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Published: September 2nd 2007
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Marian and Tom in Armenia
Marian and Tom have been here since August 16 I think. Their journey was one for the books—it took them almost 2.5 days to get here—this included a 12 hour stop in Vienna where they went to a spa and slept on lounge chairs in a city park until tune to head back to the airport for the flight to Yerevan.
One of the first activities for us was to attend the presentation of the Armenian Apostolic Church’s highest service award to Dr. Haroutine Armenian (can you believe his last name?), the President of the American University of Armenia. There were only about 8 of us representing the university because August is break time for everyone and all the Deans except a few of us were gone on vacation. The University drove us to Etchmiadzin, the headquarters of the church and seminary, where there are relics in the chapel of the cross and a spine from the crown of thorns. We went to a special reception area and were with about 20 priests and the Catholicos (head of church) and Dr. Armenian’s family. Many speeches, songs and prayers praised the work of our AUA
president.
Marian, Tom, and I spent a pleasant afternoon at the museum of Armenia’s most famous film director, Sergei Parajanov. He made his most famous movies in the 1960’s (he was voted one of the most promising movie directors world-wide, along with famous American directors whose names I can’t remember. Parajanov’s father changed his name from the traditional Armenian ending -ian to a more Russian one when he began to build up his merchant trade. Direct Parajanov was jailed by Stalin and later Brezhnev for his movies which they thought were too political and incendiary—he spent almost 8 years in prison. The museum has much of his art work that is not really related to his movies—very beautiful collages made from broken glass or bits of things he could collect in prison.
Travels South
Then we left for an amazing 6 day journey from Yerevan south to the border of Armenia with Iran, then east through the Occupied Territory (Armenia occupies it—a very complicated set of circumstances resulted in Azeris living on lands that had been Armenian and which the Armenian’s won back in the latest war (1990’s) and into the Republic of Nagorny Karabagh which is
a Republic within the Republic of Armenia--?
The road from Meghri, the southern city in Armenia through the Occupied Territory to Shushi, a town in Nagorny Karabagh, was a gravel road, one lane in places. We passed through village after village, which were abandoned by the Azeris as the Armenian’s took the territory back. A few poor Armenians have moved in to harvest fruit and try to establish a home. But generally it was an eerie place of empty towns, destroyed houses, and dusty dirt tracks. We were advised not to wander off the road—line mines.
It was a strange experience, particularly driving next to the barbed wire electric fence on the border between Armenia and Iran. The Araks River forms the border—the fence is on the Armenian side.
Along our six day journey we stopped at numerous monasteries and scenic areas—the pictures you will see. We traveled with Gayenne, an entomologist, and our driver Martin. Marian and Gayenne collected beetles and butterflies, we explored incredible geologic formations, saw many churches from the 13th century, and the site of the 13th century Gladzor University—which in its time was well-known and respected.
How can a country the size
of Maryland be so difficult to travel through? The main road is paved but incredibly bumpy—and our AUA field vehicle desperately needs shock absorbers. But it does get us around well.
Last night Marian was hungry for meat so we went to “Barbecue” street which is next to our house. Place after place has an open barbecue built into the outside wall facing the street and the owners entice passers-by in with their offers of good food. Marian saw a woman with a kind smile—we went there and had wonderful barbecued eggplant, bell peppers, tomatoes, and chicken. They told us they spoke English, but called down the Armenian college student who lived upstairs—her family actually owns the building—to talk with us. She and Marian are exactly the same age and met today at 4:00 p.m to explore the city. They are still gone—Marian called to say they were still trying on clothes at the Yerevan version of a shopping mall. Tom has left to shop for Yogurt—there are many kinds here from kefir to thick, rich solid cream yogurts. He and Marian like the fruity stuff.
Our last day trip was to Mt. Aragats, the tallest mountain in
Armenia—the highest of its four peaks is well above 11,000 feet. A beautiful day with the high elevations in and out of cloud, hail, rain etc. We brought a picnic lunch—Martin, our driver—brought fried chicken, fried potatoes, and sauteed egg plant. Gayenne brought fruit, we brought fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. Our picnic was in full sunshine and a beautiful day.
I had my first class today—2 hours or Environmental Science with 27 MBA first year students at AUA. The students were really lively and fun to be with—they are truly concerned about Armenia. They come from varied undergraduate backgrounds. E.g. Chemistry majors, linguistics majors, etc. It was a lot of fun for me and they seemed to have a good time as well.
Tomorrow we are off to Lake Sevan for our last road trip together before Marian heads back to take some courses at MSU Billings. We will miss her - she has really enjoyed Armenia and has soaked up everything that it has to offer.
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