This morning after breakfast, we got onto the bus and we headed for Etchmiadzin. On the bus we sang Hayr Mer, Hymn Artsakhy and Harach Nahadag.
The Cathedral of Echmiadzin is very beautiful. It has a khach kar in front of it. The khach kar has an eagle and a sword on it. The inside of the church has two places to put candles. There was also a spot in the front of the room where there were candle holders hanging from the ceiling. We bought 70 candles to light for everyone who donated in honor or memory of their loved ones. Since today was Sunday and there was badarak, there were a lot of people there. We saw the Vehapar as he was walking to church and he touched us on our heads to bless us.
After Echmiadzin, we went to a church were Mesrop Mashdots was buried. We went into a basement to see his burial place. The basement was small and had one lamp hanging from the ceiling. We didn’t get a chance to light a candle or put flowers down on Mesrop Mashdots’s grave. The room that we went into had a big picture of Mesrop Mashdots. We said a poem in the room where Mesrop Mashdots was buried. After that we went to his statue and took pictures. Outside of the church, we took pictures with khatchkar Armenian letters.
After that we headed for the bus and drove off to get lunch. For lunch we had lahmajun, kebab, and pilaf. After we ate we went outside and we saw this dog that was a german shepherd. His name was sujukh.
When we got to Dzidzernagapert we went into the Armenian Genocide museum and saw some slides, old artifacts, and books made by famous people. Then when the tour was done we got our flowers and started walking to the monument.
We then went to Dzidzernagapert. At Dzidzernagapert we saw the needle shaped tower and the twelve pillared circle. Inside we put down our two flowers and prayed around the eternal flame.
-Alina Chaparian