The First 2 Days
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Well, this is the first CYMA blog. The journey began at LAX where the Garibjanyan Family, Hagop Karakashian (my dad), Matthew Ash and Will Dodd gave the CYMA group a warm send off at Terminal 2. At the security check the CYMA group met up with former ACYO member, camp-goer, Cate Norian who is participating in the Armenian Assembly internship this summer. The six of us, Sosi, Brooke, Chris, Hayk, Tamara and Cate have had a great time traveling together and getting to know each other. We are anticipating Lusine and Areen’s arrivals in a few days.
The flight from LAX to London was great. We took a vote and it was decided that Virgin Atlantic is now our new favorite Airline. During the flights the five of us sat near each other and tried to get some sleep. While some were successful, others had a more difficult time. The change of terminals in London wasn’t that bad, once we arrived at the terminal we were to leave from, we did some duty free shopping, ate some food and just relaxed. The gate was finally announced, not a minute before 1 hour prior to departure, and we congregated in front of gate 19, where we waited, and waited and waited. We finally started boarding the plane, ever so slowly. I think it took us about an hour to board (no joke). However, our arrival into Yerevan was on time.
Upon arrival at Zvartnotz (the airport in Yerevan), we gathered all of our bags, which ALL made it, and went hom to get a good nights sleep. We were greeted at the airport by Hayr Dajad Yardemian, Der Ktrij and Yn. Paula Devejian.
Friday, June 17, 2006
Our first full day in Yerevan was truly amazing. After waking up and enjoying a delicious breakfast at the Marriot Hotel, we started our Yerevan City Tour.
First, our guide, Sahaganoosh enriched us with the details of the Erebouni Fortress. We got a special treat to learn that there was currently an archeological dig in progress on the far side of the mountain which the fortress sits upon. We came to learn about the fascinating things which are found in digs such as these when we visited the Erebouni Museum.
On our tour we saw many monuments; Sassontsi Tavit and Vartan Mamigonian were two of the highlights. We visited Mayr Hayastan (Mother Armenia) and browsed through the Karababh War Museum. We then walked through Victory Park and enjoyed a Coca-Cola on our way to the Cascade. At the top of the cascade we saw where the Cafesjian Museum will be built. The most amazing part about the cascade was that we walked down the escalators of the Cascade and stopped at each level to see the garden and the fountains. The evening culminated with dinner at the Lebanese Restaurant.
June 20th, 2006 at 4:49 am
Sounds like you guys are having a great time! Be sure to keep us updated and upload some pictures when you get at chance!