Month: July 2017

July 27, 2017

YARP Hello From Elise!

“Let’s play Կլաս (pronounced klass)!” I yelled. Everyone came rushing toward me, their faces lit up in excitement. We stacked our hands on top of each other to decide the order. This is called a Ցելա (Pronounced tsela). How tselas work is very simple. It’s very similar to a coin flip, only you flip your hand, with many other people. If everyone flipped their hand and their palm was up, all except for one person, that one person is out, or first place. The same thing would work if everyone’s palm was facing down, except for one person.

Back to the game. My cousin Սուրեն (Suren) was first place, I was second, my distant cousin Էմիլիա (Emily) was third, Isabelle was fourth, my other distant cousin Դավիդ (David) was fifth, and my other cousin Արփի (Arpi) was the last.

We quickly ran inside to get some chalk. I opened a drawer and powdery chalk fell out. I gingerly picked it up and ran back outside. Suren had already started drawing with some other chalk he found, and he already had the one square finished. Soon the two and three squares started taking shape, along with fourth and fifth, followed by sixth, seventh, and eighth. Lastly, we drew the ninth and “the home base,” wiping chalk dust off our hands. “Everyone! Find some rocks!’ I yelled happily. We all scattered, searching to find the best rocks. In Armenia, when playing this game, you throw a rock to the first square, do the hopscotch routine, and if any of your feet didn’t touch  the lines of the boxes, you can throw to the second square. If your rock doesn’t fall in the square, then it’s the next person’s turn. When you make it “home”, or until the ‘tenth’ square, you throw you rock backwards to any square, but without looking. Whichever square it lands on, that’s your home. Now, no one else can enter that square, they have to skip over it. Once you make it to the second round, instead of doing the regular hopscotch routine, you jump in each square with both feet, and you can rest in your “home”. For the third round, you jump in each square with your right foot, and you have two homes. The same for the third round, only with three “home bases” and with your left foot. Once you make it home on the third round, you win.

There are many other games in Armenia, like Armenian “hide and seek”, all of which I think are much more fun than American games. In America, as kids get older, they don’t play as many games. For example, In America, eleven-year olds don’t play hopscotch as much. In Armenia, wherever you look there are kids playing, no matter the gender or age. Twelve year olds may be playing the same game with the five year olds. Also, in Armenia, most of the games are athletic, almost every game includes running.

In Armenia, all the streets are safe, safer than in America. Because of the fact that Armenia is small, most residents in Yerevan and in the villages, have a good sense of community. If you are walking down any given street in Yerevan, you will meet many people you know, and they will talk to you, start conversations as if you were their closest friend. There are birds everywhere, even in Yerevan. There is almost no crime, especially in the villages. Overall, the studies show that crime rate in Armenia is low, and much lower than in many other countries. My sister Isabelle says that in the villages, the worst crime is ants stealing your food!

If you would like to know more about Armenian games, then visit Armenia, the large family. We welcome you with open arms.

 

YARP hello from Elise !

I laughed in delight as cold water splashed on my back. It was Vardavar (Vart-a-var), also known as Jrotsi (Jr-o-tse), in Armenia. Vardavar is an Armenian holiday when people throw water on each other. Vardavar history dates back before Christianity, during the Pagan times. It is believed that the goddess Astghik threw rosewater on everyone to spread love to everyone in Armenia. Another theory is that when Noah’s ark landed in Armenia, Noah ordered his sons to throw water on each other as a commemoration of the flood.

My cousins Suren and Arpi were staying over, and we were celebrating Vardavar in Bjni, a small village in Armenia. I shot my water gun at Isabelle and Arpi, for I was on a team with Suren. Isabelle happily shrieked as cold water hit her in the back. My bare feet splashed on the wet pavement, throwing up small waves as I ran. I took my gun and shot over the wall that separated our property from the neighbor’s. Satisfaction surged threw me as I heard the gleeful screams on the other side. All of a sudden cold water hit me in my back as Isabelle shot at me. “Oh no you don’t!” I yelled, shooting at her. We were deep in a battle with each other when water rained down on both of us from above. I looked up, not a cloud in the sky.  I heard giggling from the other side of the wall. “Everyone, attack! The neighbors are attacking us!” I screamed. We all ran inside to get some bowls, as we threw water over the wall. More water sprayed from their side, as I realized their weapon. “They have a hose!” I shrieked. Our team had a hose too, just we weren’t allowed to use it until my uncle Artak came. Immediately we shot our guns and threw water to the other side. We were so deep in our battle that we didn’t notice a car pull into our driveway. “Artak!” I yelled. My uncle was finally here! I ran barefoot into the house, rushing to hug him. To my surprise, my baby cousin Areg was here too! Even better! “Areg!” I said, as I ran to kiss him.

Soon Artak was engaged in the battle between neighbors, which soon became a war. Now, both teams had hoses and water guns. “Artak?” Came a voice from behind the wall. “Spartak!” Artak yelled, “You better watch out!” He turned the hose on and water started gushing out, of course, cold. Screams sparked up from the other side as my uncle sprayed the hose. We were so deep in battle that we didn’t notice one of the warriors from the other team snuck up  with a bucket. Soon we were all drenched in water as the warrior scampered off. “How dare you!” Suren shrieked, his hair dripping with water droplets. “Guys, watch this!” I yelled. I ran with my bucket to their property, and dumped the water onto them. Now the war was also engaged through the path connecting our yards. My cousins and Isabelle came for backup, with my little sister Helen not far behind. Water shot through the air as the war raged on and on, until finally the neighbor’s had used every little drop of energy. “We need to rest! Plus, someone turned our water off!” One of their warriors shouted, declaring our victory.

The day was coming to an end, finishing with wet clothes and drenched children. If you come to Armenia in the summer, July 23 especially, I recommend wearing a swimsuit under your clothing, because it’s going to get wet!

June 28, 2017

YARP Hello from Elise!

My feet sank into the muddy ground as I climbed up the steep mountain to the old thirteenth century monastery Matosavank. Isabelle, my sister, and I were leading a small group of tourists up the hike. Our group was made up of my mother’s students, Dan and Erica; a graduate student from the U.S., Nichali; my mother; a Lithuanian family of four; my mother’s friend Alexandra, or Alex; another professor from the US; and my grandfather, Suren Ohanyan.

My mother ripped the silence by announcing she and Dan were going to walk my grandfather back down the mountain, because the hike was proving too hard for my grandfather. “Elise and Isabelle, you two are in charge.” Isabelle and I had hiked up the mountain in the middle of winter a few years ago, and we recognized the path. By following trees marked with arrows we made our way up the mountain.

All of a sudden the road forked off into two paths. The main road continued to the right, although five arrows on different trees pointed to a small footpath. “I think we take the footpath,” Isabelle said, “Yeah, me too.” I agreed. So we led the group single file on the footpath, for it was only wide enough for one or two people.

After almost an hour of walking, we came to a small sign that gave some background information about Matosavank. The thirteenth century monastery was built in the year 1251 by Avag and Ivane Zakarian of the Orbelian Dynasty. My breath was ripped away from me as the church came into view. As we filed in single file through the one entrance, our eyes were blinded by the beauty. The church consists of three rooms, the porch, the church, and the book depository. One of the walls was built entirely of Khatchkars, or crosstones. Two small holes in the ceiling lit up the church, illuminating the space around us. Part of the wall was cracked, letting plants grow inside.

We set up a picnic near a strange rock, with thick moss growing over it. “Maybe it’s a gravestone,” suggested Erica, although there was no visible writing on it. “It might just be a fallen rock,” Nichali thought aloud. “Well, there’s only one way to find out!” Alex joked. Nichali took out some wine and we all had some, all except Isabelle and me of course.

We talked for almost an hour until Erica received a call from Dan. We all listened in on the conversation. “Where are you guys? Can you wait?” Dan asked, his voice fuzzy over the phone. “Why? We’re already here.” Erica responded. “Are you guys lost?” Continued Erica. “Well, I wouldn’t use the word lost…” Dan said, chuckling, although I could hear my mother’s yells in the background. “No, no! We are lost!” We all laughed. “Do any of you remember a fallen tree on your path?” aAsked Dan. “Do any of you guys remember a fallen tree on the path?” repeated Erica. “Well I do,” I blurted. It was on the wrong path.” I said. “Yes,” Erica breathed into the speaker. “It was on the wrong path.” Erica continued. “Should we come and get you?” She asked. “Nah, I think we’re good. We’ll call again later if we need help.” Dan responded. Thankfully we received no more calls, and, almost an hour later my mother’s shirt came into view. “I can’t believe you got lost in your own country!” I teased my mother. “Well, we used google maps until we saw one of the arrows and followed it back here,” she responded. The adults enjoyed another bottle of wine together and off we went, leaving the hidden monastery behind us.