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.

Armenian Christmas

 On December 25th I spent my Christmas with my family we ate different kinds of Armenian food. We ate hummus and mutabal. My family and I opened our presents on New Years instead of on Christmas. For Armenian Christmas we go to church and celebrate it there. We spent also a lot of time on calling relatives overseas wishing them a Merry Christmas. But my Christmas still has not come because we celebrate it on January 5th and 6th. Also on that day Armenian scouts come and sing us Armenian Christmas related songs.      

My Armenian Christmas vacation

This Christmas break was truly the best vacation I have had in a very long time. With so many things to do and so many family members to see my Christmas break was busy but enjoyable. My Christmas vacation contributed to my Armenian heritage in many ways, because the place I spent my whole vacation was in California. This is important mainly because the state of California has one of the worlds highest population of Armenians. I had many Armenian cultural experiences while I was there because the place I stayed was in Glendale, California. 

This is the second most populated Armenian city in the state, this is also where I stayed with my family. Every morning I would wake up to many delicious Armenian breakfast foods. We ate many breads with cheese and ground peppers in them,  and drank hot tea along with it all. These examples truly made it a wonderful experience. 

I opened my presents on Christmas Eve because that's usually when my family cooks a large feast for the whole family to come and enjoy. There were also many Armenian stores and bakeries in some areas where the whole street was just owned by Armenians.  This is my Armenian Christmas and I would love it very much if I could go back again next year. It was a great family experience and also a wonderful Armenian cultural experience.      

My Christmas Vacation

This Christmas vacation, I incorporated some Armenian traditions into my normal celebrations. One of the Armenian traditions that I enjoyed doing this year was preparing some of the food that we had for Christmas and New Year's Eve, such as khadaif, with my grandmother. This ties into my Armenian heritage because it is a traditional Armenian dish and helping to prepare and cook it really gave me a sense of my Armenian culture. We also gave some gifts on New Years Eve, which is an Armenian tradition. This is better because on Christmas, the holiday is much more commercialized and materialistic. It also makes more sense to give gifts on New Years because it helps you focus more on the real aspect of the holiday: your family.

My Christmas

This year during my Christmas vacation, I got to spend time with my family. This time of year is always special to my family, because Christmas day is my mom's birthday, and New Year's Eve is my birthday. Every year we are invited to my cousin's house where we all get to talk and have a good time as a family, with her husband, being a great cook, preparing most of the night's dinner including, steak cooked with wine, and rice. The gathering is always a success because we have a Santa come and the kids always get excited to get their presents. 

Then on Christmas day it was just my family and I at home, in front of the fireplace, spending quality time, and celebrating my mom's birthday. Although we don't open our presents until New Years Eve, Christmas day is a good day. Finally on New Years Eve it's been a tradition of my family that we will always spend it together, therefore my cousin, and uncle, from my dad's side are invited into our home, where my mom prepares all the food. Traditionally my mom makes, rice with mushroom, chicken, in the memory of my aunt who passed away seven  years ago. She also makes sarma (grape leaves, with rice) ghavorma (shredded  steak), pilav, and other Armenian food. 

Although the Armenian Christmas is officially on January 5th, as the guests left, it was our time to open our presents, as an Armenian tradition. This year I got a Laptop, which I had picked myself! Then my sisters surprised me with the bag I had wanted, and with the wallet, and other good presents :) 

An Armenian Christmas

Over winter vacation I celebrated Christmas with my family. My mother's side of the family came to my house for dinner and to open presents. My parents worked very hard on making all the food we ate from scratch, including bureg, shish kebab, pilaf, taboule, hummos, the works. It was delicious as always and the whole family enjoyed it. Soon it was time to open presents. While my cousins and I were opening our gifts, my uncle told us how in Armenia the children open their gifts on New Years Eve. I found this to be sort of strange, but we were getting too excited to really pay attention to what he was saying. Then on New Years Eve my family and I had gone with some of our family friends to the Hyatt hotel and rented a hall. It was really fun! While I was sitting and talking with my friends we started talking again about some of my friends family in Armenia who are opening their presents right now! I still did not understand why! Before I had a chance to get an answer to my question, everyone started to get up and dance!

Now,can anyone answer my question?

My Christmas

My Christmas  vacation was really  wonderful. On the 25th (Christmas day) my family and I went to Rhode Island where  all my relatives had gathered in a huge one level building to celebrate Christmas. Every family had the mothers decide what they where going to bring for food and there were many choices. My mum made two kinds of cake and homemade pickles. The rest had brought many kinds of salads, cold cuts including Basturma and many other things, rice, spinach and cheese pie, dolma, and many other things. We also had Armenian music to dance to. After when we went home  we opened our gifts and  went to sleep, but on the 31st we open the gifts others give to  us.  In Armenia they don't celebrate the 25th  instead we celebrate Christmas the 31st and while we have only 1 week of school out they have 2 weeks without school.  One other difference is that in Armenia it's a tradition to go from house to house on the 31st and wish them a happy new year and sit and feast for 30th  minutes then, go to a different house. On the 31st my family gathered and we sat and ate then on the strike of 12 the champaign was opened. My Christmas and New Year was great.