Tweet
FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT RAFFI VARTANIAN: "IT WOULD HURT ME TO LEAVE ARMENIA"
Marine Madatyan
http://hetq.am/eng/articles/23136/fulbright-scholarship-recipient--raffi-vartanian-it-would-hurt-me-to-leave-armenia.html
14:48, February 8, 2013
Raffi is an Armenian from Baltimore, the United States. He came to
Armenia one a one year Fulbright science scholarship.
His research project - The role of voluntary work in Armenia. Raffi
says that one of the conditions of the scholarship was to come to
Armenia and gain some valuable life experience as a volunteer worker.
It hasn't been as easy road.
When I went to visit Raffi he should me all the instruments he had
brought with him from the States.
"You have three choices. There's the oud, electric guitar and flamenco
guitar. I can play them all," Raffi said. He picked up the flamenco
guitar and stated to play. The others came later.
The bike hanging on the wall has taken Raffi all across America. He's
ridden it from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. He told me that one day
he and a bunch of friends decided to set out across the country,
so they got their bikes and went on the road.
He was playing the flamenco guitar with that same exuberance when one
of the strings broke. "Jeez, what's going on? It was probably an old
string," Raffi exclaimed and proceeded to play the electric guitar.
With that same "can do" attitude Raffi has knocked on the doors of
several companies in Armenia offering to work on a volunteer basis.
The young man is amazed that they all have turned him down
"I won't give the name of the company," he said. "Right now I am
trying to offer an English class. I already teach a class at the Tumo
Center. It's quite good. The new place hasn't called me back. They're
neither interested or feel it's important. Two weeks ago they told me
they would call that very day. I called again. They told me to call
next week. They give no reason for the delay. At least they could
say they're busy or something."
He then grinned and said, "OK, I've written it down in my calendar
to call them next week."
Raffi first visited Armenia in 2007, also as a volunteer. He gave
English and computer lessons in the villages of Verin Ptghni and
Aramous. Then he went to Artsakh to fix the roads. The last month
he spent in Gyumri. "There were children whose parents were quite
poor. I worked in the children's center."
Raffi's parents are Armenians from Lebanon. His father came to
Armenia to study; first at the Gevorgyan Seminary at Etchmiadzin and
later at the State Medical University. After returning to Lebanon,
his father married and relocated to Baltimore. Raffi has one sister
and a brother back in the States.
His scholarship runs out this summer. Raffi still hasn't decided what
he will do when the time comes. He says it will hurt him to leave
Armenia. Now, instructors at the conservatory are teaching him to
play the oud and flamenco guitar. He is also taking eastern Armenian
language courses
Raffi and his friends play rock music at some of Yerevan's clubs. They
also gave a concert for the children in the Tavoush village of
Chinchin. Even though he spent only half a day there, Raffi says that
he felt that the villagers lacked "a sense of community".
The young man says the activism of young people who struggled to
save Mashtots Park greatly impressed him. During his research, Raffi
says he's discovered that it is just this type of voluntarism that's
lacking elsewhere in the world.
"They call themselves activists, but in reality they are volunteers.
They voluntarily go out and fight for their cause without
remuneration. I believe this type of voluntarism is really important
for Armenia. It can really help solve some of Armenia's problems. The
country has thousands of issues. If people believe that the country
belongs to them and not the oligarchs, the number of problems can
drop," says Raffi.
This year Raffi was accepted at New York's Columbia University to
pursue a Masters Degree in history. But he postponed his studies to
come to Armenia. Now he says he is thinking of staying on and getting
accepted at the Conservatory. His immediate goal is to form a serious
band in Armenia.
"Tomorrow evening I want to set up a band practice. I keep calling up
the guy who is supposed to show but he never answers. I talked to him
last week. Now, I can't get in touch with him. Back in the States we
arrange five or six practice sessions with one email. I try not to
let it get me down."
Raffi's first CD is called Raffi Joe. Rather than use his last name,
Vartanian, the musician says he preferred his father's American
moniker, Joe.
From: A. Papazian
Marine Madatyan
http://hetq.am/eng/articles/23136/fulbright-scholarship-recipient--raffi-vartanian-it-would-hurt-me-to-leave-armenia.html
14:48, February 8, 2013
Raffi is an Armenian from Baltimore, the United States. He came to
Armenia one a one year Fulbright science scholarship.
His research project - The role of voluntary work in Armenia. Raffi
says that one of the conditions of the scholarship was to come to
Armenia and gain some valuable life experience as a volunteer worker.
It hasn't been as easy road.
When I went to visit Raffi he should me all the instruments he had
brought with him from the States.
"You have three choices. There's the oud, electric guitar and flamenco
guitar. I can play them all," Raffi said. He picked up the flamenco
guitar and stated to play. The others came later.
The bike hanging on the wall has taken Raffi all across America. He's
ridden it from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. He told me that one day
he and a bunch of friends decided to set out across the country,
so they got their bikes and went on the road.
He was playing the flamenco guitar with that same exuberance when one
of the strings broke. "Jeez, what's going on? It was probably an old
string," Raffi exclaimed and proceeded to play the electric guitar.
With that same "can do" attitude Raffi has knocked on the doors of
several companies in Armenia offering to work on a volunteer basis.
The young man is amazed that they all have turned him down
"I won't give the name of the company," he said. "Right now I am
trying to offer an English class. I already teach a class at the Tumo
Center. It's quite good. The new place hasn't called me back. They're
neither interested or feel it's important. Two weeks ago they told me
they would call that very day. I called again. They told me to call
next week. They give no reason for the delay. At least they could
say they're busy or something."
He then grinned and said, "OK, I've written it down in my calendar
to call them next week."
Raffi first visited Armenia in 2007, also as a volunteer. He gave
English and computer lessons in the villages of Verin Ptghni and
Aramous. Then he went to Artsakh to fix the roads. The last month
he spent in Gyumri. "There were children whose parents were quite
poor. I worked in the children's center."
Raffi's parents are Armenians from Lebanon. His father came to
Armenia to study; first at the Gevorgyan Seminary at Etchmiadzin and
later at the State Medical University. After returning to Lebanon,
his father married and relocated to Baltimore. Raffi has one sister
and a brother back in the States.
His scholarship runs out this summer. Raffi still hasn't decided what
he will do when the time comes. He says it will hurt him to leave
Armenia. Now, instructors at the conservatory are teaching him to
play the oud and flamenco guitar. He is also taking eastern Armenian
language courses
Raffi and his friends play rock music at some of Yerevan's clubs. They
also gave a concert for the children in the Tavoush village of
Chinchin. Even though he spent only half a day there, Raffi says that
he felt that the villagers lacked "a sense of community".
The young man says the activism of young people who struggled to
save Mashtots Park greatly impressed him. During his research, Raffi
says he's discovered that it is just this type of voluntarism that's
lacking elsewhere in the world.
"They call themselves activists, but in reality they are volunteers.
They voluntarily go out and fight for their cause without
remuneration. I believe this type of voluntarism is really important
for Armenia. It can really help solve some of Armenia's problems. The
country has thousands of issues. If people believe that the country
belongs to them and not the oligarchs, the number of problems can
drop," says Raffi.
This year Raffi was accepted at New York's Columbia University to
pursue a Masters Degree in history. But he postponed his studies to
come to Armenia. Now he says he is thinking of staying on and getting
accepted at the Conservatory. His immediate goal is to form a serious
band in Armenia.
"Tomorrow evening I want to set up a band practice. I keep calling up
the guy who is supposed to show but he never answers. I talked to him
last week. Now, I can't get in touch with him. Back in the States we
arrange five or six practice sessions with one email. I try not to
let it get me down."
Raffi's first CD is called Raffi Joe. Rather than use his last name,
Vartanian, the musician says he preferred his father's American
moniker, Joe.
From: A. Papazian