Day 1
This morning was an exciting day for our class. We were all going on the trip that we had been waiting for since pre K. The school day passed by very slowly but after those long seven hours we said our farewells and hopped onto the bus for the airport. When we arrived at the airport we checked in our suitcases and went through security.
By the time we got onto the plane we were all super tired and just wanted to be in Armenia but we all knew there was a long trip ahead. We were able to move seats around and we all got to sit next to each other. Some of us slept while the others watched a movie. The flight didn’t feel as long as we expected. Soon we would be in Paris!
-Anais and Arinne
Day 2
Hello St Stephens. Today we finally got to go and see our beautiful and amazing homeland, but when we where flying there. The person on the intercom was not speaking English or French it was our beautiful language, Armenian!
When we got to the airport in Armenia (Zvartnots), I saw that the signs were written in Armenian. It felt so good to finally be in our homeland.
When we got there was saw our bus and we took it to our hotel. When we met in the lobby we were all very hungry. We all decided that we should get lehmajune, mante and meneish. It was a very fun first day in Armenia! We are looking forward to the rest of the trip!
-Anais and Arinne
Day 3
Today was an amazing day! When we arrived at Keghartavank, it was huge. We went in a church that was dark. We sang Giligia and lite some candles too. We also put some holy water on our foreheads and took lots of pictures. I tried some Jarnoo too, it was really good. Lastly, we took some pictures in front of a pretty waterfall. We went up some rocky stares. It was really rocky, but we managed.
There was a sprinkler that everyone went through and got a little cooled off. The weather was really hot. We went into a room where we saw a bunch of different rocks that had been carved.
Then, we went to Garni where the 24 poles around it represented the 24 hours of the day. Once we climbed up the stares, we saw a bunch of old coins and rocks. Then we had ten minutes of free time to take individual pictures. After that, we went to the lavash factory to watch the process of making lavash. We got to taste some of the lavash, and I have to admit, it was way better than the one I tried at home. After we were done trying the lavash, we went to lunch, where we ate a bunch of different foods and took a bunch of pictures.
When we arrived at lake Sevan, it was so cool, and so stressful. We had to walk thousands of stairs which was really hard. When we finally got to the top, we went inside 2 churches. They were really cool. We all lit some candles too. Then, we dipped our feet in the lake, it was freezing! Then, we went on a really slow boat, while the moms went on a super fast jet ski, which was unfair. We all got some souvenirs and we ate some meneish too. It was the best!
When we arrived to hotel we went to hotel swimming pool and of course we had a great time.
Finally we had our dinner at “Sherep” restaurant.
-Julia and Lara
Day 4
On the way to Gyumri and the alphabet park, we saw Ararat, Aragats and Ara Ler very clearly. They were so beautiful it looked like they were fake. We also saw a cross made out of 1700 tiny crosses to commemorate the 1700th anniversary of our christianity. We also saw many sheep and one donkey blocking the road. It was crazy! They were forcing us to go around them into the opposite lane. We saw the trees that the graduating class 2 years ago planted for ATP. When we got to the alphabet park, all of us took pictures near our letters.
With 1 1/2 hours still remaining, we stopped at Abaran. We went to the bathrooms and bought refreshments from the restaurant next to it. They were making fresh bread when we walked in. It was so good. Everyone LOVED it. Then we walked back into the bus and got ready to continue the journey.
We passed General Tro’s grave in the Pash-Abaran fight memorial. Pash-Abaran was one of the three fights to make Armenia an independent country. In addition to that we saw the Yezidi cemetery of the 10 to 13 century.
Yerevan is known as the “մայրաքաղաք”, mother city, of Armenia, and Gyumri is known as the “հայրաքաղաք”, father city. The only reason that Gyumri was not chosen as the capital city is that it is too close to the border with Turkey and that Ararat is not visible from there. As the country’s second largest city, Gyumri is Armenia’s cultural center and was heavily damaged in the 1988 earthquake.
Upon arrival, we went to the church nicknamed “7 wounds of Jesus” because their was a picture of him and his 7 wounds in the church. We lighted candles and prayed for our family and friends. Then we took pictures at Vartan Mamigonian’s statue outside.
After that, we went to Hovhannes Shiraz’s home museum. This is what we learned:
Hovhannes Shiraz was born in 1915. He was a famous Armenian writer. His mother put him in an orphanage because she couldn’t take care of him. Later, when he found out that he was being sent to America, he ran away with some other boys. During 1 1/2 years, they survived by stealing food from pedestrians and slept on the streets. Then one day, when it was Shiraz’s turn to steal, he grabbed a lady’s loaf of bread. Suddenly, the woman turned around. Instead of scolding him for trying to steal her bread, she took him in his arms and cried. It was Shiraz’s mother! He finally had a home again!
It was Hovhannes Shiraz’s dream to see Ararat in independent Armenia again. That was why it was his wish for his heart to be buried on top of Mount Ararat. And that is exactly what happened. Following his death in 1984, Armenian climbers buried Shiraz’s heart an the top of Mont Ararat heart in the snow. As for his body, it was buried in the Komitas Cemetery in Yerevan.
Shiraz always said:
—Մարդ ինչքան լեզու իմանայ, այնքան մեծ մարդ կ՚ըլլայ։ Բայց եթէ մարդ իրա մայրենի լեզուն չիմանայ, ճիշտ կարծես դաւաճան ըլլայ իր երկրին։
—The more languages one knows, the better person he is. But if one does not know his native language, he’s like a betrayer to his country.
After that we stopped for lunch at Cherkezi Dzor. The fish was really good. In fact, they raised the fish themselves! The smell even attracted a cat! After lunch, we started the 2 1/2 hour drive back to Yerevan and our hotel.
Tonight the dinner was at Al Mayass. We went to sleep early because tomorrow we need to wake up at 6. We can’t wait for the trip to Khor Virap and Artsakh.
-Vartan and Zulal
Day 5
This morning we left early. On the road to Khor Virap we saw so many beautiful sceneries, Ararat mountain and green hills. When we arrived we all formed a line and prepared to go down into the pit. Everybody started getting so scared and worried. We went down and it was so cool! There were crosses on the walls. Later most of us gathered together and sang Hayr Mer. We finally had to go back up the ladder. It was so steep people almost fell down the ladder.
We took pictures and then we started to head to the road. While we were on the bus to go to Jermouk we were singing all the songs we knew, it was really fun. Everyone was awake and had energy, our tour guide was very nice and funny, she was talking about all the facts we should know about all the places we can see and where we were going to. We had another bus ride to Noravank. We all took pictures in top of the thin steps and went into the church . We lit candles and sang songs! It was the best time ever!
Next we went on a departure to Tatev. We took a Tramway across a few cliffs and finally reached our destination. We lit some more candles in a church and took pictures next to tools they used to use back then in a building. We checked out some souvenir shops and decided it was time to head back.
The way back was windy and we all were scared but we made it. We had the longest ride to Jermouk and finally reached our hotel. We had a very pleasant dinner and we are all looking forward to tomorrow’s adventure.
-Lea
Day 6
This morning we woke up at 8:00. We ate breakfast and we walked to some waterfalls. Our surroundings were very beautiful and heavenly.
While we were walking, we saw jermuk water (Jermuk means hot). There were different temperatures of the water, it smelled like eggs. The temperatures were 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 and 53. We started feeling the water at temperature 30. It got hotter and hotter.
Then we started continuing looking at the waterfalls. Then they got too far, so we went in a van. It was a huge waterfall and the water was so relaxing. After we took a group picture and some people took individual pictures with there kids, we came back and had free time. When the free time was over, we went on the bus for Artsakh.
We were driving through Goris for a while and stopped at a restaurant near by we ate Chicken pasta and more. After lunch, everyone got an ice cream from the waitress. When everyone finished eating food and their ice cream the class did the Հանդէս dance, while the music was playing, some of the parents even got their phones out and started to make videos of it happening. We had a lot of fun at the restaurant. I hope we can go back sometime because I really enjoyed it. Now that we are back on the road, we will make it to Artsakh soon.
After a long drive we arrived to Artsakh. We checked in and we had our dinner. We are looking foreword to visit Shushi’s school and meet fifth graders.
-Gacia H. and Nicholas
Day 7
Today we woke up in the Stepanagerd hotel and headed down to breakfast. After that we got into the bus and went towards Shushi. After we got to Shushi we went to the school. Once we got to the school we walked in and met the Principal. After that we went to the classrooms to visit the kids. It was so cool to see the way the kids there had school compared to our way. Some of the kids put on a show for us. And a boy sang so nice. Also, we sang and recited poems.
After the teachers gave us some time to get to know the kids and many of us made great friends.Later, all of the classes we visited joined us outside and we all danced together. After, all the kids went up to the soccer field and at first the boys were only allowed to play but then we convinced them to let the girls play too. When we were done we said our goodbyes and walked toward the Shushi cathedral.
This was the cathedral that the Azeris hid there weapons in so the Armenians wont steal them since they know the Armenians will never destroy one of there valuable churches.
Soon after that, we saw the Sasuntsi Tavit tank, that led the Artsakh soldiers to their victory, against the Azeris, during the Artsakh war in 1992. We took pictures then went to lunch.
For lunch we went to place called Garas we had yummy pasta and many more things.
After we drove to a market that is famous for its bread. There were many booths that sold shoes, clothes, and food.
After the market, we went to the ARS Sosse Kindergarten. The cute little boys and girls sang and danced for us. After that, we met the cute little boys and girls and took pictures with them. After, we continued following our schedule, and headed towards Mamik and Babik. When we arrived we walked up the steps to the monument. Once we got to the top we took pictures as a group and then each of us took ones a lone. After we went back down and went to the little shops. We all had time to buy souvenirs and then we left to got to the hotel.
When we arrived, we hung out for a bit then had some dance practice for the hantes. After, we walked to the restaurant. We all had pizza and it was very yummy. The restaurants scenery was very beautiful, and there were many flowers. During dinner there was a birthday party and at the party there was an entertainer. When the party was done he came to us and we all danced and had a blast. Today was a great day and we are looking forward for tomorrow’s plans.
-Saro and Gassia M.
Day 8
Today we went to the 13th century monastery of Ghandzazar. It was a very big church. The complex is protected by high walls. Within the complex is the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. As we were looking around, we found Armenian prince Hasan Jalal’s grave (who built the church) buried in the church. Outside of the church their was an old rusty RPG that didn’t work anymore. The church had stairs that lead up to a V.I.P room for people, to watch the service. While we were in the church we saw crosses carved on the wall.
Soon we went to the “lion cave” which was made out of stone. The teeth were made out of grey stone and the rest was brown. After we each took individual pictures and we went straight to lunch. At lunch we got separate tables instead of the kids all together and after that we headed to Tativank.
Tativank church was built in the 13th century by St. Dadi. Here we lit candles. Their were multiple alters and candle holders. It was very cool and interesting.
Their now we’re going to Lake Sevan for dinner. We are going to eat the famous fish Ishkhan. Then we went right in front of the lake and found obsidian. Now, that were done, we are going back to Yerevan. Tomorrow we have a free day and I can’t wait to see Yerevan, with our parents.
-Sarine and Vicken
Day 10
This morning we started walking to the metro to the Մեսրոպ Մաշտոցի անուան Մատենադարան without the parents. First we stopped at a huge statue of Aram Manougian, who was the first leader of the first Republic of Armenia. Then we moved forward to metro, the worker gave us little coins that we had to put in the machine so it would grant us entrance. They were orange and the size of nickels. We rode a fast escalator down to the waiting place. The sound of the metro approaching was so loud that we had to close our ears. The second the doors closed, the metro zoomed past the tunnel and onto the next station in 10 seconds. We got off and went up to the main building of the station and then went outside. It was a long uphill walk to the Մատենադարան so we bought water to take with us.
The word մատենադարան is made up of two words – մատեան (old manuscript) and դարան (a place where you keep things). The Մատենադարան has two sections – the museum part and the place, where the historians read and preserve the books. We went to the museum part of course.
First, we saw an old cracked rock on which was carved in Armenian: “Whoever destroys this rock will be punished by god.” After that, we saw an old bible. It was one of three bibles in the world whose cover was coated with ivory. The first one (6th century) is kept in the Մատենադարան, while the second and third (7th and 9th centuries) are kept by museums elsewhere.
Next we saw the biggest (Մշոյ Ճառընտիր) and smallest (Տօնացոյց) books in Armenian. One of the pages in the biggest book used the skin of 1-2 calves and weighed 28 kilograms. The smallest one could fit into a matchbox and weighed 18 grams. We then went into a room where we saw different types of natural colors, one of which was որդան կարմիր, which we learned about in Armenian class. I have to say, the old Armenian artworks on display which used natural colors are much more beautiful, bright and precise than the modern paintings I have seen. We also saw the liquids that old royal drinks were made out of which was really cool.
In the next room, there were old maps of the Middle East, taken out of books. Armenia in those maps was much bigger than it is today. It stretched from sea to sea. We concluded our trip to the Մատենադարան in that room and went to pick up our parents and drive to Tumo: Center for Creative Technologies.
First, we’d like to thank Tumo creator Sam Simonian for our fantastic adventure there. It was truly awesome. The first thing that we did at Tumo was watching a short presentation. The presentation was about how many students come to Tumo, what types of stuff they learned, etc.
After we watched the presentation we went to lego robotics. When we got there, the workers explained what we had to do. When the people finished, we got split into groups of three to make the lego robots. The group that I (Nicholas) had was me, Andre, and Gassia. We got started on the lego and we were really good at it. My group was speeding through it like a lightning bolt! We kept building and building and we were getting extremely good comments from the people there and we were happy. Our group was the first one done and we were happy. But we soon realized that it still wasn’t done. We had to plug in the wires and go to a coding app to code our robot.
The robot had a couple of sensors: light, motor, press and sound sensors. But soon enough all that was done, too. After everyone finished, we watched videos on the trials and errors of getting a rover onto Mars. The whole point was to not get angry about your errors. You have to learn from them instead.
Unfortunately, it was raining outside, so we didn’t get the chance to play sports. But overall, Tumo was an amazing experience.
In the bus, Digin Ardemis canceled today’s trip to Grand Candy. But she said that if we behave tomorrow, we might go tomorrow afternoon instead of today.
We finished the day with dinner at Derian Restaurant. We ate some one-of-a-kind khorovats there and went back to the hotel to get some rest.
Today was a great day, and we can’t wait for tomorrow’s tour of Yerevan’s many statues.
-Vartan and Nicholas
Day 11
Today we are going to be seeing many statues and monuments such as Sassountzi David, Vartan Mamigonian, Gomidas Vartabed’s museum, and many more. So far we have been to Sasountzi Davit’s statue, it was beautiful. The statue was made in 1967 by Yervant Kochar. He had placed the statue on water therefore it looked as if Sassountzi and his horse, Koorgig Jalaly were floating in the small body of water.
Next we drove to the Erebouni Museum. We took a picture in front of the Argishdi statue. The tour guide started at the Arin pert. It was made around the same time as Erebouni in 782 bc. Erebouni was made during the kingdom of Van. It was made by king Argishdi. There were old rocks with cuniform that was birth certificate of Yerevan. They said things about multiple gods and many things about kapi. We saw 2800 year old beams that they used to make homes. We learned about the 72 gods we used to believed in.
After that we traveled to the Vartan Mamigonian statue, wich was made in 1975 once again by Yervant Kochar. This statue was also an extraordinary statue that represents how much Armenians fight for their freedom. Vartan’s statue was a very brave looking and I hope I never forget it.
The last statue we went to was Alexander Tamanyans statue. We took a picture with the statue and saw the map of Erevan because he created the knew map of Erebouni. The map looked like a sun, so the city was nicknamed city of sun.
After we had gone to the statue Oriort Shushan, our tour guide, surprised us with bonchicks, which is fried dough with cream inside. They were really good, we all liked them. We went to lunch and ate sandwiches and burgers. We all liked the food and were full by the time we left.
After lunch, we went to Hovhannes Tumanians house museum. We saw the clothes he wore and the fancy shoes he wore in his house. They were fancy because he had guests over almost every day. We saw pictures and paintings of him and his family. He had 13 bookshelves and 10000 books. We saw the recreation of the box his heart was buried in.
Later we went to the museum of Gomedas. We saw all the journals he wrote in. We saw a lot of pictures of him and his friends and the picture of Cousan the choir he created which was made up of 300 people. We saw pictures of his pupils and inspiration. We also saw the instruments he used and the piano he used. We sang one of his songs “Gakavig” and took a picture then left.
We went to the graveyard of famous musicians “Gomidasi Ayki” which was just around the corner. We took a picture with Gomidas’ gravestone and left.
At the hotel most of us swam. Then we went back to our rooms to get ready for dinner at 8:00. Dinner was delicious. There was a small band and we all started to sing and dance. We danced “shourchbar” and Tamzara. Everybody had fun. We returned to the hotel tired because it was such a long, educational and fun day.
-Anais and Arinne
Day 12
This morning we ate breakfast and headed to Dzizernagapert. Dzizernagapert means Citadel of Swallows, a name for a bird that always returns to its nest. Each of us received two flowers to place around the fire. The fire represents, Armenia’s spirit. A unique portion of the monument is tall, needle-shaped shaft which represents the rebirth of the Armenian people. The twelve imposing pylons represent the twelve provinces where Armenians were massacred. They surround the eternal memorial flame inside the fortress. Later on we went into the Armenian genocide museum and saw so many pictures of the Armenians that had been tortured in the genocide. I got very emotional, I thought I would cry. We saw thousands of Armenian orphans, and so many Armenians walking in the deserts of Der El Zor. After that we came back to the bus.
The Mesrob Mashdots church, in Oshagan,was built around the 1800’s. The church had a lot of frescoes on its walls. It isn’t very big, but if you go downstairs you can find the place Mesrob Mashdots rests. On the tome, there are lots of pretty flowers. Behind the church, there are beautiful khatchkars of the Armenian alphabet. We all took photos next our letters and infront of the Mesrob Mashdots statue. Mesrob Mashdots created 36 of the letters. Years later, during the 10th century, the last 2 letters, Օ and Ֆ, were created.
When you first encounter the entrance Echmiadzin Cathedral you will see an arch made of stone. On the arch, there are two people, facing each other, holding a metal cross. Those people are Krikor Lusavorich and King Drtad the third. Etchmiadzin was very pretty. Sadly, we couldn’t enter the church because it was under construction. Next to the entrance you will find Gevorkian Jemaran, the school Gomidas attended. We placed candles in «Մկրտարան», in honor of certain people. A couple months ago, the 5 grade class sold candles to people. Then when we set off to Armenia, they could have a candle set there for them. We prayed and took pictures infront of a huge khatchkar.
After that we went to Opera house and saw «Պարի Պետական» dance group. When they started dancing my mouth was left open. They were so incredible I couldn’t ever get tired from watching them. The girls danced very gracefully and the boys were very powerful and active. In one of the dances, they got into a circle and climbed on top of each other making a «բերդ». They had a live band that played beautiful music. The girls dances were much more different than the boys dances. The girls dances were more focused on the handwork while the boys dances were more focused on the footwork. It was a 2 hour long performance of excitement. It was a very fun day.
-Narineh and Alla
Day 13
We can’t believe how fast this trip has gone by, but we have to make the most of it. Today we went to the Avedisian School with the Hovnanian School for our joint project. There, we each had a partner to get to know a little bit about. We asked questions like, “Whats your name”, “How old are you”, “How many people are in your family”, and other questions to get to know them. After everyone got to introduce themselves to their partner, we split up into two groups and went on a tour of the school. When we were done, we got into the bus and headed to ATP.
ATP (Armenia Tree Project) is an organization that plants trees all over Armenia to help the environment. They have planted over a million trees in 25+ years. They plant a bunch of different types of trees depending on how much they need them in a certain place. They plant oak trees, apricot trees, pine trees, evergreen trees and more.
Once we got to ATP, we were so excited! We went to our spot where we were going to plant the trees. The grass was really spiky and long. It scratched us and got in our socks, shoes and skin. Once we got there, (still in pain), we each went with our partners to a hole. There, we got a plant and dug it into the ground and covered it in dirt. Once we finished, we went to a little spot where we treated our cuts and scratches. When everyone was done, we went on a tour of ATP to see the process of planting trees. They showed us all if the trees that they were planting at the moment. They showed us how they watered the trees. When they were done explaining the process, we went back to the bus and drove to lunch. There, we ate a bunch of tasty foods. Then, we had some free time before going to see Armenia’s prime minister’s wife Anna Hagopian.
Once our free time was done, we got on the bus and drove to Anna Hagopians house. We went through security and then we went inside where Anna and her daughter Arpi were. They gave us a bunch of good foods, and then we took pictures and got autographs. We also sang and recited poems for her. We felt very honored and lucky.Then we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner at Parvana. At dinner, we ate a bunch of good food. Then, we sang and danced. We had the best time of our lives! I hope we can do this again!
-Sonya and Lara
Day 14
May 28, is the day of establishing of the First Republic of Armenia after three battles in 1918 in Sardarabad, Garakilisa and Pashabaran. The significance of the battle of Sardarapat is great, because if the Armenian forces did not defeat the Ottomans there, they would have proceeded to Echmiadzin and Yerevan and nothing would have remained of Armenia, nothing would have been saved. We all know, that If the Armenian First Republic did not exist neither the second nor the third republics of Armenia would have existed.
Today, we are all heading to the memorial complex battle of Sardarabad. The drive to Sardarabad we passed by the Mezamor Nuclear power plant. A nuclear power plant holds radiation. It powers 70% of Armenias power. It was built by the Soviet union. It’s the worlds oldest nuclear power plant and still working.
On the way we also saw the monument of Musah Ler, which was 40 days and in 7 villages.
There was Nigol Pashinian, who is the prime minister of Armenia and so many soldiers surrounding him. It was a very big day for us, we had to wait behind this gate for the soldiers to clear. Once they did, we entered and took pictures next to the memorial complex of Sardarabad. The music was blasting, the soldiers were singing the national anthems. There were so many interviews. They would come up to us and start asking us question about our history. In front of the monument we took a picture with Hovnanian School.
For lunch we also ate so many lehmejuns and other food.
Today was a very memorable day for all of us to remember and celebrate.
-Sophia and Nshaun