some real stuff and beautiful sky

Hardness in chest, burning eyes that fill with tears from time to time, goosebumps all over the body, its hard to breathe, sometimes it hurts inside unbearably. Is this how being in love will always be? and how long it will last every time. what do you do after this feeling is gone? pretend that you don't miss it? pretend that you don't need it? every second of the pain and happiness. you are going to miss it so badly. should you live the rest of the life only for those short periods when you are in love? what is the magic solution for having this all the time, for feeling it all the time and not going completely crazy.

smile, it's the happiest feeling, even the pain that comes along!

The Yerevan to love!

No one can deny that life in Armenia is hard, and things aren't looking very good in the county now. It's an emerging economy, landlocked, with bad neighbors, ignorant and greedy government. People are tired of surviving rather than living. Obviously things are not very fun and colorful. Here is a report about Armenia that tells enough.
At the same time, it is a country with deep soul reflecting the struggle of thousands of years for retaining the Armenian nation. Many amazing people still live there, ready to fight for what they believe in risking their lives.
There are many amazing things to love about Armenia, but there is also bad picture of reality that can't be hidden. We shouldn't pretend that Armenia doesn't have problems. It had deep problems. We should't be ashamed to tell the world that we have issues and we need help with that.
Nothing good will come from hiding the reality and showing the "nice" stories about Armenia.
I have heard many people saying that it is shameful to talk about bad things in the country with foreigners. I disagree. One should be loved for who he/she is, not what he/she pretends to be! Countries should be loved and appreciated the same way, otherwise it's empty love or appreciation.
One might argue that these are not the best pictures of Yerevan. There are tons of 'wonderful' Yerevan pictures out there. But I love these. This is the real beauty of Yerevan and its honest and open. That's why it's worth loving.

Photos by: Hayk Muradya

As it Really is.... the life in Yerevan

The reason I started this blog was to tell something special about the life in Yerevan, some special things that could be shared with people. Things that inspire or disappoint, things that makes you laugh from joy and scream with anger. Beautiful things, wonderful things, mostly amazing things connected our lives in Yerevan.
But later on, things that disappoint in life in Yerevan got more and more and the excitement and beauty less and less. So after pointing out one issue or two, i couldn't say anything more, cause I suddenly lost the sense of beauty.
So, life in Yerevan is hard and messy. People seem to have lost their kindness. Judgement is everywhere, in every family, every house and in people's hearts.
Right and wrong is not necessarily written, but its always announced.
We've forgotten about freedom of soul and think of everyone as bodies not persons.

First thing that defines people is their gender, then age, family, traditions, job position.
We should think more about people as souls, as persons, as friends and people that change our lives, make a difference.
We all should make a difference in this life in Yerevan by changes how we treat each other.
This video below made me very angry today (sorry to all the non-armenian speakers, its about sexual freedom)

And then I watched another one, seems from another world

Where life gets better, because people speak out and make a difference by treating each other as persons.

And then in spite of the sad reality of our lives in Yerevan, I remembered all the wonderful people who make my life different, who make me who I am and will surely change the world to a better place due to their craziness and audacity to be different.

meet Marina Danielyan, funny, creative, full of life and energy to make me laugh with joy

Gayoush Kabalyan, my oldest friend, who annoyed me when we were kids, and then became a wind of hope and assurance for the lifetime I have to spend. With whom everything is possible :)

the Crazy, Inspiring, loving and caring, "You can achieve anything you want in this world"-type of person, next to whom beauty comes in my life.

Extremely extraordinary Elaine Krikorian, who is ready to stick stuff in her nose and break ancient pieces of chess, to make you laugh

Interesting and thorough Meline Ter-Minassian, who can be the best friend in the world

"Yeah babey", Zhirair Terzyan, "zibon", brilliant and fun, silently thorough, strikingly loud :)

The brightest, purest love in the world, Marie! Who is my change to this world, who will grow as a person, loving beauty and kindness and compassion and freedom, bringing joy to people and screaming about all the disappointing things in this life in Yerevan!

There are so many others, who will be coming soon in my further posts and so many others who I haven't yet met but am looking forward to :)

Yerevan, Armenia - Security and Crime!

This article was posted on the Women's Resource Center of Armenia Blog. It has been written by a very courageous girl, who tells about a real incident of abuse by an Armenian policeman.

We all need to hear the TRUTH, we all need to SPEAK up and STAND for our rights!

RA police officer...protector or perpetrator?

May 9th is a holiday for many citizens of our country, but for me it is a day full of sad memories which make me shiver until today. I decided to write about this day when during the PR campaign of the Sexual Assault Center I heard many negative opinions, saying: "What are you so worried about? There is no violence against women in Armenia." I am one of the people responsible for this... because I was silent.

After the fireworks my boyfriend and I walked home up Baghramyan Street. We were both around 18 at that time. Pushkin Park (today's Lovers' Park) had been out of the City Hall attention for the last few years. Even the wood parts on the benches were missing, probably had been burned in one of the cold apartments of Yerevan. The park, with its dark and quiet corners, had become the favorite spot for many young couples. We also sometimes found our solitary corner there and so we did that day.

Passionate kisses and hugs were interrupted by somebody's footsteps. Suddenly in the dark a cellphone light hit my face. It was a man in a uniform, looking at us with a kind of smile on his face that a child would have finding the hidden chocolate box. Studying carefully our faces and lower bodies with the cellphone light, his smile became even bigger, when he noticed my undone belt. "Where you f**king?" - there was an obscene laugh. We froze in fear. "The truck is parked right there. Do you want me to throw you in and take you to the station?"

Seeing the Patrol Service cars by the park every day I would wonder what their duty was. Now in my head I came to the conclusion, that besides the drunk and drug addicts, they are also there for the people who have sex in public.

We were faced with a huge challenge; to prove to the officer that nothing like that happened. And of course he didn't believe us and decided to make sure of it himself by trying to check if I was "pure"(virgin) by touching my body in its most intimate places. Because of my lack of knowledge of the rules and my rights well enough I let him humiliate me in front of my boyfriend. My boyfriend was way too scared. He only kept insisting that nothing happened. And I let the officer do whatever he was doing just to keep out of trouble. He was stupid enough to believe that fluids are a sign of missing virginity and now sure that his suspicions were right, he asked my boyfriend to let him talk to me alone. He took me a few meters away. I made sure that my boyfriend was never out of sight.

One more time he touched different parts of my body and with the same obscene voice he pronounced the following sentence, which I will never forget: "Honey, we can solve this issue very easily. You just can't tell your boyfriend anything about it." While I was trying to figure out if I got him right, he continued: "Everything will be good for you for sure. You don't want your parent to find out that you f**cked with your boyfriend, do you?" Finally I recovered from the huge slap on my face and very confidently explained to the "animal" that I was from a modern and civilized family and that my parents did not intrude in our relationship.

It got to his stupid head that he wasn't going to get what he intended, and to keep out of trouble he quickly took me back to my boyfriend, wished us a happy future and disappeared. "I will tell the other guys to leave you alone. Do you need a ride home?" - were his last words. The tears were pouring on my face like a river.

For several days we couldn't talk to each other. I tried to imagine what my boyfriend felt at that moment and I felt terrible about it. I could never tell him what the officer had told me. And he also never asked. Soon the park was closed for renovation. We never went there again.

I told nobody for 3 years. I was ashamed. I was ashamed, when in fact I had done nothing to be ashamed of. I was ashamed when somebody else should be ashamed instead: the protector of law and order.

G.K

Hayland.am Organizes "The Wake Up Call"

As I have mentioned in my previous post. Hayland.am on April 23rd, prior to the Armenian Genocide Memorial day, had organized a very special rally "Wake up Call" in front of the USA Embassy in Yerevan. 

In spite of the miserable weather, everything went as it was planned and I am very proud to share with you the video of the Rally! 

For the Recognition of the Armenian Genocide

Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Resolution, April 24, 1998

"Today we commemorate the anniversary of what has been called the first genocide of the 20th century, and we salute the memory of the Armenian victims of this crime against humanity".

Even after so many years of discussions, the Armenian Genocide has not yet been accepted by the Turkish Government. 

Not a single Armenian has forgotten about the real facts and everyone is waiting for the Recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

A very unique event called "Wake Up Call" is going to take place near the American Embassy in Yerevan, on April 23 at 2pm. Armenian will come together to turn on their alarm clock all at the same time, to announce that the time of change has come! Read more about "Wake up Call"

How to apply for child allowance (երեխաների նպաստ) in Armenia!

As many Armenians know starting from January 2009 there have been various amendments in different social spheres. I know that to many of you, this may not be very interesting, but as a mother I felt the obligation to inform other mothers in Armenia about the changes in the children allowances, as well as to help with instructions on applying for the child allowance.

First I want to happily announce that instead of the old allowance rates for children, we can now receive more help from the Armenian Government. Regardless the fact that this won't make our lives in Armenia easier, we shouldn't be ungrateful and not to mention that we can now afford more diapers for our babies :) 

Anyways, the current rates are the following: 

• The lump-sum money assistance for child birth is set at the rate of 50 thousand AMD. ( instead of the former 35 thousand)*
  
• For the third baby and for every next baby the rate is set to be 430 thousand AMD
• The child care benefit rate for children under 2 is 15 000 AMD per month for employed mothers (instead of the former 3000 per month)

What I really wanted to focus on in this post were the documents needed to apply for the allowances mentioned above. I have researched the web and I tried to call the proper organizations where one should file for the child allowance in Armenia. 

The proper organizations and the Ministries weren't quite welcoming and the only answer I got to my questions was to visit them and find out at place.

The web didn't turn out to have much information, the most useful information I found was at The Ministry of Social Security of Armenia website. 

I have also found the list of necessary documents, but of course I still had to run around for some that were not mentioned in the list. 

To apply for the lump-sum money assistance for child birth the following papers are needed:

ա) դիմում (this is a form that you fill out at the Social Security Institution where you will apply for the allowance, after all the necessary documents are available).
բ) երեխայի ծննդյան վկայականի պատճենը,
գ) տեղեկանք բնակության վայրից(as you know every area has a person who is responsible for writing this kind of papers, you need to find that person :).

 դ) խնամակալության կամ որդեգրման մասին փաստաթղթի պատճենը.

 ե) ծնողի (both parents' if available) կամ խնամակալի անձը հաստատող փաստաթղթի պատճենը.
զ) երեխայի և ծնողի (both parents' if available)  կամ խնամակալի սոցիալական ապահովության քարտը (and copies) կամ տեղեկանք սոցիալական ապահովության քարտ չունենալու մասին:

To apply for the child care benefit rate for children under 2, you will need the following documents:

 ա) դիմում (which comes the last after you have all the documents together and this is given to you at the Social Security Institution where you take your papers)

 բ) երեխայի ծննդյան վկայականի պատճենը.
գ) տեղեկանք բնակության վայրից (as you know every area has a person who is responsible for writing this kind of papers, you need to find that person :).
դ) տեղեկանք աշխատավայրից իր` մինչև երեք տարեկան երեխայի խնամքի արձակուրդում գտնվելու մասին( you need to take a special form from the Social Security Institution (Paros) and give it to your employer to fill it out and sign).
ե) ծնողի(both parents' if available) անձը հաստատող փաստաթղթի պատճենը.
զ) երեխայի և ծնողի(both parents' if available) սոցիալական ապահովության քարտը ( and the copies of the cards) կամ սոցիալական ապահովության քարտ չունենալու մասին տեղեկանք:

I hope this helps those who search for this kind of information. In case of any questions don't hesitate to ask me. I would be very glad to share my experience :)