THE LOCALS ONLY TOUR OF GYUMRI
Alex Der Alexanian

Asbarez
12/the-locals-only-tour-of-gyumri/
Aug 12, 2009

This past week we have been walking around the parts of Gyumri that
we have not had the chance to explore yet.

Although Gyumri is a relatively small city, there is a lot to
see. Furthermore, if you do not have a Gyumri native to point out
interesting sights, a lot of the city will pass by without you
noticing. Luckily, we have had some great tour guides to show us
around and make sure we don’t miss anything important.

First up, was the now infamous Digin Lilig (read Serop’s last blog
entry). After making us yet another delicious meal, Digin Lilig
offered to take us to see Gyumri’s "Mayr Hayasdan" statue. As she
walked arm in arm with her hopeful future son-in-law Serop (that’s
the running joke in the house), Digin Lilig showed us around some of
the older neighborhoods in the city. Next stop was the tomb of the
Unknown Soldier followed by the Sev Pert (Black Fort). The Sev Pert is
a tremendously important historical landmark in Gyumri because it was
once used to defend the entire city from the attacking Turks during the
Armenian Genocide. Finally, we arrived at our destination, the majestic
statue of Mayr Hayastan. The statue sits on top of a massive hill.

You have to climb stairs that seem to have no end to reach the top
and see the stature. However, a little lactic acid in your quadriceps
is a small price to pay for the magnificent view you have from the
top. You can see the entire town of Gyumri from the site of the
statue. The feeling you get as you look at this triumphant symbol
of Armenia watching over the proud town of Gyumri is difficult to
describe within the limited space and time frame I have with this blog
entry. My only alternative is to encourage you to come and experience
it for yourself. Trust me, you will not regret it.

Round two of exploring Gyumri was lead by some of the older students
we have at our day camp. Tatev, Arax, Anahit, Bella, and Meroujan were
nice enough to take us around the city after we finished up our camp
session yesterday. The tour started at Yot Verk Church. The church
suffered major damage during the earthquake; however, it has now been
fully renovated and is in great shape. The church has pieces of two
fallen towers on display in its front court yard. The towers fell
during the earthquake and serve as reminders of the terrible tragedy
that struck Gyumri in 1988. Our tour guides then led us to see some
of Gyumri’s cultural centers such as the opera house and the Kohar
Music School (home of the world famous Kohar Yerkchakhoump). As we
walked past statues of famous Armenian authors and artists such as
Hovhaness Toumanian, the students enlightened us about Gyumri’s long
history as the cultural epicenter of Armenia. We were all delighted to
learn about Gyumri’s important role in the development and the future
of Armenian art and culture. The tour concluded with a stop at the
statue of Charles Aznavour. All in all, it was a great afternoon. We
got to see a lot of stuff that we would have never seen if we were
out exploring by ourselves. However, with the good came the bad. The
student showed us around some parts of the city that have yet to
be renovated from the earthquake. These areas are in extremely bad
shape. There are buildings that are half-torn down with people still
living in them. It looks like these structures are held together with
the thinnest of threads and could crumble and crush its inhabitants at
any second. It is appalling to find people living in these conditions
more than 20 years after the earthquake. To cap it all off, the cab
driver that drove us home described in detail the horrors of the
earthquake. He told us stories of having to dig for days to find his
relatives and then having to carry them on his back to bury them. All
these sights showed me the tremendous amount of help th!

is city r ts glory days. I hope these words and pictures will motivate
you as much as experiencing these things first hand have motivated me
to get involved and lend a helping hand to help out our motherland,
our Mayr Hayasdan.

To end things on a positive note, I want to share with you all
what happened to Serop and I when we stopped by the Gyumri fire
station. Serop wanted to check out the fire station and see if he could
buy a Gyumri Fire Department shirt for a buddy of his in the states. We
walked in and greeted the firefighters around the station. Serop
then proceeded to ask them if they had any t-shirts available that he
could take back home with him. A very nice firefighter named Vasken
smiled at Serop and then proceeded to literally give him the shirt
off his own back. This was no t-shirt. This was an official Armenian
Fire Service uniform that firefighters here in Armenia wear when they
are on duty. Serop attempted to refuse and tell Vasken that this was
completely unnecessary, but it was to no avail. Vasken was having
none of it. He told Serop that this was a present from his heart
and he really wanted Serop to have it. Serop was left with no other
choice but to accept the gift. In addition, Serop was extremely moved
by Vasken’s actions and I don’t think Serop’s buddy is going to be
able to get this shirt off Serop anytime soon. To return the favor,
Serop and I stopped by the station today and gave the firefighters
a few of our AYF beanies.