Fine Arts- Dance and Culture

DAN 1010-008 (DV)

With my Fine Arts credit already fulfilled, I chose to take Dance and Culture as an elective, which also fulfilled a diversity credit.

Instructor: Brian Benington

Spring 2012 Semester 

  In "Dance and Culture", we were assigned to compose a paper based on the life history of an immigrant to Utah from another country.  

We were asked to submit this assignment to our ePortfolio, along with the following questions and our reflections: 

   What did you learn about a person’s experience in this country who is different from you? 

 Armenia: Seda's Home

A life history and cultural interview by Brianne Dobson  

      While sitting down to interview my friend, she mentioned this was one of the only times anyone has ever asked any extensive questions of where she comes from, her home life, and about her friends, and family back home in Armenia.  I would like to refer to my friend as Seda, which is not her given name, but a sort of slang for ‘friend’ in the Armenian language.  As we began to speak, Seda briefed over her culture for me, to set a stage of sorts for the next hour.  A farmer’s daughter, she grew up in a very small town called Ashtarak.  Which is very close to the Turkish border. The residence of her family was small, dirt-floored for over half of her childhood, and run down.  Electricity and plumbing was unheard of.  The family woke at sunrise and rested at sundown, attending to their small farm that the government had granted their grandparents after the terrible suppression by the Turks over the Armenian people ended.  “But we were happy.” She said.

Seda and I met through my brother, who served a mission in Armenia four years ago.  My brother converted her and her family there, and she decided to serve a mission and was pleasantly surprised to be granted access to the United States, a dream come true.  She had been called to serve in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Naturally, my family has continued to foster a relationship with her.  Coming from a country opposite than mine in many ways, I found her the perfect fit for my life history interview.  We consulted one time for a little over an hour, and the conversation flowed very easily, as always with Seda.  I felt enlightened and empowered with knowledge as we got to know each other better. 

We steered the conversation in a general direction, with me inquiring about the Armenian culture as a whole.  “We are a proud, egotistical, celebratory culture.”  When asked to elaborate on those subjects, she chuckled.  Seda went on to describe the pride planted in an Armenian’s heart, “even before we are born.”  The tri-colored flag of Armenia is proudly displayed in every room of the house, and men on the streets are known to burst into the Armenian national anthem while on their way to work.  My natural response was. “Wow, really? Every room in your home?” to which she replied, “Yes.” At that point in our conversation, I was somewhat dumbfounded on the cultural difference in regards to national pride.  “Most of the world believes America is too proud a country. Its citizens are known to be arrogant of their nation’s freedom and capability.  Armenians see American’s as amateurs.”  This surprised me greatly, with me having traveled somewhat abroad and having been boldly approached by a French man in a market place, our curt conversation ending with his saliva on my shoe.  “Armenia was the first Christian nation in the entire world.  We are the same as Greeks in that way, our claims to fame define us.  Greeks founded philosophy, astronomy, and the basis of science and western thinking.  Armenians were the first nation to recognize Christ as the lord, and proclaim it to the world.  Even a Muslim in Armenia is proud of that.” 

In regards to the egotistical side of the Armenian culture, she described it simply.  “A man and his family will live in a one bedroom apartment, and he will drive to work in his Mercedes.”  This was something that I wasn’t too unfamiliar with, living here in America.  As many families in the modern world here live somewhat the same way.  “But we also know how to celebrate!” is what she told me.  In Armenia, the country closes down for days at a time to celebrate numerous national holidays, the largest being the independence day of Armenia.  What an eye opening experience this was to my world.  Our 4^th of July celebrations, in which I find patriotic and wonderful, seemed to slightly compare to the mass celebration in which every Armenian participates in from the day they are born to the day they die.  “Even while I’m here in America, many Armenians here will travel to Pasadena, California for a large celebration of our Armenian independence an heritage.”  This I found satisfying, looking through my American eyes.  It brought me some hope for this world that Seda’s heritage could be expressed and celebrated, even thousands of miles away from home.   I expressed these feelings, which led to our next conversation- her experiences being a very small minority here, a dark skinned, dark haired, Armenian-only speaking woman “In a sea of white.” 

Seda’s troubles with discrimination began when she arrived to the Salt Lake City International Airport.  “I did not speak any English, only hello and goodbye.”  Her luggage never came out of the conveyor belt- she waited and waited.  She didn’t know what to do, and most airport attendants were reluctant to help her when she could not communicate her problem to them.  2 people tried and failed to effectively communicate with her, until a 3^rd was kind enough to find the problem, and solve it.  Seda felt very discriminated against in this situation, especially when her bags were located on a plane to Los Angeles, and two days later when calling the airport, they had failed to file the paperwork for her bags to be delivered as promised. 

While living here in Utah, Seda faced huge language barriers that have caused her a great deal of pain, frustration, suppression, and opportunities missed.  I asked her if she ever had any language barriers in Armenia, having previous knowledge of there being various dialects of the Armenian language- having been mixed with Russian, Turkish, and Greek. While my brother traveled there in his two years, he continuously altered the basis of his knowledge on the language there, transforming language to what would seem like a completely different one.  “How long did it take you to feel comfortable, where someone could ask you anything, and you could understand?”  “I still don’t feel confident in many situations, usually in the classroom.  But it took me 3 years to completely grasp the concepts of the language, and to be able to communicate without stumbling or long pauses while I thought of a word o describe something.”  Seda went on to tell me that while the occasional person was ignorant and rude throughout her language learning process, she felt very accepted in Utah.  Living a brief stint of her mission in Montana, Seda said in comparison we were lambs to the lions up North.  Many people were patient with her language barrier, often laughing with her when a conversation took a wrong turn due to misinterpretation.  “I have felt so welcome here, if it were not for my family back home, I would never plan to go back to Armenia for the rest of my life.” 

Then we went on to touch on some more technical parts of her Armenian culture.  “Tell me about the food, in Armenia.”  The food, as described by my friend, is usually local grown and made dishes.  “While driving through the streets in Armenia, you will see noodles drying.  Everywhere.”  Noodles are widely used in Armenian dishes, as is fresh produce that she claimed is the best in the world.  My brother confirmed this weekly in his letters.  Cabbage, beef, and fresh fruit were among the many ingredients she named that were grown on and around her parent’s farm.  “We lived off the land, ate everything fresh, and never wasted one bite.”  My reflection on the subject has continued through to every meal I eat and do not finish, which is more often than not.  I continue to wonder at the fact most foods I eat are, unfortunately, not fresh and usually packaged or processed.  A lover of the American way and fast food, we laughed at our different eating habits.  Mine including take out, drive thru, and microwave creations in comparison to at home, usually from scratch, fresh and definitely more healthy meals. 

            The music in Armenia I am very unfamiliar with, and she went on to play her ringtone, a clip of a famous singer she could not spell for me in our language.  Very traditional instruments such as guitar, piano, and other string instruments accompanied a talented, deep toned, extremely talented male vocalist.  Something definitely different from my Beatles, Rolling Stones, P Diddy, and Lil Wayne playlists that are queued up on my iPod. 

All said and done, I learned more than anything I could write or describe in a paper for my Dance & Culture class.  I learned Armenians still to this day live a very old lifestyle as compared to Seda’s current living conditions and customs here in the United States.  I also learned something I was blatantly unaware of previous to our conversation- that the Armenian people are so very proud of their country, flag, and the fact that they were the first declared Christian nation in the world.  The differences between the Armenian way of life and Seda’s routine here from day to day seemed endless, from the time she woke up to the purpose of her doing so- the change from farming to retail clothing as a form of income.  I honestly went into this interview with a very open mind, not knowing absolutely anything about the Armenian culture, country, or way of life- besides that their fresh produce is to die for.  I learned a great deal about the suffering of her people in the Armenian holocaust that took place many years ago, and also a great earthquake that left the country in shambles, that even a century later the people are rebuilding from.  The foundations of Seda’s community and national pride were firm and confirmed to me as an American, and I really could not relate to many of her experiences- which left my eyes wide open.