Tag Archives: Armenia

what are you going to do on yegherrni zoheri hishataki or?

22 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by in Armenia

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a2

“On May 23, 1918 the Armenian troops defeated superior Turkish forces advancing toward Yerevan. This victory on the threshold of Echmiadzin saved the heart of Armenia from conquest.” — Jacques Kayaloff (1973)

April 24 is Genocide Remembrance Day (Եղեռնի զոհերի հիշատակի օր) and while Turkey will once again choose to look the other way I figured I’d take the advice my mother always gave when it came to dealing with dimwitted bullies — “small-minded people hate to look foolish and stupid in front of their betters” — and so I will retell the story in which Enver Pasha’s Young Turks were defeated by the plucky Armenian Army of 1918.

This is, of course, the Battle of Sardarabad (Սարդարապատի ճակատամարտ) and it is amazing.

prayer to astghik

10 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by in Armenia, Poetry, Translation

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Astghik

Աստվածուհին սիրո եւ վերջին սերը.
Աստղիկ, ես մենակ եմ.
Ուղարկիր ինձ իմ ցանկություն.
Բեր ինձ ցանկամոլություն.
Սապփո, որ Աֆրոդիտեի դուստրը.
Ես ուզում եմ ձեզ հիմա, իմ մուգ մայրը.

.
Goddess of love and last love.
Astghik, I‘m alone.
Send me my wish.
Bring me my desire.
Sappho was Aphrodite’s daughter.
I need you now, my dark mother.

.
note:

Astghik, besides being a popular Armenian girl’s name, is one of the old gods that lived in the Caucasus mountains before Armenia became the first Christian nation in the world. She was, and is, a love goddess, the protector of young girls and the guardian of fresh water. The Greek poet Sappho wrote a hymn to Aphrodite. This is my hymn for Astghik.

And once again I must apologize for my poor skills in Armenian. I am slowly learning the grammar, but it is a slow process when you are teaching yourself. One day I hope to be able to write the poems I dream about writing in Armenian, but until then I will keep on trying.

view from gyumri of mount aragats

07 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by in Armenia, Illustration and art

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view from Gyumri of Mount Aragats

Everyone talks about Mt. Ararat as a glorious mountain because it’s out of touch, but Aragats is the mountain I love. It was where I went to wander one dark, dark December night until the battle-fey found me. I was 26 and wanted to fade away in the blizzard that shut the mountains down and I decided to walk to Yerevan from Gyumri because I couldn’t live with the weight of having the children I tried to take care of in the orphanage die.

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in love with color: mariam aslamazyan

02 Tuesday Apr 2013

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Mariam Aslamazyan1

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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I am working on an article about the Armenian painter Mariam Aslamazyan, from Gyumri. I use to live near her studio on Abovian street. She is amazingly talented, working in oils and ceramics. I’ll post the entire article when I’m done, though it is a bit slow since there is hardly anything written about her in English and it takes forever to get the Russian magazine articles translated. Cheers!

Posted by | Filed under Armenia, Illustration and art

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magic bus

02 Tuesday Apr 2013

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onearmenia1

Ah, this photo brings back so many memories of having to stand the entire 4-5 hours it would take to get from Yerevan to Gyumri. It wasn’t that I didn’t arrive early for a seat but that there would always be some 89 year-old tatik who was obviously going to be forced to stand the entire ride. At least back in the 1990s there was a lot of lip-service paid to how important the elderly was but I never saw in the two years I was there anyone ever doing so much as give up their seat for their own grandmother. My mama-jan didn’t raise no rude boy so I spent a lot of time standing. Such is life.

from OneArmenia.