ahousekeeper
in
nkr
When I Saw the Natural Beauty Of the Place...
The second article from Hetq Online about the liberated territory of Artsakh. I've been in New Shahumyan, and can confirm that the place is really beautiful.
When I Saw the Natural Beauty Of the Place I told Myself We Have To Live Here
Hetq Online - 08/13/2007
By Edik Baghdasaryan
Sayat Melkonyan, a resident of Yerevan, is a specialist in ethnographic
dance and song. He's worked with the `Akunk' troupe and has directed his
own `Karin' and `Mush' ensembles. With his wife Karineh he also gave
lessons in ethnographic dance and song. Eight years ago Sayat and his
family moved to the New Shahumyan region of Gharabakh.
In the regional center of Karvatchar he started a small group that only
lasted for two months. The problem was that the village of Havsatagh
where Sayat lived was quite a distance away from Karvatchar and it was
difficult to constantly commute between the two. Meanwhile, there weren't
enough children in the village to give lessons to. Today Sayat is the
village mayor. He recounts that, ` When I saw the natural beauty of the
area I told myself we have to live here. We picked this spot and together
with my brother we built this house.'
Sayat was born in the Sasnashen village in the Talin district. He
brought along eight cows when he moved here and now he has a herd of
sixty. `This is a great place to raise livestock. At one time I had forty
bee-hives as well. Some medicine was brought in from Georgia that later
turned out to be poisonous and twenty of the hives were lost as a result.
Today I have twenty-five hives. I had none when I arrived here. Eighteen
of our sixty cows are diary cows and I milk eight of them. What we produce
we sell here and in Yerevan', Sayat relates. He's now building a shed to
house some one hundred cows. In the early days when there was no electric
power in the village Sayat rigged-up a generator by the riverside. It
provided electricity for three years till the village was connected to
the power grid.
` Our biggest problem is the lack of telephone service. We have to travel
some 15 or 30 kilometers to receive any type of news. The second issue is
that we have no local medical services or transport. Neither does the
neighboring village of Zuar. We're not located on the main road, that's
why we have no public transport service. They've promised to provide us
with transport. We're pretty well-off now as compared to those early years.
Those with jobs, who do light work, lead fairly normal lives. There are
three families in the village who have herds of between 15 to 30 livestock.
The rest have some three animals. Three families who have just resettled
here have no livestock at all. They're in pretty bad shape and should be
granted livestock credits. We're now getting their papers in order so that
they can be registered as village residents and thus be eligible for
livestock credits' explains the village mayor.
Sayat's and Karineh's forebearers are from Sasoun and Bayazet. Karineh
is from Yerevan.
When I ask Sayat how he was able to convince her to move here he replies
jokingly, `I didn't convince her. I just told her that we're going.' He
continues, `Of course it was difficult. She's a girl from Yerevan, one
of my former students. But we made a decision and moved.'
Karineh is now the school's librarian. She still hasn't come to grips
with the notion that she must remain here. ` I really miss Yerevan and
want to return. Since my husband wants to stay, what can I do? Here, I'm
out of touch with everything. I miss my parents, my sisters. At least if
there was a telephone I could speak to them; it would be easier. All my
relatives are there. Where my husband lives so must I', Karineh answers.
Karineh was totally lost when it came to life in a village. Those first
few days came as a total shock to her; she really couldn't comprehend
where she was. She smiles when she recounts those experiences, ` I slowly
got the hang of things. Now I know how to do just about everything; make
cheese, madzoun, butter. The only thing I can't do is milk the cows. I
even take care of the vegetable garden. But I have a fear of cows. That's
why I don't milk them. I'm afraid to even walk up close to one of them.'
Translated by Hrant Gadarigian
When I Saw the Natural Beauty Of the Place I told Myself We Have To Live Here
Hetq Online - 08/13/2007
By Edik Baghdasaryan
Sayat Melkonyan, a resident of Yerevan, is a specialist in ethnographic
dance and song. He's worked with the `Akunk' troupe and has directed his
own `Karin' and `Mush' ensembles. With his wife Karineh he also gave
lessons in ethnographic dance and song. Eight years ago Sayat and his
family moved to the New Shahumyan region of Gharabakh.
In the regional center of Karvatchar he started a small group that only
lasted for two months. The problem was that the village of Havsatagh
where Sayat lived was quite a distance away from Karvatchar and it was
difficult to constantly commute between the two. Meanwhile, there weren't
enough children in the village to give lessons to. Today Sayat is the
village mayor. He recounts that, ` When I saw the natural beauty of the
area I told myself we have to live here. We picked this spot and together
with my brother we built this house.'
Sayat was born in the Sasnashen village in the Talin district. He
brought along eight cows when he moved here and now he has a herd of
sixty. `This is a great place to raise livestock. At one time I had forty
bee-hives as well. Some medicine was brought in from Georgia that later
turned out to be poisonous and twenty of the hives were lost as a result.
Today I have twenty-five hives. I had none when I arrived here. Eighteen
of our sixty cows are diary cows and I milk eight of them. What we produce
we sell here and in Yerevan', Sayat relates. He's now building a shed to
house some one hundred cows. In the early days when there was no electric
power in the village Sayat rigged-up a generator by the riverside. It
provided electricity for three years till the village was connected to
the power grid.
` Our biggest problem is the lack of telephone service. We have to travel
some 15 or 30 kilometers to receive any type of news. The second issue is
that we have no local medical services or transport. Neither does the
neighboring village of Zuar. We're not located on the main road, that's
why we have no public transport service. They've promised to provide us
with transport. We're pretty well-off now as compared to those early years.
Those with jobs, who do light work, lead fairly normal lives. There are
three families in the village who have herds of between 15 to 30 livestock.
The rest have some three animals. Three families who have just resettled
here have no livestock at all. They're in pretty bad shape and should be
granted livestock credits. We're now getting their papers in order so that
they can be registered as village residents and thus be eligible for
livestock credits' explains the village mayor.
Sayat's and Karineh's forebearers are from Sasoun and Bayazet. Karineh
is from Yerevan.
When I ask Sayat how he was able to convince her to move here he replies
jokingly, `I didn't convince her. I just told her that we're going.' He
continues, `Of course it was difficult. She's a girl from Yerevan, one
of my former students. But we made a decision and moved.'
Karineh is now the school's librarian. She still hasn't come to grips
with the notion that she must remain here. ` I really miss Yerevan and
want to return. Since my husband wants to stay, what can I do? Here, I'm
out of touch with everything. I miss my parents, my sisters. At least if
there was a telephone I could speak to them; it would be easier. All my
relatives are there. Where my husband lives so must I', Karineh answers.
Karineh was totally lost when it came to life in a village. Those first
few days came as a total shock to her; she really couldn't comprehend
where she was. She smiles when she recounts those experiences, ` I slowly
got the hang of things. Now I know how to do just about everything; make
cheese, madzoun, butter. The only thing I can't do is milk the cows. I
even take care of the vegetable garden. But I have a fear of cows. That's
why I don't milk them. I'm afraid to even walk up close to one of them.'
Translated by Hrant Gadarigian