Fresh apricots...everywhere

I think this blog should end with a sweet story. The admiration and lore surrounding Armenian apricots predates biblical times in historical and cultural descriptions. Armenians take their apricots seriously, as the International Conference on the Armenian Apricot makes clear. While in Armenia you encounter apricot trees everywhere, and outdoor fruit vendors make buying opportunities plentiful. One of Dr. Yaghjyan's patients brought a big basket of apricots as a gift of appreciation, and Dr. Yaghjyan shared part of his proceeds with me. Armenia’s estimated forest cover is less than 8 percent of its territory, a dramatic decrease during the 20th century. There are many worthy causes beyond apricots to ensure the health, self-sustaining prosperity, and cultural inheritance of Armenia in the 21st century. Please consider a donation to the Fund for Armenian Relief, which provides many innovative programs in every aspect of a productive and compassionate society. There is also the Armenian General Benevolent Union, which promotes Armenian heritage throughout the world and provides major funding to sustain the innovations taking place at the American University of Armenia. Please find an opportunity to visit Armenia and taste the sweetness of fresh apricots and experience the kindness and generous spirit of the Armenian people.

Certificate Presentation

As the creator and instructor for the Biomedical Libraries for the 21st Century: Resources and Services short course, I had the privilege to create and present a certificate to three of my students on my last night in Armenia. Pictured with me, from left to right, are Anush Toneyan PhD, Astghik Markosyan, MD, and Ara Nazaryan MD. The other students that successfully completed minimum attendance and assignment requirements would receive their certificates the next day, while I am traveling.

EUFA Euro2008 Final- Fuel to Cheer

Sharon and I went to Gevorg's home to watch the EUFA Euro2008 Final on Sunday night. The game did not start until 11:45pm Armenian time, so we had a pre-game take-out feast of Armenian barbecue which arrives wrapped in a layed cylinder of the traditional Armenian lavash flat bread. You peel back the lavash on a platter to to reveal meat and vegetable combinations. Then you grab a hunk of the lavash bread, wrap some barbeque, and then...well...take a look at my face. Yes, you have to wash these wraps down with something...

Going Away Party--Charlie makes pizza!

All my Yale and Connecticut colleagues know I am in my element when the dough rises, the oven temperature is accurate, and the toppings are fresh. Fresh tomato sauce, fresh basil, eggplant, peppers, etc. We are using the apartment that one of my researcher cohort students shares with her parents (they were conveniently away at a summer location). In this picture is Sharon from Yale and a special young friend who wanted to make pizza too (just like my daughter did).

Visit to the American University of Armenia

The American University of Armenia is an American-style graduate school founded in 1991, becoming a reality thanks to the steadfast support of key internal Armenian goverment ministers in the fledgling Armenian independent government and two major institutions in the United States: the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) and the University of California (UC) . The Library at AUA is moving into a newly constructed campus building in November, and the former library building will be converted to other uses. Library Director Satenik (Bella) Avakyan and Reference Librarian Hasmik Galstyan provided a warm reception and tour of the whole school. Of course I was prepared to give a reference librarian the YUL t-shirt.

Final Lunch in Armenia near Cascade

On my final full day in Armenia (for this trip!), following my blogging in the internet cafe (my first encounter with the morning shift there) and a shower, I headed out for a last look for impressions and a rendezvous with the U.S. Embassy representative that arranged a visit to the American University of Armenia Library. I stopped for lunch at a cafe right at the base of the Casade Museum, and I had this wonderful fresh mint ice tea (with purreed mint) and some light pasta. The hostess was typical of all things warm and open about Armenian people.

Sunday Afternoon: Vardavar!

There is a great description of Vardavar here. I was warned by my friends to dress in clothes that would not be hurt by a drenching, so I wore jeans and a t-shirt and left my leather wallet and camera at home. During my expedition to Vernissage there was no problem, but as I waited for my friends to pick me up to go to a water park for fun with vardavar frenzy, I could see kids already bringing their buckets to the Republican Square fountain and looking for automobiles with open windows. I was taken by my friends to a new Tufenkian Heritage Hotel which was hosting an open house for Armenian Cultural presentations (read place for politicians to speak on a Holiday) with food, dancing presentations, and, inevitably, a water-bucket fight that started at 2:00pm, after the beautiful costumed dancers and musicians were safely out of sight. We only had a few minutes to awaken the worst aspects of your inner child (finding a dry victim for your bucket of water) before deciding to call it an afternoon. Still, quite memorable. My camera stayed dry at home.

Photo from Abovyan.com

Last Sunday morning: Vernissage Marketplace

I had an un-rushed opportunity to stroll around the Vernissage outdoor market, a mecca for all sorts of commerce in goods both used and new. Spread over several acres and loosely organized by zones for commodities such as linens, rugs, paintings, automobile parts, laboratory equipment, as well as lots of arbitrary placement for souveniers such as clocks, handbags, table and wall ornaments, pottery, musical instruments, chess sets, just about anything you would want to carry away. There are also a large amount of families selling possessions from arbitrarily placed blankets (though they try to be near the better vendors). Being there first thing in the morning, the prices were often high and firm, though I occasionally invoked the "first customer of the day" good-luck discount. I could also go to more than one vendor and engage in real hard bargaining, as I did with aquiring a set of three cotton table clothes (one large and two small) at the same price that the largest one was quoted originally. The fluctuation of the American dollar is making life as a vendor challenging, as they would accept payment in either dollars or drams (the Armenian currency, about 303 drams to $1 dollar yesterday). Picture by Karine.

Last Day of Instruction: LibGuides

I introduced the librarian cohort to LibGuides, thanks to the generosity of the publisher SpringShare and their sales and marketing founding partner, Mazen Koury. He granted Yerevan State Medical University at subscription, based on the country's HINARI status that limited the ability to acquire a wide variety of databases. I have a great class and a great translator, and with slow and and deliberate demonstration and explanation, we were able to create several new beginning guides for their institution, on topics such as allergy treatment by homeopathy, resources on stress, anesthesiology, tuberculosis, family medicine, and biostatistics. One of the great things about libguides is the ability to wait to publish during the guide polishing stage, which is where YSMU is right now.

Yerevan State Medical Unitersity Graduation

Tonight I attended the graduation ceremony for Armenian medical students from YSMU. International students had their own ceremony on a different night, given the size limitations of the the Opera House in Yerevan. The bright and high energy ceremony featured presentations to distinguished faculty, three popular Armenian pop singers (with the students swaying and clapping in the background), and a recitation of the Armenian version of a Hippocratic oath. Then it was all over, with hugs, tears, and a new traditional event of graduates presenting their parents with baskets of flowers.

A Teacher's Best Friend- A Live Translator...

Alina (seated next to me) has a Master's Degree in Linguistics and knows both Spanish and English. She works in the Office of the YSMU Dean for International Programs. She is very helpful with the librarian students and has learned so much about medical library tools and techniques that I am tempted to make a health information professional out of her. But alas, she is eager to start a PhD in Linguistics start learning a new language. Oh well...

Speaking about Librarianship at the US Embassy

The library staff at the US Embassy in Yerevan invited me to talk to a general audience of Armenian academic librarians on June 26th about the digital library era we have entered. Besides showing off the main Yale Library and Cushing/Whitney Medical Library web page and explaining the dominance of an Electronic "front door" in the US, I also showed off the usual array of tools for contemporary library outreach and reference: blogger, meebo, Elluminate vroom, Zotero, and the tool that YSMU is about to experiment with, LibGuides. (courtesy of a SpringShare donation).

Entertainment at The Club

On my second night at The Club with a member of the American Embassy in Armenia, we were treated to a guitar-violin duo about twenty feet from our table. With no amplification for the violin and only a little for the guitar, the sound was great.

Librarian Students

These are most of the students in the Yerevan State U. Medical Library and the Republican Scientific Medical Library. They do all the right things, like come for extra help during my office hours and ask good questions. I have a translator with this group. I will feature this special person in another entry.

Tech Support Star

Not only does George come to my rescue in the teaching room at least twice a day, but he also plays jazz from his computer in the lab. Here he is promoting our New Haven Festival of Arts and Ideas.

Research prep....chopping veggies

Some of my researcher students took me out to dinner at a nice calm restaurant called The Club. The two students closest to me ordered a salad to split, and when the waiter delivered a basket of un-cut vegetables and quickly departed, it became clear that this was a kind of make-your-own salad....from scratch. They know how I enjoy cooking, so here are the three of us chopping veggies. I chose the big green pepper as my contribution. Be careful of what you ask for.

Student Cohort - YSMU Research Staff

In case you are wondering who I am teaching, these are my friends from biomedical research units at YSMU. I work with them two hours a day with my curriculum, plus I offer individual appointments between 4:00-6:00pm in the afternoons. Today I had a consultation with one researcher intrigued by my use of Moodle and intending to use it for a seminar on biomedical ethics. This group all are pretty strong with English. You can see I have a nice facility, even an air conditioner in the top of the picture. I will post a picture of the librarian cohort tomorrow.

Tuesday Morning- Meeting the Staff of FAR

I had an early morning opportunity to meet the Deputy Director and Coordinator of Continuing Medical Education at the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR) Office in Yerevan. We had a wide-ranging discussion, and I learned about how an organization started in the wake of the 1988 earthquake has expanded its mission to include a spectrum of homeless populations, medical skills, and job training in economically challenged regions of the country that try to keep young professionals from flocking to the big cities in search of jobs. They are looking for industries interested in joint ventures to employ young and technologically savvy young people in this rurual locations. I shared my experience with the YSM Homeless Auction as an excellent vehicle to involve the YSMU community.

The Yale invasion of YSMU

Sharon A. Chekijian, MD, from the Yale University Section on Emergency Medicine arrived on Monday night looking incredibly fresh, after taking a round-about route from Baghdad where she was doing a medical relief mission. Dr. Yaghjyan is taking the picture in a "private dining room" of a country restaurant. Dr. Nazaryan is on my right, trying to get into the greater NYC spirit. OK, Red Sox fans, go to the next entry....

Wild Cherries

Gevorg Yaghjyan's family summer home has cherries, apples, apricots, squash, and a peaceful silence. We had a Sunday night snack with his mom.