Armenians give a helping hand to Haiti

      It has been three weeks since Haiti was struck with a devastating earthquake, killing nearly 200,000 people.  Shortly after the news about the earthquake reached Armenia, the Armenian Rescue Service decided to help and send out a strong team of helpers, search dogs and special equipment to Haiti.  However, a few days after the announcement, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said, “Unfortunately we could not carry out the mission because Haiti was not prepared to receive the team and there were numerous problems with logistics and aid coordination… International structures told us that there are problems with physically shipping things and that financial assistance would be more expedient.”

I think it's a good cause and mission for Armenia to help Haiti.  Haiti helped Armenia during the time of it's earthquake back in 1988, so it's nice of Armenia to give back.

Read the article for yourself!

Armenia Loves Football!

On December 16,2009, Armenia soccer team (or football,as it is called in Armenia) ranked 100th in FIFA rankings for 2009. This is quite exciting that even though there are 200 countries that are ranked, Armenia is still considered in the top half!

Armenian Christmas

Armenian Christmas is known to be celebrated on January 6th.  Instead of staying home and going to church, I decided to come to school.  In Armenian class, we painted initials of our name that our teacher Digin Seta made herself.  These weren't any regular letters, they were bird writings, which is known as Tchnakir in Armenian.  Each letter is made up by a bird in the shape of the Armenian letter.  After, we had some cake Digin Seta had brought in.  When I went home and showed the painting to my mom and dad, they loved it and they immediately knew what the painting was.  They seemed so proud of me, and my dad even framed the painting, which showed how much he cared.

My Armenian Christmas

My Armenian Christmas was very enjoyable. Lots of friend and family gathering together to celebrate. On the actual day of Christmas I stayed home because it is a very important religious holiday for all Armenians. I went to church with my mother and younger brother and we prayed as we always do on Armenian Christmas. The day before though on Christmas Eve is usually when my family gathers in one of my relatives house's and we have a large table with Armenian foods and deserts of various kinds set for us to eat and enjoy the Christmas holiday together.

My Armenian Christmas

January 6th is the day that most Armenian's celebrate Christmas. It usually is not as much of a big deal as December 25th, however us Armenian's still enjoy it. In order to celebrate the holiday usually Armenian's go to church and then later on at night have a joyful and delicious dinner with their families. This is exactly what I did. I love going to church anyway, in fact, I teach Sunday School at my church to first graders and was also valedictorian of my own Sunday School class last year. It is a huge part of who I am, so being able to miss a day of school for it was just amazing!

"Tigran Ohajnanyan’s parents continue seeking justice for their son’s death."

Deceased soldier Tigran Ohanjanyan’s parents claim the case of their son’s death did not meet their demand for material evidence relating the case that has been presented in court and neglected results of a forensic examination. Tigran Ohanjanyan died on August 30, 2007, in a military unit, in the village of Karchaghbyur of the Gegharkunik region.

"According to the materials of the criminal case, at about 11:00 pm he left the military unit and was killed by electrocution when he touched a cable near a communications antenna." This conclusion was given by a forensic doctor Vigen Adamyan. After many studies if this criminal case and the findings of many doubtful facts, the parents of Tigran came to conclusion that their son was murdered.“How could my son have got killed by electricity of only 30 volts? If it was a case of electrocution, why were my child’s clothes torn into pieces, why did his teeth come out, why weren’t his shoe damaged in the part from where, according to them, the electricity went out,” says Tigran’s mother Gohar Sargsyan. Specialists say that 30 volts can not kill a human.
One of the lawyers Seda Safaryan says that there have been many other killinfs during that year of similar natures. I September 18 year old Aram Mkrtchyan at a military unit has been found dead. He has been bruttaly beaten by one of the officers Andok Gakstyan. Investigation of this case is still in progress and Andok Gakstyan is in costody.

My Christmas

       My Christmas vacation was enjoyable.  Christmas Day was all about my family being together and having a fun time.  Out of respect for my mother, my brother and I thought it would be appropriate enough for us to cook the food.  It was like a flashback to Thanksgiving because we made turkey in the oven, only  because it seemed big enough to feed my whole family.  We even had Armenian and Greek side dishes, like stuffed grape leaves, pilaf, lemony potatoes, feta cheese, and lahmejun, which is an Armenian like pizza.  Christmas day related to my culture because the most important aspect of my two cultures is my family coming together, and the food is the second most important.  Other than Christmas Day, the rest of my vacation was average, but I enjoyed it.