Interview with my Grandmother – Yevegenya Poghosyan

Yevegenya Poghosyan is now 73 years old. She came from a life of excitement and familiar people and places to an unfamiliar place. She used to live in Charencavan, a small town with a population of about 15,000, but with many difficulties, but surrounded with people who care for one another. However, now she just stays in her one bedroom house watching TV, reading, or cooking most of the time. Her life changed dramatically from working hard in the meat factory of Charencavan and seeing the clear skies of Charencavan to not doing much and not seeing much more then the four walls of her small apartment.  She used to be a big part in her community and really new her way around, but now she is lost in this big country. It’s like she said, “The difference is like donkey’s ear and the tail in the middle.”

I was born in Ukraine. I spend five years in Ukraine during the war. Then, after that I left Ukraine and came to Armenia, I arrived at Armenia uhhh.. from 12 years of age. I first lived in the capital of Armenia, Yerevan, on the main streets. After I got married I went to live in Charencavan. Charencavan was really different from Ukraine. One was totally different. Everything was different, from the nature to the people, and the weather, everything was different, and it was very cold in Ukraine. When I came to Charencavan, it was very hot and nice. The nature was beautiful and it was populated with Armenians. There were a lot of animal keepers. A lot of people spend their time planting wheat, there was a factory, in the 70s Charencavan improved overall.

 Charencavan used to be called Lusavan, and then it became Charencavan. Back then there was no T.V., kids played in the fields, they collected fruit when it was ripe, when it wasn’t ripe, they went and helped their parents with planting things like fruit and vegetable, from small age the kids helped their parents all summer long. They also did the same in school. There were also groups who worked outside and were paid, and the kids would buy school supply with that money, like school uniform to help out their parents. This was during the 80s and I lived there from the year 1952 until the year 1999.

I, uhh.., I 80 uhhh., until 1980 I worked in the Kinder garden, from 1980 until 1991 I worked in the meat factory with my husband. The meat factory wasn’t very big, but it provided the people with everything, since the meat wasn’t taken anywhere else. Back then it was all good. Everything was normal, there were books and notebooks in the schools, the kids just had to come and learn. For the job, the salary was good enough to keep a family and to do something fro yourself like buy cloths or go on vacation.

Since there was a factory, the work was very good, until uhh.. until 1988, until the time of the Armenian earthquake it was very good, the people were living very good, the jobs were very good, in other words everything was good during the time that Demerjian was a president. The earthquake in Spitak really affected Charencavan. All the areas near it were very affected by it and were much damaged. Until 88 the people were living well. After those jobs were not available, people started getting poor and until now it continues and can’t improve. And after the earthquake obviously we had to take out from our mouth what we earned and give it to those who were left homeless. It was necessary for all of us to give to those who didn’t have homes. And after that the condition was getting worse. And that’s that. The earthquake was considered the earthquake of Armenia, because Spitak wasn’t the only one damaged. It affected all of Armenia, but mainly Lenakan and Spitak.

Russians lived in Charencavan too. Mainly, the Russians were not Russians from Russia, but were called “Malakans.” That was considered another nationality, but they were still called Russians. So, in Charencavan there is Russian and Armenian, but no Turks. Turks lived until the year 1950. After that they went to there Aderbejian, after that no Turks were left. Having more then one wife was not a normal thing, it was a shameful thing, it was not allowed. But about originality it wasn’t a big deal, but the parents didn’t like it. Any parent didn’t like it; they didn’t want the wife to be Russian. They wanted an Armenian to get an Armenian. Personally the parents of my husband were against me. They didn’t want it, but overtime they accepted it and I became their favorite bride (chuckle).

Everyone’s belief was the same and it wasn’t accepted to have different beliefs. Everyone had the same belief. Everyone was Christian. In the small town there was a church to which everyone went. Everyone had the same holidays: New years, Easter, then in April the Big Easter, everyone went to church with the same belief. New Year, everyone prepared something. For example, they kept sheep’s or cows until New Years and killed them or sold them so they could be prepared for New Years so it would really be a New Years with amazing tables and welcoming the others happily.  Everyone went to each other’s homes, whether a neighbor, close friend, or a relative. It was mandatory to go and congratulate. And you had to go with gifts, not counting if the living condition was terrible or good; you needed to prepare all this, which was the Armenian law, especially in Lusavan.

Everyone knew when a new bride came, when a new groom came from someplace else. Almost everyone went to the University in Armenia and had to come to Lusavan to teach the kids, so the kids would be educated, so they could be like the rest living in the cities. And they had to thrive to be like the big cities and have everything from doctors to educated teachers. There were a lot of famous people living there, but I can’t remember their names, but there were a lot of writers and singers…  I remember my girl got married during the war. The war was after the earthquake against the Turks for Xarabax. At the time when my girl got married all the streets were filled with tanks and we couldn’t take them to church. We struggled, but finally got into the church and we were afraid of getting shot. So those were very hard times.

Charencavan and America are very different, America stays America, and Lusavan stays Lusavan. The difference is like donkey’s ear and the tail in the middle. (Laugh)

As bad as Charencavan may become, the people are still connected to each other and no one would sit at home and close the door to eat and have the neighbor be hungry. The rules were to share your bread and help others. No one would say that they have food, so I don’t care who is hungry. And this was the people there. After the earthquake robberies increase, but before there were no such things. The robbers came from different places and even took away jewelry from dead people. America can’t be Charencavan and Charencavan can’t be America. Wherever people stay, that’s were it is good for them.

Interviewed by Karen Badalyan