Celebrating Mrs. Gayane's (head of the Armenian American Communities of America) birthday in the Ministry of Diaspora, with Ashley,one of AGBU's summer interns.

After a day of work, I was invited to join and enjoy a concert organized by the Ministry of Diaspora. It was the closing concert of "One Nation, One Culture." The dance ensemble was from France. Besides the dancing, it was also a story of people split into two parts, one living in another country and the other in Armenia. At the end these two meet holding the hands of their grandchildren who are dressed differently but yet are so similar.

Hranush Hakobyan, the Minister of Diaspora Awarding a medal to Vanush Khanamiryan

Yerevan

My favorite part of the day is 9 to 10 o’clock in Yerevan. I love walking in the republic square listening the fountains dancing under the music of Khachatryan, Babajanyan, and Mansuryan. Life in Yerevan begins at night. It is too hot in the summer for people to be out during the day. Every corner of the city is glowing with life. The cafes are always full of people. You wouldn't find an empty cafe; every corner of the city is filled with music and people. People just come and come. I see many tourists especially from Iran this summer in Yerevan. Life also moves really slow in this city. In the cafes, the servers take their time to bring your order. On the streets, people are never in a hurry. Coming from US, I am too used to fast pace of life. It is unusual to see people walking slow and taking their time in everything.

The cafeteria where I ate my lunch every day.

My summer in Armenia with the Armenian Assembly of America Internship was one of the most life changing experiences. We had the opportunity to work in an organization with the field of our studies, meet important leaders/people, and go on excursions.

In the beginning, Iwas hesitant about the expectations from my internship at the Ministry of Diaspora of RA. The uneasiness I had, vanished after I was warmly welcomed by the Deputy Minister and the head of the Armenian American Communities of America department. I was introduced to all the workers in different departments and given my own desk/ computer.

In the Ministry of Diaspora I was assigned to translate articles, revise applications, research, compile data on various organizations such as AN

CA, AAA, Hamazkayin…etc. I gained a great deal of knowledge and experience by merely being present at the office and observing.

It is easy to constantly criticize Armenians for not cooperating. However, Armenia has been an independent republic for only 20

years; our real Diaspora is about 100 years old; and the Ministry of Diaspora is about two years old. We are merely learning to collaborate. It is difficult to imagine the amount of work needed to take place to unify worldwide Armenians. As a result, the Ministry of Diaspora has created different department for Armenians in Near East and Middle East, Armenian Communities in Europe, the Americas, and Telecommunications….etc. to unify worldwide Armenians.

A single task on researching Armenian artists in North America took 3-4 days to complete. This was a specific research for artists. What about all the Armenian singers, writers, actors, actresses, memorials, schools, churches, organizations, politicians, doctors, lawyers...etc.? This is what the Ministry of Diaspora has to deal with.

We are learning. It takes people who believe to invest their time and tremendous amount of effort to unify all of us. The Ministry of Diaspora has just been created and like any other newly formed organization hopes, acts, and fails and tries again. This internship guided me one step closer to my dream of one day to return home.

I also worked at the United Nations Association of Armenia. The office was incredibly hot because of no air conditioning. Just sitting by the desk for two minutes I would start melting. A cold drink was a must to have by my side all the time. Leaving the doors open was not helpful because of construction which was outside and dust would pollute the air. It was almost impossible for me to concentrate with these working conditions.

I cannot imagine the amount of dedication these devoted

individuals had for their work to survive under these conditions. They were heroes working hard by my side while I was having a brain freeze every ten minutes. These were people who wholeheartedly believed in their work towards educating the younger generation to become more open minded by organizing conferences between Azeri, Georgian, and Armenian students. Their devotion made me believe more of what I could achieve in life if I loved and believed in my work.