Coming
from a town with harsh condition, life was very hard for Rozik Mirzakhanyan who
is now sixty-eight years old. However, the memories of Spitak, Leninakan had
stayed the same. Her thirty years of living in Spitak was very different from
now because it was a very small town with poor living conditions and with very
happy people. The people in the village were very innocent, humble, naïve, and
also very friendly. In her town everyone treated each other with respect. Being
the middle child, and having two sisters and brothers, she had many tasks to be
accomplished in the village. However now living in Glendale,
California, she does not have any tasks to accomplish because she has
reached an age when you sit back and enjoy life. Now she looks at her
grandchildren and sees how they are growing in a different way and comparing her
life in the past to the present. Life has changed for her in a way that made her
really happy.
The adults were a
lot in the village because they were born there and grew up there. There were
many nice children whom I loved. The children treated the adults with respect.
When they would come home they would stand up on their knees and show their
respect. There were many good people in Spitak. People in Spitak would gather
around and go to the church together and talk about god and comes back home.
Christian people had the same beliefs because it was a small village and in Armenia
everyone had the same belief. I would have contact with my neighbors. We the
people would engage our child and become in laws and start loving each other.
People in Spitak were dressed up very
nice and the dressing part was very unique. If they wore clothing that was
ripped, people from the village would tell them to sew it
but they would never wear clothes that were dirty. People saw someone dressed up
very nice and they would say they are from a unique family.
When teenagers were
already sixteen and they were finished with school they would have to choose to
learn more. They tried every year to get
accepted. If you were eighteen years old they were already known as adults and
they would get married if there were someone for them. They would try every year
to get accepted to school and try for about three years. The guy’s life was
different. When they were eighteen, they were expected to go to the army and
come back after two years. They would talk to a girl a get engaged with them.
The girls and the guys got marry early. They were not thinking to wait a little
and then get married. If a girl stayed home and they were twenty years old,
people thought she stayed home and no one wanted her. It is different from here,
because it was better for them to get married early so people won’t think they
aren’t interested by anyone.
Some ceremonies we
had in the village were Weddings, Christening, Easter,
and New Years. On the weddings we would get excited and get happy and for
Christening, we would baptize the child and put meron ( a type of honey) on the
forehead. The priest would put meron on the forehead and we would really get
happy and party. Easter
is for us the Christians. It is said to be for the Christians and we would do Easter.
We had xaxox orchnenk (when the grape just comes out), which was we would go to
the church, pray and bring grapes.
Another party we had
in the community was Terendez, which was for the new bride. We would go to the
bride‘s house, pass put candies to everyone and jump the bride over the
fire.Terendez we do axansh (fried hulled wheat) for the newborn and go and
nicely jump the newborn over the fire as well. Also we would wait until it was Easter
and we would go to the bride’s house once again and this time we would again
take pie for the bride, along with gifts for her and the newborn. Here to there.
We would get really happy and party at their house. Christmas
it’s almost the same thing from there to here.
A disappointing
earthquake that happened in 1988, a lot of people died. A lot of people died
stuck under the houses. Many school and preschools were destroyed. There were
only a little people left that lived with each other. The day before the
earthquake I went to Leninakan city and I was at my cousin’s house.
Unfortunately there was earthquake close to it because the villages were close
to each other. Our cousin’s house was destroyed and we finally came out. A lot
of people died from our cousins. People died we weren’t able to go to Spitak
or stay at Leninakan it was very horrible.
After the
earthquake, everyone was under the same belief and they were with God. They were
moving with the same belief and with hope that everything is going to be well.
The earthquake happened and everything was destroyed everyone was hanging from
the sky. They didn’t have anything to do and they were thinking how many
deaths occurred and how many people died. A lot of people were hungry and
thirsty they needed help and after they tried to earn a little money to live and
to hope the life would get better. The life was very hard.
Armenians life was
different and all the people living in Armenia
were only Armenians. Now that I came to America, it is really different. There
are different cultures and we don’t understand their language. But the
government is really helpful in many ways.
Interviewed by Anna Isayan