Holidays and Observances

Yesterday, on what other people call Mardi Gras, I saw a Lenten menu at Artbridge – so I asked Stepan, the Program Manager, how Lent was observed here. He said that people don’t eat any animal products except for honey – in other words, they’re vegan for 40 days until Easter. But there aren’t many vegans year-round (so I don’t think they think of it as being vegan). My host mother served chicken last night and eggs this morning (thereby answering, at least for this week, the question of which came first); I told her that if she observed Lent I would do it with her, and she said she doesn’t. I had told her when I arrived that I didn’t want a lot of meat, and we don’t have much anyway. This year, Armenian Apostolic Easter is the same day as the Easter of most of the people who celebrate it in America, April 24 – which is also Armenian Genocide Day. More on that when it happens.

Per Lonely Planet, the differences between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Catholic and Orthodox faiths are subtle but ancient. The first differences arose in AD 451, when the Armenians were too busy fighting the Persians to attend the worldwide church’s Council of Chalcedon. The Armenians disagreed with the authorities in Constantinople over the nature of Christ. The Armenian Church sees the divine and human nature of Jesus Christ combined in one body (Monophysite), while the Greek Orthodox sees each nature as separate.

Why 40 days until Easter? It’s an important number in the Bible (Noah, Moses and more), and it’s reflected in many traditions here. The purification holiday of leaping over the fire (which, I now see in Lonely Planet, is called Trndez) occurs 40 days after Christmas (January 6 Christmas, that is). Households that plant lentil seeds at the start of Lent (is that why they’re called lentils? My electronic dictionary says it is from Old French lentille, from Latin lenticula, diminutive of lens, but what a coincidence!) lay red-painted eggs on the bed of green shoots on Easter Sunday (did they intend the pun about households laying eggs?). Ascension Day is 40 days after Easter; more on that when it gets closer; I should probably talk at some point about the New Year’s/Christmas traditions since those are the biggest holidays of the year, even though I won’t be here for the experience.

After a child is born, there is a big celebration – 40 days later. There’s also a big celebration when the child gets its first tooth; another volunteer told me about that one. When someone dies, there is a funeral and three days of mourning – and then another memorial 40 days later. One year later, there is a memorial at the cemetery and if the family can afford it, this is when the stone is – not sure what they call it here, but I would call it unveiled. My host mother has one for her sister this weekend; I may help with (or observe) the food preparation but I’ve decided that I’d prefer not to go to the cemetery.

Yesterday, March 8th, was also International Women’s Day. We used this as an occasion for Gender and Development activities in Morocco, but it’s really a big deal in the former Soviet Union. It was a day off (though my tutor, with nationalistic pride, wanted to work, so we had a lesson), a day of small gifts such as flowers and chocolate (and, of course, craft fair items); I gave both my host mother and my tutor chocolate, thinking that some might come my way, and it did! Similarly, I was told that for the anniversary of the death this weekend, chocolate is an appropriate gift – vodka and cognac are also acceptable, but I think candy is dandy.

And I see that in the U.S., Daylight Savings Time starts this weekend – I love springing forward. They may or may not have it in Armenia this year; it’s still being negotiated, and it may or may not depend on what Russia and Georgia do. I wonder if the World Clocks on the left-hand side of this blog will automatically update – and if that is how I will find out about it!