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Background: Armenia prides itself on being the first nation to formally adopt Christianity (early 4th century). Despite periods of autonomy, over the centuries Armenia came under the sway of various empires including the Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Persian, and Ottoman. It was incorporated into Russia in 1828 and the USSR in 1920. Armenian leaders remain preoccupied by the long conflict with Muslim Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a primarily Armenian-populated region, assigned to Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1920s by Moscow. Armenia and Azerbaijan began fighting over the area in 1988; the struggle escalated after both countries attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By May 1994, when a cease-fire took hold, Armenian forces held not only Nagorno-Karabakh but also a significant portion of Azerbaijan proper. The economies of both sides have been hurt by their inability to make substantial progress toward a peaceful resolution. Turkey imposed an economic blockade on Armenia and closed the common border because of the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas.

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By armenianblog
July 24th 2008

Day 11

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

Valley By Garni Temple

Sam Here: Today we visited the pagan temple (First Century A.D.) at Garni and then traveled further up a valley to the Geghard Monastery. You can see pictures of both and if you like read more about their long history on the web. The Geghard Monastery is particulalry inspirational, carved out of rock and set in a beatiful setting similar to the Red Rock area of Arizona. At the Geghard Monastery we went into a second story cathederal area carved from solid rock. The acoustics were phenomenal. Gervorg and his cousin's son brought their duduk's (a mysterious wind instrument made from [View Full Entry]

By armenianblog
July 23rd 2008

A day full of blessings

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

birthday present
Izzy's birthday present from a villager, of a soccer ball with 2 doves on top

Hi All, Gayle here posting for the first time. Today was yet another extraordinary day full of adventure and amazement. We began by going to Levon's chambers of wonders, in a nearby village outside of Yerevan. Levon has spent the last 23 years digging, what was supposed to be a root cellar beneath his house, but has turned into an inspired response to visions sent to him in his dreams. He now spends (20 hours a day till recently) 12 hours a day digging tunnels and chambers through rock and tufa (the local pumice stone). It most resembles a subterranean grotto [View Full Entry]

By armenianblog
July 23rd 2008

Izzy's b'day & Photos

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

gohar & cake
Gohar attempting to light the tulip-firecracker-candle, which never did quite work right

Yesterday, Izzy's birthday was quite the celebration. Gohar, the Fuller Center volunteer coordinator, took Izzy's birthday very seriously. She made sure that he had a cake, complete with firecracker-tulip that lit the candles and played happy birthday, as well as champagne and watermelon. We were told that we would have cake upon arriving at the site around 10 am, so that the cake would not melt! (Note: Cake was NOT made of icecream!) It was a double celebration, as another villager also had his birthday on the same day. Many people hugged and kissed Izzy, and congratulated me as well [View Full Entry]

By armenianblog
July 23rd 2008

How to Build a Village House in Armenia

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

Foundation Wall
Note that one side is being mortared in place but the other remains to be done

Just some general comments and pictures about how village houses are built around Yerevan, Armenia. The basic ingredients for foundation, walls, and floors are concrete and tufa (a calcium carbonate deposit). Fortunately for Armenia tufa is common, cheap, and comes in many colors, giving their towns and villages a much greater range in color and variety than other soviet style buildings in other parts of the world. The foundation is laid as a perimeter about 2 feet wide. The outside and the inside of the foundation are laid with some sort of course broken rock with at least one flat [View Full Entry]

By armenianblog
July 22nd 2008

Day 9 - The Last Day of Work

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

Wren, Anna, and Gayane
The Mom of the family after giving Wren and Anna their gifts

Sam Yet Again: I think the kids are having too much fun at night to blog....so it goes. Leo paid my Internet fees yesterday and I told him that in return I would mention him today...done. Today was the last day of work on the site. We finished the front stairs and then spent the rest of the time until lunch passing buckets of pumice up to the attic. The Fuller team was glad that we stopped using the old ladder made or recycled wood and poles and didn't drop any buckets on anyone's head. Izzy's 17th birthday was today and [View Full Entry]

By armenianblog
July 21st 2008

Day 8

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

Pam and Village Teen do the Bucket Pass
This was 90% of what we did while working. After a while you got good at passing buckets in to directions. Stu, Izzy, and I got so we could toss buckets long distances without passing, but the leade... [more]

Hi All: (started this yesterday...finishing today) Sam again. 100F+ today at the work site. Everyone seems to be aclimatized though. Both Wren, Anna, and Stuart work out in the sun much of the day. Stuart shovels cement about 70% of the time and Wren has taken turns too. Anna does bucket line without complaint. Pretty standard day for us. All the cement floors in the house are now complete except for the top of the stairs. Tonight after eating at a small Aremenian restaurant. Gayle, Nadya, and I went to a nightclub to watch the Armenian Navy Band. Very hot band, [View Full Entry]

By inchallah
July 21st 2008

2nd episod : Armenia

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

1ers instants à Yerevan
Après l'Iran et tous ses interdits, l'Arménie nous est apparue comme un havre de paix où des milliers d'Iranais comme celui assis à coté de moi viennent pour respirer un peu. Tout le monde est zen, il... [more]

Un petit pays chrétien au milieu des montagnes du Caucase Après un petit voyage en bus de 25h à travers le désert du nord-ouest de l'Iran, éprouvant à cause de la chaleur, et un peu stressant pour des questions de visa, nous sommes arrivés dans cette étonnante capitale : Erevan. Cette ville est un véritable oasis où l'on trouve des fontaines où se désaltérer à tous les coins de rue, débordante de verdure, et où les français se font spontanément invité pour un café, fêter un anniversaire, ou même, du jamais vu, pour un repas au restaurant ! Notre famille d'accueil, [View Full Entry]

By armenianblog
July 20th 2008

Armenoenglish

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

Flooring Store?

T-Shirt Slogans *Outragous when I move my body *For you, splendid smile *We have super grass *My heart lives in the dast *Industrial Dub Folk Acid *This bag is not a toy Menu items *vhiski *jin *rom *Long Icelend Ice Tea [View Full Entry]

By armenianblog
July 20th 2008

Day 7

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

Tool Parts at the Bazaar
Interesting assortment of machine parts, medical tools, tools of all kinds, electronics (mostly of the transistor era), plumbing, almost all used

Sam here...Today was an off day, but I should say something about the previous night first. After the ballet the kids hooked up with some Armenian kids they met at the work site and went out on the town. The traveled up the city mountainside to a sports area where the local youthizens had organized an outdoor dance party. I will let the kids expand on this but they had a Russian DJ who played Russian and Armenian techno music. Sounds like they had a blast. Stu says he had to fend off some very friendly Armenian men from Wren (one [View Full Entry]

By armenianblog
July 19th 2008

Day 6

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

Neighbor
Stopping by after tending his fields...Most people have small irrigated plots in which they grow a variety of fruit, truck crops, and hay...cattle graze in fallow areas and ditches

(Note pictures were added to the previous day's entries) Today was another work day. We traveled to the site and continued working on mixing and pouring concrete and made a lot of progress on the remaining rooms. However in the early afternoon the electricity went out and we learned that tragically the families' 15-year old neighbor and clos friend who was the twin of one of the previous day's helpers was electrocuted. We left at that point so the families could get together and grieve. Household wiring is all 220V in the country and often exposed and wired in creative but [View Full Entry]

Links: West Travel Blogs (56) | West Travel Photos | Armenia Travel Forum | Armenia Facts | Map of Armenia

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