tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47618574691577609552024-03-13T03:57:06.460+04:00Making ConnectionsMaking ConnectionsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04752958049808789376noreply@blogger.comBlogger143125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-75000440231715286212016-06-04T18:52:00.003+04:002016-06-04T19:01:14.247+04:00Hummus and brownies, books and bikes<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One year less 21 days. That’s how long it’s been since I moved back to Toronto. Things are the same, but different. (What returning “expat/repat” hasn’t said these words?) I know I’m not alone, but most days it doesn’t feel like that. All my friends here are people who’ve lived in Toronto, who’ve never lived anywhere else (or who moved here when they were young and haven’t left since). People who’ve built their lives in Toronto — Toronto defines them. It no longer defines me. And more and more, I feel the need to connect with those who split their time between countries, people who’ve lived abroad. People who’ve experienced/experience this dissonance, incongruence, discord… (My vocabulary of such words has noticeably expanded.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There are moments when I feel my worlds colliding. Yesterday was one of them. At a screening of short films as part of the <a href="http://insideout.ca/torontofestival/">Inside Out Toronto LGBT Festival</a>, surrounded by queer people of colour in Toronto, I saw so many familiar faces. People whom I knew, interacted with another lifetime ago. They hadn’t changed — and that always surprises me. After so many years of living abroad, after all the varied experiences I’ve lived through, I expect that people I meet from the past will have changed too. Perhaps that change is not visible (which is probably true in my case too), but the overall impression I’m left with is that nothing has changed here, while I’ve changed immensely. The dissonance I experience is only confirmed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And it’s during moments like this that I also feel I’ve come full circle. I’ve returned from where I began. And that this is the way it should be, the natural course of my life. That when I left in 2009, I didn’t know how long I would be gone for; I didn’t plan to be away this long. And so perhaps it was a bit of an abrupt ending, and I’ve come back to properly make peace with the life I lived here. To acknowledge how much growing up in Toronto (in Scarborough, to be exact) has <a href="http://hazlitt.net/feature/between-loneliness-and-imagination">shaped me</a>, but also how much it doesn’t mean that I have to have the life that so many of my friends and family have. It doesn’t mean I have to stay. Maybe I’m looking for confirmation that it’s ok to leave. That Toronto will always be a part of me, something I will carry with me wherever I go — but that doesn’t mean I can’t leave it behind, if I need to.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So why “hummus and brownies, books and bikes”? Hummus and brownies are my “coming full circle”: in university, I attended a workshop for activists, where fellow (volunteer) activists brought us homemade brownies and hummus during the break. The food came just in time, as I was terribly hungry: I’m always so grateful when someone feeds me. And it was delicious! So simple and exactly what I needed. It became my “comfort food”. Years later, while living in Yerevan, I used an <a href="http://www.joyofbaking.com/brownies.html">online recipe</a> to make brownies, and on another occasion, hummus, both from scratch, and they were an instant success! These are the two things my gf’s mother always asks me to make when I’m over. It has become our shared “comfort food” (though we both speak Armenian, food became our primary language of communication).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And books and bikes because it’s <a href="http://bikemonth.ca/news">Bike Month</a> (and Pride Month!), and an <a href="http://www.thereadingline.ca/books-on-bathurst/">event</a> I recently went to combined a group bicycle ride with author readings and library visits. There are no two things I love most in the world than books and bikes. And Toronto is the perfect place to enjoy and celebrate both! Another example of worlds colliding — but in a good way.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04752958049808789376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-29134841213623045362014-07-05T15:07:00.002+04:002014-07-08T13:06:00.155+04:00A World of Pride or More Like Hüzün?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These days what
I’m feeling isn’t pride, but sadness. Or perhaps it is melancholy. <a href="http://worldpridetoronto.com/">WorldPride</a> was celebrated in Toronto
this year, but I’m not there. I’m in Yerevan where the word “pride” doesn’t
have the same meaning. <a href="http://leretourin3parts.blogspot.com/2011/06/on-gay-pride-parades-and-why-yerevan.html">No
gay pride parade</a> and not even a march — nothing that is even close to
resembling what was happening in Toronto last week and what happened in
Istanbul on Sunday.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo25qcMcwN1Vn71KGrHWD5vnHUXZCPMS4RZXlHBdjUTckXQFUQVSJTXuPiKFqJhhy8GqCJDhe_xxhVSGcxcIraxmPMZoJ8eoYpxOxjz0eSHKZHzqVIn1eYJrBpcI5YgnfB1vsXCzt1foE/s1600/DSC_0101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo25qcMcwN1Vn71KGrHWD5vnHUXZCPMS4RZXlHBdjUTckXQFUQVSJTXuPiKFqJhhy8GqCJDhe_xxhVSGcxcIraxmPMZoJ8eoYpxOxjz0eSHKZHzqVIn1eYJrBpcI5YgnfB1vsXCzt1foE/s1600/DSC_0101.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a> </div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="NL">I was lucky this
year to be in Istanbul for gay pride. It was my first time in the city that is
so close to Yerevan and yet so far. My girlfriend and I, along with a couple of
our gay Armenian friends, planned a short, four-day visit not only to see the
city, but also to be there for the pride march. Because unlike other cities where
I’ve been that celebrate Pride (Toronto, Montr</span><span lang="FR">éal, </span><span lang="NL">New York, Reykjavik, Dublin), it wasn’t a parade
but a march. And there’s a clear difference between the two.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnO3ToKHwAz0ZVbwe4FXpCVEtVf9SGziv_Cvrbzo9X32a6Mwfvrf4-eW-D4rH8x5-AclRrPyOPhrpbrPduAYEnhsdnB6x1XuQfrz7cb7Q0uiHajCgk7albVv_mXzqko_0XfY8jpX-O4bU/s1600/DSC_0093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnO3ToKHwAz0ZVbwe4FXpCVEtVf9SGziv_Cvrbzo9X32a6Mwfvrf4-eW-D4rH8x5-AclRrPyOPhrpbrPduAYEnhsdnB6x1XuQfrz7cb7Q0uiHajCgk7albVv_mXzqko_0XfY8jpX-O4bU/s1600/DSC_0093.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It reminded me of
the origins of Pride, of what was fought for and what was gained. And it
reminded me of how far we still have to go. If you only saw the faces of the
people in that march in Istanbul, the <a href="http://louisfishman.blogspot.com.tr/2014/06/it-just-gets-better-istanbuls-12th.html">plethora
of signs and rainbow flags</a> — I can’t remember the last time I saw so many
rainbow flags at a Pride parade! I can’t believe Istanbul has been celebrating
Pride for 22 years (that’s what I was told, though </span><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul_Pride">Wikipedia</a></span><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
tells me the first Istanbul Pride was celebrated in 2003). That fact alone is
amazing; however, the fact that it is still a struggle, that people still feel
the need to shout and chant and hold signs and flags is the other amazing
thing. Because Pride celebrated in other cities (at least the ones I’ve been
to) are more akin to festivities with feathers and men in tight, short shorts
dancing on floats. Music blaring from loudspeakers. Big banks and corporations and
political parties with their own floats and representatives. It has almost
become fashionable to be gay and “gay-friendly,” to be in the Pride parade, to
kiss someone of the same sex on that day even though you’re straight. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNr8AmgLA2X-IMr6x38OeSddKBFt9hnyyWpz_9bFKXSr_FL8TL7RrHUBQKh3qrGwIvOVp3sP5tTfciNm2eSkVJ7Mg2giLjdZd4Zmd_2Wh4dPB0y2yDl0auqcRKJEF2JVL35SzMjIjESnY/s1600/DSC_0137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNr8AmgLA2X-IMr6x38OeSddKBFt9hnyyWpz_9bFKXSr_FL8TL7RrHUBQKh3qrGwIvOVp3sP5tTfciNm2eSkVJ7Mg2giLjdZd4Zmd_2Wh4dPB0y2yDl0auqcRKJEF2JVL35SzMjIjESnY/s1600/DSC_0137.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And not
to say there was none of that in Istanbul: though I didn’t see any political
parties or big corporations, I did see some feathers and some men with bare
chests; others in outlandish clothing (some in drag and some who were trans*). But
no floats. Just thousands and thousands of people of all stripes marching,
holding signs in Armenian and Turkish (probably in Kurdish too) and so many
rainbow flags. A couple of big banners and a couple of people with bicycles. Some
dogs. Only a handful of children. And the music that stayed with me the most
was the beat of the drums. Men and woman playing various types of drums at
different points in the march. This is the sound of a struggle, and this is how
you know that what we saw, what we were swept up in (my gay Armenian friends
and I) was a march for human rights.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinILcyCQNEEsqhxjWeb-kU1oHBRhnyGSpIG1gTLVY7MvxP2j3yKpbJmMVw21Tk2c4Dfvf4pmit9EA8dEq4HDpS8evDJXI7uG3V07lJ02UsosBlj0d7Ork69_QioBuIwDMFYQVQFFwlEBw/s1600/DSC_0157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinILcyCQNEEsqhxjWeb-kU1oHBRhnyGSpIG1gTLVY7MvxP2j3yKpbJmMVw21Tk2c4Dfvf4pmit9EA8dEq4HDpS8evDJXI7uG3V07lJ02UsosBlj0d7Ork69_QioBuIwDMFYQVQFFwlEBw/s1600/DSC_0157.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was powerful
and intense, and probably too overwhelming because my gf and I decided to sit
part of it out. To sit on the second floor of one of the d</span><span lang="FR" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ö</span><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ner restaurants along Istiklal and watch the march
from above and wait for our friends to join us. To me, the ebb and flow of
people (so many people!) was like the waves of the Bosphorous, which was only a
few minutes away from us. It is this energy that gives Istanbul life — not only
the river, but the people in the city. The people that never stop.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuAX9ygUAXK7Bg3I5iXoMznQZ2eBX-gyz_dSR4WuDMZGco8_oEL7MMDSDqQuIROoFVHKhLjmMePmxtQJxTxiRfAAxNMC30qfAwCkW7n4kim-5UyX5ipwY3x33GsY54AaZ7PP7YxH_Y9nU/s1600/DSC_0154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuAX9ygUAXK7Bg3I5iXoMznQZ2eBX-gyz_dSR4WuDMZGco8_oEL7MMDSDqQuIROoFVHKhLjmMePmxtQJxTxiRfAAxNMC30qfAwCkW7n4kim-5UyX5ipwY3x33GsY54AaZ7PP7YxH_Y9nU/s1600/DSC_0154.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So why melancholy?
Before my trip, I began reading Orhan Pamuk’s <i>Istanbul: Memories and the City</i>. Pamuk for me, as for so many
others around the world, is the eyes through which I see Istanbul. Though I
have yet to finish the book, what has struck me most is his use of the word
“melancholy” to describe the city. He writes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="NL">“We might call
this confused, hazy state melancholy, or perhaps we should call it by its
Turkish name, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">h</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">üzün</span></i>, which denotes a melancholy that is communal rather
than private. Offering no clarity, veiling reality instead, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="NL">h</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">üzün</span></i><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;"> brings us comfort, softening the view like the
condensation on a window when a teakettle has been spouting steam on a winter’s
day […] But the view outside can bring its own </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="NL">h</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">üzün</span></i><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">. It is time to come to a better understanding of this
feeling that the city of Istanbul carries as its fate." (p. 89)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">Pamuk mentions the affinity between </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="NL">h</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">üzün</span></i><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;"> and </span><span lang="NL">“</span><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">another form of melancholy,
described by Claude Lévi</span>-Strauss in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tristes Tropiques</i>.”
He writes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tristesse</i> is not a pain that affects a
solitary individual; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="NL">h</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">üzün</span></i><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;"> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tristesse</i> both suggest a communal
feeling, an atmosphere and a culture shared by millions. But the words and feelings
they describe are not identical […] The difference lies in the fact that in
Istanbul the remains of a glorious past civilization are everywhere visible. No
matter how ill-kept, no matter how neglected or hemmed in they are by concrete
monstrosities, the great mosques and other monuments of the city, as well as
the lesser detritus of empire in every side street and corner […] inflict
heartache on all who live among them." (p. 101)</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">I don’t know if what I felt in Istanbul was </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="NL">h</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">üzün</span></i><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">, but it felt very much like what Pamuk describes. However,
for me, the underlying <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tristesse</i>, the
communal feeling, comes from being an Armenian in Turkey. The </span>“</span><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">glorious past civilization"
Pamuk refers to, as all Armenians know, includes the Armenians (and not only)
who were deported and massacred and whose existence on these lands continues to
be denied today. But what I felt, I think, was not only the consciousness of
being Armenian in Turkey, but also an awareness of the country’s present-day
policies and its ongoing human rights struggles. Turkey is a complex country —
<a href="http://www.onehellofaride.com/2011/10/experience-turkey/">almost everyone will tell you that</a> — and it cannot be defined by one four-day
visit to Istanbul. But I can’t imagine anyone going to Istanbul and not experiencing
something of this complexity and feeling this intense, indescribable emotion.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjSzZ1Y4IpW0YhcvN12eTVL17EBmFdUC8UnzYHLZd2PxlewfHcnWFISU98c_SQ5lVx1FkAh3E5mPCS29Ma2NqFh3xrgI1rkENl6lOyGPb_vBtYn2v0clMWX8NfQoINzOl_1pVKAuu_Y88/s1600/DSC_0017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjSzZ1Y4IpW0YhcvN12eTVL17EBmFdUC8UnzYHLZd2PxlewfHcnWFISU98c_SQ5lVx1FkAh3E5mPCS29Ma2NqFh3xrgI1rkENl6lOyGPb_vBtYn2v0clMWX8NfQoINzOl_1pVKAuu_Y88/s1600/DSC_0017.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">And yet there’s more. I brought with me to Istanbul the malaise (if it can
be called that) that I was feeling in Yerevan. The experience of returning to
Yerevan after a year abroad and still not quite fitting back in. A feeling of
disconnect, of discordance that after several months does not seem to want to
go away. Furthermore, I don’t doubt that there is a communal melancholy, a sort
of </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="NL">h</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">üzün</span></i><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">, also in Yerevan. So what I
was feeling on the micro level was magnified at a macro level (in Yerevan) and taken
to Istanbul (you might say to a meta level), resulting in a very overwhelming
feeling that I am still processing a week later. Needless to say, Istanbul was
a shock to my system. <br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">In itself it is a city of contrasts, of gay pride yet police crackdown, of
Twitter and YouTube bans yet women with tattoos and carefree youth drinking
beer on the street, of boutique shops and modern cafés in </span>“h<span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">ipster" Cihangir and the
call to prayer from mosques heard throughout the city several times a day. I
was a fool to have thought Yerevan (Armenia, or even the South Caucasus) was at
the crossroads of East and West. There is no doubt that it is Istanbul that is
between Europe and Asia (whereas the South Caucasus feels more like it is
between the West and Russia). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">However, what I loved most about my trip was being able to spend it with
friends, and the opportunity that Istanbul, with its clash of cultures, gave me
— to visit Arzu, a friend from Baku and one of the nicest people you’ll ever
meet; to meet a Turkish friend of <a href="https://twitter.com/unzippedblog">Mika</a>’s who recalled fondly his five-day visit
to Yerevan over a year ago and who is convinced Mount Ararat will one day be
returned to the Armenians; and to spend such a wonderful time exploring the
city with an old Armenian-American friend who spent some time living in
Yerevan. Because that is truly the beauty of Istanbul: the clash of cultures is
also what allows us Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Turks, and more to meet and talk
and create and listen. Istanbul, having its own conflicts to resolve, in my
opinion, can never be peaceful, but it can allow you to connect to others, to
find common ground, or at the very least look out toward the Bosphorous and be
comforted by the </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="NL">h</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">üzün</span></i><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;"> inside all of us.</span> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04752958049808789376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-64571677477150144382014-01-31T08:37:00.004+04:002014-01-31T08:37:46.743+04:00The Second Time Around<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Living in Armenia the second time around is different. You are no longer bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. You see beneath the surface. And you don't always like what you see…</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We (us second-time-arounders) are congratulated for returning. I mean, we had our chance. We left Armenia, and though we always said we'd return, probably no one really believed us. But we did return. And those who stayed, those who remain here thanked us (though they don't need to, really). We feel like heros. But I find that problematic. You don't get a medal for living in Armenia (living anywhere, for that matter). So why do people feel the need to make us feel like we deserve a medal? If anyone deserves a medal, it's you. You who stayed. You who stayed and fought and continue to put yourself on the line every day (I'm talking about the human rights defenders, the activists). I took the easy way out. I left (yes, it was for a good cause, and yes, now I'm back) and yes, though I did what I could from afar, you have to admit, it's easier from a distance, from behind a computer screen, than on the ground, In Real Life. <a href="http://leretourin3parts.blogspot.com/2012/05/not-in-my-name.html">Trust me, I know</a>. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But the thing is we've changed. I've changed. The experience of leaving — even temporarily, even knowing you'll be back — changes you. You've lived a different life. And even though the entire time you're away you're thinking of Armenia, you're counting the days till you get back — because you feel the pull, the longing is too powerful — even though you experience all these things, once you get back, it's not the same. Or rather, you're not the same.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And though things here <i>are</i> different (so many have left, so many want to leave; things always seem to be getting from bad to worse), that's not really the big change. The big change is in you. You've lost that hopeful glow, the stance that regardless of everything, you're happy to be here, you want to be here. You're not so sure anymore. You wonder about your future here, and you hate it when people keep asking you if you're back for good, as in the rest of your life. Who knows about the rest of their life? I don't. I can't make any promises. I don't make any promises. But I say I am back, and I don't have plans to go anywhere anytime soon. And really, isn't that good enough?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[I'm sorry, mom, I know you said you like it when I end my blog posts on a positive note, but this time I don't have anything more to add. What can I say, some days I'm more positive than others!]</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04752958049808789376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-65585194859775082022014-01-19T11:38:00.000+04:002015-08-08T07:51:05.460+04:00Dispelling the Myth that Everything is Organic in Armenia<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A <a href="http://myrthekorf.com/">friend</a> recently shared on Facebook a <a href="http://www.likewise.am/2014/01/leaving-armenia-what-ill-miss-what-i-wont/">blog post</a> by another friend of mine, which elicited several comments on the myth that everything is "naturally organic" in Armenia. Though I knew about the use of pesticides, there's a lot that I didn't know, and so I asked the person who left the most detailed comments, Ursula Kazarian (who happens to be the president and founder of the <a href="http://www.armenia-environment.org/">Armenian Environmental Network</a>), if I could publish her comments on my blog. She agreed, so here it is. Kind of like a guest post :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Factory farming is resource-intensive and so we do not see it on the same scale in Armenia as we do in the West. 'Organic' has come to mean a lot of things to a lot of people, which is why I avoided using that term in my first comment. <b>Industrial and mining activities before, during, and after the Soviet era have contributed to the contamination of many fields which would certainly fail organic certification</b>. Even beekeepers who harvest 100% of the product and feed bees sugar to earn more in profits would fail organic certification. (This happens more than people think.) Last I checked, only one organization in Armenia is licensed to certify organic produce for export (i.e. to international standards), although I know there is at least one other initiative currently being organized for that purpose, as well. Most people recognize the <b>effects of improper disposal of mining tailings or the highly probable, yet grossly under-researched and under-reported, impacts of radiation from the Metzamor nuclear power plant</b> on nearby crops (and people). Fewer are aware of the use of pesticides as you and Adrineh mentioned, as well as GMOs and even the introduction of bovine growth hormone. The Soviets effected a great deal of reshuffling of land use policy, draining wetlands (and creating highly salinated soils) in the Ararat valley and elsewhere, and otherwise modifying resource use plans to suit geopolitical needs at the time (such as relocating populations to border areas where little to no water resources existed to sustainably support any sizeable communities). However, <b>the introduction of new crop species, as well as modern pesticides, GMOs, etc., as in so many other countries, is the product of international aid and multilateral lending policies. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[...]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Then there are the examples that would be less well-regarded if they were more widely known. I didn't mean to write as much as I have, but I know that there is an ongoing popular belief that everything in Armenia is 'naturally organic,' and I believe it is important that people know that this isn't true. There is a difference between factual assertions and emotional or observational assessments, which <a href="https://twitter.com/abalashov">Alex</a> himself is quick to point out and which is why I would not chime in on any of his cultural observations, which are by their very nature subjective and open to interpretation. <b>I would agree with his observation about the simplicity of the food supply</b>, if we exclude the (often, though not always, imported) highly processed foods available in corner stores and now also in supermarkets. But I think it's important that we not further propagate, intentionally or unintentionally, the erroneous conclusion that whole foods make healthy foods. I once experienced pesticide poisoning from a fetoosh salad in Yerevan that kept me bedridden for a week, and that was as ostensibly healthy and whole a meal as it gets."</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04752958049808789376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-58406805810921451652014-01-05T19:01:00.000+04:002014-01-05T19:01:09.283+04:00Welcome to Armenia<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s Christmas Eve in Armenia,
but I’m not really feeling the holiday spirit. For one thing, all the fanfare
of New Year’s Eve (especially here where Dec. 25th is not celebrated) has died
down, the alcohol’s effect has worn off, and we’re confronted with the reality
of having spent half of this month’s pay cheque on holiday preparations and
coming to terms with how we’re going to make the other half last for the
remaining 25 days of this month. For another thing, I just read my friend Artur
Papyan’s <a href="http://ditord.com/2014/01/05/heres-to-the-new-year-the-worst-is-yet-to-come/">latest
blog post</a>. He paints a bleak picture of the year to come (which also
reminded me of Yerevan Press Club President Boris Navasardian’s <a href="http://media.am/en/Boris-Navasardyan-interview">similarly depressing
outlook</a> on the state of Armenian media, censorship and a return to a
disempowering Soviet past, but that’s a different story). But, Artur jan,
please don’t feel bad because the good thing about reading your post was that
it gave me the impetus I needed to write this blog post, which I’ve been
meaning to write for the past few days.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></o:p></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s not the first time that I’ve
brought my bike to Armenia, but somehow this time was much more difficult and really
jolted me to the reality of interactions and negotiations in Armenia — or
rather reminded me of them because, apparently, after a year’s absence, I had
forgotten that the simplest transaction can be so difficult and energy
draining. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First of all, my bicycle didn’t
arrive with the rest of my luggage. After being told to keep waiting, even
though there were only 2 other people left waiting for their luggage (and
everyone had already left), I was finally advised to report my “loss” to the Lost
and Found desk. More waiting in line. All in all, I spent nearly as much time
at the airport (first going through customs, then waiting for the luggage, then
waiting to report my missing baggage) as the duration of the flight. All this
in the middle of the night and with my gf waiting for hours on the other side.
You’d think airport staff would realize all this and have a heart. But no. On
the contrary, they yell at you for being impatient and cranky, and you feel
like you should be the one apologizing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="NL">The good news is that I finally
got my bike. The bad news is it took a lot more time and effort to get it. I
was given several numbers to call (the airline), which I did the next day and
the day after, but of course there was no answer. So I left messages. Monday
morning, we’re awoken by the phone ringing: it’s some guy named Tigran who says
my bike has arrived but I have to go to the airport myself to retrieve it:
something about it being held at customs because it’s an expensive/valuable </span><span lang="NL">item
and there’s an assumption that I may have to pay customs duties on it. I
emphasize that it’s not an expensive item (in fact, I bought it used from a
friend for only 45</span><span lang="FR">€</span>)
and it’s MY bicycle; that is, it’s not brand new and it’s not a gift so I
shouldn’t have to pay any duties. Regardless, my gf and I get dressed and out
the door like there’s no tomorrow and hail a taxi to the airport to settle
this. (All this was bad enough but the taxi driver wanted to charge us 5,000
AMD for the one-way trip! We negotiated the price down to 2,500 AMD, which is
normal for a cab ride from the city center to the airport. But really, we
didn’t need the extra headache.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At the airport, I approach a man about having an item
in customs for which I might have to pay duties. He says there’s no such thing.
I am free to pick up my item from the special section (Tigran lied!). He
directs me and my gf to a special area behind the airport, where two women
behind the desk ask me for my passport (funny, no one told me I had to bring
ID, but of course I brought it with me along with my plane ticket and the lost
and found form I filled out). During this time, my gf and I are taking turns
talking to Tigran. He has left; he is no longer at the airport. We tell him he
has to come back. The airline lost my luggage and I was promised that staff
would bring it to me, at my door, and here I am at the airport having to
retrieve it myself. It’s the airlines’ fault and yet, I have to hire a large
vehicle to bring the bike home? No way. We convince Tigran to return, but not
before finding out the real reason he said we have to come to the airport: he simply
didn’t have a car large enough to pick up the bike…!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V_J_-Yi0ELM/UslzSAkzgtI/AAAAAAAAALU/6x9G-_vbZ4o/s1600/bikes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V_J_-Yi0ELM/UslzSAkzgtI/AAAAAAAAALU/6x9G-_vbZ4o/s320/bikes.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My bicycle before its journey to Armenia</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back to the two ladies behind the desk. Besides the
passport, it’s a good thing I had another form of ID with me, which I leave
with the women in exchange for a “visitor” badge that I have to wear to enter
the airport in the back. I have to go through security — it’s just like airport
security everywhere. I even take off my belt and anything else I have on me
that might set off the alarm as I walk through the metal detector. I go back to
the same Lost and Found desk where I filed for the lost luggage. It’s the same
woman and thankfully she recognizes me. But getting the bike is more difficult
than it seems. She (and her male colleagues) are not comfortable having me sign
out the bike — they need to give it to Tigran, who, by the way, I’m not sure
works for the airport or the airline (I’m told the airline company though they
keep referring to Tigran as their worker. It’s all very confusing). Finally,
they call Tigran and get confirmation that he’s coming back to the airport for me
and my bike and that I can sign out my bike. The box my bike is in has been
opened (meanwhile, the woman at the Lost and Found desk said they can’t open
the box without my presence — more lies) and huge sections of the cardboard
have been torn from the side (where there were holes for handles, those holes
were made much larger due either to poor handling or to intent to peek inside
the box). I tell the Lost and Found employees that I bought this bike used for
45 euros, to once again confirm it’s not expensive. One employee is surprised
and asks me jokingly if I can get a bike for him. Another suggests I take the
bike out of the box and ride it out of the airport (ha ha). I am not
appreciating any of this.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then I ask for a cart because obviously no one is
going to help me get this long (though not heavy) box out of the baggage area
to the visitor waiting area in the arrivals hall where my gf is waiting (she
wasn’t allowed to come with me to the back). One employee, Zhirayr, tells me
the cart service is a different company (“we have nothing to do with them”) and
anyway, they’re closed now… ?!?! I really have no patience. I insist. First, he
tells me in case anyone asks (who’s going to ask?! There is no one in the
airport at this time in the morning/early afternoon apart from airport
employees), he says if anyone asks just say you’re a friend of Zhirayr’s. And
then he proceeds to call someone (ostensibly someone responsible for the cart
service) and says, there’s this girl, she’s a relative, she’s just taking a
cart. I mean, really! Does nothing happen in this country without you having to
be someone’s close friend or relative? It was truly the icing on the cake.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I get a cart, put the box on it, and with great
difficulty roll it outside (but not before yet another airport staffer asks me
what it is — to which I reply gruffly that it’s MY bike, and he understands
well enough to leave me alone and wishes me well). The whole thing is very
déjà-vu because you go out the same way as the first time, where family and
friends wait impatiently to greet arriving visitors. My gf is there and at
least this time she wasn’t waiting for 3 hours in the middle of the night. We
wait till Tigran shows up with empty excuses and a second car that has a rack
on top, to which the guy from whom the car was rented attaches the bike. And
off we go: me and my gf with Tigran in his car, and the guy with my bike on top
of his car following behind. We make it home safe and sound: me, my gf, and the
bicycle that cost 50<span lang="FR">€ to ship but ended up causing more
headaches than it was worth.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="FR"><br /></span>
Welcome to Armenia.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04752958049808789376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-56490272635005055302013-09-22T16:37:00.002+04:002013-09-22T16:44:00.578+04:00#Commit2Equality for LGBT Armenians<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There hasn't been a week that's gone by that I haven't thought about this blog and more specifically, that I haven't felt guilty about not updating it (... in 4 months!). It is still a very near and dear project of mine and one I'm not willing to let go of yet... that being said, I cannot guarantee that I'll update it regularly, though I will sure as hell try. So bear with me, and check in every once in a while...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here is a poster of a campaign by Equality California that a few of us helped translate into Armenian. By all no means was it easy trying to find a word or expression in Armenian for "coming out" — the best suggestion and the one we finally went with was «տեսանելի լինել հանրության մեջ», which roughly (and literally) translates to "being visible in public" (which is as good as it's gonna get at the moment).</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was also the issue of the word "commit". In order to convey the same meaning in Armenian, we opted not to use the actual translation of the word commit but instead to go with "promise," which worked better in this context.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, the back translation of the text in Armenian in this poster reads: "I promise to support gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Armenians, so that they will be able to be visible in public." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We definitely need more messages like this in the Armenian language.<br /> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I1nmPM63v14/Uj7jFlQHlwI/AAAAAAAAAJY/ohL8FnyE4Rc/s1600/EqualityCalifornia_Armenia_LGBT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I1nmPM63v14/Uj7jFlQHlwI/AAAAAAAAAJY/ohL8FnyE4Rc/s320/EqualityCalifornia_Armenia_LGBT.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Source: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153167530460394&set=a.10150258177065394.496834.108147600393&type=1">Equality California's Facebook page</a></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />P.S. <a href="http://gayarmenia.blogspot.be/2013/09/equality-california-commitment-to.html">Unzipped:Gay Armenia</a> also blogged about the campaign and this poster (though in a more timely fashion than me! :)</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04752958049808789376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-4511652332450686642013-05-17T22:23:00.004+04:002015-08-08T07:51:40.165+04:00We Are All Georgian LGBT Rights Activists<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Violence erupted in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, today as thousands of counter protestors attacked a </span><a href="http://identoba.com/2013/05/15/obligatory-security-rules-for-the-participants-of-the-idaho-demonstration/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">peaceful demonstration</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> organized by gay rights activists to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO). Protestors apparently threw stones and </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2013/05/18/world/georgia2.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">injured</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> not only </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=621811557847910&set=a.621811534514579.1073741827.133052760057128&type=1&theater" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the activists</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, but also </span><a href="http://www.tabula.ge/ge/story/71224-fotogalerea-martlmadidebelma-aqtivistebma-dzaladobis-satsinaaghmdego-aqcia-chashales" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">police officers</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. I've seen photos of several vehicles with </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/18/world/europe/gay-rights-rally-is-attacked-in-georgia.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">their windows smashed</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_f4lMuAhORU" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">videos</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> of protestors attacking the minibus in which gay rights activists sought refuge and with which they were escorted away from the scene by law enforcement authorities. Horrific. And disgraceful.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This, just three days after Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili </span><a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-lgbt-equal-rights/24986492.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">said</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> sexual minorities in Georgia "have the same rights as any other social groups."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This, a day after ILGA-Europe published its <a href="http://www.ilga-europe.org/home/publications/reports_and_other_materials/rainbow_europe">2013 Rainbow Europe package</a> reviewing the situation of LGBTI people in Europe, giving Georgia the highest grade among the three South Caucasus countries.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And this, a day after the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, where Finland's entrant Krista Siegfrids sang "Marry Me" and kissed one of her female back-up singers "<a href="http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/05/17/finlands-pro-equal-marriage-eurovision-entrant-stages-lesbian-kiss-and-gets-into-final/">to make a statement about the lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriages in Finland</a>." (As far as I know, the song contest was broadcast in Georgia.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm not Georgian. But I could be. So could you. We shouldn't tolerate this sort of <a href="https://twitter.com/ClaytonNicholas/status/335384358888275968">barbarism</a> anywhere. The fact that this counter-demonstration was <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66981">tacitly supported</a> by the highest level of the Georgia Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, and the fact that <a href="http://www.rferl.org/media/photogallery/24989085.html">there were Orthodox priests</a> leading the witch-hunt somehow doesn't surprise me. And though police escorted activists safely out of the scene, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/18/world/europe/gay-rights-rally-is-attacked-in-georgia.html">it can hardly be said that they protected them</a>. Amnesty International <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/georgia-homophobic-violence-mars-tbilisi-pride-event-2013-05-17">noted</a> that "this is the second consecutive year that police in Tbilisi have failed to protect LGBTI activists from violent attacks by Orthodox groups inspired by such intolerance." According to <a href="https://twitter.com/onewmphoto/status/335377873550602241">@onewmphoto</a>, "One thing's for sure. The Georgian Church has proven itself to be the main obstacle to Georgia's democratization. This needs to be addressed"and I couldn't agree with him more. I am happy to hear that the mob on Rustaveli today <a href="https://twitter.com/ClaytonNicholas/status/335413846560870400">does not represent all Georgians</a> and that the PM's office was quick to issue a <a href="http://government.gov.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=270&info_id=36946">statement</a> condemning the violence and calling for "tolerance and respect for the democratic rights of all Georgia citizens to freedom of expression and assembly". But words are not enough: when will it be safe to walk down the streets of Tbilisi and be gay? And will the protestors who resorted to violence be charged? Will there be proactive action by the Georgian authorities? Or is "Ivanishvili's government now going to stand back while christiano-fascists apply religiously sanctioned mob rule?" as <a href="https://twitter.com/CrazyPsyKO/status/335385986018193408">@CrazyPsyKO</a> so aptly put it. <a href="https://twitter.com/ClaytonNicholas/status/335397867147640833">We shall see in the week to come</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm not the only person horrified at what happened in Georgia today. But if <a href="https://twitter.com/ILGAEurope">ILGA-Europe</a>, an organization advocating for equality for LGBTI people in Europe, gave Georgia such a high overall ranking [better than Turkey (which has had gay pride parades in Istanbul since 2003!), San Marino, Monaco, and even Liechtenstein) when it comes to LGBT rights, I am concerned for the future. Reading and seeing what happened in Tbilisi today, I am inevitably reminded of the <a href="http://leretourin3parts.blogspot.be/2012/05/not-in-my-name.html">Diversity March in Yerevan</a> last year — I thought that was bad, but this was much worse. It makes me afraid knowing that, according to ILGA-Europe's Rainbow Map 2013, among the South Caucasus countries, Georgia is the most hospitable to LGBTI people. What if a similar event was held in Armenia or Azerbaijan (<a href="http://gayarmenia.blogspot.be/2013/05/armenia-at-bottom-of-europe-re-human.html">the two countries with the lowest ranking after Russia</a>)?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tomorrow <a href="http://web.thepride.be/en/">Belgium celebrates gay pride</a>. This year's theme is "Rainbow Families" and included two weeks of gay pride events, including <a href="http://rainbowhouse.be/events/pride-week-2012/life-loves-of-rainbowfamilies/">discussions</a> on the legal and medical landscape in various European countries for same-sex couples adopting or having children — really interesting and important matters being raised and addressed, which will culminate in the parade tomorrow in Brussels, the capital of Europe. But my, what a long way we are from the fundamental rights and freedoms of not just LGBT couples and families in Europe, but also LGBT <i>individuals</i> to be respected. When the rights of individuals aren't even protected, how can we talk about getting married or having children? We still have a long way to go till Europe (and I'm including the South Caucasus here) <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-13-424_en.htm">becomes a safe place for LGBT people</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Incidentally, tomorrow is also the <a href="http://www.eurovision.tv/page/malmo-2013/about/shows/grand-final">Grand Final</a> of the Eurovision Song Contest in which Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia will be competing. How great would it be if Georgia's entrants, following in the footsteps of Finland's entrant, ended their performance with a "same-sex kiss" or at least made some comment condemning the acts of the violent anti-gay rights protestors today?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><b>Update May 18, 2013</b>: Unzipped briefly summarizes the events of the day in a post titled "<a href="http://gayarmenia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/part-i-victory-for-homophobes-defeat.html">Part I: Victory for Homophobes. Defeat for Georgia</a>" (with a shout-out to yours truly and this post). Part I is followed by a <a href="http://gayarmenia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/part-ii-lgbt-activists-under-attack-in.html">second, more detailed post</a>, in which he points to the inadequacy of police measures and the position of politicians before and after the events. More detailed posts to come, he <a href="https://twitter.com/unzippedblog/statuses/335799034126168064">tweeted</a> earlier today, so check his blog.<br /><br />Another blogger whose post I highly recommend you read. Very different than what I've read so far on the matter: <a href="http://peripateticpedagogue.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/then-they-build-monuments-to-you/">http://peripateticpedagogue.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/then-they-build-monuments-to-you/</a></i></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04752958049808789376noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-3451022046070518622013-03-24T17:17:00.000+04:002015-08-08T08:01:05.913+04:00Civil Society and NGOs in Armenia<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Is the existence of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) equivalent to civil society? That is, the more NGOs you
have, the more civil society you have. What does civil society mean, anyway?
Before I moved to Armenia, I have to be honest, I hadn’t really come across the
term. Having spent several years working in the non-profit (or not-for-profit)
sector in Canada, I moved to the other side of the ocean only to realize that
(a) “non-profit” is more often replaced with the term “non-governmental” and
(b) the non-governmental sector and civil society are used almost
interchangeably. But are they one and the same?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Already back in Canada, I was growing weary of the system in which such organizations operated. It is understood that an organization that is “non-profit” cannot be a commercial enterprise, which leaves it little choice but to seek donors and financial assistance. And this system of donor dependence continues today. I experienced this first-hand in Armenia, where you can never be sure that you’ll have funding next year and if so, whether donors will change their criteria or focus.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This has become more of an issue
for me as I conduct research on my thesis, which as I mentioned in <a href="http://leretourin3parts.blogspot.be/2013/01/in-all-honesty.html">an
earlier post</a>, will be looking at adoption and use of ICTs (information and
communication technologies) by NGOs in Armenia. I’ve begun by studying NGOs in
general and then looking at the particular nature of NGOs in Armenia, and the
research that I’ve come across only confirmed what I already knew: that the
term “civil society” came about in Armenia (and other post-Soviet countries)
following the collapse of the Soviet Union and that it immediately became
equated with the development and growth in NGOs. And all this was tied to aid
from the West, which, I would argue, for all its good intentions, didn’t really
achieve its objectives in post-Soviet countries, namely, that of democracy
building.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am not about to argue that
democracy (or building democracy) is a bad thing, nor is my aim to criticize
civil society development — both are very important processes that needed (and
still need) to happen in countries like Armenia. But what I am critical of is the
processes, tools and systems that were put in place in the early 90s to achieve
them.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> </span>It is obvious to me that more
NGOs does not bring about civil society, and, in fact, I would even argue that
this term “civil society” has become part of what is known as “NGO speak,” that
is, the particular language of NGOs, which led to the mushrooming of NGOs in
the 90s in Armenia, as Dr. Armine Ishkanian argues in her paper “<a href="http://iseees.berkeley.edu/bps/publications/2003_03-ishk.pdf">Is the
Personal Political? The Development of Armenia's NGO Sector During the
Post-Soviet Period</a>” (Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies
Working Paper Series, 2003).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There’s a lot from Dr. Ishkanian’s
paper that speaks to me and my own experience in Armenia, in fact, 10 years
after it was written. NGOs (the world over, really) are still dependent on
donors, and the intentions of the West from those early days of independence
still haven’t solved the problem of a lack of democracy in the country. The
problems these NGOs were created to address (poverty, pensioners’ needs, the
rights of veterans and families of deceased and injured soldiers, and more
recently, domestic violence, to name a few) still exist, and having more NGOs,
at least to me, doesn’t seem the best way to address them.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These are just but some of the
thoughts on my mind as I try to understand more about the NGO sector in general
and NGOs in Armenia in particular, before moving on to exploring the
communication strategies of such organizations, particularly their use of
social media. Any resources, thoughts, opinions, suggestions of topics not yet
explored in this domain would be most welcome. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04752958049808789376noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-54312589187321984122013-01-14T15:28:00.003+04:002013-01-14T19:34:21.465+04:00Protesting Same-Sex Marriage and Adoption: What’s the Real Reason?<span style="font-family: Verdana;">A BBC article
titled “</span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21004322" style="font-family: Verdana;">Mass Paris
rally against gay marriage in France</a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">” I read this morning has really got my
knickers in a knot (excuse the expression).</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">Maybe I shouldn’t
be surprised that the issues of same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex
couples has once again riled the masses to the point that they feel the need to
take to the streets and protest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">As I wrote the
sentence above, I remembered the crowd that gathered to <a href="http://leretourin3parts.blogspot.be/2012/05/not-in-my-name.html">protest
the Diversity March held in Yerevan in May 2012</a>. And though those in
Armenia protesting diversity (they thought it was a Pride Parade, but still) is
not the same as those in France protesting same-sex marriage or adoption
rights, there is an underlying thread — it’s called homophobia.</span><br />
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">So excuse me if
the organizers of this latest public display of homophobia (i.e. the Paris
rally) don’t want to be seen as homophobic. Furthermore, the BBC Paris
correspondent notes:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;"><i>"Despite the support of the Church and
political right, the organisers are keen to stress their movement is
non-political and non-religious, and in no way directed against homosexuals"</i></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">“In no way
directed against homosexuals”? How can it not be directed against homosexuals
if you’re protesting against homosexuals’ rights to marry and adopt children?
And, I’m sorry, but if you believe gay people can’t marry and adopt children
but straight people can then you ARE a homophobe. It’s really as simple as
that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">The more I think
about this the more I understand homophobia to be an irrational fear. Phobia =
fear, we all know this, but it’s funny how often you come across homophobes (in
media and <a href="http://leretourin3parts.blogspot.be/2011/06/on-gay-pride-parades-and-why-yerevan.html">in
real life</a>) who don’t want to be seen as being homophobes. It’s just not
cool, is it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">And the more I
think about people’s irrational fears of same-sex couples adopting, the more I
see it as their fear of two people of the same sex raising a child — which is
different than saying “a child has to have a mother and a father”. All children
— all humans on earth — have a mother and father. But not all of us are
raised by both of our biological parents. For instance, how many single-parent
families do you know? Or divorced or blended families? There are many different
kinds of families, and you’d think we’d have realized and accepted this by now…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">It’s the images of
a man and woman holding the hands of one male and one female child (or the
picture of a blonde woman and blonde man kissing a small blonde girl) on the
signs and banners of French protestors that really irked me. I would argue that
“un papa + une maman” is no longer the make-up of a typical household in France
or in many other countries. Of course, I don’t have any statistics to support
my claim; however, I think we can safely agree that in this day and age a
family without both a mother and a father is still a family. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">Former Italian MP
Vladimir Luxuria (the first openly transgender Member of Parliament in Europe) in
the film <i><a href="http://www.suddenlylastwinter.com/www.suddenlylastwinter.com/">Suddenly, Last Winter</a></i> (<i>Improvvisamente l'inverno scorso</i>) said
it best in one of those heart-wrenching moments of the film that makes me cry
even when I watch it today:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">“<i>We don’t need
bigoted professors teaching us what the family is. We know what a family is. We
weren’t born in a cabbage patch! We come from families! […] Two people don’t
have to be of different genders to be a family. A family is a family if the
woman isn’t beaten, if the child isn’t abused. In a normal family, there is
listening, respect, love. We are a family!</i>”</span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9vUORVoef6Y?rel=0" width="560"></iframe></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">So what’s the real
reason for protesting same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples? It’s
not about preserving the sanctity of the (nuclear) familiy. I think we’ve
already proven that that is no longer the case. It’s simply an irrational fear
of two people of the same sex. In other words, homophobia.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">So let’s call it
by what it is, ok?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04752958049808789376noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-76405906210639372472013-01-10T00:10:00.002+04:002013-01-12T15:54:41.240+04:00In all honesty…<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I have been
contemplating ideas for the title of this blog post for a few days now with
contenders such as “Family Portrait” (because I recently visited my family and
there’s always so much to say and process after a trip back home) and “Mirrors”
(because I noticed how many mirrors there are in homes and apartments in
Toronto and I wanted to compare this with the mirrors in apartments I’ve stayed
in Brussels which are always fewer and always placed just slightly too high —
Belgians aren’t known for being tall, are they? Anyway, the topic of mirrors
seemed to lend itself nicely to making inferences about where I am and
comparing places and experiences and… well, you get the picture).</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />But in retrospect,
what I really want this blog post to be about is honesty. I haven’t been
completely honest with you. And from where should I start except at the
beginning? Truth is, I am no longer in Armenia. I can’t say whether this is a
short break or a long one, but since September I’ve been living in Brussels, working
on a master’s degree in communication studies. In many ways I miss Armenia. I
miss my friends, my partner, my community. But in other ways, I am enjoying
being here and being a full-time student most of all. What a luxury it is to
simply read and write, analyze and debate, ponder and explore all the
possibilities that life has to offer (but from your seat behind a desk, LOL).
And in many ways, looking back, I feel like I’ve been living in a bubble — in a
euphoric, removed from the reality of life kind of bubble. I have no regrets. I
am happy to be where I am and I know it’s where I need to be. But part of me is
scared — what happens next? Where will this road lead? It’s an exciting yet far
from secure and stable place to be.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">I hope this partly
explains why I haven’t been posting frequently lately (which, let’s face it,
wasn’t more than once a month anyway — but at least it was regularly). I find
that I’m dealing with too much that’s new in my life right now (which is a good
thing!) that I’m not finding the time or the space to sit down and compose it
all in a nice little blog post. Also, I want to keep this blog fairly Armenia-centered
and since I haven’t been following developments in the country as closely as I
did before, I don’t want to write about something I’m not thoroughly informed
about. The good news is the research I’ll be doing for my master’s thesis will
be examining how civil society in Armenia uses information and communication
technologies, so I hope to post some of what I’m coming across in my research
over the coming months.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">Stay tuned…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04752958049808789376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-451810612140344652012-11-15T02:52:00.000+04:002012-11-16T14:12:25.344+04:00Watching Parada and Not in Armenia<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have mixed emotions over the fact that I was able to watch the "controversial" film Parada tonight — a film screening that, unfortunately, did not take place in Yerevan. The film was screened as part of a festival for European audiences, and I was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The mixed feelings are not about the film itself. I thought it was a great film — an <b>amazing</b> film — that more than anything else <i>needs</i> to be screened in Yerevan. I can't remember the last time I laughed AND cried so hard in one film. Parada ("The Parade"), though centring around an attempt by a group of activists to organize a gay pride parade in Belgrade, touches upon so many subjects, many of which will appear somewhat familiar to Armenian audiences... and more reason why this film has to be screened in Armenia. And this is why I have mixed feelings: because I was able to watch the film while those in Armenia could not (though I am told that "many in Armenia have seen it online via not licensed Russian websites"). </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There were scenes that brought back memories for me of events in Armenia in the last year (notably, </span><a href="http://leretourin3parts.blogspot.com/2012/05/queer-friendly-yerevan-bar-bombed-what.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the attack on DIY</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and the </span><a href="http://leretourin3parts.blogspot.com/2012/05/not-in-my-name.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">attempt to organize a Diversity March</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">), which were difficult to watch. And what happens at the end nearly broke my heart (but I won't give away any spoilers).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The other thing that broke my heart was a sentence uttered by the director, Srđan Dragojević, who I was lucky enough to exchange a few words with after the screening. When I asked him whether he knew that <a href="http://leretourin3parts.blogspot.com/2012/10/yerevan-screening-of-serbian-film-on.html">attempts to screen the film in Armenia were unsuccessful</a> as a result of pressure and protests, he said he knew, but "<i>I didn't know Armenia was so homophobic</i>". He then seemed to liken Armenia to Russia by adding the film will "probably be banned in Russia". Not. good. news. at. all. I tried to explain that things in Armenia had ballooned only in recent years, but I only had two minutes of his time as he was rushing off somewhere else, and I wasn't able to get into any more details. He did mention, however, that German embassies in countries where human rights is an issue were given directives to screen the film. Yes, you read that right: "where human rights is an issue"...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, more than ever, this film should be screened in Armenia. If this sounds like a plea, it's because it is — come on, German Embassy in Yerevan and EU Delegation in Armenia, do the right thing: screen Parada in Armenia. It is an important film and one Armenian audiences HAVE to see.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04752958049808789376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-78742394321118052042012-10-18T01:04:00.002+04:002015-08-08T08:02:15.030+04:00Yerevan Screening of Serbian Film on LGBT Rights Cancelled AGAIN<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sometimes it seems that it takes
years for things to happen in Armenia, while other times things develop so
quickly that if you blinked you just might miss the latest development.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">One of these developments is the
screening of an apparently controversial film called Parada, an
“internationally acclaimed Serbian drama dealing with the delicate subject of
LGBT rights,” according to an <a href="http://eunewsletter.am/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Parada-press%20conference-updated%20screening.pdf">Oct.
15, 2012 press release</a> issued by the EU Delegation in Armenia and the
Germany Embassy in Yerevan, which planned on screening the film on Oct. 17 and
18 at Congress Hotel in Yerevan.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a name='more'></a><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“The film is part of the European
Union activities for promoting human rights awareness in Armenia, and relates
to non-discrimination of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) persons.
The screenings, initially planned for the second week of October, were postponed
when the agreed venues were cancelled the events due to public pressure,” read
the press release.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Note: the screenings were
postponed once already because the venues that agreed to host the event backed
out. This is nothing new. In fact, it brings back not-so-fond memories of <a href="http://leretourin3parts.blogspot.be/2010/10/hatred-and-xenophobia-is-alive-and-well.html">the
cancellation of the Azerbaijani Film Festival in Yerevan</a> in 2010.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">And so, perhaps I shouldn’t be
surprised to find out on Facebook and then through the <a href="http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/armenia/press_corner/all_news/news/2012/2012_10_17_2_en.htm">Delegation
of the European Union to Armenia website</a> that the event, oh, was cancelled
again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“The screenings of the film
Parada scheduled for 17 and 18 October have been cancelled. The EU Delegation
to Armenia and the Embassy of Germany to Yerevan apologise to the interested
public for the last-moment notice, caused by the sudden withdrawal of Congress
Hotel from the initiative, due to unidentified pressure,” reads press release
#2.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Not being allowed to screen this
film — <b>especially</b> as it is “part of
the EU activities related to Human Rights Day 2012 on the topic of
non-discrimination and tolerance” — is nothing short of censorship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">According to a <a href="http://gayarmenia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/puppets-attack-germany-embassy-and-eu.html">post
on Unzipped: Gay Armenia</a> on the earlier cancellation of the screening, the “same
groups and individuals who attacked Diversity March (such as Hayazn Union), who
justified <a href="http://leretourin3parts.blogspot.be/2012/05/queer-friendly-yerevan-bar-bombed-what.html">DIY
bombing</a> and so on and so on” are the same people who planned a protest
demonstration in front of the Germany Embassy and who planned to “disrupt the
screening of the film in the Club and at the Yerevan Puppet Theatre.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">At this point, I don’t know what
to say. This is beyond ridiculous. <a href="http://gayarmenia.blogspot.be/2012/10/puppets-attack-germany-embassy-and-eu.html">Unzipped</a>
called it a “tragicomedy,” but I don’t see the comic elements. It just makes me
want to cry.</span></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-7057756129552856922012-10-05T16:10:00.001+04:002015-08-08T08:03:22.696+04:00Reminiscing... Brazilian Music in Yerevan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today, I remembered a woman in Armenia I met many, many years ago — young, beautiful, and married to a man slightly older than herself with a beer belly like those of so many men you see in Armenia today. I don't remember how I met this woman, but she was a friend of a friend (I had probably been delivering a parcel to her from an acquaintance in Canada) and after she, her husband, and another young married couple (friends of theirs) took me in their car to some green space outside the city to have </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">khorovats</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (BBQ — unfortunately, meat, which I did not eat), she welcomed me into her home. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was the only moment the two of us were alone and I saw a different side of her — a side that was more passionate than was apparent when she was in the company of her husband and their friends. She took me to a corner of her living room where she had a stereo and played a song by a Brazilian artist. She then confessed her love of Brazilian music and asked me about my musical tastes. The soft melody — which, when I recall this scene years later, reminds me of Bebel Gilberto — in particular, the song "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D08M352jeo">Preciso Dizer Que Te Amo</a>" — in that small Yerevan flat after a boisterous <i>khorovats</i> party took me by surprise. I have since realized that we all create a little corner of the world for ourselves and sometimes that little corner is quite different from the physical place we find ourselves in.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Though I think it's important to "live in the present," I find that sometimes conditions force us to cherish a different present than the one we are currently living — a sad melody that is a reflection of our lives much like the Brazilian music I heard that day.</span></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-11420261260932694042012-06-23T16:11:00.003+04:002012-06-23T16:11:36.668+04:00Georgia on My Mind<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I just saw this video and it totally made my day:</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/D_k3eo4m0uw" style="background-color: white;" width="560"></iframe><span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Incidentally, I came across another video by Georgian activists a few weeks ago that also had me saying "Respects!". In the video "Men for Gender Equality," </span><span style="background-color: white;">Georgian men are saying "I can wash my own feet" in response to the country's Patriarch saying women should be waiting at home to wash their husbands' feet.</span><span style="background-color: white;">
</span></div>
<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SdFho7DXFW8" width="560"></iframe>
<br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I would love to see both of these types of videos by Armenian activists!</span>
<br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />*Thanks to <a href="http://gayarmenia.blogspot.com/">Unzipped: Gay Armenia</a> for sharing the videos.</span></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-40114960920151803182012-06-17T11:22:00.001+04:002012-06-18T00:24:37.450+04:00Armenian Broadcast of Eurovision in Baku an Exercise in Propaganda<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Fzcox1PeuaA/T92E6boY4LI/AAAAAAAAAkY/2u7W0Ho0Jv0/s1600/Eurovision.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Fzcox1PeuaA/T92E6boY4LI/AAAAAAAAAkY/2u7W0Ho0Jv0/s320/Eurovision.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></i><br />
<i><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wrote this article on May 27, a day
after the Grand Final of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, with the intention
of having it published immediately on <a href="http://media.am/en/home">Media.am</a>. I submitted it to the editors
of this Armenian website that publishes media analysis and critique; however,
due to various factors (not having to do with the content or angle of the piece,
but rather with technical matters on the organization’s part), it was not
published. So I decided to publish it here on my blog. I realize it’s been nearly
3 weeks since the Eurovision contest took place, so I hope you’ll forgive me
for publishing old news. I spent a lot of time working on this piece and then
waiting for it to be published on Media.am — and then when it wasn’t, I decided
it had to be published somewhere. So here it is.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"A
few buildings, a bit of culture and some clouds. What all this has to do with
the 'Land of Fire' I don’t know," said one of the announcers on Armenian
Public TV, commenting on the images of Azerbaijan shown between acts of the
Grand Final of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest held on May 26 in Baku. And so
began the tirade of superfluous remarks and ridicule by Armenian hosts on the
H1 channel, which decided to air the contest even though the country had opted
not to participate this year.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="NL">The
hosts, head of the Armenian Eurovision delegation Gohar Gasparyan and Armenian
Public TV’s news reporter Artur Grigoryan, began the show with excuses and
explanations as to <a href="http://www.epress.am/en/2012/03/07/armenias-public-broadcaster-explains-why-it-withdrew-from-eurovision.html">why
Armenia backed out at the last minute</a>. They cited “</span><span style="background-color: white;">Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev’s announcement
that Azerbaijan’s number one enemy are Armenians around the world,” a statement
the hosts considered “unacceptable,” while reaffirming their support for the
move — a decision, incidentally, made by Armenian Public TV itself.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While Azeri dancers in
national dress — the music and costumes of which reminded me of the Armenian —
performed in the opening act, the H1 commentators suggested viewers enjoy the
performance. However, Gasparyan and Grigoryan didn’t wait too long to condemn
Azerbaijan for its human rights violations (in one instance citing the notorious
case of “donkey bloggers” Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli), Eurovision entry
(“pop mugham”), customs and hosts (“they have obvious difficulties with this
language” — when one of the hosts spoke in French).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Though,
in general, commentaries on live broadcasts of international events such as the
World Cup and Eurovision are common in Armenia, I found the comments on this
particular broadcast to be unnecessarily — though perhaps expectantly —
politicized. I understand that it was a “reluctant broadcast” (<a href="https://twitter.com/connellyandrew/status/206450405641695233">as one
tweep described it</a>) but if a TV station has decided to broadcast an
entertainment show then it should keep its focus on culture and not on
politics.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hBvOuBOVYn4/T92EZ8GDBrI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/MI0A0f6oak4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-06-17+at+11.15.09+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hBvOuBOVYn4/T92EZ8GDBrI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/MI0A0f6oak4/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-06-17+at+11.15.09+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="NL">According
to fellow blogger and tweep <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/LenaOsipova">Lena
Osipova</a>, however, it wasn’t all that bad: “</span><span style="background-color: white;">Armenian
hosts [were] <a href="https://twitter.com/LenaOsipova/status/206473271804305410">desperately
trying to be as reserved as possible</a> in their commentary.” In her opinion,
Gasparyan seemed much more careful than Grigoryan (“<a href="https://twitter.com/LenaOsipova/status/206476643328471041">She seems
reluctant to let him speak much</a>”) though she too <a href="https://twitter.com/LenaOsipova/status/206492957686243329">expressed
criticism</a> of the commentary on Armenia’s public television: “</span><span style="background-color: white;">DISliking the proprietary statements regarding
the bits of Azeri culture. WHEN will ppl finally come to realize it's all
shared. Any chance?” she tweeted.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-easKNI4FkOc/T92EJ_VbQCI/AAAAAAAAAkI/-_0NiSAVgRY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-06-17+at+11.14.10+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-easKNI4FkOc/T92EJ_VbQCI/AAAAAAAAAkI/-_0NiSAVgRY/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-06-17+at+11.14.10+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I personally would’ve
appreciated a more straightforward translation and description of events on the
screen by the hosts. During the breaks between acts when images (“postcards”)
from Azerbaijan were shown, the Armenian hosts suggested there was no
connecting thread or thematic relevance to Eurovision in these cultural
interludes. As was to be expected, they harshly criticized the image of
“Garabagh Horses”, but when the same as well as other images were shown later,
they </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LenaOsipova/status/206483943841726465">ignored
them</a><span style="background-color: white;">, choosing to introduce the upcoming contestant instead (which should
be commended, perhaps?).</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p1H44HBxr6U/T92D7fYUJpI/AAAAAAAAAkA/4JnnXOwte00/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-06-17+at+11.12.59+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="167" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p1H44HBxr6U/T92D7fYUJpI/AAAAAAAAAkA/4JnnXOwte00/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-06-17+at+11.12.59+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">So Armenia backed out of
the contest at the last minute but the country’s state broadcaster — which had
the responsibility and eventually decided on our non-participation — chose to
air the contest for its viewers. Why? I believe the reasons H1 broadcast the
show is two-fold: on one hand, it was an opportunity to increase the station’s
ratings; and on the other hand, it was a chance to </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LenaOsipova/status/206462128629100545">air its
opinions</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (particularly on Azerbaijan) and to yet again justify its position
on not sending an Armenian contestant.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And so, what was supposed
to be a fun, entertaining, perhaps even peace-making affair turned out to be
another tool for the state to “prove” how much superior we are to the “enemy” —
in short, to engage in further propaganda. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And though many readers
might disagree with me, after all, it could’ve been much worse, I believe H1
and the hosts could’ve done a better job of bridging the divide between our two
countries and used this unique opportunity to highlight the similarities,
especially in culture, instead of the differences between Armenia and
Azerbaijan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="NL">Reportedly,
Armenia has already confirmed its participaton in the Eurovision Song Contest
to be held in Stokholm next year. I’m guessing the Armenian broadcasters’
comments won’t be as spiteful next year. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">P.S. I highly recommend reading Lena Osipova's balanced and comprehensive blog post titled "<a href="http://lena-globalchaos.blogspot.com/2012/05/eurovision-2012-in-between-propaganda.html">Eurovision 2012: In between propaganda and... propaganda</a>" for even more details (incl. videos). Unlike me, she was more timely in publishing her commentary :-) </span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-51774223662155519322012-05-24T21:05:00.002+04:002012-06-18T00:24:55.035+04:00A New Name: Making Connections<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(I just realized that this post
follows one titled “Not in My Name”. The name theme is purely a coincidence as
I’ve been planning to change the name of this blog for quite some time now!)</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like many others, I began a blog
to record my travels for family and friends back home. I named this blog “Le
Retour in 3 Parts” because I was returning to 3 cities close to my heart —
Amsterdam, Paris and Yerevan — in the summer of 2008. Since then, the blog has
undergone transformations in style and content to reflect the changes in my
life and my purpose for continuing to blog. I am currently living in Armenia,
though I have plans to leave the country in the coming months (onto bigger and
better things!). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As my fellow blogger colleagues
and friends know, I have been meaning to change the name of this blog for well
over a year. “Le Retour in 3 Parts” is no longer relevant and reflects neither
the content of this blog nor where I am in my life. So I have decided to give
the blog a favicon (finally!) and a new name. “Making Connections” might sound
vague but I have found it to be what I do in my life and in this blog. I try to
connect people and events and make sense of it all. The phrase has multiple
meanings for me and seemed to be the best fit for this blog at this stage.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I hope you’ll stick by as I
continue to record the trials and tribulations of this so-called life…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">P.S. I would love to change the
URL to reflect the new name, but, alas, it is already taken. Any way to go
about this? And if I were to change the URL, would links to this blog from
other sites be broken? (You’d think that after 3–4 years of blogging I’d know
how to answer questions like these!)</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-81935704456371166322012-05-21T23:44:00.001+04:002012-05-24T12:13:05.701+04:00Not In My Name<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">I
have learned so much from living here in Armenia. For one thing, everything is
not as it seems. And everything is not black and white. Because I am against
something doesn’t mean I’m for that which is perceived as being the opposite of
the former. Because I stand by you doesn’t mean we agree on the same things.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">And
yet, in many ways I am still very much naive. For instance, I did not honestly
believe that such a crowd could gather as they did today to protest the
Diversity March — widely interpreted and misrepresented as being a parade and a
gay parade at that but which was organized to mark the <a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/culturaldiversityday/">UN World Day for
Cultural Diversity</a> — organized by PINK Armenia. The number of counter-demonstrators seemed to be at least four times as many as came out to march. Right away I
sensed their aggression, their penchance for violence and ignorant, bigoted
rhetoric. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Right away I sense we should cancel the march — at least for our
safety. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I9-vxnZlkP0/T73s_XFC82I/AAAAAAAAAjY/QvIH54NpKb8/s1600/DSC_0219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I9-vxnZlkP0/T73s_XFC82I/AAAAAAAAAjY/QvIH54NpKb8/s320/DSC_0219.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">I was among the group gathered in front of Tamamyan’s statue at the
Cascade. I approached a prominent representative of PINK Armenia and another
women’s rights activist and asked about organizers’ plans. We should decide how
we want to move forward, I said, sensing that a strategy wasn’t in place. I was
doubtful that the police who were there to guarantee our safety would, indeed,
do their job. And yet before anyone could say anything — actually, before
anyone could even think about what to do — the group of loud mostly (but not
only) boys chanting nationalist songs began to move in our direction. And
before you could blink an eye, a few of the activist-organizers held up their
signs and escorted — I would say rushed along — by police crossed the street.
And the march began.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">A
big mistake.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J3TugQ0FNsM/T73r-9tWpcI/AAAAAAAAAi0/iQF12T-aNnY/s1600/DSC_0227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J3TugQ0FNsM/T73r-9tWpcI/AAAAAAAAAi0/iQF12T-aNnY/s320/DSC_0227.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Because
now we were no longer in control. Because from this point on it was the cops
telling us how to move, where to go, where to stand. We were being controlled
by the state apparatus. I don’t believe for a minute that the police actually
cared about our safety (in fact, a couple of marchers and supporters told me
afterwards the remarks they heard by police officers — remarks that sanctioned
the hate rhetoric chanted by protestors). Police follow orders from above — not
from activists (and least of all not by activists they perceive as gay or gay
allies).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZSreViOtgF4" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">And
we were merely pawns in their hands. We fell into their trap and played the
game by their rules. And by “they”, I don’t just mean the police. I mean the
state authorities all the way up to the president himself. Because you just
wait and see how the march that went so horribly wrong today will be used to
glorify the authorities. Oh, look how well our police force acted! Oh look how
well the state authorities are protecting LGBT rights — after all, they
sanctioned the gay parade (oh wait, I mean Diversity March) and did a good job
of protecting the marchers (well no one got badly hurt, right? A few skirmishes
here and there is to be expected, but nothing serious went down, right?).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7XMYgSWfYks/T73sMyZgKgI/AAAAAAAAAi8/Kdc8gEdIrZw/s1600/DSC_0231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7XMYgSWfYks/T73sMyZgKgI/AAAAAAAAAi8/Kdc8gEdIrZw/s320/DSC_0231.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">At
one point in Charles Aznavour Square (just outside Moscow Cinema) we were
surrounded by police. Again they were there to “protect us.” And yet I felt
more afraid in that position than if I was standing outside the circle looking
in. Once police had formed a wall blocking protestors from marchers, we were
told to go into the Painters’ Union (where the march was expected to end as an
exhibit related to “diversity day” was organized). Again, for our safety. And
yet I felt more like an animal lured into its cage. Because now we were barricaded
in, while counter-demonstrators were outside, continuing to chant, sing and proclaim themselves
as defenders of the nation and “national values”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7FVAabky5u4/T73sTDYy2DI/AAAAAAAAAjE/dCDZ7hiuWjc/s1600/DSC_0232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7FVAabky5u4/T73sTDYy2DI/AAAAAAAAAjE/dCDZ7hiuWjc/s320/DSC_0232.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">At
that moment I was consumed by fear but looking back on it now (and after
speaking to good friends), I think, what a sad sight. Because those young
people gathered outside didn’t realize that they too were being used. That we were
all merely instruments in the hands of those with power who most likely were
using us to deflect from other, more state-level issues. Anyone who knows this
country knows there are other more pressing issues on the table right now than
all the uproar that one little Diversity March caused.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bzz5zj5tsec/T73sdDZAKJI/AAAAAAAAAjM/WKNSp4SfDVo/s1600/DSC_0246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bzz5zj5tsec/T73sdDZAKJI/AAAAAAAAAjM/WKNSp4SfDVo/s320/DSC_0246.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">We should’ve been smarter. We should’ve taken a step back in order to
take two steps forward as a good friend of mine suggested, quoting Lenin. We
should’ve cancelled the march because by not doing so we relinquished control.
We let the police (and the state) set the rules of the game. And that’s a
dangerous place to be in.</span><br />
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><br />P.S. <a href="http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/photoset/2270/">Click here</a> for some great shots by the PanArmenian crew.</span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-76700629230682759142012-05-17T00:37:00.001+04:002012-05-17T16:50:09.158+04:00Armenia State Officials, Public Figures Should Speak Up, Condemn Hate Crime<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Regardless of
whether you think I’m perverted, mentally ill or should be burned at the stake (some
of the terms I’ve heard applied to LGBT people — for example: see comments in <a href="http://www.armenianweekly.com/2012/05/15/hate-crime-targets-gay-friendly-bar-in-yerevan-mps-bail-out-assailants/">this
article</a>), you have no right to take the law into your hands. The crime that
was committed was a hate crime because it was committed against an
establishment viewed as being frequented by members of a specific community and
because the accused said one of their motives was that one of the owners of the
bar had participated in the gay pride festivities in Istanbul the previous
year. These motives, which I was told the brothers named in their confession
only to retract them later, amount to hate against a particular individual and
a particular group of people — hence, hate crime.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How timely then
for ILGA Europe (the European branch of the International LGBT Association) to <a href="http://www.ilga-europe.org/home/news/for_media/media_releases/ilga_europe_launches_its_very_first_annual_review_of_human_rights_situation_lgbti_in_europe_and_updated_rainbow_map">launch
its first annual review</a> of the human rights situation of LGBTI people in
Europe and the European neighborhood on May 15, two days before the International
Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, a week after DIY was firebombed and the
same day the bar was <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/unzippedblog/status/202445442758352896">targeted a
second time</a>. Needless to say, ILGA Europe ranked Armenia among 10 countries
<b>in the negative zone</b> (!) — countries
which do not meet even the basic requirements of human rights standards.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nWptQqH58ls/T7QMz9FNkUI/AAAAAAAAAhU/N9L-0t_Vt8k/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-05-17+at+12.02.13+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="127" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nWptQqH58ls/T7QMz9FNkUI/AAAAAAAAAhU/N9L-0t_Vt8k/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-05-17+at+12.02.13+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two other
important events took place on May 15: a press conference organized by human
rights organizations to talk about the DIY case and a conference titled “<a href="http://www.pinkarmenia.org/en/2012/05/lgbt-conference/">LGBT Rights in
Armenia: Silenced Reality”</a> organized by PINK Armenia, which, along with the
Women’s Resource Center of Armenia (WRCA), has been at the forefront of
defending LGBT rights in Armenia before, during and after the DIY firebombing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And these two
events, which, in a way, rallied around the same cause, transpired markedly
differently — a fact that can be viewed as symbolic of the society in Armenia
today. The first event, the press conference at 11 am, was filled to capacity.
Journalists from online and print media and television crews with their large
cameras, as well as interested onlookers, not only filled the small room at the
Novosti Armenia press agency, but also spilled out into the hallway. There was
obviously great interest in this case — at least for the media. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/M9KW9OQFlxI" width="420"></iframe></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second event,
the conference — so timely and urgent — was attended by only a handful of
people, mainly civil society and NGO representatives. Though invitations were
sent to the ombudsman’s office, the police and other state agencies, no one
from these structures came. <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/pinkarmenia/status/202374864814882816">PINK
Armenia tweeted</a>: “If there are any state officials or reps at #armLGBT
conference, they are keeping silent…”</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LtUhgI41v6A/T7QM3EQ7AdI/AAAAAAAAAhg/Ar2y_22yfbA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-05-16+at+11.05.49+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="116" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LtUhgI41v6A/T7QM3EQ7AdI/AAAAAAAAAhg/Ar2y_22yfbA/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-05-16+at+11.05.49+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While WRCA
Executive Director Lara Aharonian, who was present at both events, <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/Lara_Aha/status/202383605572435969">tweeted</a>:
“No one from local authorities came to the press conference this morning and
none present here at the #LGBT conference #armLGBT”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ob284evlhSs/T7QM2nODukI/AAAAAAAAAhc/p3WLYDFfI4U/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-05-16+at+11.04.35+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ob284evlhSs/T7QM2nODukI/AAAAAAAAAhc/p3WLYDFfI4U/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-05-16+at+11.04.35+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So it seems that
as a topic, the DIY firebombing and LGBT rights are interesting for the media
(they can be sensationalized and raise their ratings), while state officials
have more important things to do, it seems, than attend events addressing
important issues of concern to their electorate (oh right, the elections just
passed).</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ri9TRYvDwEk/T7QOZaJ0pVI/AAAAAAAAAhs/ojUzg4VCxYE/s1600/DIY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ri9TRYvDwEk/T7QOZaJ0pVI/AAAAAAAAAhs/ojUzg4VCxYE/s320/DIY.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo of DIY before bombing (from DIY Facebook group)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If there was ever
a time for state officials and public figures to speak out, it is now. And
again, I say, you may consider us mentally ill (despite the fact that homosexuality
is no longer considered a mental disorder by the psychiatric/psychological
community — that is, if we are required to base our arguments on the scientific
community), you may despise us, you may wish we never existed, but you must
stand up and condemn such acts. I believe the authorities are obliged to
respond — not by creating a page on Facebook praising the neo-nazi attackers on
DIY bar, as <a href="http://gayarmenia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/exposed-chief-of-staff-of-public.html">one
state official did</a>, but by publicly stating that it is acceptable neither
to take the law into your hands nor to terrorize, intimidate, vilify or
otherwise harass another person or group for ANY reason. Period. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(At least one party leader, Raffi Hovannisian from the Heritage Party, <a href="http://gayarmenia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/armenia-heritage-zharangutyun-party.html">showed his solidarity</a> when he came to a concert in support of DIY. Kudos!)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YZuRD3rfaBs/T7QOwveOnbI/AAAAAAAAAh0/rp-eFyzoFWw/s1600/IMG_9988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YZuRD3rfaBs/T7QOwveOnbI/AAAAAAAAAh0/rp-eFyzoFWw/s320/IMG_9988.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo of DIY after bombing (photo courtesy of Nairi Hakhverdi)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What is now widely
cited knowledge, two local MPs of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun) faction — Artsvik Minasyan and Hrayr Karapetyan — posted the 1
million dram bail for one of the accused (the other had been released earlier
on signature that he wouldn’t leave the country). <b>On the same day</b> the bail was posted, Minasyan effectively defended
his stance, going one step further. In an interview to <a href="http://panorama.am/am/interviews/2012/05/15/minasyan-about-comak/">Panorama.am</a>
[AM], he said:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“In this case, I am
convinced that these youth [the accused] acted in the context of our society
and national ideology, in the right way,” adding, “Tsomak’s kind […] is
destroying Armenian society.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So not only are
public figures not condemning these acts, they are defending them!</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HusYULA6tqA/T7QPJ1vH3FI/AAAAAAAAAiM/9veZdaxHwEc/s1600/image+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HusYULA6tqA/T7QPJ1vH3FI/AAAAAAAAAiM/9veZdaxHwEc/s320/image+(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front room of DIY which sustained the most damage (photo courtesy of Nairi Hakhverdi)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As <a href="http://gayarmenia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/mps-of-arf-dashnaktsutyun-party-bail.html">Unzipped:
Gay Armenia</a> puts it, Minasyan effectively supports and encourages terrorism
in Armenia. Like me, Unzipped also believes that political parties and members
should stand up and say that they are opposed to such statements:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If
ARF-affiliated groups and party members worldwide care about the reputation of
their party, and — more importantly — the future of Armenia, they should speak
up against homophobia. They should demand that ARF makes statement clearly
disassociated from their MP’s statement. They should demand that disgraced MP
Artsvik Minasyan resign,” he writes.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0O5fRI_W1mI/T7QPjuj6uPI/AAAAAAAAAiU/lURtmaLVpAg/s1600/IMG_9971.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0O5fRI_W1mI/T7QPjuj6uPI/AAAAAAAAAiU/lURtmaLVpAg/s320/IMG_9971.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(photo courtesy of Nairi Hakhverdi)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(And luckily, we’re
not the only ones. In a <a href="http://www.armenianweekly.com/2012/05/16/letter-the-arf-should-send-a-strong-message/">letter
submitted to and published by The Armenian Weekly</a> — a
Dashnaktustyun-affiliated publication to boot! —, a person who self-identifies
as being associated with the Armenian Revolutioanry Federation also believes
the political party is obliged to respond.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">However, not only has there been no
such response by local or diasporan ARF-D members, but also Yerkir Media, a
local ARF-D–affiliated media outlet, has posted a pathetic and rather
homophobic <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ozmYwJOJi4o">video
response</a> to accusations that it misrepresented Tsomak, the DIY bar owner
who participated in gay pride festivities in Istanbul last year, in an
interview it conducted last year (English transcription of video narration
here: <a href="http://www.yerkirmedia.am/?act=news&lan=en&id=7131">http://www.yerkirmedia.am/?act=news&lan=en&id=7131</a>).
No comment, indeed.</span> </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JkaPmvxWu_E/T7QPsA1hTtI/AAAAAAAAAic/FPOS_DWfpOo/s1600/IMG_9981.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JkaPmvxWu_E/T7QPsA1hTtI/AAAAAAAAAic/FPOS_DWfpOo/s320/IMG_9981.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(photo courtesy of Nairi Hakhverdi)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is so much more
to say on this topic, but I’ll leave it at this for now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other relevant posts by fellow bloggers and
journalists:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Global Voices: “<a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/05/16/armenia-concerns-and-fears-after-nationalist-firebombers-released/">Armenia:
Fears After Nationalist Firebombers Released on Bail</a>”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ianyan Magazine: “<a href="http://www.ianyanmag.com/2012/05/15/armenia-in-wake-of-arson-attack-support-and-fear/">Armenia:
In Wake of Arson Attack, Support and Fear</a>”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://gayarmenia.blogspot.co.uk/">Unzipped Gay Armenia</a> (cited in
several instances above)</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-25792287813610379352012-05-13T22:40:00.002+04:002012-05-17T16:51:17.612+04:00Queer-Friendly Yerevan Bar Bombed: What Happens Next?<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the first time since moving to Armenia, I
am afraid. Queer women are in the spotlight — an unfamiliar and not at all good
place to be in. We perhaps have become used to being invisible here: we can
hold hands in public and generally be more affectionate than men without
experiencing stares and suspicious glances from passers-by. But now more than
ever, it seems, we elicit the same contempt that has traditionally been
reserved for gay men (see </span><a href="http://leretourin3parts.blogspot.com/2011/06/on-gay-pride-parades-and-why-yerevan.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">earlier post</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">).</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For those who don’t know, a Molotov cocktail
was thrown into a local Yerevan bar early morning on May 8. Luckily the bar,
DIY, was closed and there was no one inside at the time. Two Iranian-Armenian
brothers, 19 and 20 years of age, have since confessed to committing the crime.
The word around town is that these two men are part of a larger network of
fascist groups who have been hostile and entered into confrontations with staff
and owners of other bars perceived to be gay friendly and “alternative” and
this (combined with the knowledge that one of the bar’s owners had performed at
gay pride festivities in Istanbul, Turkey, last year) was their motive for
bombing the bar.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="243" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/N3xQekbddEs" width="420"></iframe></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(CCTV footage of attack)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In actual fact, a lot is unclear, but one
thing is for certain: hate crime is on the rise.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">DIY — that was our safe space. And now we
don’t even have that anymore.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What we have instead is a culture of fear.
While there has been an outpouring of support for the DIY team and a call to
stand up against the neo-nazis and fascists in the country (with slogans such
as “No to Fascism” and “Your bombs do not affect us”), I am concerned for those
of us who are not as vocal but visible. Good friends of mine, LGBT-identified
activists, are afraid — for themselves, but also for their family members and
loved ones.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And, I hate myself for thinking this, but at
times like these I can’t help but wonder why some of the more outspoken LGBT
activists and queer allies had to raise their voices, draw attention to themselves/ourselves,
wishing now that they lay low and not provoke other possible acts of violence. And
I know I’m not the only one thinking this. Because now we’re in the spotlight
and the wayward glances I get every day any way have taken on a whole new
meaning.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, another part of me says “No! We
should not stay silent.” In fact, now more than ever, we should stand up and
say you will not silence us, your acts of violence do not scare us. Is there a
way to do this without endangering our queer brothers and sisters and possibly
their families too? Is now the time to be “loud and proud” or to step back (if
only momentarily) in consideration of the safety of others?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">More information (including photos and other video footage) here:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><a href="http://gayarmenia.blogspot.fr/2012/05/hate-crime-diy-bar-in-armenia-capital.html">Unzipped: Gay Armenia</a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ianyanmag.com/2012/05/08/armenia-yerevan-bar-set-on-fire-in-attack/">Ianyan Magazine</a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/05/09/armenia-alternative-bar-in-suspected-nationalist-arson-attack/">Global Voices</a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thesplinternyc.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/solidarity-is-the-moment-of-revenge/">The Splinter</a></span></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-13239300847821753072012-04-09T16:01:00.003+04:002012-04-10T15:25:20.785+04:00Living in the Present<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Is it just me or does along with the warmer weather and sunshine come children? All of a sudden all those little people adults have been hiding in the winter have appeared literally overnight strolling the city streets, and I can only wonder: who knew so many children live in such a small city?</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But children are a comfort and speaking of another sort of comfort…</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sometimes there’s nothing like a big bowl of lentil soup to cure all ills. And though spring has arrived, today is somewhat of a gray day with little sunshine, so what better way to give your stomach a break post-Easter and your soul some comfort than with a bowl of lemony, vermicelli- and spinach-filled soup? I highly recommend it.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span></div><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And though today is a quiet day to contemplate such things as the joy that is children and the comfort that is soup, pre-election season is upon us. Walking down the streets of central Yerevan, you’d be hard-pressed not to come across a single campaign poster for a party or a candidate, or a leaflet promoting said party or a candidate. Just the other day I saw young men and women (older teens, really) distributing Orinats Yerkir (Rule of Law) party leaflets that weren’t actually leaflets so much as a single piece of glossy, four-color paper stuck on a stick (ostensibly to fan yourself with on that unusually hot day). Ah, the fun (and the polluting of streets and minds) begins!</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And just in case 2D representations of the elections isn’t enough for you, you can catch all the action on TV, on the Internet, and, of course, on social media. I found out from my friend <a href="http://ditord.com/">Artur Papyan</a> about a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/189337181185254/">Facebook group</a> where members can post the campaign videos of all parties participating in the May 6 parliamentary election.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It would be interesting to find out how much of a role social media will play in these elections (more so than past elections). I’m sure bloggers and media experts <a href="http://kornelij.livejournal.com/">Samvel Martirosyan</a> or Artur Papyan, among others, will have a few stats for us perhaps during, but also after the elections. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I say, let the games begin!</span></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-17798897586097817052012-03-10T17:02:00.002+04:002012-03-10T17:03:29.394+04:00Women Occupy Yerevan Park on International Women's Day<div class="p1"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">March 8 — International Women's Day — will be memorable for me this year because of this group of women who broke through the barricades and occupied one of the kiosks in a central Yerevan park. </span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For those who don't know, environmental and civic activists have been coming to Mashtots Park nearly every day for over 3 weeks protesting the construction of shops in what they say (and many will agree) is one of the few remaining green spaces in downtown Yerevan. These same shops (most often referred to as "kiosks" though they're much larger than that) were dismantled on Abovyan St. (another downtown Yerevan street) and "moved" to Mashtots Park. From what I understand, the shop owners have a 10-year lease with the city and they have 3 remaining years left on this lease. So to solve the problem of at once dismantling the kiosks on a downtown Yerevan street (a move the mayor initiated following his removal of street vendors in the capital) and not breaking the contract with shop owners, the municipality decided to "move" them to Mashtots Park. The idea is that the kiosks are temporary (so why the concrete base?) and will be removed when the contract with shop owners is up in 3 years. </span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Though Armenian prime minister Tigran Sargsyan said <a href="http://www.epress.am/en/2012/02/29/armenian-prime-minister-opposed-to-pavilions-in-mashtots-park.html">he was opposed</a> to permanent structures in the park (note: he didn't say anything about temporary structures), and Yerevan mayor Taron Margaryan <a href="http://www.epress.am/en/2012/03/01/armenian-prime-minister-yerevan-mayor-agree-when-it-comes-to-mashtots-park-video.html">agreed with him</a>, it's business as usual and the green light for construction of the shops. </span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This, of course, hasn't deterred activists who are at the park every day (usually leaving around 8 pm or so) while construction continues. On Mar. 8 (which is a statutory holiday in Armenia), it was the women who took charge and broke through the barricades. Though police were on scene and initially tried to stop them, they eventually gave up and let things be. Yerevan deputy police chief Robert Melkonyan (known by his nickname Bazaz), also on site but in civilian clothing, <a href="http://www.epress.am/en/2012/03/09/video-women-occupy-kiosks-in-mashtots-park.html">explained</a> the police's hands-off approach by saying that construction wasn't going on anyway and it was better to avoid any incidents between police and activists — can you believe he actually said that?</span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And the funniest thing of all, the police — including Bazaz! — handing out flowers to the women. Those who were outside the kiosk accepted them, but those on the inside shook their heads, refusing them and repeating their sole request: that the barricades be removed — which they were. Amazing, huh? Solidarity among women that led to positive results… more of this in Armenia, please.</span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KAEtYF8LMkg" width="560"></iframe></span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the second video (yes, by CivilNet), you can also see MP <a href="http://parliament.am/deputies.php?sel=details&ID=928&lang=eng">Anahit Bakhshyan</a> (from the parliamentary opposition Heritage Party), who is also inside the kiosk, and who (at the end of the video) said, "That which these young women are doing today is more than what <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Zetkin">Clara Zetkin</a> did at her time. These youth will lead us," she says. </span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XfZyXd42Yyw" width="560"></iframe></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-88140214084853429422012-02-29T09:11:00.007+04:002012-03-10T16:26:01.399+04:00It’s the end of the world as we know it…<span style="font-family: Verdana;">... and I feel fine (or so goes the </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY" style="font-family: Verdana;">popular song</a><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> by REM). Except I don’t. Feel fine, that is.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">In case you haven’t been following the latest round of political machinations in Armenia, let me enlighten you. First (well maybe not first, but this is where I’ve decided to begin this story), Vartan Oskanian, Armenia’s foreign minister during Robert Kocharian’s presidency and chair of the Yerevan-based think tank Civilitas Foundation, declared his intention to return to politics. And not just any politics — but to join the ranks of the Prosperous Armenia Party (the junior partner in the country’s ruling coalition).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">A little bit of background: It was Kocharian who declared a state of emergency in March 2008 and called in the troops to quash the mass protests against alleged electoral fraud, </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: Verdana;">organized by supporters of unsuccessful presidential candidate, first president of the Republic of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossian, and it was Oskanian who stood before the public and defended the actions of this administration. Actions, let me remind you, which international actors have billed “the use of excessive force and violence”</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> and which </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: Verdana;">resulted in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Armenian_presidential_election_protests">death of 10 people</a> on Mar. 1–2, 2008 —murders, which till today remain unsolved.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: Verdana;">And now Oskanian, the founder of a “civil society institution”, is <a href="http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24484115.html">making a comeback</a>, initially deciding to leave it up to the Civilitas Foundation board to “</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.epress.am/en/2012/02/14/vartan-oskanian-confirms-intention-to-join-prosperous-armenia-party.html">make a decision about his future status</a>.” In the two weeks since he declared his intention to join the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), however, he submitted an <a href="http://www.epress.am/en/2012/02/28/vartan-oskanian-formally-resigns-from-civilitas-foundation-board.html">official resignation</a> to the board, saying “Armenian law does not mandate such resignation. But I have decided to do so in order that my political activity not restrict Civilitas’ work."</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">However, as fellow blogger ArtMika <a href="http://unzipped.blogspot.com/2012/02/sorry-seems-to-be-hardest-word-for.html">points out</a>, no surprises here, right? So how, pray tell, does this translate to the world coming to an end?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">Well, there’s more.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">The Armenian National Congress (HAK), the extra-parliamentary opposition bloc led by the same Levon Ter-Petrossian mentioned above, has made it clear that it doesn’t rule out cooperating with the BHK. WHAT?! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: Verdana;">“If the Prosperous Armenia Party demonstrates in the coming months and on election day that it is really interested in free and fair elections, I think there will be large room for cooperation,” <a href="http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24497991.html">said</a> HAK spokesperson Arman Musinyan at a press conference on Monday.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: Verdana;">You mean to tell me the unsuccessful presidential candidate (Ter-Petrossian) whose supporters were essentially attacked in March 2008 is now ready to cooperate with a party associated with the same president (Kocharian) who ordered said attack and who now includes the foreign minister of that administration (Oskanian) who till today not only <a href="http://www.epress.am/en/2011/02/28/oskanian-wont-be-apologizing-for-march-1.html">hasn’t apologized</a> for the actions of those fateful days, but also defends them?</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">And finally, the icing on the cake, the introduction of a bill on emergency rule, which was passed at its first reading in parliament (though has since been <a href="http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24492895.html">withdrawn</a> and amended, to be voted on again), </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: Verdana;">allowing the president “to turn to the armed forces for help if police and other security forces are unable to enforce emergency rule. In that case, military personnel would be allowed to use riot equipment and live ammunition in accordance with an Armenian law on the police."</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">In short, as <a href="http://unzipped.blogspot.com/2012/02/sorry-seems-to-be-hardest-word-for.html">ArtMika puts it</a>: “<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">It is not impossible to suspect that this looks more like preparations for a version of 1-March-part-2.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-56443088213040568182012-02-26T19:40:00.002+04:002012-02-26T19:52:57.545+04:00Diasporan Armenians, Oligarchs, Environmental Activists and Eurovision<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today I was overcome with a feeling of powerlessness. The smallness of me in the vastness of the universe. But more specifically, the smallness of me in this tiny country. Because this tiny country (barely on the map) is full of two kinds of people — those who are barely surviving and those who are thriving. And the great expansive divide between the two is what was eating at me today.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As anywhere so too in Armenia, I wouldn’t be amiss to say that those who are thriving are the ones pulling the strings. Small mom-and-pop corner stores shut down every day while large chain supermarkets sprout like mushrooms in the wild. Foreign-owned businesses that, though they offer jobs for residents and even pay taxes (though who knows in whose pockets this money goes?), are, nevertheless, foreign owned and Armenia is just one more country to do business in among many others around the world. Diasporan Armenians who come here and live better than they ever would back home, all the while feeling self-righteous and perhaps proud, believing they are doing good for the motherland, when really what they’re doing is good for themselves. And many others, just passing through, who’ve decided to volunteer or do research or an artist residency for a brief stint before going back home. A cultural excursion or an anthropological study. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And it makes me wonder about the future of a place where the wealthy Diasporans and local oligarchs control which way the tides turn, where options are limited and the majority live from month to month. And I say this as <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/02/22/armenia-activists-occupy-yerevan-park/">environmental and civic activists protest the construction of shops</a> in a park in downtown Yerevan (one of the few remaining green spaces) — the same group that was able to secure recent victory with respect to <a href="http://www.armenia-environment.org/2011/11/06/hrazdan-a-call-for-help-2/">saving Trchkan Waterfall</a>. They are not tied to any political parties or groups as far as I know (which makes it all the more amazing); however, a small core group is zealously nationalist, singing Dashnak [Armenian Revolutionary Federation] songs and calling anyone perceived as the enemy “a Turk” (not to mention that one of these activists is also been known to utter homophobic remarks). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But I digress.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At the end of the day, money talks and shops will be built and this country will see more mining operations destroying the environment while lining the pockets of state officials. And coupled with the environment crisis is the emigration crisis: in one mining town, <a href="http://www.epress.am/en/2012/01/16/villagers-say-teghut-mine-their-only-source-of-income-environmentalists-continue-to-oppose-exploitation.html">residents have confessed</a> that their village is empyting as more and more people go to Russia to find work, but, they say, at least mining has created jobs so they can stay and support their families.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is so much going on at any one moment in this tiny country that it’s enough to make my head burst. For example, how the news is twisted and you can never trust what you read — the latest example: headlines that shock (“<a href="http://media.am/Eurovision-Baku">Armenia will not participate in Eurovision</a>”) but which are sensational and not completely true. In this case, the story was actually about a group of Armenian artists who issued a statement saying <a href="http://media.am/en/Eurovision-Baku">they refuse to participate in Eurovision</a> when it is held in a country (Azerbaijan) that refuses to make strides in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process by not withdrawing its snipers from the frontlines. And so when I pointed out that it is not in fact accurate to say that this statement by a group of artists means Armenia will not participate, I am told that it is a set-up, that this script has already been written — that is, an impetus was needed, was created, so that Armenia’s public broadcaster (the body responsible for deciding Armenia’s participation in the song contest) can now comfortably and easily say they are heeding the call of “these artists” and so Armenia won’t be participating in Eurovision this year. And, apparently, everyone knows this already — it’s just not official yet. But still I say, this is inaccurate and unacceptable in journalism.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s enough to make your head hurt. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There’s so much more to be said and so much more that took up residence in my mind today, but I’ll leave it at this for now.</span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-31494963878204873052012-01-21T15:38:00.004+04:002012-01-21T15:40:16.772+04:00Do You Know the Secret Behind Armenia’s Postal Service?<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Because if you do, please tell me. To this day, </span><a href="http://haypost.am/view-lang-eng-page-25.html" style="font-family: Verdana;">Hay Post</a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">, the “official national postal operator of the Republic of Armenia,” remains a big mystery. Sometimes I get my mail from Canada, sometimes I don’t (though it always seems the mail I </span><i style="font-family: Verdana;">send</i><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> to Canada is received). And don’t ask me why.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">Earlier this month, I went to the post office <i>just to check</i> if the two cards I’m expecting from friends in Canada (good thing they told me they sent me mail!) had arrived. Both friends had sent their cards in December and two weeks had passed. Alas, no mail, but the woman behind the counter asked me to leave my phone number so that they could call me when they get my mail. (For those not in the know, in Armenia we don’t actually have mailboxes outside our homes so any mail you get is delivered to your nearest post office.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">So I began to give her my mobile phone number only to be interrupted and asked for my landline number at home. Now, call me unreasonable, but if I’m at work all day and out of the house (and it should be said answering machines are also not widespread in the country), how am I supposed to get her call? If she’s going to go to the trouble to call me, wouldn’t it be better if I give her my mobile number instead? But I assume she was calling from the post office’s own landline number and, as we all know, calls to mobile phones are more expensive than those to landlines (and sometimes offices will block this option). So a landline number it is — or no call at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">It was no surprise at all then that the next time I walked into the post office, she told me she tried to call but there was no answer. So how did I know I had mail? By the other system of informing residents: a piece of paper stuck not to my apartment door but to the front door of the building — a single standard form addressed to me AND my neighbor to come pick up our mail. Luckily the wind didn’t blow that piece of paper (then <b>two</b> people wouldn’t have known they had mail) and I did the good neighborly thing of bringing it in and up to my neighbor’s flat to let her know she too had mail waiting for her at the post office. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">The next day, I walk into the post office and by now the woman (it always seems to be a woman and always one person who’s assigned to your apartment, eh?) recognized me and immediately went to the back to get my card. She then asked me while I’m at it <i>couldn’t I possibly give my neighbor’s letter to her</i> too? What?! Isn’t this a criminal offense? Perhaps it’s not an offense to have someone else’s mail in your possession, but what if I opened it? That’s a crime, right? Needless to say, Post Office Woman didn’t bat an eye.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">And though she knew who I was and which apartment I lived in, we don’t really know each other that well (contrary to the way this story is being told, I don’t go into the post office <b>that</b> often) and I figured she’d have to check my ID (passport, check). But no. So she not only didn’t check that I am who I am and live at the address for which I’m picking up mail, but also gave me my neighbor’s mail to pass on to her.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">Oh, and at the end of the work day when I returned to the apartment and finally delivered my neighbor’s mail to her, didn’t she tell me what I feared — that she went to the post office that day to pick up her mail and was told I had picked it for her instead. Sheesh. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">As for mail that goes missing (remember I’m still waiting for a card!), when I inquired how this might happen, the lovely Hay Post staff informed me that mail (just like airlines, it seems) doesn’t arrive direct to Armenia but goes to a processing center in Russia first — at least mail coming from North America does. And anything that goes wrong of course isn’t Hay Post’s fault, but that of Russian postal services. How could I argue with that? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">Whether it’s the fault of Russian Post or Hay Post (or even Canada Post), it goes without saying that the more drop-off points mail has, the more the margin of error increases. Error would be less likely if mail sent from Canada was received directly by Hay Post. Anyone know why this isn’t the case?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">At the end of the day, I have to say it’s still a thrill to receive snail mail from friends and family abroad, and in Armenia, it’s all the more special, because I know that it was just as likely I might never have received it… <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">(And in case you thought postal service woes were limited to Armenia, I recommend you read this <a href="http://parisimperfect.wordpress.com/2010/05/28/la-poste/">lovely rant</a> about the inefficiency of France’s La Poste by fellow blogger Sion Dayson — I remember reading it at the time and thinking, so it’s not just me? *sigh*)<o:p></o:p></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761857469157760955.post-41334069271278000032012-01-07T10:51:00.001+04:002012-01-07T10:54:46.195+04:00On Giving Gifts in Armenia<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">First, apologies to my readers. I just noticed that it’s been nearly 2 months since my last blog post. To say I’ve been busy is an understatement — but even so and since this is a new year, I want to endeavour to post more frequently on this blog. I’m not sure if it’s a good sign to start off the year’s first blog post with an apology, but I do hope you’ll forgive me. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">Though this is not the first time I spent New Year’s Eve in Armenia, it is the first time I did so after I made the move to live here. So this year was particularly special, and recognizing this, I decided to do something special for my family in Armenia: make up lovely baskets of sweets, alcohol, cheeses, crackers and so on wrapped in cellophane — you know, something fairly common in North America to give to friends, family, work colleagues, clients and so on over the holidays.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">So imagine my surprise when I found out that such baskets are normally reserved for weddings, engagements, and other such lavish affairs. I mean, no one simply shows up at someone’s house with a basket of goodies unless it’s a special occasion (and apparently, New Year’s and Christmas don’t count). And so it was that I showed up at my aunt’s house and then my other aunt’s house (both families on my mom’s side) and then the home of my family on my dad’s side bearing a basket with goodies wrapped up in cellophane and a big festive bow (see example of one such basket below).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eWHuCFNebRU/TwfrMDD3zAI/AAAAAAAAAhA/1OtL7V651k4/s1600/basket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eWHuCFNebRU/TwfrMDD3zAI/AAAAAAAAAhA/1OtL7V651k4/s320/basket.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">On two occasions, I was told I shouldn’t have spent so much money (note to self: lavish items such as a bottle of Ani Ararat brandy and a package of Brie may not be appreciated when your family is trying to figure out how to make their money last till the end of the month) and on one occasion, the 5-year-old son in the family opened the package and dug into the Toblerone before anyone could blink an eye.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">Apparently, I still have a lot to learn.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">Though I have to say, the icing on the cake (which brings a smile to my face every time I think of it) is when I went to my partner’s dacha to spend NYE with her family bearing a similar such basket. Well, you can already imagine their surprise — but, this time (knowing about our relationship), they joked how I was the fiancé coming to take their daughter away (in Armenian: եկել եմ աղջիկ ուզելու)! Of course it didn’t help that a couple of days later, I left to return to Yerevan — taking their daughter with me :)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NL" style="font-family: Verdana;">At the end of the day though I think my baskets brought a smile to the faces of my family members and “in-laws” (!) as they were unexpected gifts and not something usually a part of these holidays — kind of like me :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com3