Wednesday, June 3, 2009
This morning I woke up and said to myself, “Oh no! It’s the last full day in Armenia!” Then I thought about it a little and said “It’s o.k. – I’m going to see my friends and family in America.” Now I am going to tell you what I saw and learned today.
This morning we first drove by the Krikor Lousavorich church, which was built in 2001, celebrating 1700 years of Armenians adopting Christianity. It’s the biggest cathedral in Armenia.
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Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Today we went to the metro Station which was really fast. Next we went to Madenataran and we saw the statue of Mesrob Mashdoz. Next in the museum we saw one of the worlds smallest books. It was called a “Tzoog”. It had 103 pages and it is used in church for prayers. We also saw “Hsga” one of the largest books in the world with 604 pages.
After that we saw bibles that were translated from Greek to Armenian. Next we saw Vortan Garmir which makes the color red. Then we saw the book that the president pledges on. That book is the oldest one that was made in the 7th century.
We went to Grand Candy where there was a lot of candy but most of it was chocolate. Digin Ademis got plenty of candy for everyone at the school.
Next we went to the opera house where we saw a bale about ancient times where kings would kidnap and imprison inanest people ,but at the the end one of the prisoners get killed which was very sad.
Today was one of the most funniest days because of all the cool places we visited.
By: Koko Boyajian
Monday, June 1, 2009
Today we came back to Yerevan from Karabagh. On the way back, we stopped in Berdzor, along the Lachin Corridor in Artsakh, to plant trees. It was messy but it felt good. I felt like I was helping Armenia. There was a plaque dedicated to St. Stephen’s.
We then entered Armenia. Our first stop was Jermuk, where we went to the factory and looked at how Jermuk was bottled. It is amazing it takes so many machines to make one bottle. The container starts out as one tiny bottle and it becomeshuge. The factory is very noisy and full of rhythm of machines. After that we went to the waterfall where it comes. Near it were carvings of Armenian freedom fighters.
As we were coming back to Yerevan, we saw rivers, canyons, trees, hills, mountains, grass, bushes and rocks. Everything was full of nature.At the end of the day we went to dinner to Jazzve and finally came to the hotel. It was a wonderful day.
By Tenny Gregorian
Sunday May 31, 2009
Today is the second day we woke up in Karabagh. After breakfast we headed toward Amaras. On the road we saw the Shushi Jail up on a mountain overlooking the valleys of Karabagh. We also saw piglets, goats, cows and snakes. The mountains of Karabagh are rocky, high, big, beautiful and mysterious.
After approximately an hour drive from Stepanagert, we arrived to Amaras. Amaras is the name of a river. It is one of the first schools of Armenia. It was also a church. This monastery was founded by Krikor Lousavoritch and finished by his grandson Grigoris. Grigoris was later buried there after he was killed at the age of 16. He was killed because he was spreading the Christian Religion. His gravesite is under the Khoran which is the oldest part of the church. His gravesite has a secret passage that goes to a river gorge.
Amaras was destroyed by Mongols and others who wanted to stop the spread of Christianity. It was last rebuilt in the 17th Century.
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Saturday, May 30, 2009
This was our first morning we woke up in Karabakh our liberated homeland. Our first stop was at Gandzasar monastry where St. Honhaness Mgrdich’s head resides under the altar. It was called Gandzasar because the mountain was rich with silver and gold.
Gandzasar was built in 1216-1246 by prince Hasen Jalal. During the Karabakh war, it survived the Azeri’s bombing.
On the way back, we past from the village vank where we saw the where the population protested against the Azeri government and remove their car plates and put it on the walls.
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Friday, May 29, 2009
We all woke up happily (and a little early) from partying last night at the May 28 celebration. Now, our class is heading to Artsakh. We are going to stay there for a few days. We have several stopping point on our way to Artsakh, including Khor Virab, Noravank, and Karahunge.
On our way to Khor Virab we saw the Gomidas Pantheon, where many important Armenians are buried (for example: Gomidas, William Saroyan, and Aram Khachatourian among others). One interesting place we passed by was the rubber factory. It was where people make rubber. Then, we entered Ararat Valley where it is the center of Armania’s agricultural prodcution. But, the most beautiful place we saw was Mt. Ararat. It was the clearest view of the mountain I had ever seen! The class and the parents took many pictures in front of Mt. Ararat, in Khor Virab. We also learned that the mountain range is called Armenian Dance (Haygagan Shourchbar), because it looks like Mt. Ararat is dancing.
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Thursday, May 28, 2009
Hi guys! It’s David. Today was May 28, 2009. We had so much fun today! We sang, danced, recited poetry, and “keffed” on the bus. Today was so exciting!
First, we went to Sardarabad where we celebrated May 28 (Armenia’s independence day). So many people were there, that you’d think everyone in Armenia had come. There we sang some more, took too many pictures (like always), and enjoyed some people’s entertainment.
Then we went to the Armenian Cultural Museum. There, we looked at old Armenian cultural artifacts, all of the Armenian superstitious items, and different clothing. What interested me the most in that museum was how the word “carpet” is originally an Armenian word “gaberd”. The museum was very interesting and entertaining.
After that, we had some free time. At 7:00, we regrouped for dinner then went to Hakhdanagi Aykee. . That’s where you can see Mair Hayastan, and her sword facing Turkey. On our bus ride there, we saw our first really beautiful view of Ararat.
In front of Mair Hayastan, there is a carnival. We went there for an hour and fifteen minutes. We rode in Ferris wheels, drove bumper cars, and went in gocarts. At the end, we saw fireworks which were amazing.p5270039
It was so much fun, but we still miss seeing your happy faces to light up our hearts every morning. We miss you, think of you constantly, and hope you guys are happy. We’ll see you soon. Bye!
By David Babikian
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
On our way to Lake Sevan; we saw the statues of Hayk Nahabed and Dork Ankegh. We went to the Temple of Garni, also known as the Pagan Temple. It was small but nice, the steps up to the Temple were big, and because of that whenever you went up a step you bowed. The view was amazing; there are rivers and many mountains. We saw a house in the middle of the mountains. We were so close to the mountains we could see the top of the mountains and the clouds around us. We saw an old time roman bath house which belonged to King Drtad.
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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.
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Monday, May 25, 2009
Today May 25, 2009, I up very healthy and happy. We had breakfast and then we went to see the Alexander Tamanyan statue. He was an architect who drew the outline of Yerevan and the Cascade. It was decorated with flowers.
After that, we went to the school Anania Shirakatsy. We studied science, technology and we played basketball with them. They know the languages Russian, Armenian and English. We had lunch with the students.
We went to the Armenia Tree Project and planted trees. It’s nice to see Armenia green and clean.
By:Ani Vehapetian
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Today our first full day of being in Armenia. After sleeping a very short time, we woke up and started our day.
After breakfast, we got on the road to Echmiadzin. On our way, we saw the cemetery of Artsakh soldiers, Mount Ararat, the church of Sourp Heripsime, and Gomidas Vartabed statue.
When we got to Echmiadzin, built in 303 A.D, we lit candles for all those who requested candle lighting in memory of their loved ones, also for all of our families. Echmiadzin was filled with vartabeds, surpazans and the monastery students. Before the Badarak, as a surprise Karakin Vehapar came in. Karakin blessed all of our St. Stephens students by putting his hands of our heads.
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Friday and Saturday, May 22 and 23, 2009
After much anticipation the departure day was here at last. We said goodbye to our families and friends and got on the bus heading to Logan airport for ARMENIA.
Finally we landed at Paris airport around 6 o’clock in the morning (Paris time).
We had to wait almost 8 hours there to take the next flight to Armenia. After a long wait we boarded the plane. We all were so excited and also very tired. We fell asleep on the plane for a long time.
As soon as we entered Armenia’s airspace we saw Mount Ararat and Mount Arakadz. The plane landed in Yerevan at 9:03 pm. We all cheered and clapped at that moment. We finally had arrived to our destination- our homeland.
It was a long journey but also filled with much fun and excitement.
Lori Sahakian