Hye Sharzhoom Armenian Action
Emma Shaljian
Staff Writer
Delicious food, traditional songs, and colorful paintings in a warm and friendly atmosphere… Does this sound at all familiar to you?
Fresno State students Ani Grigoryan, Lilit Grigoryan, and Emma Shaljyan were the guest speakers at the International Coffee Hour on April 8, 2014, to present on the beautiful and historical country of Armenia.
The room was decorated with some of my artwork, portraying vases, flowers, and fruits, with traditional Armenian rugs in the background, and also Armenian hand crafted church clocks, and a painting of Khor Virap with Mt. Ararat in the background.
The presentation started with a brief video about Armenia, followed by general information related to Armenia, educating people about the climate, religion, various churches, music, arts, food, traditional clothing, holidays, and traditions. The goal of the presentation was to educate people about Armenia. Famous Armenian artists and musicians such as Ivan Aivazovsky, Martiros Saryan, Minas Avetisyan, Komitas, and Sayat Nova, were introduced. During the discussion about Armenian composers, popular Armenian traditional songs were played.
I sang a small piece from Komitas’s “Qeler, Tsoler” to introduce the audience to the beautiful and melodic songs of Armenia. The audience reacted very positively to the Armenian music. The presentation would have been incomplete without discussing Armenian cuisine. It is not a surprise that Armenian food is much loved by so many people.
Armenian customs and traditions were discussed, including wedding customs, such as picking up the bride from her home with dancing/music, feeding the bride and groom honey while placing lavash on their shoulders, releasing doves after the church ceremony, the traditional bridal dance, and giving out “tarosikner” to the unmarried guests at the wedding.
The last section of the presentation was dedicated to Armenia’s capital. The audience was led on a tour of the streets of Yerevan, with photos of famous locations such as the Republic Square, Northern Avenue, Opera House, Swan Lake, Yerevan State University, Victory Park, and the Matenadaran.
The presentation was followed by many questions, expressing more interest about Armenia. “I always wanted to present at a Coffee Hour about Armenia, and I finally had a chance to do it,” commented Ani Grigoryan.
“Armenia is an ancient country, and we had a difficult task to help our audience understand us and our culture in such a short period of time. I think we managed to do that because I heard so many positive comments afterwards.”
At the conclusion of the presentation the audience was invited to try Armenian food, such as yalanchi, sweet soujukh, and lahmajoon. There was a lively discussion after the presentation. We were very excited to answer all the questions and to continue discussions about Armenia.