Aram’s trip to Armenia January-February 2021

Dear donors, This post is meant to offer a rough idea of where your donations have been distributed. (If anyone has specific questions, please feel free to get in touch with me via this blog or email.) Accounting Nearly  $20,000 have thus far been collected for this mission, mostly through donations made to the Atken Armenian Foundation  (AAF). I had collected the first $ 15,100 , and through Dora Sakayan's help, who I wrote about here, an additional $4,631  so far have been raised, a total which may increase further in the coming days. The latter donations have not been distributed yet, I hope they will be before I leave here next week, so that I can personally vouch for their whereabouts. There are several ways the funds were collected: by far, most of the donations were collected through the Ottawa Armenian community, following a request for donations sent out via our Ottahye email list, sent directly to the AAF ($5,139). I had also opened other accounts, some of whi...

I haven't done much the last few days. After arriving here last Wednesday from the hustle and bustle of Yeghegnadzor, I slowed down, without really wanting to. I won't get into it too much, but suffice it to say that I've been going through a bit of a lull. Partly for personal reasons I won't get into, partly because I have been sleeping a lot, even though the last two days were actually beautiful and sunny: it is currently 7 degrees. I am out and about now, in my favourite café again. I had promised myself, and readers, that I would offer greater details as to where donations ended up being distributed, and I will offer them in a separate entry after this brief post. First, a rundown of my last few days in Yerevan. Friday was an interesting day: I met a politician and an actor, both as a result of the very branché/connected Raffi N., with whom walking 5 blocks in Yerevan takes half an hour, given that he sees someone he knows every block, with the inevitable hellos and...

First, allow me to post a picture of a street I mentioned yesterday, for fun (pardon the bit of narcissism!) OK. Covid in Armenia: after being here for a few weeks, allow me to post some slightly (hopefully) more enlightened thoughts than when I first arrived. As I have mentioned, Armenia's Covid rates are pretty low right now, compared to Canada. Yesterday there were 173 cases and 2 deaths in Armenia. Canada's was 4,255 cases and 141 deaths. With about 13-14 times more population, the adjusted rates (14x) would be 2422 cases and 28 deaths, so about half the cases, but 5 times fewer deaths. Armenia has been in a downward trend for a while now, whereas Canada has JUST started its downward trend. I'm sure many of us have seen examples of bell curves with and without social distancing, but in case you haven't: So, the first bell curve shows that the health care system cannot reach everyone, and many more may die, as I believe was the case in Armenia around September-Novemb...

Pardon the dark thoughts, it is a dark day for me today. I mean, the saying comes to mind because after all, even though I am having trouble with the inequities of life in general, and here in particular, it is humbling to think we will all die in the end: perhaps those believing in an afterlife think there are differences, I don't. I remember saying this a few times while in Yeghegnadzor to people I was speaking to about how unfair it is that some of us are "born wealthy" compared to so many in the rest of the world, that in the end we are all the same. I thought I was being empathetic: but maybe it was more to appease myself, now that I think of it. It's a dark day for many reasons, including literally so. It has been cloudy every day I have been in Yerevan. After being in sunny (for the most part) Yeghegnadzor, while driving here via the winding roads back into the valley, I saw Ararat and Masis towering over a hazy cloudy mass below (which I never got to photograp...

As had been suggested to me, today I walked the streets in Yerevan and have stopped and worked and people-watched at a few cafés to take in the sights and sounds and people. I even saw an anti-government protest in Republic Square (more on that later, perhaps). The richer half, the ones who can afford the $3 cappuccino on offer, live here: lots of repats (Armenian immigrants born in Western countries, and those who left for the US and Russia who have returned), and likely also the (is it fair to say, corrupt?) wealthy, who have lived off the spoils of the average citizen, for the most part. Probably anyhow, it's what I hear, it's kind of hard to see and understand when I don't live here. It's basically a big city here, like any other, except the people all kind of look like me. It is of course a bit empty: it's cold, it's the middle of winter, Covid and a war devastated the country... but there is a small touristic vibe, and I'm pretty sure spring and the av...

Էրեբունի-Երևան Երևան դարձած իմ Էրեբունի, Դու մեր նոր Դվին, մեր նոր Անի: Մեր փոքրիկ հողի դու մեծ երազանք, Մեր դարե կարոտ, մեր քարե նազանք: Երևան դարձա՜ծ իմ Էրեբունի, Դարեր ես անցել, բայց մնացել ես պատանի: Քո Մասիս հորով, քո Արաքս մորով, Մեծանաս դարով, Երևա՜ն: ...                հեղ:           Պարույր Սևակ                երաժշ.:    Էտկար Յովհաննիսեանի: Ode to the  Erebuni fortress ,  which became the capital  Yerevan ... By now, surely considered a corny old song, here in Armenia; and a song for children's choirs, in the Diaspora at any rate. But it comes to mind, as it is probably the only Armenian song I know with the name of the capital in the lyrics. Actually, I just thought of another one ("Pretty girl from Yerevan"): Երևանի սիրուն աղջիկ                (Lyrics by Vladimir Harutyunyan; music b...

Yesterday, friends from Yerevan came over for a visit. It was interesting to speak to them. It was also interesting to eat croissants and baguettes that they brought, as I have only been eating local breads, cheeses, greens, meats, etc. Meeting them offered me a taste of what to expect in cosmopolitain Yerevan. I have not written for several days now because I was busy, but I have a moment now and wanted to write a brief post. I have a lot to say and information to give, several pictures to post, and a lot of reflections to share... I will surely do so in the coming days. I don't expect my days in Yerevan to be as full as they are now. Or perhaps they will be: I really don't know what to expect. Speaking to Raffi Niziblian and Lara Aharonian, my guests at the Terjanian residence, yesterday and today offered me a more interesting, layered, complex, educated and experienced view of the country. They are Canadians who have lived in Հայաստան for nearly 18 years now, and two of thei...