The first thing that the Chatalbashian family saw in Yerevan was that people here don’t sleep to the sounds of bombs and that, in the evenings, they’re not horrified by the thought that they might not wake up in the morning. In an interview with “Armenpress”, Krikor says the silence at home was unusual in the beginning. The explosions of mines, people’s noise and the general tension of the past three years had become so usual that the tranquility in Yerevan seemed strange. During this period, they have already gotten used to the tranquility in Yerevan. Now, the one making the most noise in the family is Sela, who was born in Yerevan, helping the parents and the two grandfathers find a second life and the meaning of life again. “We found out that my wife was pregnant in Yerevan. After all these losses and miseries, this was the meaning of our lives. It was the order from God,” Krikor says, adding that it didn’t take him and his wife a long time to choose their daughter’s name, a name from the Bible. “This name is often recalled in the Holy Book, and it means “representative of God”. So, we decided that our daughter was God’s representative in our home,” Krikor says.

Krikor has been a hairstylist for twenty years, and he is doing the same thing in Yerevan. He receives 10-12 orders a week and works at his customers’ homes. He says the conditions are not very important and that the most important thing for a professional is to work well with hands, have a keen eye and a good taste. His customers like him not only because he has these three attributes, but also because he is always able to reach an agreement with his customer. According to Krikor, it is a pleasure for him to work in Yerevan. Of course, unlike Aleppo, he receives fewer orders here and doesn’t get paid as much as he used to get paid in Aleppo, but he says the women of Yerevan are more tasteful and in style. “Arab women have other tastes. They mainly wear Oriental clothing. They all have the same hairstyles. Armenian women are different. They want to wear more European clothes, have the taste of Europeans and choose hairstyles differently. They don’t choose the same hairstyles and always want to look original,” Krikor says, adding that it is always a pleasure for him to see women’s beauty and put a smile on their faces. “Every time I finish a job, I look at the customer’s face. If the customer smiles, it means I have done a perfect job. I feel down when a customer is not satisfied,” Krikor says. Krikor discriminates against male and female barbers. He assures that men are the world’s best barbers because they don’t envy or show jealousy like women. Krikor also assures that he has ��?witnessed this truth’ in his practice over the past twenty years. “Male barbers want women to look more beautiful and take care of themselves more. Male barbers put in all their efforts to make sure a woman’s hairstyle looks unique and beautiful. Female barbers are always jealous. They often mix their profession with their womanly feelings and don’t want their female customers to look beautiful,” he says. Krikor and Dalar say their key objective now is to ensure a safe and beautiful childhood for their little Sela. They say there are more opportunities for childcare and medical aid is at a high level in Armenia. Their main problem now is to make money so that their child has everything she needs.

They miss Aleppo, but aren’t thinking about returning. Krikor says he will go back to Aleppo after the war to visit his house and sell it and will return to Yerevan. He says the reason why he will return is because it is safe and secure in Yerevan and because his daughter’s passport states that she is a citizen of the Republic of Armenia.

HASMIK HARUTYUNYAN