Day 1
Today is a very exciting day. The 5th graders will be going to Armenia. The day starts with school. Once school is done the 5th graders are cheering because there about to go on a trip that they will not forget.
The whole school prays and the 5th graders go on the bus. Everyone is so happy and excited. Once we reach the airport we do all the boring things like security. The plane takes of and the journey begins.
The flight we are on is a 7 hour flight. Every buddy is talking eating. The food was chicken and pasta. It was pretty good. There was some good movies and everyone was enjoying the flight.
Once we arrive at France we get in a 5 hour layover before the next flight. We’re almost there just one more flight till Armenia. I’m so excited to see our symbolic Mount Ararat.
-Gagik Minasyan
Day 2
We just got off the plane . We are in France. We had a 5 hour lay over It has been about 3 hours. We got a little bored just sitting around.
We decided to take a walk around the airport to do some exploring. There were arcade games where we were sitting we played. We were so excited and impatient to get to Armenia.
It seems like we had waited forever (8 years, some 9) to make this trip. When we finally saw Mt. Ararat from the plane we were so excited, some were very emotional. We were all taking pictures and having a good time. We got off the plane got our luggage and headed to the Marriott hotel.
We reached our hotel and our friend who had moved to Armenia met us there, it was such a nice surprise. We quickly checked in and headed to the restaurant to have Lahmejun and Mante, it was so good. The restaurant put on music for us and we all started dancing and singing. It was amazing being in out homeland finally!!
-Kristina Dorian
Day 3
We started the day of with breakfast. The breakfast was very good. There was everything you can image. After breakfast was over we got on the bus to go to charenchue gamar. It was so cool. In the distance you can see amount Ararat and some of the villages in Armenia. Just seeing Ararat made me feel warm inside. Ararat is one of the coolest mountains. There was a lot of pictures taken.
There was a little hut on the top of charenchue gamar and in the hut were singers that sung pretty good. Once we left charenchue gamar we went to Geghart. Geghart was very cool. We bought candles and prayed. There was a spot in Geghart were there was clean and fresh water. You can drink out of it. Most of the 5th graders drank out of it. We took a lot of pictures. Geghart is a very cool place.
After Geghart we went and had lunch at a Middle East place and we watched them make lavash bread (it was delicious). We ate lavash,kebab,gata a sweet Armenian bread. We then went to the temple of Garni a pagan temple built for the god Miher ordered by King Drtad. There was these big and hard to climb steps but Digin Ardemis said that was on purpose because it was a pagan temple but Armenia is a Christian country.
There was also a forest called Khosrov forest which was next to a lake but it was a lot of distance down from Garni and I think only the people who take care of the plants and trees are the only people who are allowed to go down there. We also visited Lake Sevan and went to these churches next to it. We also went to English learning center a school and talked and played games with the kids there. There were these older kids playing basketball over there and we played against them. We also ate a place called Tabulleh and we had kebab, rice hummus, French fries, and salad. Today was a good day.
-Gagik Minasyan & John Diran Gengozian
Day 4
In the morning we had breakfast then we went to “Gomidas Aiki” where we saw the statues of Gomidas a famous Armenian composer, Silva Kaboudikian a famous Armenian poet, Sos Sarkisian a famous Armenian actor, and others.
We also went to Khor Virab and went to the dungeon where Krikor Lusavorich was dungeoned by King Drtad stayed there for 13 years. We climbed down a long ladder to the dungeon and also had to climb back up and some of us were really really scared, but it was fun.
We found holes in the wall and in one of them we saw a dead rat, money, sand, and dust. Then we went to the church and lit candles. We took some pictures in front of Mount Ararat. After that we climbed a rocky mountain and also took some pictures in front of Mount Ararat. We got so close to Mount Ararat and it looked absolutely amazing like we could touch it. Sadly, Khor Virab was the closest we could get to Mount Ararat because if we had passed the gate, we would have been in Turkey. Afterwards, we got on the bus and started going to Noravank. At Noravank we ate lunch: pork, bread, chicken, salad, and potatoes. We climbed the stairs at the church and took pictures. We went into the church and our tour guide talked about the history of the church, like the graves, the inscriptions, and the vortan garmeer. Then we went into one of the other churches and the Hayr Soorp did a prayer. We also sang the song “ee zen hayer” in the church with the priest.
We then left Noravank and started going to the hotel in Jermuk. When we got to the hotel in Jermuk we got on smaller buses and went to see the waterfall. We took some pictures at the waterfall and then we came back and checked into the hotel. After we checked in some of us went to see the pool. We ate dinner in the hotel. Finally, we ended the day in our favorite way: we went swimming in the hotel pool, of course!
-Nayiri Chekijian and Lori Avakian
Day 5
Today, the first thing we did was we went to a place were there were pots full of hot water anywhere from 35 degrees celsius to 54 degrees celsius. The pots also had a little bit of iron in them, you could also drink the water. After that we went on a walking trail that had mini waterfalls and statues of Armenian heroes. Over there we took a few pictures with the statues then walked back.
Then we checked out of the Hyatt and went on the bus and went to the Stone Henge. Once we got there we realized that it had started to rain, so we all got our jackets. Then, we saw a bunch of old rocks that were old and covered in mold. We listened to the tour guide and found that it was either a cemetery where people used to bury their fathers next to where they lived so their fathers soul protected them. The other theory is that it was a Pegan temple. I agree with the Pegan temple theory because there are no gravestones.
After that we ran straight to the bus and went on our way to Tatev to ride the worlds longest tramway and have lunch. After lunch which was kufte and rice we went on the tramway. The tramway was about 200-300 ft. above the ground and was 3 miles long. Also, it was raining hard the whole time. So, once we finished the tramway we went to to the Tatev monestary. At Tatev monestary there was a church surrounded by a wall with a bunch of rooms.
One of the rooms had a view of a huge valley that you could watch birds such as eagles, vultures, crows, finches, and owls. We also saw them fight in the air. But we didn’t see all of those birds. At Tatev monestary there was also an oil mill that was run the old fashioned way with manual turning by the animals such as donkeys, horses, and oxen. Then we took the tramway back and took the bus to Artsakh and check in to the hotel.
-Alex Kebadjian
Day 6
Today was a very exciting day. First we went to ARS Sose kindergarten in Shushi. Before we met the kids we all shared with each other what we like the most so far.
The kids there could sing and dance really well. And those kids were only 2 and 3 years old! After they performed for us we performed for them too. We sang, danced and read poems for them. After that we went to another school in Shushi. That school was from Grade 5 to Grade 8. The kids we met there danced for us too. They also looked very professional while they danced. I think we can all make a bold statement, Armenian kids are good at dancing.
Then we went to Shushi Cathedral. Our tour guide told us that the church we were in was one of the biggest churches in Armenia. There was a kid there who gave us a tour of the basement. When we got down there was a very interesting hole where if you stood under it and said something it wood echo back to you in a different tune. Our last stop was the tank in Shushi. We all took our own pictures on the tank then went back to the hotel.
Before we went to dinner we all swam in the pool for 2 hours. I think that was the right time for us to cool off because we were all very tired. The dinner was delicious! We all had pizza then danced our hearts out. We were all very tired.
-Christian Diaz
Day 7
Today we ate breakfast at the the Stepanakert hotel and then we drove to Tatik and Papik. The sculpture was built in 1967 and its other name is “We Are Our Mountains.” We went down to the gift shop after we all took pictures of the sculpture, all of us got hand carved items, keychains, and Artsakh souvenir.
We left for Gansasar monastery. We took pictures around the edges of the monastery and then we into the church. We took pictures in the church on the stairs and in the center of the church. We went out back and we saw a huge family tree that went back a long time. We took more pictures. And then we left for lunch.
Before lunch we went into a zoo, we saw lions, bears, wolves, porcupines, a chicken looking animal, and an animal that looked like a coyote. After we had lunch in an old boat that doesn’t move any more. Then we left for “Dadivank.” At Dadivank we walked to the monastery and then we entered the church. We said our prayers and then took pictures with Der Hovanes (the Der Hayr). Dadivank was recognized in the1st century, turned into a Christian place in the 4th century, and built completely in the 9th century.
We drove away from Dadivank and we stoped at a cave in the middle of a mountain. We took our pictures there and we drove off to lake Sevan. We put our hands in the water and it was really cold. We took pictures of the sunset on the lake and then went to dinner. We had kebab, fish, fries, salad, and paklava. After that we drove to the hotel.
-Zachary Kefeyan
Day 9
After one free day, today we went to the Avedisian school. When we first got there, we looked around and saw that there were a lot of plants. We went inside and saw a cool little model of the school. It was very detailed and had a lot of work put in to it. Then the principal came and told us a little bit about the school.
Then she took us on a tour around the school. First we saw one of the art rooms. In this room they had art that was made out of recycling. I thought that it was really cool how they could make detailed art out of recycling. We saw evergreen trees that were made out of pieces of green plastic bottles. We also saw a palm tree that was made out of brown bottles and pieces of green bottles.
Next we went to the chess room. There we played chess with the 3rd graders. For them chess is like a subject and it’s part of their school schedule. We then went to the the science room, the other art room, and the library. Then we saw the fifth grade class. We then got in partners and asked each other questions to get to know each other. I had two girls as partners and we got to know each other. We then talked about our partners to everyone.
Then we got on the bus to go plant trees. When we got there the people there told us a little bit about the place where we were planting trees. We learned that the place where we were planting is where General Tro is buried. One of the ATP people showed us how to plant the trees. Then we got with our partners and started planting the tree. When we were done planting the tree we moved on to a second tree. After we finished planting our trees we went to General Tro’s grave.
Then we went to this huge bakery and had delicious lavash, bread, sandwiches, and pastries for lunch. Then we went to the alphabet garden. I took a picture of me with the letter H.
After all, we went to a restaurant and had a great dinner.
-Haig Guzelian
Day 10
This morning we went on the metro to go to the “Madenataran”. At the metro there was a place were you got tokens to go through. The escalators are much steeper and faster than the ones in America. In the metro there are a lot of people and it is much more clean than the ones in America.
When we got to the “Madenataran” we saw one of Mesrob Mashdotses students on his knees looking up to Mesrob Mashdots. Inside you see stairs that lead up to the place with all the books. We saw the biggest book written in Armenian. We also saw the smallest book written in Armenian.
After that, we picked up the parents and went to Tumo center. Tumo is a place for after school learning but not just math and school stuff. At Tumo, you can learn animation, sound effect, robotics, and much much more. We did robotics you had to build a robot from logos my group was Nayiri, John Diran, Gagik, and I. We built a robot that could say “hello” and “have a nice day” and when we waved our hand in front of it, it would stop. I have to say I was pretty proud of my group.
After that, they took us to their movie theater to watch short films some of them were boring but most of them were funny.
After 40 minutes of watching short films we got on the buss to pick the parents up and we went to Grand Candy!!!!! We all got bonchigs and got candy. It was my heaven.
After all, we went to Derian Kebab restaurant and had a great dinner.
-Taleen Haleblian
Day 11
This morning we visited Gomidas Vartabed’s museum. The museum was big and had different halls, that talked about different things that Gomidas has wrote, and played (instruments).
After learning about what he wrote and played, we went onto seeing famous pieces of art that popular artists have drew each one looked different based on the artist, and it also started about Gomidas’ 6 students who were also intelligent. It is amazing how he would listen to Turkish song and translate them into Armenian, then sings it at his concert. We sang one of the songs that Gomidas wrote (Gakavik).
After that we went to see statue of Սասունցի Դաւիթ as bigger than expected and pretty detailed. We took a picture in front of it and put a fist in the air. Then we saw the statue of general Vartan Mamigonian, he had a sword in his hand and a metal helmet.
Later we went to the Armenian history museum, and saw the world oldest leather shoe inside of it was hay. The way the shoe lasted was that it was in a cave and the tempter didn’t drop or go up it stayed cool. It was 5,500 years old, we also saw a carriage that was found underneath the water of lake Sevan it was 3,000 years old. After lunch we went to ice cream, I got hazel nut.
At night we went to a performance of Armenian dances and singing, it lasted 2 hours.
We went to dinner and had pasta, and danced. We had a such a great time.
-Shant Gebeyan
Day 12
We started off the day by going to Echmiadzen. We went through the gate and we saw a very nice flowers garden it had roses. Then we went into the church and lit candles /prayed. At the church there was not anything original it was patched. It is amazing how that building held up for a very long time.
We went to Mesrob Mashdotses monument, where we also saw huge hand carved Armenian Alphabet letters and each letter had a picture on it. We took pictures and then went to the church next to there. We went down and took a group picture next to all the letters then saw Mesrob Mashdots’s grave. We took a picture and prayed for him and on his grave we promised to always talk Armenian. And then we got on the bus to go to the restaurant. We had lunch at a restaurant in Old Ashdarag and then went to Dzizernagapert.
We went to the museum next to it and a tour guide explained to us everything we learned about the genocide they showed us pictures and a short movie. I didn’t cry but it was really sad. After that we went to the Dzizernagapert we each put a flower in order, and took a moment of silence to remember the 1.5 million Armenians who died during the genocide. When I saw the fire I got all goosebumps because you remember everything that happened to the Armenians everything we learned about. We took pictures and then got on the bus.
Now we are going to the Vernisage shop, and after we have a free afternoon. After our free afternoon we went to an Armenian restaurant, we had pizza and chicken. We went to the other side of the restaurant and digin Ardemis started singing some of the songs we learn at school and we joined a bunch of people were clapping for us.
We took a cab back to the hotel to have some ice cream then go to bed.
-Ryan Guebenlian & Shant Gebeyan
Day 13
First we got up and went to breakfast. Then we went to Sadarabad for May 28. 100 years ago the Turks came and tried to take over Armenia. The Armenians fought back at the Battle of Sardarabad and beat the Turks back. May 28 is to celebrate our victory over the Turks and establishing today’s Armenia.
When we got there we put sunscreen on. It was so hot and we walked over a quarter mile to where the parade was set up. When we got there, there was not a lot of people, but as the day went on, thousands of people came. We got first row spots, and some people were yelling MOVE!!!!!!!!!!! While others were sharing cold water and shade from their umbrellas.
We saw groups of soldiers marching by. We also saw soldiers riding on horses. The coolest part was when Armenian jets flew over our heads and made the Armenian flag in the sky from their smoke. The bad part was that because of the crowd and hot sun, we had to leave early and couldn’t actually see Sardarabad. But we are going back tomorrow and will share pictures then.
After that, we went to lunch at a lahmejun place and then went swimming at our hotel. At nighttime, we rented space in the hotel and had dinner right above Republic Square. They had set up a huge stage and a light show and there was tons of people all over. There was music being played and people were dancing on the street. We even saw a huge fireworks show and ate ice cream from Scoops. It was a great party!!! We feel so lucky that we could be in Hayastan during the 100 year celebrations.
-Sarine Nigoghosian
Day 14
Today we went to Gyumri and visited Hovannes Shirazes museum and we also took a picture in front of Vartan Mamikonian’s statue.
After, we went to lunch at Cherkezi Dzor and ate fresh fish that they grow right in front of the restaurant and we all drank tea. On the way back to the bus we saw horses and had a chance to feed them.
On our way back to Yerevan we stopped at Harout’s (our bus driver’s) house to meet his family. His mom and sisters had made us chocolate cake and tan. We met his sons who had puppies and kittens, they were so cute! We played with them and didn’t want to leave. Once we got back to Yerevan we rested and got ready for our last dinner.
We went to a nice restaurant and sat outside overlooking Hrazdan Stadium. We ate and danced all night. It was such a good time. We also said goodbye to our bus driver Harout who was so nice to us. We’re back in our room now packing so we can leave tomorrow morning. We had such a great trip we will remember this all our lives.
Thank you to Digin Ardemis from all of us for making this trip so memorable. We love you!
-Leanna Dorian