LiGhTs OuT
Thursday July 25, 2007
Today in Yerevan, it is hot or shall I say “shok e” like every other day. Apparently, it is so hot that locals are overusing their Samsung air conditioners creating periodic blackouts throughout certain street corners. Last night after coming home from Parvana, an outdoor jasharan with live music and dancing, I stepped into a dark apartment with two candles lit. My initial reaction was that I had stepped into the wrong apartment where weird voodoo purplemoon.com surfing deghatzis were holding a saiance to bring the soviet times back from the dead. Unfortunately, it was just my roommates trying to illuminate our apartment with random candles they found around the house. A pair appeared to be from a wedding so hopefully they are not of much significance to the people who normally live here. So as you can probably tell work today is kind of an “off” day. Pun intended. The lights are currently off and luckily my laptop has some battaria left for me to write this blog. Kristine, Mhkitar, my resident co-workers, and I have been chatting away about life in Armenia 15 years ago. Kristine told me her family lived in a place where they would only get electricity for 2 hours a day. The remaining 22 hours were spent under candlelight. It really put things into perspective for me. If I was to spend 22 hours a day without electricity, what would I do? Meaning no facebook.com, no email, no chat machine, no straightening my hair, no talking on the phone, nada, zip, voch mi ban. For Kristine and Mkhitar they have seen Yerevan grow and develop rapidly. These are hard-working educated individuals who appreciate this growth and are moving on to do bigger and better things. Mkhitar received his M.B.A. from Georgetown in D.C. Kristine, the product manager, wants to go to America, get her M.B.A., and move back to Armenia to work. She has traveled to Europe and America by herself and she is a goal-oriented independent woman. Kristine inspires me to travel, learn, and experience life outside of my normal routine.
Basically, my internship at Made In Armenia Direct is awesome. We are a match made in heaven. You know what’s weird? My boss’ name is Aram, my co-workers name is Hasmik, and one of the product designers is Dikran. If you don’t know me very well let me tell you a little bit about my family. My dad’s name is Dikran, my mom’s name is Hasmik, and my bro’s name is Aram. Creeepppyyy? No, not creepy at all. Another thing…Cross of Armenian Unity, the non-profit children’s arts program I work with asked me to help them market the exquisite handmade rugs and artwork the children make. Honestly, I did not know where to start because it was the first couple of weeks I did not know much about Armenia and the industry. The next day I had an interview with Made in Armenia Direct, a company who sells handmade crafts made in Armenia. After the interview, my goal was to pitch the idea to MIAD to sell the children’s rugs in their store to help raise money for Cross of Armenian Unity. Well, MIAD loved the idea, loved the rugs, and are going to begin selling them in the store at Marriot Armenia starting August 1st. God works in mysterious ways and everything happens for a reason. The staff at Cross of Armenian Unity is so happy that I linked them with MIAD. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to work with such wonderful people and providing a way for me to contribute to the success of the children’s arts program through MIAD.
This blog is kind of random and about a million different things but when the lights go out and you have no internet you kind of just sit and start thinking about a lot of different things. So please excuse my discombobulated ideas. I love Armenia and I do not want to leave in 2.5 weeks. Yaaayyy the lights are back on! As my mother would probably say right now, “Let there be light”. Inside joke. Sorry. My cousins Mel and Vaughn will pick up on that one. Alright, back to work. Peace.
July 28th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Our Dearest Lena,
“Let there be light” my darling! Those are powerful words…just imagine when God says it, it just happens. You keep walking in the light…He will make miracles happen for you on a daily basis…I am glad you are seeing God’s hand in your life…you are right not creepy…just God’s grace all the way!! I am glad you see the light!
You are the light of our world…as is your brother, all your cousins and all your wonderful friends. Keep enjoying every moment…This is your life not a dress rehearsal…make the most of it as you all are! Enjoy the rest of your days in Armenia…it’s just the beginning…I am sure you will return again and continue to find ways to help the motherland…Do the artisans have their own website as well or can they team up with cyma, two nonprofits helping eachother; 90/10, 80/20, 70/30…whatever, one creates gets more, the other admistrates/markets maybe link to cyma, etc.?
Love,
Mommy and Daddy
August 1st, 2007 at 3:35 pm
LENA I LOVE YOU/MISS YOU!!
Come home!!! Its not fair!
Love you!