Author: Tadevosian Garnik

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.

2009-08-11 12:59:00
Karekin II calls Russia the second home state for Armenians

Moscow, August 11, Interfax – Patriarch-Catholicos Karekin II of All
Armenians considers Russia the second home state and prays for its
prosperity.

"A large Armenian community is living in Russia today. We think your
country to be our second native land," Catholicos Karekin II said in
an interview published Tuesday by Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily.

According to Karekin II, Armenians always remember that "during hard
times, Russians have always been the first" to give us a helping hand.

"I follow both internal and external life of Russia and pray for
Russia to always remain a strong nation. I pray that the Russian
people live in prosperity. What is good for Russians, is good for
Armenians, I personally treat these things as one," Karekin II
highlighted.

ARMENIAN SPORTSMEN MADE POOR SHOWING

News.am
11:21 / 08/10/2009

World Junior Judo Championship 2009 ended in Budapest. Armenian five
judoists made a poor showing: Davit Ghazaryan (60 kg) was close to
the victory, but got only the fifth place.

Unlike other countries Armenia did not have women’s national
team. Out of seventy-five countries Armenia was the twenty-fifth in
the standings. Japan ranked first, followed by Russia, Korea, Brazil
and Italy, Armsport.am reports.

Azerbaijani and Georgia national teams were in top ten.

GALUST SAHAKYAN: NO CHANGES PENDING

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
18:47 / 08/10/2009

Galust Sahakyan, Armenian Republic Party (ARP) faction leader, ARP
Deputy Chairman, stated there are no changes expected in foreign or
domestic policy in fall this year.

Commenting on Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s statement there would be
significant changes in fall this year, Sahakyan told NEWS.am: "I
am definitely unaware of Ter-Petrosyan’s statement, but can claim
that nothing will change by fall in terms of politics. There are no
political grounds for that." ARP expects positive economic changes
in fall. "There is forecast, that seems realistic."

As to NEWS.am question whether changes in Karabakh peace process will
be to Armenia’s benefit or detriment, MP said: "Neither to benefit,
nor to detriment. Negotiation process conduces to favorable conditions
for us."

THE FIRST OF NAVASARD:HOLIDAY SYMBOLIZING UNITY OF THE NATION

Aysor
Monday,
August 10-2009

The public organization "Haykyan Serund" (Generation of Hayk), the
population of the village Hartagjugh, Marz Lori, in the hills of
Baker celebrates the victory of Hayk against Bell, which took place
on Navasard 1 or August 11. This year the holiday was celebrated on
August 9.

"The victory of Hayk is our first great victory and it should lead
us through all our life. First of all, we are to appreciate our
victory",-said Hayk Chobanyan, the initiator of the public organization
"Haykyan Serund".

The members of the public organization "Haykyan Serund" are confident
that sooner or later this holiday will be celebrated through the
whole nation.

"August 11 has a great mission, there are many activities in August
and I think that these activities should be held under the heading
of holidays uniting the nation",-mentioned Mr. Chobanyan.

The priest Ter Mesrop, who was also present at the festival, blessed
the participants and wished health and prosperity to the Armenian
nation.

The women of Hartagjugh treated the guests with fresh baked lavash
(Armenian bread made in the ground oven), string cheese, cooked
vegetables and harisa (Armenian national dish).

Folk music and dances accompanied the festival. The young put on
Armenian national dresses and decorated the village horses.

The members of "Haykyan Serund" plan to build a temple symbolizing
the notion of the unity of nation in the hills of Baker.

THAI PLANE CRASH: PILOT KILLED AND MANY INJURED

Panorama.am
16:20 04/08/2009

The pilot of a Thai plane has been killed and seven passengers injured
as it skidded off the runway while landing on the tourist island of
Koh Samui, foreign media reports.

The Bangkok Airways flight, carrying 72 people, hit an old and unmanned
control tower amid reports of heavy rain.

The plane had taken off from the southern Thai town of Krabi,
another popular tourist destination. Officials said many of the
injured were tourists.

ELENA OBRAZTSOVA: I WILL COME BACK IN YEREVAN IN FEBRUARY

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
05.08.2009 14:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Prominent Russian opera singer Elena Obraztsova
said she will be in Yerevan in February 2010 again.

"I will come back to Armenia without fail," she told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter.

During her visit, Elena Obraztsova attended St. Zoravor Church where
one of Armenian singers performed a sharakan at her request. Admired
by the performance, she invited the singer to tour with her.

"I was also strongly impressed by the Armenian jazz, specifically by
the jazz in Levon Malkhasyan’s club where a band of perfect musicians
performs," she said.

52 APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED TO TAKE PART IN MISS SEVEN CONTINENTS-2010 CONTEST

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
03.08.2009 20:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 52 applications have already been submitted to
take part in the Miss seven continents-2010 beauty contest, Ashot
Khachatryan, Founder and President of Miss Seven Continents 2009 told
in an interview with a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

According to him, the competition has become so popular that many
countries have requested permission to participate in it. "One of
the participants of Miss seven continents-2009 even refused to take
part in the Miss World contest to be able come to our competition,"
the founder of the contest said.

"This year we organized a "modest" contest, next year we will raise
the bar and show the true show," Arthur Azaryan, the chief producer
of the Miss seven continents-2009 competition said.

According to him, the next year the contest will take place in the
Sports-Concert Complex after Karen Demirchyan.

It is already known, that Serbia, Spain, Italy, France, Monaco,
Malta will take part in 2010 contest.

On July 29, the first beauty contest "Miss Seven continents-2009"
was organized by a charitable "Miss and Mister" foundation in Armenia.

The competition was attended by representatives of Armenia, Russia,
Georgia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Nigeria, Latvia, Slovenia, Great
Britain, Lithuania, Slovakia, Moldova, Brazil, Belarus and Ukraine.

Animators from 13 countries to participate in ReAnimania animated film
festival
01.08.2009 17:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Animators from 13 countries will participate in
ReAnimania animated film festival to be held in Yerevan from October 3
to 6. Then, best animation films will be screened in Shushi, Nagorno
Karabakh Republic.
Animators from France, Russia, UK, U.S., Germany, Belgium, Georgia,
Poland, Estonia, Syria, Lebanon, Belarus and Norway have already sent
applications. The deadline for submitting applications is August 10.

SIX-YEAR SCHOOLING PROPOSAL

A1+
12:33 pm | July 30, 2009

Society

Co-chairman of the "League of Armenian Culture" NGO Ashot Aghababyan
is certain that the application of correct methods will develop the
mental abilities of students and teach them chemistry, physics, foreign
languages and other subjects within a couple of months. According to
him, every tenth student in Armenia is gifted with mental abilities
and it is simply necessary to identify them and develop those abilities
at a special center.

Ashot Aghababyan is a chemist by profession and has written many
books. He has been involved in identifying gifted students and
developing their mental abilities for fifteen years.

"Japan started enlisting its gifted children since 1945 and today we
see how much that country has progressed.

We have held special courses with gifted children in a number of
schools. Everyone praises this, but nobody really needs it. Everything
is based on intellect and repetition in our schools, while 98% of
schoolchildren don’t know a foreign language," said Aghababyan to
"A1+".

"Mesrop Mashtots knew what he was doing when he opened the first
school for gifted children who went on to become the founders of
the Golden Age," said Aghababyan and added that it is necessary to
create a concept for gifted students in the educational system, as
well as teach psychology and logistics in schools. There are some
problems with applying the method in regions. The NGO has addressed
individual businessmen and Ministry of Education and Science several
times, but in vain.

"We still haven’t received a reply from the ministry. They are not
rejecting, but simply "putting it aside."

Only the National Education Institute responded and said that there
is no expert for gifted children in Armenia," said advocate of the
NGO Artur Karapetyan.

We tried to clear things up from the Ministry of Education and
Science. Head of the Department of Extracurricular Education Arman
Ayvazyan was well aware of the method proposed by Aghababyan and has
even worked with the organization. "What they’re proposing requires
a lot of money. We presented this proposal to the government within
the Mid-term expense program, but the issue remains unsolved," he
said. According to him, the new method will allow students to take
the year-long course in one semester.

"It turns out that children must stay in school for 6 years, while
the instructional program is for one year. Besides that, students
with high capabilities in many schools set a good example for the
poor students and imagine what would happen if we took all those good
students away," said Arman Ayvazyan.