Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Today we went to Gumri. On the road we saw many new homes, and a very large home owned by a person named Sergei. We learned that Armenian is one of the oldest languages, and that the scientific name for apricots is named after the Armenians.
We also went to the church where Mesrob Mashdots supposedly lies. The crypt is located down some stairs under the altar in a very small room. When we were there, we sang one of the songs that Digin Lilly taught us about Mesrob Mashdots. We also recited a poem, called Khoseh Hayeren written by Jacques Hagopian.
We went outside and Digin Ardemis got us permission to stand outside by the stones that were sculpted in all the letters of the Armenian Alphabet. Every stone that was carved had some significance with the Armenians and the Culture.
We also learned that he also founded the alphabet used by Georgians. The theory is that no one really knows where he is actually buried. After that we went back on the road to Gumri. We saw lots of cows and a few shepherds along the way. We stopped once to take pictures of one shepherd, his cows and the beautiful countryside all around us.
Then we got back on the bus to Gyumri and went to the Gyumri Museum. We learned that the city was first called Gyumri, then was changed to Alexandrapol, then to Leninagan, and then back to Gyumri. We also learned that the people of Alexandrapol were very talented and worked with silver, copper and gold. We learned that many writers were also from Gyumri. On the road we went to Jajur and went to the art musam of Minas Avetissyan. The paintings were wonderful. Afterwards we went back on the road to the hotel.
The bus driver took a different route on the way home and we saw the Turkish/Armenian border. We saw many farms along the way with many cows. We then drove by the nuclear plant in Armenia.
We arrived at the restaurant for dinner and then walked back to the hotel, which is how we end our evening.
By Melanie Aftandilian