Author: Emma Nadirian

BY DANIEL DARON SINANIAN
From Birthright Armenia Blog

“Lost time is never found” Benjamin Franklin.

Everything about this quote is 100% correct. When I as a kid, I always wanted to visit Armenia. My grandfather encouraged me to apply to Birthright Armenia as soon as I turn twenty-one years old. The years passed and my grandfather died in November 2014. Ever since his death, I have wanted to apply but didn’t do so until I turned twenty-four. This was the best decision I ever made. Birthright Armenia is a life-changing experience. You meet so many incredible people throughout this journey. This experience has by far more exciting than running my first half marathon when I was only twelve years old.

As my two-month journey started, extending my stay was not on my mind, but that is exactly what ended up happening. My two-month stay suddenly became a full three-month stay. The first day I was there was a culture shock, which lasted about a week or so. I wasn’t used to this type of environment, especially because I came from Los Angeles. What really changed me was the first excursion to Artsakh. Visiting Artsakh was filled with amazing experiences. The trip there changed my perspective. I couldn’t believe how beautiful the land was and how courageous the people were living in danger every day of their lives. We, in Los Angeles, have everything and yet we always find something to complain about. People in Armenia are happy, warm-hearted and are proud to be there for us. These are my people, they are like my family. Being there taught me a lot about patience and ambition.

Armenia taught me that we have to be grateful for what we have and we must help people who do not have our standard of living but do their best to enjoy life. Even with the struggles people face in Artsakh, I still managed to see a smile on the faces of every villager who welcomed us to their home. What I found to be most interesting was the generosity of the people of Artsakh. Neighbors from the villages would invite us in for a glass of wine or dinner. “Whatever the time, wherever the place, so long as you are Armenian, you’re part of our family,” I was told by more than one of the neighbors…when you are told that, you feel happier to be Armenian. We Armenians always stick together, we are all one, and that was especially confirmed when a neighbor told me so.

While I stayed in Yerevan, I lived with a local family who were so gracious to host me.  I volunteered at the Helsinki Human Rights Association and Orran. Working in Armenia taught me a lot about the working conditions.

One of the things I looked forward to were the excursions. Going on excursions made us grow. It helped us connect with one another and together. No one was left behind. Going to Meghri was inspiring, even though we were there for only a very short period of time.

While in Meghri, a family invited us into the home with open arms. Immediately, they left their house to buy food from the local market so that they could feed us a warm meal. As soon as they returned from the local market, they started serving us a full five-course meal, minus the kabob. The more excursions I would go on, the closer I got with the volunteers. I spent my first Christmas and New Year’s without my family. I spent it with my temporary family who will remain dear to my heart forever. The fact that it started to snow on New Year’s Day made it very special because it reminded me of my childhood when we used to visit my father’s family in Chicago.

I ended my trip by attending my friend’s engagement farewell dinner in Armenia. What a wonderful ending to a love affair. They met each other while at Birthright. Living in Armenia taught me about values and honor. It strengthened my Armenian identity.

I can’t thank my family back home enough and the Birthright family in Armenia for allowing me to be part of this amazing experience. Thanks to Birthright, I discovered a lot about myself and those around me. Everything you do in life is all meant to be done for a reason, a purpose, and a sacrifice. Spending a couple months of your life away from your family is something many people won’t be willing to do. I’m glad I did it and served my country.

Living in Yerevan impacted my life in many ways and that is one thing I’m never going to forget. Yerevan is a city full of many surprises and it’s where many people meet each other from all over the world. That’s exactly what happened to me.  I met Armenians from Europe and South America. I never expected to feel so close to people from all over the world. I am going to miss all of my new friends upon my return to Los Angeles. But I will surely be back in the future to reconnect with old and new friends. Thank you Birthright.

This has been a wonderful experience. I will see you again in the near future.

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

I heard so much caterwauling about my “Bad News Beginning” piece a couple of weeks ago that I went out of my way for a feel-good piece this week. I hope all sensitive readers will find their nerves soothed by this, especially those who thought I was being too hard on Nikol Pashinyan.

To my mind, the best news was that Yerevan is to have new 20 hectare (almost 50 acres) forest-park. After the early 1990s denuding of the city when trees were chopped down for fuel, this is a great step forward, both for its human, recreational, and environmental values. If the new government keeps doing things like this, it’ll become a true hero in people’s eyes. The only caution is that this kind of project takes time to come to fruition and people have short memories when it comes to elections.

The most inspiring item came out of Bolis. The outfit publishing the “Looys” (light, in Armenian) newspaper has announced that within a month, the first ever Armenian TV channel in Turkey will start broadcasting bilingually (Armenian and Turkish). This speaks to the tremendous heart our compatriots living under the Turkish yoke have.

I’m not much of a churchy sort. But, learning that the first modern church (Syriac in this case) to be built in Bolis has finally gotten its permits, after being delayed since 2013, can only be greeted with joy. Could this and the previous item be tiny indicators that things are starting to go in a better direction in Erdoğan-land after some five years of going backwards on the road to becoming a decent member of the international family?

And while we’re on a thread of justice-related good news, we should also celebrate Donald Trump’s signing of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act into law. This should also calm down readers who seem to think I am unfoundedly opposed to Trump. I’ll always give credit where credit is due. This legislation codifies a lot of pre-existing policies and was recognized by the ANCA as a “landmark bipartisan genocide prevention measure” which I hope will clear the way for better behavior by both the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government when it comes to Armenian Genocide recognition.

When Erdoğan asserts that Bolton made a ‘serious mistake,’ and Ankara won’t ‘swallow’ his comments on Syria’s Kurds, I can only grin. Erdoğan’s arrogance manifesting itself will help keep Turkey-U.S. relations tense, creating opportunities for Armenian-issues related progress in Washington. Bolton had stated that any military action launched by Turkey in Syria must safeguard Kurdish lives.

Turning our attention back to Yerevan, it’s heartening to learn that the government has allocated nearly 4,000,000,000 trams/drams for more than 200 priority projects in provinces. This is important in two ways. First, it enables people to remain in their homes, dwelling throughout the country, thus making it more resistant to Turkic attacks from the east and west. Second, it helps ameliorate decades of Soviet era neglect when the focus of development was Yerevan. Our homeland must be developed and firm throughout, not just in the capital.

Finally, just as I had a drop of good news in my bad news piece, so is it necessary to not be Pollyannaish. Two news items out of Yerevan I noticed are potential problems. One is that the justice ministry seeks criminal liability for defamation of on-duty lawyers. The other was about Pashinyan griping that the media is out to damage the government through constant criticism because most outlets are owned by supporters of the previous, oligarchic, regime. While both of these items seem to have some merit, they also point in a direction that is rife with the risk of limiting, if not squelching, dissent or even simply differing opinions on policy. This must not be allowed to progress lest our homeland becomes more like Turkey, the largest jailer of journalists in the world.

Enjoy the good, but be alert and respond to the bad.