Day 1
Friday, May 21, 2010
It was very emotional when we departed from the school. Many children crying and missing their parent who was not going on the trip.but by the time we got to Logan Airport people were not as emotional. When we got to Logan we got in line, went through security, our bags taken away, we were able to board! We left at around 5:30 pm. When we were taking off we were all sitting around one another, we were able to play with our Nintendo DSI’S or just a regular DS light. We all were satisfied when dinner came around, there was a choice of either chicken with rice or pasta I tried both and honestly I have to say that they were both delicious!
By Lenna Wolffe
Once we flew in to Paris we had to go threw security since that took about a half hour we had about six and a half hour to kill. After we had eaten we decided to take a look around. The airport in Paris was really cool and a lot bigger then Logan and it even had a Play Station area. Most of the time we played there. Before we bordered the plane we sat in the gate for about fifteen minutes. It was really cool because we got to sing for people we recite poems.
Once we were on the plane and took off we were so excited that we were going to finely go to Armenia. By the first half hour most of us were already asleep, but a hour before we were about to land we all woke up. But the coolest thing of all was that there was a famous Armenian actor singer on our flight.
A few minutes before we landed we think we saw Mount Ararat and took plenty of pictures. When we landed, we were all very excited that we landed in Armenia.
Off to Etchmiadzin tomorrow.
By Garine Minassian
Day 3
Today was our first exciting day sightseeing!
We woke up at 8:00 am, had a delicious breakfast at 9:00 am, and got on the bus at 10:00 am. We had to wait for some people and finally hit the road at 10:10. We were going to go to The Mother Cathedral of Echmiadzin built in 301-303; the oldest Armenian church. On the way to Echmiadzin, we saw the statue of Mousa Ler, we saw Ararat and Arakadz.
When we got to Echmiadzin, the first real sight was the beautiful open Alter. Later, we went behind the church and saw one of the Armenian Genocide Memorials. After that we heard the sweet bells of Echmidzin ringing, and saw the Gatorigos and his Processionals walking toward the Cathedral. Then we took part in the mass for 15-20 minutes.
After visiting the gift shop, we hit the road again for Oshagan, where Mesrob Mashdots is buried. During the trip we saw Ara Ler and lots of green. Lucky for us, once we arrived at the church, people were going to sing. After the third song, we went downstairs to see Mesrob Mashdots’s grave, which was covered with flowers. We left the grave and took pictures in front of his statue, with the first graders of an Armenian village. Then we went to Dareri Aiki, where there was each Armenian letter in khatchkar form. We finished taking pictures and left for Ashdaragi Tsor, which was a wonderful restaurant.
Last we drove to Arakadz to get to Ambpert. By the time we got there, it was really cold, and it started to rain. So, we got back on the bus, to wait for the rain to stop, while our tour guide, Mariam, told us interesting legends and stories about the fortress, which is called Ambpert for its elevation. It means Amberoo mech pert with an elevation of 2,300 kilometers. The rain stopped and we went to explore the pretty place. We saw a church in the back, a ruined castle in the front, and a visible rainbow in the far back.
When we left the fortress everyone wanted to go to the Armenian alphabet statues. Everyone’s shoes were muddy because it rained there. When we went on the bus everyone had to take of their shoes and walk barefoot. When we left there we were going to go to a resteruant named Hin Yerevan. Everyone dance very joyfully and happily. After dancing we celebrated Daron’s birthday. We had a blast and came home very tired.
Today was an extremely exciting day, and we hope everyday will be like this!
By Garo Bazarbashian and Joseph Hajjar
Day 4
Today is day 4 of our journey in our homeland. Today’s trip took us from one end of Armenia to the other and ended in Arstakh. On our way to Khor Virab Monastery, we started to notice the great peaks of Mt. Ararat through the trees and bushes. Everyone became extremely anxious, grabbed their cameras and started taking pictures. Finally, the bus stopped at the parking lot of the church (Park-Astudzo), we ran out of the bus, up the hill to the area where it’s the closest spot to see Mt. Ararat from Armenia, took more pictures, then started heading into the monastery. We learned the story of St Gregory the Illuminator and how he was imprisoned in a hole for 13 years with no light. It was our turn to go down the hole. All the students and most of the parents took the 27 (thanks for counting Lenna) wobbly metal steps down to the dark dungeon. Many of us lit candles and prayed. After heading up the same 27 stairs it was back to the bus and on to Noravank, the 13th century monastery.
After a long bus ride we got to the beautiful church on top of a hill. Once again we ran out of the bus and up the hill to climb the stone stairs of the church. This had 15 steps on each side. All the students sat on each stone step while the parents took pictures with 17 different cameras. Noravank has many different churches; each church has 2 parts, the church and the vestibule. The vestibule has lots of burial tombs. On one of the churches, we saw the only representation of Father God in Armenia. The carved stone has the face of a Mongolian. This was done so the Mongolian’s won’t burn down the church during a war between the Armenian’s and the Mongolian’s. This idea was also used on Shah Apas at Echmiadzin. We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant next to Noravank.
Then, we got on to the bus and to our next destination; Karahundj (pre-historic Stonehenge) in the Sisian Region. The large stones, some as heavy as two tons were placed perfectly to align with the sun and stars. After this short stop, we were on our way to Arstakh. On this extremely long ride, we learned about the great battles the brave Armenian solders fought to reclaim this region. We arrived very late to The Armenia Hotel in Arstakh, we got our room keys, had a quick dinner and off to bed (well not for me, because I wanted to write this blog for you guys).
By Katarena Nalbandian
Day 5
We traveled to Amaras to see the site of the first Armenian school. The school was founded by Mesrob Mashdots, who invented the Armenian alphabet. At the site of the school, there is a monastery built in the 4th century by St. Greogoris, who is now buried underneath the monastery. Amaras monastery, was destroyed by the Mongols, Turks, and Azeris. On the ceiling of the school, Mesrob Mashdots wrote the
APC because when the students were tired, their heads would fall back, and they would see the Armenian alphabet.
Next we drove passed Shushi on the way back to Stepanakert. The population of Shushi is about 3000 residents and it is located on a white rock. The residents are famous for their Ishkahna Tsog (fish). The town is very prosperous. There were lots of battles in Shushi, and was liberated in 1992.
On the bus, we sing our Armenian songs, and recite poems. We enjoy the beautiful views of the mountains, fields, cows and other animals. We always have fun with all the other kids.
In Stepanakert, we visited the Fallen Heroes of Artsakh Museum. There were over 3000 photos of fallen soldiers from the battles in Artsakh against the Turk’s, Azeri’s, and Mongol’s. Seeing these photos made us feel very honored to be Armenian. Although it was sad to see how young some of the soldiers were when they died, we would not have Artsakh connected to Armenia without these battles.
After lunch in Stepanakert, we went back to visit Shushi where we stopped to see the Shushi Liberation Monument. This monument was a tank used during battle which sits on a white rock high above a cliff. Afterwards we visited a cathedral called ‘St. Ghazanchetsots’ or ‘All-Savior Church’ which was built in 1878. We were privileged to take a tour of the hidden confessional under the alter with the Deacon of the church. This room was built so that when you stand on a holy rug in the exact spot and speak, it feels like you are speaking directly to God. This allows the priest to ask God for forgiveness.
To end our day, we were invited to meet the president of Artsakh, Pago Sahakian. He spoke with us about how he governed, his dreams of building an airport, and the importance of the villages surrounding Stepanakert. It was our honor to visit the president. He sent us off with wishes that as adults we would return to Artsakh to help this country continue to prosper.
By Ani Aroyian and Reni Bedrosian
Day 6
Today we woke up at 7:30 am and went for breakfast at 8:30. After breakfast some of the kids went on the computer for a few minutes to check their e-mails and look at the blog before heading to the monastery of Gandzasar.
Gandzasar is a very big church with a lot of stone crosses. It is located in the Northern part of Artsakh. The church was built in 1238 (13th century). The stone crosses were created before the church was built and are placed on one side of the church. Our tour guide (Maryam) said that there is only one stone cross in Armenia with the design of sun on it and it is located in Gandzasar.
Artsakh has 6 regions: Martouni, Shahoumian, Martakert, Askeran, Shushi and Hadrout. There are many vegetables (tomatoes, cucamber, herbs) and fruits (apple, mulberry, walnut, quince, cherries) that are grown in Artsakh. After lighting candles, and listening to the tour guide, we took lot of group and family pictures and then went to the souvenir shop.
After Gandzasar, we went to a village of Vank near the monastery where there was a zoo and a restaurant in the shape of a boat. There were also lots of walls covered with license plates from Azerbaijan time. We all had ice cream there that was very delicious.
After Vank we went to Nigol Touman house and museum which is in the Village of Gheshlagh. The bus could not go to the village so we had to walk about 1 kilometer to reach there. When we got there, the lunch was ready and we ate great local food (Jengelov Hats, potato and pork kebab and vegetables). After lunch we visited the museum which was very nice and we learned about Nigol Touman, who was an educated man that knew more than 5 languages and was a hero who faught against Turks to save the Armenians.
Later, on our way back to Stepanakert we stopped by the monument of Mamig and Babik and took lot of photos that we will share with you today. It was very exciting and some of us even tried climing on the monument. We also met the students from Alex Pilibos high school from Los Angeles that were visiting Armenia and Artsakh, just like us.
On the roads we saw lots of beautiful hills and mountains and also saw lots of animals like horses, donkeys, sheeps, goats, pigs, roosters and chickens.
Finally, we reached the city of Stepanakert and stopped by the bazaar and we all went for local shops. It was fun to see the people and talking to them and learning about their way of life. We all eally enjoyed our day vey much.
By Areg Ghahraman
Day 7
Today we left the Artsakh Hotel Armenia. We drove two hours to Lachin where we planted 17 walnut trees. When planting the trees, it was hard to take the tree roots out of the bags and some people ripped the trees out of the bags. We also saw trees that were planted last year. It was a wonderful experience planting trees in Lachin, knowing that we were creating memories and helping the environment and the Artsakh people.
On our way to Yerevan, we stopped by the beautiful village of Jermuk. On the whinny roads to Jermuk we saw cows, sheep, horses, donkeys and dogs. We also saw beehive boxes they keep bees in to collect honey.
Jermuk is a beautiful village famous for its mineral water, it is 2,000 meters above sea level. Jermuk means “warm” in Russian. We went to the Armenia Spa and Resort for lunch, it had beautiful architecture with arches and water fountains where we sampled different temperature mineral water. We also visited the park dedicated to the fallen Armenian Heroes where we took pictures on top of Hrair Tejokh’s statute.
After lunch, we visited the Jermuk mineral water bottling factory where we sampled the Jermuk water while it was going through the machine. It was very interesting to see what happens in a factory like that.
We got back onto the bus and traveled for another two hours to see Ararat again and arrive in Yerevan.
By Alexis Cormier
Day 8
Today is an important day in Armenian history (all around the world). We went to the monument of Sardarabad where the battle happened on May 28, 1918.
The monument was built based on the famous battle on May 26, 1918, and the magnificent architectural edifices proclaimed the victory of the battle. There was a major engagement at Sardarabad where the Armenians defeated the Turkish Army. The statues of the ancient bulls, walls, eagles and the Bell Tower monument which were constructed in 1968 is a pilgrim’s shrine to Armenians throughout the world. The entrance to the park is flanked by huge winged oxen made of red tuff. A flight of steps leads to a square from where a 35-meter high bell tower rises. The beautiful trellis structure with its twelve bells can be seen from afar. The bells ring every year on the day of the historic victory. A lane of eagles, symbolizing the spirit of the fearless fighting men, leads to a curved Wall of Victory, with scenes of the battle, and the figure of a woman with a child, signifies a symbol of revival. The complex was designed by the architect Rafael Israelyan.
Aram Manokian, the president of the parliament, said “voch meg kail tebe edev” in English that means no step back, defend your homeland. Also we went to the museum and everyone was so tired we had a hard time listening to the speaker because we were all tired. It was hot and a tiring day. At the museum there were a bunch of ancient artifacts and there were two windows, the first one overlooks Mt. Ararat and the second window overlooks Mt. Arakatz. Then we returned to the hotel with great satisfaction. We had a free time and some people went out, and I got a Armenia soccer jersey!!!!!!!!!!!!
By Hovig Margosian
Day 9
Today we woke up at 8:30. First we went to Yeraploor, the cemetary of fallen heroes. At 951 meters it is compared to the Parthenon in Greece. It was built in the 1990s and is the resting place of many heroes including General Antranig and Sosse Maireeg. There were six girls that died and the youngest was a 14 year old boy.
The Armenians would use hunting rifles while the Azeris were using AK 47s. One fighter named Monte Melkonian wanted to be buried there so he could see Mt. Ararat. 1919 soldiers were buried there while 520 are unaccounted for. The Azeris claim there are no prisoners.
Next to the cemetery there was a chapel named St. Vartanantz. The heroes wanted newborn children to be baptized there.
Next we went to Dzeedzernagapert which is the hill of the swallows. We went to the museum and saw lots of pictures and facts to prove there was a Genocide. The pictures were very sad.
Then we went to the eternal flame and put flowers and prayed. Then the parents put flowers and we all prayed together. We started talking about what the flame makes you think. My answer was, “the Armenians are going to live forever”.
Later in the day we went to a market called Vernisage. we walked around, bought lots of things and had free time until dinner.
By Daron Hamparian
Day 10
Today is Sunday May 30. This morning on our way to Garni we saw the statues of Hayk Nahabed and Vahagen choking a dragon. We arrived in Garni, which is one of the biggest and oldest village in Hayastan. The gate at Garni was locked so Mariam, our guide, had the gates opened for us.
Garni was originally a Pagan temple built in 77 B.C. It was built on top of a hill surrounded on two sides by gorges and one side had a fortress wall. The walls were 6 feet thick by 60 feet high. It also had 14 towers built into the wall. We saw lots of mountains and rivers that ran through the gorges. The temple was built using steel spikes and lead without any cement. Inside there was a hole in the middle and a temple in the back side of the small hall. We saw a man playing a duduk there also.
Next to the temple was a bath house that was built by Greek slaves. They had built the bath house and were not paid so they made a mosaic that said “We built this but were not paid”. The floor of the bath house was built on columns. This way they could put hot water underneath to keep the floors warm. Behind the bath house were ruins of a palace originally built in the 7th century.
Next we went to Geghard Monastery which is in the Kotayk region. This monastery was built into the mountain side. It looks like one church but it has three churches on the inside. Inside one of churches was a water pool that turned into a stream. There is a legend that says if a women drinks the water they become pregnant.
We had lunch at a family’s backyard that they had made into a restaurant. When we walked in there was a lot of smoke everywhere because they were cooking our food. The food was so good. There was chicken, potatoes, and fish. They cooked our lunch in a pit. They also made lavash bread and we saw how they made it. It was really yummy.
On our way to Sevan we were on a highway which was a nice change because most of the other roads were very bumpy. In Sevan we went to the Sevan Armenian Learning Center. This is an afterschool program for the local kids. We spent an hour with them playing games and some of the kids exchanged email addresses to keep in touch. We gave them backpacks with our schools logo on it and they gave us goody bags with pictures, their artwork and little booklets.
After this we went to Lake Sevan. We visited the two churches on a small mountain that used to be an island but is not anymore. It is now connected to the mainland because the water level had dropped when they started using the water to make electricity. Now there are stairs to get to the two churches on top of the mountain. The two churches are known as Stepanavank. One is in use and the other is not. We lit candles in the church and took a lot of pictures there overlooking the lake.
Sevan lake is 1900 meters above sea level and is 78 meters long. It has two sections but is not separated. Some of our group walked into the water and it was really cold. Most of us also collected sand and water from the beach there.
On our way back we drove past the monument of Hayk Nahabed. Hayastan was named after him. He fought against Pel and shot an arrow with three feathers that went through the shield of Pel.
Dinner was at Lagonid and we had a traditional Middle Eastern dinner of Hummus, Tabouleh, Baba Ganoush, Lahmejune, and Chicken.
ByLori Shirinian and Garen Soukiasian
Day 11
Today, day 11, we visited Alexander Tamanyan’s statue. Alexander Tamanyan was the architect of Yerevan. He was born in Russia and came to Armenia in the early 1920’s when Armenia was under the control of the Soviet Union. He drew the blueprint of the city of Yerevan for 125,000 inhabitants. However, the city grew to over one million people and they had to build more housing on the outskirts of the city. Yerevan was made up of 3 parts. The Republic Square, the universities and the industrial parts. In order to connect the lower and upper parts of the city Tamanyan designed the “Cascades” which is a series of steps made of white doof stone and has 4 museums on 4 different levels. The first museum is Khanjyan Hall, the second museum is called Sasountsi Davit Garden Hall, the third is the Eagle Hall and the 4th museum is Eagle Garden Hall. The Cascades is a beautiful structure made up of 465 steps on the highest level of which overlooks the entire city. To honor Alexander Tamanyan, the Armenian government decided to build a statue for him. The statue was designed by Ardashes Hovsepian, were Tamanyan is leaning over a desk and looking at his blueprints of Yerevan. Yerevan is 2,792 years old. Every year the Armenians celebrate the anniversary of the city by coming together and singing, dancing and sharing food.
We went to the Ananya Shiragats School. Our class got split up into three groups. One group went to Life Skills, another went to Geography and the third went to Armenian class. Every class had 12-14 students. The classrooms were about half the size of our classrooms. Everyone enjoyed their class and met new friends. After visiting the classrooms, we went to the computer lab and we got to write and play games on a touch-screen computer (how cool). Then we went to meet the principal of the school. We talked about Armenia and his school.
After visiting the school we went to plant trees in Yerevan at the Armenia Tree Project. At the Armenia Tree Project there was a reception for us where we met new friends. On our way back to the hotel we saw a clear view of Mt. Ararat.
In the evening, we went to the Opera House to see “Pert” an Armenian dance group. This was a great performance by dancers dressed in beautiful traditional Armenian costumes.
By: Natalie Ourfalian
Day 12
Today we went to Lori region. There were beautiful mountains, canyons, forests and its famous river Tebed. Lori is a region of Armenia very close to the border of Georgia. On the way to Lori we went through the town of Spidag which had suffered from the huge earthquake on December 7th, 1988. During the earthquake 25,000 people died. After the earthquake there was a new church that was built in Spidag. A rich man who owns many casinos in Las Vegas sent one-million dollars to help rebuild the city. Lori is the most beautiful region in Armenia. All of the houses had red roofs.
One of the important places we visited in Lori was Hovhannes Toumanian’s home/museum. It was really interesting and very big. It was also made of wood, rocky and old fashioned. The house was half in the ground. He was born in that house 141 years ago. He said that the nature in Lori was beautiful and the talent that he had was given by God and Nature. He started writing at 11 years old which is exactly our age! In his home the oven that he used to make his bread is made out of stone. They didn’t make lavash because it was too humid they only made madnakash. Hovhannes Toumanian’s family would only eat meat on special occasions. He always went to the fields and watched the birds because he adored them. Hovhannes Toumanian had 7 siblings 4 brothers and 3 sisters and he is the oldest one. He was also in the dynasty of Vartan Mamigonian. His parents’ names were Vahan and Nvart, his sisters names were Osana, Isgouhi, and Asdghig. Hovhannes Toumanian’s dad was the town priest and he was very smart and educated. When he was young he used to listen to the stories that the elders used to tell and he wrote his stories based from what he had heard. He wrote many books and poems. His first book was published in 1890, in Moscow. One of his books turned to two movies. His books were translated in 50 different languages.
For lunch we went to a restaurant in a five star hotel. Almost everybody loved the “Ishkhanatzoog”. Outside, was pretty big and we played games together. After that, we headed in the arcade, and from the window you could see the pool and the small jacuzzi next to it. Then, we went to the bus and started on to Haghpat monastery.
We went to Haghpat. It was very beautiful inside and outside. There were many different designs on all of the windows and the walls. Some of the writing on the walls was painted with Vortan Garmir. It was pretty cool and the designs on the top were very complicated. The monastery was built by Queen Khosrovanoush and King Ashod III (also known as Ashod Voghormadz because he was very nice and helpful to his people). They built the church in honor of their sons, Smpad and Kourken. Their images were carved on the top of the church wall, holding the model of the church.
After Haghpat, we went to Sanahin monastery. Sanahin means that it was older than Haghpat. The priests in Haghpat were jealous because they saw that Sanahin was an older church so, the Sanahin people said “sa nraneetz heen a” which means this is older than the other, and that’s how the monastery was named.
On the way back, we played some fun games on the bus, like “why and because” and we sang lots of songs. Although it was a long day, we had a lot of fun. We made it to Yerevan at 10:30 and had a late dinner of wings, pizza and pasta at Square One Restaurant near the Republic Square then walked to our Hotel.
By Tatiana Movsesian and Sarine Ashjian
Day 13
This is our last day in Armenia and we are very sad that we will be leaving tomorrow, therefore, we decided to enjoy every second that we have left in our homeland.
It was a beautiful, sunny and hot (36 degrees Celsius) day in Yerevan today. This morning we started our day by visiting the RA Ministry of Diaspora which was located right in the Republic Square only a few blocks from our hotel. They were very happy to see us. We sang a song for them and took lots of pictures with the Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hagopian. Stepan Bedrosian, who was the deputy minister of Diaspora greeted us, spent some time explaining the “Ari Tun” program and gave us a hat and a t-shirt which reads “Ari Tun” on them in red, blue and orange. We then went to Mrs. Hagopian’s office where she shared a new Armenian song with us and told us to make sure we learn that song so we can sing it next time we come back to Armenia.
Then we took the subway to Yeridasardakan stop and walked to Matenadaran. Matenadaran was built in 1957. It has many ancient manuscripts. We saw the books and manuscripts that showed that the Armenian Alphabet was created in 405 by Mesrop Mashdots. Of course, we were so excited when we saw the “hska” and “tzuk”. We also learned more about the Armenian historian Movses Khorenaci and saw his statue. As soon as we got out of Matenadaran, we couldn’t wait to go to the famous Grand Candy.
Grand Candy was amazing. We all had the famous Bonchiks and really enjoyed them very much! We will miss the Bonchigs and the chocolates.
At 8:00 p.m. we went to our final dinner destination Parvana. We ate, danced and had so much fun until 12:20 a.m. in the morning. We also had a chance to take a picture with one of our famous Armenian actor Rasmik Mansourian who was visiting from Los Angeles. He is currently playing in The Immigrants movie series. We had so much fun that none of us wanted to leave…but we need to pack and wake up at 5:00 a.m. in the morning. We will miss Armenia so much! See you all in Boston on Friday! We missed you all!
By Diana Krmzian