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ARI HAJIAN FROM ARGENTINA: ARMENIA'S FUTURE PRESIDENT
Mаry Mamyan
15:15, April 8, 2015
"It's unacceptable to have so many ignorant, uneducated people in
our leadership"
Ari Hajian moved to Armenia from Argentina in 2010. His childhood
dream of living in Armenia has now been realized.
When he was still young in Argentina, it was an accepted practice to
have pen pals based in other countries. When he was 12 years old he
sent a letter to someone in Armenia that read he wanted to go to there
one day to play on the Armenian soccer team and become the president
of Armenia.
Ari is an architect by profession and works at Zvartnots International
Airport. When he was still living in Buenos Aires, the company he
used to work for was contracted to build apartment buildings in Zambia.
Although he was willing to go there, he later changed his mind because
Armenia was the only country where he wanted to live. Ari was able
to find work in his field and settle in Armenia.
While in Armenia he married fellow architect Nayri Abrahamyan, who
is from Iran. She moved to Armenia in 2002 to receive her higher
education in Yerevan. Nayri's father said that she would feel better
about his daughter moving to Armenia alone rather than moving from
one part of town to another in Iran. Her mother and father followed
two years after Nayri moved to Armenia. Her father comes and goes to
Iran regularly for work-related reasons.
"A lot of people who come to Armenia become disappointed and go back,
but there were reasons why we decided to stay here," Nayri said. "We
stayed after seeing both the good and the bad. It isn't good for
people to play up Armenia by glorifying and idealizing it from a
distance. Then they come here, they see the bad side of things,
their expectations aren't met and they leave."
Nayri confessed that although she lived in Iran for 17 years, she
didn't have trouble adjusting to life in Armenia from the get-go. It
was as if she had lived here her whole life. She especially liked
the freedom she felt, since Iran is a closed society where "it's
difficult for women."
Ari admitted that his ideas of patriotism changed after moving to
Armenia. For Armenians in the diaspora, Armenia seems like heaven,
or else they regard the country negatively or not at all. For some,
"longing justifies everything," he said.
"My patriotism was all about demanding our landsÂÂ--Karabakh,
Nakhichevan and Javakhk," he said."Now I believe we have to change our
government so these people find work and become stronger. A pensioner
shouldn't be receiving 12,000 dram, it's disgraceful. Then some
parliamentarian who drives a $150,000 car says there's no budget. How
many pensioners would he help by selling his car? We have a serious
emigration problem and they could care less."
Ari admires people who have chosen to learn foreign languages and
are able to receive a high-quality education abroad. They are the
ones who need to return and enact change, but many are disenchanted
because they encounter corruption and injustice.
"I teach at TUMO, and I am so happy to see the kids there, who are
geniuses, go abroad to learn," Ari said. "But my heart breaks when
they stay put. I know thousands of cases like that."
Ari and Nayri are annoyed that most of their friends have left the
country in recent years and live in a tiny circle.
"Now I start to wonder whether I was wrong to come to Armenia and
leave so much behind in Argentina," she said. "What business do
I--a foreigner--have being here while people are leaving? Although
Armenia is a huge family and I feel like a member of it, I'm still
a foreigner."
Ari's family continues to live in Argentina. Although he misses them,
he says his decision's been made. Both Ari and Nayri admit that they
are very attached to the country and people and they want to continue
living here. They also want to start their own business by opening a
design studio. But they don't want to see people continuing to leave
the country.
"It's unacceptable to have so many ignorant, uneducated people in our
leadership," Ari said. "Our nation, which is one of the smartest,
should have the most educated parliamentarians and ministers. I
don't get why we don't. But I have a lot of hope, especially in the
new generation, which is very smart, stylish and mature. We have the
brains and the talent, but we still have this Soviet mentality. They
say there's corruption all over the world, and if you're going to
justify the country's circumstances with that, then nothing will
change. The mentality has to change."
Ari is frustrated with the government officials and oligarchs, but he
admires ordinary people. For instance, he loves to be around laborers
that have high values and keep on smiling and engaging, despite the
multiple problems they have.
"Although I've been here for five years, I'm always delighted to see
two people walking down the street speaking Armenian to each other,
I go crazy!" he said. "That closeness I have to the Armenian language,
which doesn't exist in Argentina, still holds true, to hear Armenian
words and conversation. But I hate it when they mix in Russian."
Ari has found a way to deal with people who use Russian in conversation
a lot of the time. In his office there's a glass container in which
people have to deposit 10 dram every time they utter a Russian
word. After that people became more conscious about using foreign
words while speaking.
"I'm staying because I have hope that change will come, that more
Armenians from the diaspora will come here and that our mentality
will be brought along with them," Ari said.
http://hetq.am/eng/news/59513/ari-hajian-from-argentina-armenias-future-president.html
Mаry Mamyan
15:15, April 8, 2015
"It's unacceptable to have so many ignorant, uneducated people in
our leadership"
Ari Hajian moved to Armenia from Argentina in 2010. His childhood
dream of living in Armenia has now been realized.
When he was still young in Argentina, it was an accepted practice to
have pen pals based in other countries. When he was 12 years old he
sent a letter to someone in Armenia that read he wanted to go to there
one day to play on the Armenian soccer team and become the president
of Armenia.
Ari is an architect by profession and works at Zvartnots International
Airport. When he was still living in Buenos Aires, the company he
used to work for was contracted to build apartment buildings in Zambia.
Although he was willing to go there, he later changed his mind because
Armenia was the only country where he wanted to live. Ari was able
to find work in his field and settle in Armenia.
While in Armenia he married fellow architect Nayri Abrahamyan, who
is from Iran. She moved to Armenia in 2002 to receive her higher
education in Yerevan. Nayri's father said that she would feel better
about his daughter moving to Armenia alone rather than moving from
one part of town to another in Iran. Her mother and father followed
two years after Nayri moved to Armenia. Her father comes and goes to
Iran regularly for work-related reasons.
"A lot of people who come to Armenia become disappointed and go back,
but there were reasons why we decided to stay here," Nayri said. "We
stayed after seeing both the good and the bad. It isn't good for
people to play up Armenia by glorifying and idealizing it from a
distance. Then they come here, they see the bad side of things,
their expectations aren't met and they leave."
Nayri confessed that although she lived in Iran for 17 years, she
didn't have trouble adjusting to life in Armenia from the get-go. It
was as if she had lived here her whole life. She especially liked
the freedom she felt, since Iran is a closed society where "it's
difficult for women."
Ari admitted that his ideas of patriotism changed after moving to
Armenia. For Armenians in the diaspora, Armenia seems like heaven,
or else they regard the country negatively or not at all. For some,
"longing justifies everything," he said.
"My patriotism was all about demanding our landsÂÂ--Karabakh,
Nakhichevan and Javakhk," he said."Now I believe we have to change our
government so these people find work and become stronger. A pensioner
shouldn't be receiving 12,000 dram, it's disgraceful. Then some
parliamentarian who drives a $150,000 car says there's no budget. How
many pensioners would he help by selling his car? We have a serious
emigration problem and they could care less."
Ari admires people who have chosen to learn foreign languages and
are able to receive a high-quality education abroad. They are the
ones who need to return and enact change, but many are disenchanted
because they encounter corruption and injustice.
"I teach at TUMO, and I am so happy to see the kids there, who are
geniuses, go abroad to learn," Ari said. "But my heart breaks when
they stay put. I know thousands of cases like that."
Ari and Nayri are annoyed that most of their friends have left the
country in recent years and live in a tiny circle.
"Now I start to wonder whether I was wrong to come to Armenia and
leave so much behind in Argentina," she said. "What business do
I--a foreigner--have being here while people are leaving? Although
Armenia is a huge family and I feel like a member of it, I'm still
a foreigner."
Ari's family continues to live in Argentina. Although he misses them,
he says his decision's been made. Both Ari and Nayri admit that they
are very attached to the country and people and they want to continue
living here. They also want to start their own business by opening a
design studio. But they don't want to see people continuing to leave
the country.
"It's unacceptable to have so many ignorant, uneducated people in our
leadership," Ari said. "Our nation, which is one of the smartest,
should have the most educated parliamentarians and ministers. I
don't get why we don't. But I have a lot of hope, especially in the
new generation, which is very smart, stylish and mature. We have the
brains and the talent, but we still have this Soviet mentality. They
say there's corruption all over the world, and if you're going to
justify the country's circumstances with that, then nothing will
change. The mentality has to change."
Ari is frustrated with the government officials and oligarchs, but he
admires ordinary people. For instance, he loves to be around laborers
that have high values and keep on smiling and engaging, despite the
multiple problems they have.
"Although I've been here for five years, I'm always delighted to see
two people walking down the street speaking Armenian to each other,
I go crazy!" he said. "That closeness I have to the Armenian language,
which doesn't exist in Argentina, still holds true, to hear Armenian
words and conversation. But I hate it when they mix in Russian."
Ari has found a way to deal with people who use Russian in conversation
a lot of the time. In his office there's a glass container in which
people have to deposit 10 dram every time they utter a Russian
word. After that people became more conscious about using foreign
words while speaking.
"I'm staying because I have hope that change will come, that more
Armenians from the diaspora will come here and that our mentality
will be brought along with them," Ari said.
http://hetq.am/eng/news/59513/ari-hajian-from-argentina-armenias-future-president.html