A Moment of Remembrance in Honor of my Ancestors

The Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan - photo by Rita Willaert

A little more of a political post today, but something dear to my family.  Today is the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, recognized by Armenians everywhere on April 24th of each year.  This year marks the 98th anniversary of what is widely recognized as the first day of the genocide in 1915.  My great grandparents fled their home in Sivas Turkey in 1897 (just around the time of the Hamidian Massacres that killed up to 300,000 ethnic Armenians living in Turkey) and 1906.  Not all of the family made it out - although there is very little information about those that got left behind - beyond the story that they left and never heard from their family back home again.


The Kaprelians around the time they left Turkey to escape the violence there.




They travelled on the La Gascogne (pictured above) in August 1906 and you can see here the ship manifest from their processing at Ellis Island.


The SS Obdam.


The ship manifest from the SS Obdam that the Dildarians travelled on in 1897.

There are still people today who deny the fact that a genocide took place.  Who protest the "labeling" of it as genocide.  But the fact is that it happened, and that there are so many families world-wide whose ancestors experienced it.   They estimate that close to seven million people make up the Armenian Disapora world-wide (the United States has the third highest ethnic Armenian population in the world - following only Armenia and Russia).

Take a moment today to remember the suffering that the Armenians experienced at the hands of the Turkish at the time, and also to remember the Armenians in your lives today - those that bring joy and happiness...as well as good food ;)  Armenian culture should be known and celebrated!

Sant Hilari Sacalm - Font Vella Hotel Balneari

On the day after Christmas Felipe and I took a couple hour drive with his parents to go to Sant Hilari Sacalm to the Font Vella Hotel Balneari for a bit of a "mini vacation".  We had talked with his parents about trying to find a place to relax for a few days...I think we all needed a bit of relaxation.  After some online conferencing with each other, and a quick visit to check the joint out on Felipe's parent's part - we decided on Font Vella.

A Balneari is basically a resort or hotel situated at a mineral water spa.  They had a full thermal water circuit (pool, jacuzzi, sauna, "turkish bath"/steam room, ice bath and so forth).  We had a beautiful room, very close to the spa entrance.  The room was huge, and very comfortable, and we spent two days swimming, and relaxing at the spa.  It was pretty quiet the first day we were there because it was a Catalan holiday...so for the first day we almost had the whole place to ourselves.

Overall it was a terrific place, and I would love to go back...maybe next time we should go back during the warm weather...we could spend some time sitting on the chaises outside!

Classic Black and White, it Never Goes Out of Style

A series of black and white portraits I tried out on Christmas day, experimenting with my new 50mm lens.

Concordia Cemetery - El Paso, Texas

So one of the things we decided to do on our family trip in El Paso was to visit Concordia Cemetery.  You know, only the best family fun-time activities for us!  Actually, this place was awesome - seemed to be full of history, and vastly different setting than the cemeteries that I'm used to!


The grave of John Wesley Hardin, an outlaw and a gunfighter.  He was shot to death at the age of 42 at the Acme Saloon in El Paso.





It was a really interesting visit, and we learned a bit of the history of the city.  Maybe it would have been nice to have had a guide show us around and tell us about some of the people buried there - there are lifetimes of history there.  I hear they also have a really great Dia de los Muertos celebration there.  Maybe another year!

A map of Concordia Cemetery (from their website):

Are You for Real?!

This is what I would like to call an "El Paso Portrait" - find the biggest tumbleweed ever, and pose by it while sitting on a rock.  Be sure to get some mountain in the background.  Blue sky is always a nice touch.

But seriously - I've never in my life seen a tumbleweed until this trip.  They're real!  Not just in cartoons and old movies!  So, before the 'tumbleweed collection truck' could come by and scoop it up (I kid you not - there was a truck going around collecting them), we posed for our photos.  This was near the post exchange on Grace's base, and while we were getting our photos some man walked out of the PE, looked at us and said "Are you for real?" in a surprised voice.  Apparently they are not as exciting, and lose some appeal, after you've been in El Paso for three years (is what he told us...).  Sure was exciting for us though!

Spc Gracieface - Fort Bliss

The World's Largest Pistachio!

On our drive back to El Paso from Ruidoso we stopped at McGinn's Pistachio Tree Ranch to see the "World's Largest Pistachio" and of course to pick up some of the yummy goods.  What can I say...we're suckers for the "world's largest" anything!




A nice animatronic man who told the story about the McGinns and their ranch.  Kind of cool, but also kind of creepy...

On the way back we also passed a really cool junk yard...although we did not stop to go for a look around.


And then of course there was more open land, such a beautiful scenery.

Merry Christmas at the Ponderosa Cabins! [Catch Up]

During my visit to El Paso with my mom and sisters, we took a small roadtrip to Ruidoso, New Mexico.  Grace reserved a cabin for us at the Ponderosa Cabins.  These cabins were nothing fancy, but we sure enjoyed it!  Kind of a mix of old worn down, and fun kitschy retro.


The expanses around the highway on the way up to Ruidoso were great.  Maybe not amazing for everyone, but for myself, who is surrounded by towering concrete/brick/glass skyscrapers every day, this was terrific!




We stayed in Cabin 10 - the outdoor front porch looks inviting - and I'm sure it's a lovely place to hang out when it's not winter!


The kitchen - kind of reminded me of my grandma's kitchen in her 1950s Orland bungalow house.


One of the two bedrooms - love the formica night stands and the cool lamps :)  (The beds were stiff, but reasonable for the one night we were there)


The fireplace!  we decorated for Christmas!


Family portrait near the roaring fire(s).  See how many "fireplaces" you can count!


Mom enjoying her cocktail in a wine glass.  We were limited to the dishes they provided in the cabin...can you believe they didn't have martini glasses?


Playing a surprisingly complicated game of "A Christmas Story" themed yahtzee.




Is that mom, asleep at the hearth?  Let's see what kind of fun we can have...

We had a fun evening - made dinner, watched Christmas movies, opened gifts and "playing yahtzee" (that's in quotation marks because I don't feel like I ever got the hang of that particular game).  It was a nice cabin, and I think wholly fitting for our little adventure. I would love to go back sometime!