Fan? Not a fan…

I’ve never been a football fan, always changed the channel when a football was on. I’ve always considered it a boring game. This time it rose my interest, whether the championship was intriguing or I liked my sudden correct predictions about the outcome of several games. No, I never bet, if with friends only. Though I bet with my little brother that Italy would win only thanks to the penalty shoot-outs. Now my brother has to wash his socks by himself

Not a fan still. Though last four games grasped me the way that I was counting the minutes for them to start. Last two games I watched with my brothers and, certainly, I was the subject of their mockery with my stupid questions on football that every little child knows. Do they really? Well, it was a revalation for me to know that defenders defend the goals and not the players, or defend the goals from the players, or isn’t it so? I guess I can’t get it still.

Probably not knowing much helps to predict the outcome. My brothers bet for several times and lost all the money. Surely it was not that much as to go mad, which was the case with an Armenian young man who grambled heavily on Brazil and losing the borrowed money saw no other option but a suicide. Sad, very sad, but rumours insist.

On mentioning Brazil remembered a joke:

Armenia plays with Brazil (already funny, yeah?).Brazil is ahead with the score 15:0. Armenian coach cheers up the players: ‘Don’t lose hope, boys, not everything is lost . Seven minutes are only passed yet’.

Will some day the Armenian football rise my interest sо that I watch it with the same enthusiasm? Yes, undoubtedly, when the hell becomes frozen.

So, when is the next championship?

Quick notes

It’s 3 am and I just got home. I’m so tired but it was such a day as to brush away all the unpleasant things. The opening of “One nation, one culture” festival was a great success. I doubt that ever before Armenians gave such an amazing undertaking. Everything was organized in such a delicate and refined manner.

The group from Kazakhstan who I guide consists of only five dancers and the others are just accompanying. In total of 12 people. They turned out to be nice people and I hope to get more acquainted during these days. And certainly I advise you not to miss this chance and participate in everything which is happening in the town these days.

Anyways, now I have to pack my things for tomorrow’s trip to Goris then Stepanakert. I’ll be back by 26 so to manage to pass my quiz in time.

I DID IT !!!

Well, all my days spent reading and writing, breaking my head and getting nervious weren’t in vain, because the result was obvious today. I did it, I got five and my professor's words of praise were higher of any mark. She said she was pleased and very satisfied with me, my answer, my attendance, the neat work that I did regarding my paper and the like. Yea, yea, let me show off a bit, but for a moment I blushed Now I think I shouldn’t have to chicken that much, but on the other hand probably that was exactly the thing which helped me.

 I’m immensely obliged to Onnik that he encouraged and cheered me up all this time. He believed in me more than I did and I justified our hopes. Thanks, Onnik, thanks a lot!!

  Now I feel the pleasure of being free. Though I have one more exam on economy, but as far as I have answered all the seminars during the whole semester the professor is going to grade me mechanically, that is without asking.

 

Anyway, I have five minutes to post this and more five minutes to take my bags and leave for
Georgia. I'm going to participate in a conference there, or rather help in organizing or stuff like that. Don't know yet, everything happened so abruptly. I'll talk about it later ( If I manage )

 For now, wish me good luck and God speed!!

Two exams in the past..!!

Just in brief about my exams.

I have passed already two of them with excellent marks- English and Spanish. Still 4 exams remain. As I said before, the most difficult one for me is stylistics-studying 320 pages plus writing a paper of 5 pages is far an arduous a task, hm? Now while preparing for the coming two exams I also study stylistics hoping to read that book and to repeat it for the second time by  June 19. Anyway, I’m trying to manage everything…

 

Incidentally, as today was International Children’s Day I was at

Freedom Square

just when  children started drawing on the ground with colorful chalks. It was so exciting and I didn’t miss the chance to ask chalks, after which I started drawing by myself. I remembered my childhood… I guess it was spectacular how a girl of 20 was drawing among those kids trying not to let her skirt go up. However, nothing bright occurred to me than drawing Ararat mountain, as many of the kids were doing the same. It was then when I painted the globe surrounded with green leaves in a human hand and quoted from a famous song:

 

Let it always be sunshine,

Let it always be blue sky,

Let it always be mummy,

Let it always be me!!!

 

The air was filled with joy and happiness. Why didn’t I have this feeling before.. hmm?

 

Ok, got to go now- back to my books and copy books. If a friend read this now he’d likely say: “Don’t read that much, the letters will hit on your eyes”. For him to know-I can block them!!!

Taking a break…

This is the period that I like less of all. My quiz and examination session will begin from the next week and will last till the end of June. That means that day in day out I will be doing nothing but swotting up my spot questions hoping to get an excellent mark. Now we are having seminars on every subject and I have 2 quizzes and 6 exams. The only subject I’m awfully afraid is Stylistics, because till now I don’t have a fair understanding of what I’m going to answer. But I hope to find it out by that time

I really don’t like this period. The sun is shining outdoors, a mild breeze is blowing pleasantly, it’s a wonderful weather and I’m sitting at home with books and copy-books in my hands damaging my eyesight. Just great! How can one enjoy it? But ultimately I’m not wasting my time on working out more productive ways of cheating. Unlike most of my coursemates I prefer studying to cheating. Though I must confess that the knowledge I obtain is sooner forgotten within a month – at least things such as the type of assimilation affecting the point of articulation and the active organ of speech, or 3 ranks of Otto Jasperson on principle of determination. I wonder, shall I need it some day?

Now I want to restrict myself from spending much time in front of my computer. That is why recently I haven’t posted frequently and I will not be posting anything in the nearest future, unless if it’s something very interesting or urgent. In July I’ll be free, I hope, and I intent presenting you more interesting posts on Armenian daily life and life around me.

For now, wish me good luck with my exams !!!
See you!!

More “ooofs” from exhausted Armenians – “UBORKA”

Do you have any understanding of what “Uborka” is in Armenia? To make everything clear firstly “Uborka” is a Russian word for Armenian “maqrutyun” which means “tidying up”. In Armenia no one says “maqrytyun”, furthermore, we add the Russian word “gheneralniy” thus having a wrong variant of “gheneralniy uborka”. This general tidying up usually occurs twice a year: before New Year and after winter. As far as we are in the middle of spring now this is the very period to start “uborka”.

Uborka usually lasts 2-3 days depending on how many women are involved in the work. This is not doing simple house chores or cleaning around. This is more serious occasion where every minute thing, which is usually ignored during everyday cleaning, is worth being paid attention to. Now Armenian housewives decide not to exhaust themselves that much and hire a made to help them. But even this trick doesn’t help them much.

Ask any Armenian housewife whether she has done her “uborka” and she is likely to say: “Oooof, don’t even remind me of it”. So, why is “uborka” such a nightmare for our women?

There are several points which are inseparable components of every uborka.  

Exhibition at Prkutyun. Center of Disabled children NGO

This was the second exhibition at which I was present organized by  Prkutyun NGO. Now I’m very happy to let you know that they have set up their own site and the whole information about this center you can find there in detailed. 

After finishing auxiliary schools, children or young people with mental disabilities do not have a relevant environment where they could freely communicate with their coevals and even the society. Such children or adults do not have an opportunity of free communication; that is why many of them stay at home. As a result, their psychological complex deepens, and they find themselves in the streets, becoming beggars or tramps. Very often coevals of children or young people with disabilities encourage them to commit different crimes benefiting from their legal irresponsibility.
Because of this very reason "Prkutyun" Center of
Disabled Children NGO established the Diurnal Center of Life Organization (DCLO) for mentally retarded children and young people for organization of daylight life. This happened in 1999 thanks to Shengavit municipality which granted a 700 sq. meter territory for it. It is attended annually by 24-26 children and young people who graduated from the auxiliary school and have not found yet their daily occupation. The center’s activities create such conditions where mentally retarded children are not ignored in the educational sphere, where they can learn and put into practice everyday life skills. Besides, the Center makes parents confident that their children are paid attention to, understood, loved and respected, that is, a child is in a friendly environment, and not alienated.

I’ve known this center for several years and with the youth NGO Servce For Peace, where I’m a volunteer and responsible, I participated in several seminars and workshops held to show the mentally retarded children’s role in society.  What I particularly want to  mention is the meticulous care and devotion with which  the pedagogies, defectologists, psychologist and the President of the NGO Arpine Abrahamyan treat these children. Another thing worth mentioning is that Since November 1, 2005 a charitable dentist’s room has been functioning in the “Prkutyun” Center of
Disabled Children and rendering service to disabled children and their families who are registered at the Center, as well as to members of families - beneficiaries of poverty allowance system of Shengavit district. Twice a year the NGO organizes charitable concerts with participation of well-known performers. Some of these children also become the participants of those concerts and the enthusiasm with which they perform their play prevails over the audience. This is another event for them as the most part of those families are deprived from such undertakings because of enduring social problems.

As I see I’m the only person who hasn’t posted the banner “Break the silence of 91 years, recognize the Armenian genocide”. Before someone tries to condemn me for it I want to say that I’m for it and totally support it. Just as you know and I guess that’s not a secret and I’m not shy to say that I can’t work out things difficult than copy and paste or so. Whenever I try to do something more than I know I need lot of time. And that is what I usually lack. No, it’s not that I’m always busy, just along with it I have some health problems, which I discovered still in December though I didn’t know about it before that. And   I hope you know how the medical system works in
Armenia: If you are a little bit ill, the doctors will do their best to treat you in a way that you become an invalid after. Later they declare that you have a special type of  disease unknown to humanity. Now I’m taking another course of treatment and hope to recover soon. Anyway, that’s not what I wanted to say, I will write more detailed on medical system later, having my example as well as my brother’s  and being well aware of how they “treat people” or rather how they torture them and rob money.

 For now I’m even forbidden to sit at the computer, having also problems with eye sight, and that’s not easy to do. Now I turn out to be a real “hilot”, as we use to say in
Armenia

 ….But there is always a rainbow after rain…

Back to observation !

It’s not accidentally that I linked to “It’s your Choice”. The thing is that I’m also volunteering for the largest observation mission in Armenia IYC and also represent the Erebuni youth branch. Incidentally that’s the NGO Tim Russo over at  Democracy Guy has worked with and jots down his recollections in his blogsite.

It’s Your Choice is a nonpartisan NGO and the largest domestic election monitor in Armenia with 4,000 volunteers, and offices and chapters in all Marzes and 12 communities of Yerevan. IYC’s mission is to

Promote transparent elections and democratic processes in Armenia;

Establish true self-governance and accountability within the government;

Encourage citizen participation in community governance; and

Provide objective, reliable and timely information to Armenian voters.

 

I’ve been volunteering for IYC since 2000 helping them to organize mock elections at schools, but my first observation mission was in 2004, as soon as I ran my 18 years. Since, twice I’ve served as a short- term observer for the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations’ International Observation  Mission during the 2004 Ukrainian Presidential Elections.  I served as a long–term observer during Nubarashen and as a short-term observer during Erebuni and Malatia-Sebastia local governing institutions’ elections, as well as during  the elections of Constitutional Amendments.
 

And now IYC is going to observe the coming Ukrainian Parliamentary Elections, which will hold on March 26. I’m hurrying to say that I’m also involved in the group consisting of 30 monitors. . I don’t want to jump the gun with my predictions, but on my coming back I will let you know about the situation governing there during the elections. I hope this one will be more democratic than the previous two ones which were totally rigged. It’s even kind of funny but the Ukrainian Election code allows more falsifications than that of Armenia. They have a house-poll and absentee voting  system and the immense part of fakes occurs mainly in this respect. Besides the counting process is not held by counting the ballots one by one, as is the case in Armenia, but filling the substance of the ballot box on a table and sorting them all together, and many ballots disappear or are changed during that mess. I can mention a row of suchlike cases, but even summing it up, Armenians are much more keen at elections, better to say at its falsification…
 

Though I’m glad to take part again in Ukrainian Elections, I pity a great deal that because of this mission I lost the chance to participate Tong-Il Moo-Do workshop in Georgia which is from March 20 to March 30. I’ve been waiting for it since May when it was first held in Armenia and though I haven’t practiced for 3 months I intended to get a higher belly. But I hope there will be another workshop-training and I’ll have chance to take part in it. Wait a post  about it later.
 

For the moment, I’m awfully busy with my studies, especially that I have to pass all the seminars and lectures beforehand, in order not to gain debts on my shoulders when I  return. This is my last post for a while. The schedule is supposed to be very heavy and I don’t think I’ll manage to find time for blogging anything. I’ll be back in a week if everything turns out all right and we don’t stick in the airport, as was the case with Georgian observers on the way to Byelorussia.
 

For now, wish me good luck and God speed!

To my mom

Today I was looking through my old papers and stumbled upon a writing which remembered me one of the most wonderful days of my life.
 

It was 4 years ago, in 2002, when I was passing my school final exams. The first exam to pass was Armenian language, a subject that I never have had any difficulties with. We sat in the huge auditorium and started writing the test. Teachers were passing through the rows as if answering pupils’ questions connected with technical part of the test, but in reality they were helping them.  Last point of the test was writing a composition. Two variants were offered- “Proud” and “If I were a painter”. I had to choose and write on one of them. So, having an intense longing for philosophy I started discussing what proud is, its advantages and disadvantages, so long and so forth. Later my teacher of language came up to me, read my writing and affirmed that I can write it in my fair copy. I was about doing it, when my mother, who is a teacher and was also in the examination board and all that time was helping other pupils but me, appeared above my head, looked through my composition and said angrily: “What is this? Couldn’t you write anything better? I will not admit this, write the other title”. I looked at my mom as if asking her not to ask it, because I had only 20  minutes left  till the end of the exam. But her decision was too firm and I did what I had to do. Later, when she came home late at night she said: “What did you do? You made  the whole examination board cry while checking your paper.” Then she smiled, stretched her arms and hugged me tenderly.
    What do you think I could write after such a strict maternal  look? I was in a loss that moment and only her strict look was attached in front of my eyes to which I will always be so grateful. That is the same look, also filled with endless love, which always lightens my mind and leads me out of all the difficult and decisive situations.
 

 

Եթե նկարիչ լինեի…
Եթե նկարիչ լինեի, կվերցնեի վրձինս ու կնկարեի մորս աչքերը: Կնկարեի նրա աչքերի կապույտ խորությունը, որ ծովինն է, թռչունների դայլայլը, որ երկնքինն է, կանաչ դաշտերը, որ գարունքինն են: Թե նայեիր մորս աչքերին, դու էլ կուզենայիր նկարիչ լինեիիր, որ նկարեիր նրա աչքերի թախիծը, որով պարուրված է նրա ուրախությունը, բարությունն ու հեզությունը:
Բայց… Ոչ, համոզված եմ, որ ներկապնակում այդ գույները չկան: Ես կընտրեի ամենապարզը` գծանկարը, այդ նուրբ ու երազկոտ, հուսառատ ու ժպտուն աչքերն ավելորդ գունավորման կարիք չունեն: Սակայն, նկարելիս կհանեի աչքերի մոտ հավաքված մանրիկ կնճիռները, որոնք անգութ տարիների հետքերն են: Դուրս կշպրտեի արցունքապարկը, որ էլ չթացվեին այդ աչքերը: Կջնջեի աչքերի թախիծը և այդ խորունկ աչքերում կավելացնեի անմար մի ժպիտ: Կբորբոքեի այն երբեմնի անմար կրակն ու փայլը, որ միշտ լուսավորել է իմ ճանապարհը: Սեր կներշնչեի նրա առանց այն էլ սիրով լի աչքերին: Ու դա դեռ բավ չէր լինի: Աչքերի խորին խորհում կթողնեի մաքուր մի անկյուն և այն կլցնեի հույսով, հավատով: Իսկ բարություն…. Չէ, ես դա չեի ավելացնի, նրա բարությունը կբավի ինձ էլ , մարդկությանն էլ:
Չէ, ես նկարիչ չեմ, բայց կնկարեմ մորս աչքերը, կնկարեմ իմ ուզած ձևով և վերջում կավելացնեմ.
« Ժպտա միշտ, մայր իմ, ժպտա, ծիծաղիր հավիտյան, վարակիր քո ծիծաղով մյուսներին էլ, ինձ էլ վարակիր: Թող որ փարվեմ քեզ հավիտյան ու ես էլ երջանկանամ քո ծիծաղի ներքո: Ես սիրում եմ քեզ, մայր իմ»:

 

 

If  your mother is somewhere near, turn to her and tell her how deep your love is. If she is far away, find her now, and let her know how much you love her. Thank her for giving you birth, for bearing the pain while delivering you, thank her for the sleepless nights she spent rocking your cradle and guiding your sound sleep, for the days she spent at your bed maintaining you and taking care while you were ill, and providing an endowment for your health.

Thank her for inspiring you and giving precious advice when you were in low spirits, for protecting you with her chest, for being so kind, for the efforts she put in you.

Thank her for who you are, thank her for loving you. And if you have ever hurt her with your careless actions, apologize for that, though be sure that her maternal heart  has forgiven you long ago.

… And don’t forget to shower her with embarrassments, kisses and flowers every day.
 

Մայրս` ձեզ համար
Խեղճ, անշուք մի մայր,
Ինձ` նշխար մի երգ,
Ինձ` մի տիեզերք,
Ինձ աշխարհ բերած
Մի նշխար աստված:

 

ՏՈՆԴ  ՇՆՈՐՀԱՎՈՐ, ՄԱՄ !!!