Greetings from Cyprus

[KanadaHye]

Re: Greetings from Cyprus

Well, I'm afraid in terms of looks, I don't think I could look any less Armenian!

You look pretty Anglo-Saxon... but like you said, your eye features look Armenian.

[Artashes]

Re: Greetings from Cyprus

Not so .
I can only think you have inserted an assumption by ( ? ).
There is no translation from Armina to what you said.
Alfred was a fairly simple strait forward guy.
On the occasion that I'm talking you can read the words at face value.
Artashes

[Mos]

Re: Greetings from Cyprus

Artashes again, thought I might tell you about our "British isles" history.
In days gone by walking was the most common form of transportation . Our family wandered far and wide.
We went to old Cathay ( 4 main kingdoms plus number of smaller ones ).
Going the other way we went to what is now the British isles and settled there.
If you look up king Alfred of the Saxons in his chronicles he discribes the land and people's there.
Of the approx. 5 people's there we were one of them( Armina ).
If you go to Wales and walk up and down the streets you can still see use.
If you talk to some of the " rememberers " there is still a memory of us.
We knew the Druids from original times in what is now Scotland.
You would need to search there archaic records to ( maybe ) see us.
Also you might look into the ( talking stones ) in Armenia and wonder.
Also although it is extremely difficult you might try searching for Armen and Tourge.
Best wishes
Artashes

The reference in British Chronicles is not to Armenia but to Brittany. 'Armina' was just term used for Brittany.

[Artashes]

Re: Greetings from Cyprus

Artashes again, thought I might tell you about our "British isles" history.
In days gone by walking was the most common form of transportation . Our family wandered far and wide.
We went to old Cathay ( 4 main kingdoms plus number of smaller ones ).
Going the other way we went to what is now the British isles and settled there.
If you look up king Alfred of the Saxons in his chronicles he discribes the land and people's there.
Of the approx. 5 people's there we were one of them( Armina ).
If you go to Wales and walk up and down the streets you can still see use.
If you talk to some of the " rememberers " there is still a memory of us.
We knew the Druids from original times in what is now Scotland.
You would need to search there archaic records to ( maybe ) see us.
Also you might look into the ( talking stones ) in Armenia and wonder.
Also although it is extremely difficult you might try searching for Armen and Tourge.
Best wishes
Artashes

[Mos]

Re: Greetings from Cyprus

Well Armenia is actually pretty diverse in terms of phenotype, though obviously the Mediterranean phenotype is more prevalent than others. All I was saying is that one has to just "fit in" or else it can create problems. So I mean extreme examples, like a black person or Chinese person trying to fit in. Yeah you'd fit in

[Descendant]

Re: Greetings from Cyprus

Well, I'm afraid in terms of looks, I don't think I could look any less Armenian! I have gotten about 90% of my facial features from my mother's side of the family. I'm pale with green eyes and brown hair. I'm 26 but can't grow a beard or a mustache to save my life, and I have almost 0 body hair.

My father on the other hand, who I think looks very Armenian, is often mistaken for middle eastern/Persian/Arabic by a lot of people in London.

My eldest sister is also very Armenian-looking (again, in my opinion). Especially in the summer when she gets a tan, most British people think she's of a middle eastern/Persian/Arabic background or in somes case, Indian or Pakistani!

Although, I do have my father's nose, sunken-in eyes and cheekbones, so maybe I do have a little Armenian in my face :-)

Here are soem pics, you guys decide.

My father age 27:

My grandmother:

Me age 26:

[Mos]

Re: Greetings from Cyprus

You should definitely explore and learn more about Armenia, Armenian history, and so forth. When it comes to identity my take is this. One's identity is something formed through your childhood via your parents and surroundings. So when you get to a certain age, you automatically connect to a certain group/identity over everything else. You have a metaphysical connection to that nation and people. You feel "at home" when within that group and with that people. Your allegiance is to that nation over everything else and so forth. This will obviously have a high correlation with your "blood" since a half or full blooded person of a certain ethnicity is way more likely to grow up in such a way than a person with 10% of that ancestry and full blooded more likely than half blooded. However, greater reliance should be put of course on your formed identity, because there are also "full blooded" people who have no connection whatsoever to that ancestry. And finally, there's the issue of appereance. Yes it matters to an extent. For example, Armenian society would have a very hard time accepting a black person as Armenian, that's just how it is. So you have to also be able to fit in in terms of phenotype or else it can be rather difficult. That's just my two cents. Of course, you can always be a friend of Armenians and such friendship will bring a lot of good

[Descendant]

Re: Greetings from Cyprus

It's a very weird thing for me actually. I grew up in Greece till I was 16, but I spent quite a few summers with my mother's parents in England. School in Greece lets out at the 10th-15th of June for the summer, whereas in England it doesn't let out until the last week of July, so from 4 to 10 I went to school in England for 4-5 weeks (the local school Head-Master was actually an old war-buddy of my grandfather's, they both served in the RAF in WW2, so they made a special exception for me).

I grew up speaking both languages at home, and infact, I spoke English, loooong before I spoke any Greek. I remember being 4 years old when my mother dropped me off at preschool for the first time and not knowing how to communicate with anyone!

Obviously growing up as a boy and a teenager I identified mostly with my Greek heritage but since elaving Greece 10 years ago, I have found myself feeling less and less Greek all the time. The racism my mother suffered by all those small-minded ignorant xxxxxxxs always stuck with me and for yeasr I made excuses for them, untill I slowly started to realise that Greek people can be and are very racist towards foreigners. Obviously my generation is better due to more people studyig abroad at univeristies and meeting different cultures and nationalities, but I still saw a ridiculous amount of misplaced pride and plain old arrogance from Greek people.

Given the political state of Greece over the last 40 years which (in my opinion) led to today's financial crisis, I find it hard to fee sorry for Greek people. They xxxxed themselves up and instead of realising their mistakes, they 're sitting there blaming EVERYONE else apart from them. This makes it hard for me to identify with people who are still stuck in the past glories of Plato, Periclis, Sokratis, Dimosthenis etc.

On the other hand, I can't really say I feel very Scottish, Irish, English or Welsh from my mother's side, as I've never been to either Ireland or Wales, and I've only lived a few years here and there in England and Scotland.

Obviously I can't make the claim I feel Armenian either (which I think would be insultng to other Armenias) but I can't deny I have always wondered about that part of my heritage, most likely because up untill I was 10-11 I felt like it was entirely hidden from me (seriously, I ddn't know my grandmother was Armenian untill then).

[Mos]

Re: Greetings from Cyprus

How did you grow up? I mean with what identity did you grow up dominantly? With which identity you connect with most?

[Artashes]

Re: Greetings from Cyprus

A warm welcome to " Decendant " from Artashes.
You have a long history from this side of the family.
As a child my grandparents would tell me stories of ages gone by as if they just happened. Stories of Gilgimesh and Ereck an Ur and Agade. My grandfather would talk about Hannible Barca like he was an old friend.
They would speak of earlier times of kingdoms in the clouds.
But in our history I would suggest you start at the beginning and think of this------------------------------------- we are descendants of a man that God spoke to.
Again warm welcome Artashes