A day of tears, renewed faith, joy and rebirth...

The students are having a great time in Armenia and the weather has been great!! Not to rub it in...

On  Sunday we started our day by visiting Yeraplour; the mountain top cemetery dedicated to those who died while defending Artsakh. They had the opportunity to hear inspirational stories from an Artsakh war veteran and current official in the Armenian military. National heroes General Antranik and Sosse Mayrig are also buried here whom the students had learned about and now had the opportunity to pay their respects to. The students all agreed that commemorating the lives of those who died for their people is immortalizing their memory, the only avenue to continue where those who died in defense of human rights and justice left off.

 The students also had the opportunity to pay respect to Karabakh Army junior sergeant Armen Hovhannisyan, the most recent soldier who died during an Azeri attack.

All the students had an emotional experience here. Not one left indifferent. All understood well the price we have paid for our freedom and how important it is to defend human rights for all. The sacrifices of the previous generation must be known to inspire subsequent generations to in turn make their own sacrifices.

St Vartan Church, Yeraplour. Photo by Areg Nazarian

The students photographed beside Zoravar Antranig's Grave

We then traveled to the Sardarabad monument and museum where the students got to view the epicenter of the war for independence in 1918. The students climbed on top of the monument where they sang loud and clear, the song dedicated to Sardarabad written by Baruyr Sevag. We knew we made our presence felt when we had the rare occasion and surprise of hearing the Sardarabad bells ring as we walked to the museum. Someone had heard us singing loud and clear "Zanker togh ghoghanchen!"

The students then visited St. Etchmiadzin and its museum. The museum houses the Spear of Christ, a piece of Noah's Ark, a piece of Christ's Holy Cross and the thorn crown.










We also visited the architectural marvel, Zvartnots. Zevartnotz was the tallest structure in the world at the time of its construction and was built on the site where King Dertad and St. Krikor Lousavorich met after being released from Khor Virab. It houses relics from St. Krikor Lousavorich. Here we also had a chance to hear two songs by Armenian opera singers who sang Horovel and Hayriniki Anoush Kinin.

Stones from Zvartnotz positions as they were when in tact

St. Krikor Lousavorich's relics are kept below this cage

The students then had the opportunity to participate in a workshop by the Armenian Cross of Unity. Here they learned how Armenian Lavash bread is made and attempted to make their own quite successfully as you can see in the video below. They also learned the art of molding clay and made their own clay figures and carpet weaving.

Video thanks to Areg Nazarian

Today was truly a day of tears, faith, joy and rebirth... The students ended this long day understanding the importance of preserving what we have and contributing to culture, faith and Armenia.