Month: July 2015

YARP hello from Elise! Today I’m going to tell you about Bjni. Bjni is a village not so far from Yerevan. The village was first established in 5^th or 6^th century. As you can see, Bjni is a very old village.

Bjni has a very beautiful sight of the mountains in Armenia. Some of those mountains even have caves! Usually you see cows or even horses roaming those mountains. Other animals such as goats, chickens, roosters, sometimes foals, and calves are kept in barns.

One of those mountains has a castle built on it! The name of the castle is Takavoranist. Real Armenian kings and queens used Takavoranist as a resting stop while traveling. In addition, Bjni has three ancient churches, and one of them is very small. I could probably touch the top of the door. Inside there is a small room full of Bibles. The church is on a big cliff with a lot of big rock formations.

Speaking of rocks, there are many types of them in Bjni. There is a type of rock formation that looks like series of columns. Another one I call the “person rock”. It looks exactly like a man wearing an old fashion hat with a rifle swung over his back.

Next, I have something great to tell you! A man named Albert Afrikyan opened a factory in Bjni. The equipment in the factory is made from scratch. The factory makes jam that they take to Yerevan and Russia to sell. The money gets sent back to the owner of the factory who pays the workers salaries. The workers buy things for their houses. This makes their houses better and makes the shops bigger and improved.

In conclusion, Bjni is one of my favorite villages because I like the view of the mountains. It just makes me happier to think that Bjni is going to be growing day by day. Bjni will also be growing prettier too and it will be attracting more tourists to my beloved village Bjni.

YARP hello from Elise! Well, you want to know about food? You asked the right person! In Armenia the food you can get really depends on where you are. In Bjni, a village not so far from Yerevan, you can pick fresh fruit but that does not mean you can’t eat fruit and vegetables in Yerevan. A common food in both Bjni and Yerevan is khorovats (barbeque). It is an Armenian tradition to eat khorovats on special occasions such as weddings or birthdays. Khorovats is sometimes served with grilled vegetables. Khorovats is served on  wooden sticks and tastes good wrapped in lavash.

Lavash is Armenian bread, sort of like pita bread only much longer and much thinner, almost like paper. To make lavash the way they do in Armenia you can look and see the link at the end of this post.

This is not with details but there is a hole, like an oven, in the ground that gives off warm air with fire on the bottom. Then you spread the lavash on a matt/board, and stick it in the hole in the ground. After two minutes, you take it out, let it cool and that’s how you make lavash.

Another typical Armenian food is dolma. Dolma is cabbage or grape leaves stuffed with ground beef, rice, pepper, salt, tomato paste, oil, dried fruits and various greens. Sometimes Armenians also stuff apples, tomatoes or pepper with this meat mixture.

One of my favorite dishes in Armenia is lahmacun. Lahmacun (pronounced Lah-ma-joo) is basically Armenian pizza. Lamacun is made of lamb meat, garlic and various greens on a thin piece of bread. Lahmacun is sometimes served with lavash or tan, an  Armenian drink made of  yogurt, water, chopped cucumbers, and salt.

All of these foods are made from old traditional recipes and take a long time to make, but if you are going to make one of these foods I told you about, you have to have patience; it’s worth the wait for it tastes like eating heaven itself. Now, If you had questions on food that I probably answered, can you answer mine? If so, can you tell me which food you would like to taste the most? And remember, this is only a breadcrumb of all the foods in Armenia.

YARP hello from Isabelle! Today I will be telling you about Armenia’s amusement parks. Compared to Disney World, Armenia’s amusement parks are very small but still very fun. I visited one of them just recently. There are lots of fun activities there.

My favorite one (adults can’t use it) includes a gigantic beach ball. An average ten-year old can stand in one. The balls can float on water with someone in them. (Please do not ask me how those balls float on water with someone in them. Please ask your science teacher). Then an employee deflates them and you get in. After, the employee inflates the ball once again and pushes the ball with you in it into the water.

I was not sure I wanted to do this. I also don’t want people to think that I am afraid of everything. As I take off my shoes I notice that I am shaking. Horrible thoughts came to me. What if there is a hole? What if the ball sinks? The water is only up to my waist but still… Then when a few moments pass and the ball was deflated, the employee told me to get in. I get in and as I wait for him to inflate the ball I feel excited and super scared at the same time. Then the ball suddenly jerks into the water. I look back and see the faces of my mom, my sister, my cousin, my grandmother getting smaller, smaller, smaller, and smaller. Aaack…. M,m,m,mo,o,m,m,my,y,y? I say. Oh my god! Boy, does it eco in here. Inside it is a little damp, but I soon realize that this is not scary at aeeell. Sorry about that (he he) I just did a backward somersault! (This is very, very, very, very FUN!! )

In conclusion, on this ride I overcame my fear of sinking. Also, I learned how very heavy things can float. I hope you will come to these amusement parks some time. Stay tuned for more YARP and check out my photos of the gigantic beach ball below!

YARP hello from Isabelle! Like every place, Armenia has lots of holidays. Some of the Armenian holidays are Easter, Christmas, New Year, Independence Day, Constitution Day, and Vartavar and a lot more holidays.  You are probably thinking “what is Vartavar”? Vartavar is one of Armenians’ favorite holidays. It is a holiday when people get buckets and fill them with water. After they fill them with water, they splash each other with water.

This tradition comes from Armenian mythology. According to the legend, an Armenian goddess Astghik, who was the goddess of love, beauty, kindness, and water, got captured by a monster who did not want love, beauty and kindness in the world. After Astghik got captured, the world became very dull and boring and full of hate.

One day, Vahagn (the god of fire) could not stand the world like this and saved Astghik. Then he and Astghik got very close together or maybe even married. When he saved Astghik, Astghik poured rose water one everyone. When she did that, the world became prettier and better than before. Based on this myth, people have been pouring water on each other ever since. And Vahagn, ever since he saved Astghik, was known as the dragon slayer.

Now people throw water on each other without warning! It is always more fun than it seems. In conclusion, Vartavar is a very fun holiday. (I would not recommend walking out on the streets on Vartavar because you might get splashed at!).

For a little bit more information please see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vardavar

RFE/RL Vartavar Photos

Eastern Diocese Site Vartavar

YARP hello from Isabelle! Armenia is one of a kind. It is good and bad in many ways. Yerevan is Armenia’s capital.  Let’s compare Yerevan to Boston. Unlike Boston, the most buildings in Yerevan are not made of polished glass or shiny material. There are some buildings that are made of shiny material and polished glass but most buildings are made of stone.

The elevators are not quite that nice either. They only have one light which makes them dark but the elevators in Boston are bigger and with lots of lights. Some people avoid using the elevators because they break down. The stairs are not that nice but they are safer than the elevators (especially during a fire).

An average building in Yerevan has about nine floors. There are four apartments on each floor. Each apartment usually has a TV room, a bathroom, one or two bedrooms (no one gets their own room unless it is someone living alone), a kitchen and that’s about it. Each apartment has about nine to thirteen windows. This is a typical building.

We have a house in the country, in a village called Bjni. The house is made of bricks. It has two floors and only our family lives there. We have two bathrooms, one kitchen, and four bedrooms. In the backyard, we have a big cherry tree. In the garden we have other cherry trees, apricot trees and raspberry bushes. The people in this village also live in big houses and they usually have a farm. All the people in the village are very nice (not that people are mean in Yerevan).

Armenia is also made up of good things. For example, there are great hotels and beautiful buildings where people live. There is a hotel that is shaped like a castle from fairy tales. I would recommend that hotel if you have children. There are over 400 hotels in Yerevan. I am not going to describe each one in detail. So, if you ever want to come, you will have lots of places to stay.

Armenia has lots of water fountains. The fountains have lights which makes the water glow. Like most fountains, the fountains in Yerevan can go up high but they go up higher than most fountains in Boston. Children like to go there in the evenings and they like to play and listen to music at the fountains.

Children play outside till it is dark. In each building there is a “group” of children that is always out playing. They have different and fun games. In Boston, children barely ever play outside, and they do not stay out as late as the children in Armenia.

In my opinion people visiting Armenia would like it, and they would learn about the great things in Armenia and its problems.

If you would like to visit Armenia, the link for the list of hotels is: http://tripstoarmenia.com/, or http://www.fructusarmeniacus.com, or www.armeniainfo.am.

 

Here’s a picture of the view at sunset from the balcony of our building in Yerevan–

YARP hello from Elise! Today I will be reporting on stray animals in Yerevan. There are a lot of buildings in Yerevan, and the stray cats live next to the garages of those buildings. Stray dogs tend to live in small fields within residential neighborhoods. It’s a problem because some people get annoyed [some are actually okay with it] and the animals don’t get much food.

Well, now I know what you are thinking. You are probably thinking “Oh, cool!” or “Oh my God! I would not want to live there!” I am an animal lover, so here is how I feel about stray animals. In my building we have a family of stray cats. The mother cat has a grey cat with a coat like rain clouds and green eyes. The father cat (who you don’t see very often) has an orange coat with white stripes similar to a tiger. They have four kittens. The first kitten has a grey coat like the mother cat, only darker eyes. The second kitten is all black like coal. The third kitten is light gray with faint stripes and orange spots on its back. And finally, the fourth kitten is like the third kitten only with an orange spot on the back of its head and back. I am one of those people who is okay with having stray animals around.

Again, the stray dogs usually roam the little fields next to the buildings. Other dogs will roam the sidewalks or gardens. One time, Isabelle, my cousin Suren, my grandmother and I were walking and suddenly this cute little white dog came half walking half running behind us. He followed us all the way home until we were at the fourth to last turn where he crossed the road and we departed.

These animals are slowly getting homes and we do everything we can to help. We feed them, wash them, and play with them. We hope you can do something to help, too.

In conclusion, on the one hand, I am glad about having stray animals around because I can play with them. At home, I only have a fish as a pet. On the other hand, I feel sad about this because these animals get a meal only once a day so they have to go through rummaging through the trash. I think that these stray animals should get homes.

Here is a helpful site if you are interested in stray animals: http://www.worldanimalprotection.org/

YARP hello from Isabelle! Today I am going to tell you more about the protests. If you look carefully at the photos of protests on the web, you will see lots of children. If you think about it, the police wouldn’t hurt the children! With children around, the police can’t get to the adults. Isn’t that clever?!

The protests are happening on Baghramian Street because the President’s office is on that street. Some people even get married there at the protest site. When they get married, the police can’t barge in. Sometimes when there are no weddings, and very few children, the people will link arms to protect themselves.

One time, when Elise and I went to the protests, we bumped in to Raffi  Hovannisian. Well, we didn’t really bump into him. First he looked at me. Then we smiled at each other. Then my Mom noticed him and we took some pictures together. It was amazing because I remember the time when I tried at least to wave at him when he was on his hunger strike after Presidential elections in 2013.

For those who do not know, Raffi Hovannisian is a politician and he run for President in 2013.

YARP hello from Elise!

Armenia is wonderful, including the people and their houses. Interestingly, some of the houses are like mansions. Right next to them there are smaller houses and many apartment buildings that are not the best houses in the world. These are not similar to the apartment buildings in Boston. Often, in these buildings, the elevators stop working.

In Armenia, you have a perfect view of the mountain Ararat where Noah landed his boat. Mount Ararat usually appears on postcards. Armenia is full of mountains and hills. People usually write or draw on the mountains with colored rocks.

 

YARP hello from Isabelle!

Armenia is a wonderful place. Sadly, the government wants to make the prices of electricity higher. Most of the Armenians cannot afford the higher price of the electricity. Their solution is to protest. Now there are many Armenians flooding the streets. So much that one time when the government tried to stop the protesting, it brought the fire trucks out. The fire trucks then sprayed everyone with water. The government then realized the mistake they made: the very next day even more people came to the protests. That is all for YARP today. Stay tuned for more YARP. Thank you, and have a great day!

To inform people about Armenia –  People usually compare Armenia to US or other countries. Armenia is different, and YARP will tell you how different it is. We want to give more information to people about life in Armenia.  We hope to explain as to why there are more Armenians abroad than in Armenia. We want to tell about the Armenian culture. In our opinion, Armenian dancing is very elegant; the girls and women all dance synchronized in dresses with fancy patterns on them. The men sometimes dance with swords, or stand on top of each other’s shoulders and dance in a circle.

To attract readers from around the world – from Armenia, the US, or even from Africa, but not in Antarctica (no penguins but perhaps yes to explorers).

To encourage people to come to Armenia – We hope that more people come to the protests in Yerevan and to Armenia in general: if there are more people in Armenia, then Armenia has a chance of being populous. This means that there will be more people to help clean Armenia. Then Armenia will have a chance of being the wonderful place people want it to be.

To tell about the people in Armenia – people should now about Armenians because there are not many of them.  Armenia is nice, so if we do not want it to fall apart, we have to make the population grow.

 

– Isabelle and Elise