Thursday, April 26, 2007

Armenia - Week #3

Hello,

Where to start... We have had so many adventures in the last week. We visited Garni Temple which is a pagan temple from the 1st century, Ghegard church which was carved out of the mountain, Saghmosavank where we visited the family Haig met during his volunteering in 2000, and Khor Virap where Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned for 14 years.
We also went to the brandy factory, Sergei Paragonov museum, saw Anoush opera, and had dinner with the mayor of the village Kar's dad brought gas to.
We've had a great time with Kar's dad, her cousin who came to visit from Iran, and the rest of the family. One night, we went to a club and it was so cool to hear Armenian music mixed in with the rap :) We have continued our Armenian studies and Haig has started taking dooduk lessons and is loving it.

April 24th was truly a somber event and a special time to be in Armenia. Amazingly, it snowed all day but we joined the crowd and marched to Tsidsernakaberd and visited the museum.


We still have a lot planned for the remaining 3 days in Armenia but will update you next week when we get to Eastern Europe. We are both healthy and happy. We miss you all.

Love,

-Kar and Haig






5 comments:

Jo said...

It's a happy day when we see an update from you guys! And with so many great pictures too! It's great to hear that you're in good health and happy. I've been kind of lax lately with my geography studies. :( But I'm sure Artineh will agree that your photos have been far better than any satellite photos. :) I'll get crackin' with the satellite photos again when you guys start journeying away from the homeland.

bri said...

hey guys - great pics - but where are the jumping shots?!!

artineh said...

Sounds like an eventful month in Armenia. I can't believe the weeks just flew by. How cute is our cousin?? I can't wait to hear all about the reunion! So is Haig going to bring back a duduk and perform for us?

Thanks for the pictures and Joe, I especially like the second "satellite" shot of Armenia's neighbors :)

things at home are moving ever so fast as the monthly countdown to the wedding begins (less than 4 months to go). No cold feet yet but some stress to go along with the warm feet. the dissertation is moving slower than I want but I'm trying to make our trip to the bay area a firm deadline for myself to send the whole thing to Mike and Fred.

Hope the travel out of Armenia and into e europe is a good one (no run down shacks with bad meat, please)

arti

Unknown said...

Hi Karineh and Haig jan, such a nice pictures. I am really glad that you are having lot of fun in Armenia. I am sure you will have fun in Eastern Europe too. Don't forget to let Armen (in Germany) know when you'll be in Austria. It will be nice to see him too. Love you both. mom

artineh said...

with all the churches you went to in Armenia, I thought I would share a really cute reflection on religion. For those of Kar and Haig's friends who view this site, I also invite you to check out my friend Erica's blog. She was diagnosed with ALL (leukemia) last year and is in remission now but still undergoing chemo. Enjoy her most recent blog on traveling to France.

http://ericamurray.blogspot.com/

Kar, I'm wondering how you're feeling now, having visited so many old places of Christian worship.