This note of mine has a different charm: The reader is its designer operator July 28, 2014

Ashot Bleyan's diary for the 28th of July

I came back from a three-day-trip to Stepanavan-Kurtan-Hnevank on July 26 in the afternoon. I have already restored my normal activities in Yerevan, South-West district-Bangladesh.

It is the 27^th of July, 4:00am. My diary is in front of me. I have missed it: No matter how well the film series were introduced as organic part of the diary (I am thankful to Naira Nikoghosyan and Susan Markosyan), I know for sure that I haven't told anything for three days, and the notes for three days are missing. You haven't read them. The voice of diary notes has an inner spring, that's why they have a different charm: physical appearance, color, sound are disturbing, deviating.

Country study has always been and still is a public educational program for me: the school subject is our life and educational environment that are teaching us. I know my real fatherland, Armenia, very well, and there are few areas, dwelling localities, settlements where I haven't set foot on. One of these few areas was Kurtan-Dzoraget of our Lori world. I have always wanted to follow the way passed by young Tumanyan: to leave Jalaloghli-Stepanavan, Tigran Davtyan’s famous school, to walk across the Gargar Valley and then through Vardablur-Kurtan come down to Dzoraget, to cross the gorge and go to join the Devbed, and to go up to Dsegh. ...And all this is to be done snail-paced accomponied by Komitasologist Arthur Shahnazaryan who is from Lori and some local litarate persons who can enliven every village, valley, tree, stone and monument with stories related to   Tumanyan, Komitas and Andranik. This is to be done: listen to me, we should prepare for it.

To travel one should get rid of daily routine. I managed to do it with Davit and Shushan Bleyans and my wife Arminae. We were able to find those two nights and three days as a period of legal days off and explorational-preparational work. Shushan has successfully got over the post-recovery period, and we had to be convinced in it. And as for Davit Bleyan, who most of all likes to repeat: “I am big and strong”, is to be tested in action. Especially his mother should be convinced that we can travel with our son and overcome numerous difficulties as with a grown up person. Let me go ahead and say that Davit-Shushan duet was great.                  

We were readily hosted by Vanik Nalbandyan, the school principal of Kurtan, and our trip got more perfect in the human country-study sense thanks to Vanik, his teacher Ms Anahit, Arsen studying to be an international economist and his peers, brother Arthur and his family. I think their caring attitude made us inseparable... For me Armenia becomes more  significant, first of all, with the people living in it, especially when we discover the physical uniqueness of our country with such people.

On the 1^st of August with the support of the Defense Ministry of Armenia the first country-study-ecological-military-sportive-expedition camp starts under the auspices of the Monastery Hnevank, 5km away from Kurtan in the direction of the Dzoraget. Each shift, 5 nights and 6 days, will receive 40 Sebastatsies and learners from our partner schools: learners, parents, teachers who will send applications to the address: [email protected], will get camp tickets….

The tale now has another name: Sebastatsi Expedition Camp Hnevank 

The start: on the 1^st of August

Camp Hnevank will have the following routine: The campers will live in this new area: on the right bank of the Dzoraget, in the neighborhood of Hnevank, blow the prominent Tsitskar. They will explore closely and get to know everythuing in the area better. They will go down to the bridge of the Dzoraget, then we will go up to the village of Arevatsag, get to Odzun-Sanahin and then we will come back to the camp through Alaverdi-Stepanavan-Gyulagarak. And this is thanks to the reliable means of transport of Armenia's Ministry of Defense which will be maximum safety.  

Having our aim to explore we were to cover this 5-day-route of the expedition camp in only two days with Davit and Shushan. Davit Sebastatsi covered this distance uncomplainingly   on his sister’s arms. There were so many new agricultural machines, beginning with the grain combine and finishing with hay makers... horses, horses with saddles and without saddles, cows and sheep, herds and flocks in the mountains and pastures, pigs, geese, donkey driven carts…. What can our two-year-eight-month-old son do with so many impressions? Here he is. He has put a stick on his knees and says: “I have built a bridge.” You can follow my diary. I will not miss Davit’s manifestations of growing up related to the trip to Hnevank. We all need time to meditate. Time is needed for me, Davit, Davit's mother and for Shushan who doesn't surprise us with Vienna and appreciates Kurtan....