On July 21, the participants of the 4^th stage of the 2014 “Ari Tun” Program visited Lake Sevan.

According to tradition, the day began with an Armenian language lesson, after which the participants discussed the lesson, repeated the words and expressions that they had learned and consulted with each other to write the essay that their teacher had assigned.

The next stop was Yerevan Zoo. Out of all the interesting birds and animals brought to Armenia from different geographical zones, the children and youth were more interested in the monkeys making human-like movements. The wonderful Lake Sevan was “calling” the children and youth who were standing under the scorching sun in Yerevan. Despite the unfavorable weather, the participants of the “Ari Tun” Program climbed to the top of Sevanavank Monastery, prayed and enjoyed the marvelous scene from above.

Due to the rainy weather, the participants were a little sad that couldn’t swim in the lake, but the weather was “kind enough”, and the rays of the sun could be seen on the lake. After becoming completely wet, the Armenia Dance Ensemble performed two dances at the coast of the lake and made the participants more excited.

Thirteen-year old Karine Surmelyan is from Abkhazia and is visiting the Homeland for the first time. Karine said she was very excited about all that she had seen and felt. She admired the nature and the people. She especially got emotional when she talked about the Matenadaran and Etchmiadzin and said they are the most impressive holy places in terms of their architecture and significance. Karine asked us to express her gratitude to the Ministry of Diaspora and her host family on her behalf on “Hayern Aysor”’s website.

Meline Hovhannisyan