Armenia Through the Eyes of a Pilgrim
It has been about 2 years since my last blog, I am excited to be back and even more excited to be leaving for Armenia tomorrow to join our CYMA interns for the next couple of weeks. It killed me to see the pilgrims and interns leave from LAX about a month ago but the countdown for me is almost over…thank you Lord. So far the posts, the comments, the pictures, and the feedback have been excellent so everyone keep it up - please remember this isn’t some secret society we have going on here, we represent the global community as well as the Armenian Church and it should be our priviledge to share our thoughts and insights with the rest of the world as we continue on our journey this summer.
This last week has been a total blur for me. I have been so looking forward to leaving that I havn’t been able to focus on much else. As a ‘leader’ and long time CYMA/ACYO proponent and member it is my hope and dream that all of our participants gain as much from this experience as I have, hopefully much much more. I love this program with all my heart and this will be my third time travelling to Hyeastan and each time I have come back to America, I have come back with a new perspective on life. I have gained a sense of humility, I have gained a powerful Love for my friends, for my family, for my faith, for our people and for myself. There is no doubt that Armenia is a magical place and I challenge anyone who has not yet done so to go and see for yourself what Armenia, and/or what other ‘lesser-appreciated’ parts of the world, have in store for you. Our words and our stories can only do so much, I would love to hear your words and your stories some day.
Confession - In preparation for my trip in the past week I have been so eager to jump right in and help that I’ve wasted so much time thinking about what I should do when I finally get to Armenia; what I should say, who I should say it to, where are we going to go, and what issues I need to deal with that I did myself a disservice because after talking to the pilgrims who have already returned, reading through all these blogs, talking to people in Armenia, all the emails that I’ve sent back and forth, and after gaining all the feedback that I possibly can about our group - I think the participants of CYMA 2007 have already taught me so much more than I could have ever possibly had anything to do with. I am in awe of them and completely humbled by what they have accomplished. I am man enough to admit that some of these blogs have brought tears to my eyes. I cannot wait to be there and look them all in the eye and tell them what their achievements have meant to me. I have known some of them since they were children, some of them I do not know at all but I now look upon them as if they were my brothers and sisters. My mission this year is just to be there with them and to take it all in. I’m sure at this point they can teach me so much more than I can teach them and for that I am grateful.
I have gathered pictures from some of the pilgrims who have already gone to Armenia and returned and I would like to share them with you. These pictures are worth more than a thousand words apiece; many of them will speak for themselves but I will try to put them into as much context as possible because I was not fortunate enough to be there personally. You can read about what’s going on in many of these pictures in the previous blogs.
Much Love to you, my next post will be from 12 time-zones away. Without any ado whatsoever, please enjoy Armenia through the eyes of a CYMA pilgrim (many thanks to those of you who sent me pictures).
-Levon (Will) Dodd
Here’s some of the gang upon arrival in the streets of Yerevan - Natalie, Rose, Matt, Susan and Arman
Busses…it’s how we get around. Arn’t they a good looking group of interns and pilgrims? Look at them all wide-eyed and excited, you gotta love it.
Here’s one of our pilgrims, Armine, who had the opportunity to visit her family.
Here’s our dear Armine again paying her respect to the grave of her grandfather. The toombstones in Armenia are absolutely beautiful.
Here’s the living legend Vicken with one of the locals on the penninsula of Lake Sevan, you can barely tell which one is the local, and which one is from Fresno.
Here are the pilgrims chatting with Archbishop Sebu of Vanadzor.
These are some kids with Vicken at the summer camp in Vanadzor.
Some more kids with Arman.
The whole camp with Archbishop Sebu. The pilgrims got to spend quite a lot of time at this camp where they saw the kids do their daily drills and performances. Archbishop Sebu told the gang that he treats his kids like soldiers because soldiers have dignity and respect, and these will grow up and be good people.
‘A’ is for Armine.
‘V’ is for Vicken. These 2 pics were taken at the famous Alphabet monument which was also the site of the World’s Largest Line Dance. You can look it up.
The famous stairs of Noravank. No group has ever left Armenia without taking this picture. This church is actually the only Armenian church (or church in the world?) that has the image of God presented on it. You can’t see it here but it is on the top of the upper doorway.
Sleep is hard to come by for a CYMA pilgrim, you do what you can…you do what you can.
Here as Matt at Karahunge - ruler of all he surveys. Karahunge is the Armenian Stonehenge except we know even less about it then the Stonehenge in England.
Matthew Ssssmmmmaaaaassshhhhh!
Here is some of the gang in front of one of my favorite places, Keghart (Armenian for Spear). Geghart is actually partially carved out of the whole mountainside. A very cool place.
This is my favorite picture of the bunch. It is just very telling…knowing what Armenian soldiers have gone through makes this picture very profound, whoever you are my friend, I have a lot of love and respect for you.
Badarak at the Armenian Cathedral, Holy Etchmiadzin. During this service 7 priests were ordained…must have been a pretty cool site to see. Can we get a Father Levon…please!
Here is Matt and Der Ktrich with the Catholicos of all Armenians, Karekin II.
This is a picture of the Temple of Garni. One of the oldest standing pagan temples in the world. Emperor Nero of Rome actually funded the building of this temple in Armenia around 100 A.D. The landscape behind it is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen in my life.
Here is the group having a discussion and quiet reflection at the Armenian Genocide Memorial, Tdidzenakapert. The flame burns eternally in commemoration of the 1.5 million Armenians who lost their lives at the hands of the genocidal Turkish rule from 1900-1918. It’s a CYMA tradition to spend some time here during the trip and discuss all things Armenian and to meditate individually and as a group.
Awesome picture.
Here is some of the gang exploring the caverns and tunnels of Datev Monestary. This is also one of my favorite places to visit.
Vaughn here is standing on what is dubbed ‘The Ledge’ of Datev, it is not joke about a thousand foot drop in every direction without about a foot’s width to stand on. It truly is an amazing feeling to be up there.
C - Y - M - A. Ambert Fortress
No idea what this is about…again, I wasn’t there for any of these pictures, but it just looks pretty sweet.
You talkin to me??? This tank commemorates Armenia’s liberation of Artsakh after the fall of the Soviet Union. It is right outside the city of Shushi. Once the Armenian soldiers took Shushi, they martched the capital, Stepanakert and the war was essentially won.
Jump!
Everybody Jump!
These are the cliffs of Jdrduz just outside of Shushi.
I wont ruin these pictures with any words, I’ll just refer you to Vaughn’s blog ‘BLOGGAGE’ of July 5th. Read the last entry, stories like that make this whole trip worthwhile.
This is the grand restaurant of Ashtarakidzor. This was the site of the last night that the pilgrims were in Armenia. If you havn’t noticed yet, it is raining BUT…..
…a little rain never stopped an Armenian dance party.
CYMA Rule #1 - We don’t say goodbye, we just say see you later.
Okaaaay, so I put this picture up because I’m actually in it….funny note - Arman and Vicken’s parents surprised them at LAX, they had zero idea that they were going to be there. Arman jumped up and down like 87 times, it was pretty funny.
That’s all for now, much more to come.
July 17th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
WILL!!!!!!!!!…awesome blog. I CAN’T WAIT FOR YOU TO GET HERE….HUURRYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!
July 18th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Jeeze Mattashian — don’t ham it up in the pictures or anything.
July 18th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
This is what I want you to do… take a picture of rita, alene and stef and then photoshop me in!!!!! Do it! Do it!!!
July 18th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
man o man…i want to go back NOW!!!!
July 24th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
[…] After almost six full weeks since the start of CYMA 2007, the CYMA pilgrims have returned from their spiritual journey with a fresh and new perspective. Their pictures and blogs show the abundance of their journey and highlight all of the amazing heartfelt experiences they have been witness too. Check out some of their blogs: Arman’s Blog, Rose’s Blog, Armine’s Blog, Artsakh, and Armenia Through the Eyes of a Pilgrim. […]