SU Story: Discover Undiscovered

“Im anune Hayastan e” or in English “My name is Armenia!”

Funny to say, but this short sentence in Armenian, highly promoted by Alberto Lenza from AEGEE-Firenze, has easily become one of the official slogans of AEGEE-Yerevan  Summer University (SU) in 2012, entitled “Discover Undiscovered” and for sure, it will stay in memories of all participants and firstly organisers. There was another official slogan, but let us turn to it a bit later in this article.

This SU was the first ever organised SU in partnership with the AEGEE Eastern Partnership Project, including 17 participants, 10 days of incredible joy and fun, 8 incredible parties, 4 workshops, 4 countryside excursions, 3 people in ambulance, 2 city tours, 1 bowling session, 1 crazy house host, about 500 bottles of drank beer, wine, vodka and of course a wonderful organisational team of 35 people.

Second AEGEE-Yerevan SU

Last year for the first time in its history AEGEE-Yerevan had an experience of organising the Summer University; an extremely helpful and useful experience which gave an additional boost and motivation for making even something more creative and attractive already this year. Just in order not to waste our article lines and also your time on preparatory activities of the event, let’s focus on more practical as well as funny things.

Already by the morning of the 10th of July all the participants were at place and the event kicked off! From the very first day the atmosphere in the house, which was specially rented for the participants, was really hot. Hot discussions in each corner, funny jokes and extremely hot weather in Yerevan (+36 C) did not give a secondfor anybody to relax.

Quirky quotes everywhere

On the very first day of the whole SU, Victor Quintana from AEGEE-Madrid, made a comment on the controversial photo which is below and that comment has become really an epic one!

After entering the main hall of the house, he immediately shouted “Jesus! She is male! This is a photo of transsexual!” From this moment, as Sona Yeghiazaryan and Marina Aghasyan two of main organisers of the SU later told, we understood that we are going to have some kind of crazy event. In general, all the participants were extremely cool personalities and each of them made several of such type of quotes on various things. Some of them were even more creative and made several cool comments and posts to the gossip box of the event. For example, “Armenak is the magic carpet of AEGEE-Yerevan”.

Getting the flag back

During their stay in Yerevan and in accordance with the final agenda of the event, the participants visited the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin/Headquarters of the Armenian Church, Zvartnots Cathedral, Khor Virap, Areni, Noravanq, Lake Sevan, Garni Temple, Geghard Cathedral, Tsitsernakaberd and the Museum of Armenian Genocide of 1915. But for sure the most stressful days both for the participants and organisers were July 14-15, Saturday and Sunday respectively. On Saturday the European Night was taking place and the hosting house was full of people. The preparations were the most important for the participants, but the organisers were mostly thinking about returning the flag of AEGEE-Yerevan which had been stolen by the participants.

So, when the European Night was about to start, the participants presented to the organising team their demands, as a result of which AEGEE-Yerevan members firstly had to kiss all the participants of the SU and after that had to sing some Armenian songs, but this was also not enough and AEGEE-Yerevan was asked to dance like robots! After fulfilling this task as well, the flag was returned and there was no end for the joy of AEGEE-Yerevan members.

On Sunday’s countryside picnic the SU participants already got the second superb quote from Alberto Lenza, which was “KA-TAS-TRO-

FA”, the word which he was pronouncing in each situation on that day. If we translate it from Russian it would mean “disaster”, and to say the truth, that day was a kind of “KA-TAS-TRO-FA” for the organising team, as everything was going on not as it had been planned beforehand.

Of course, it should also not be forgotten to mention about the Water War or in Armenian “Vardavar”, the celebration in which directly took part all the participants of the event, as well as shall be mentioned the special graffiti learning lesson. And, of course, special and extraordinary attention shall be paid to the crazy house host and bombed canalization, but as the lovely Armenian old saying states “this is already absolutely other story”.

Once again taking the possibility, the whole organising team of AEGEE-Yerevan wants to express its deep thankfulness to all participants of the Summer University “Discover Undiscoverd” for making amazing event and wants to remind to everybody “Im anune Hayastan e!“

Written by Armenak Minasyants and 34 Members of Organising Team of AEGEE-Yerevan