'm Lori

I've been reading the blogs on Cilicia.com for years and today I saw Raffi's "gotch" for new diaspora bloggers. I felt compelled to step up since my cousin Shooshig is part of the reason Raffi needs "fresh blood". It's only fitting that someone from our bloodline do something to help rectify the situation.

I was born in Little Armenia (I'm very proud that I was born within walking distance of Falafel Arax and Zankou. That reminds me, the 2nd Annual Armenian Independence Day Street Festival in Little Armenia is next weekend so I'll blog about that after I attend) I spent the first couple decades of my life attending Armenian schools and being involved in various Armenian organizations. About 8 years ago I moved to the South Bay and I currently reside in Hermosa Beach.

My first visit to Armenia was back in 1997. That visit was one of mixed feelings and emotions. Seeing Yerevan's "veejag" in those days was a tad depressing and I found myself wondering if this was what independence meant. I couldn't help but think of all the songs I'd heard about Yerevan and it's splendor and wonder where it was. Since that first trip a decade ago I have visited Armenia numerous times and each time I see how far Armenia has come and my senses of pride and faith are renewed. I don't even recognize Yerevan anymore, she's amazing!

During that first trip in '97 I also went to Artsakh where I got to spend time with locals and listen to their stories about what they had been through. I heard them singing "Tajan Gurvoum" and the song took on a WHOLE new meaning. They were singing about people they had known, and here I was with these people who had made the liberation of Kharapagh possible playing cards and picnicking at Kantzasar. It was surreal.

I will also NEVER forget the first time I saw Mount Ararat. I was climbing up the stairs of AUA and I turned around to say something to my cousin and the words I was uttering got caught in my throat, I couldn't find my breath and felt like the wind had been knocked out of me and I just stared in amazement at the grandeur of this gigantic mountain that I had learned about in history books, heard about in poems and seen in pictures that clearly didn't do it any justice. There it was staring right back at me, smiling at me and all I could do is stare at it in silence as tears streamed down my face.

What I'm getting at here is this...I have traveled all around Greece, Italy, Prague, Amsterdam, Cuba...etc. No place in the world has been as infectious as Armenia. I remember looking at the sun setting over the Corinthian canal in Greece and hearing my trip mates rave about the beauty of the mountains and just thinking "If they only knew how beautiful the hills of Artsakh are! If they only knew what Ararat is like" but I wonder now.... would they know? Would they get it? The point is I do. I get it and I aspire to one day follow in my beloved cousin Shooshig's and my father's footsteps and become a repat but until that time comes, I hope you'll enjoy my blogs about my life here in the diaspora.

Fresh Blood!!

Hello readers - as you can see... there's a need for new faces (fingers) on this blog. Too many of the Diaspora bloggers keep moving to Armenia on me! So if you live in the Diaspora, and you are NOT GOING TO MOVE TO ARMENIA THIS YEAR, please let me know if you'd consider blogging! ;-)

OK, fine, I'll consider people planning on moving here as well!

my email address is on the side of this page, if you look carefully...