Tufts Armenian Club Participates in Culture Crawl

By Knar Bedian

If you were wandering the campus of Tufts University last Thursday night, you may have smelled the aroma of freshly made eetch wafting from the house of Tufts Armenian Club Executive Board member Knar Bedian. Lit up by the lights of the living room, the Armenian flag glowed from the window, and maybe you could catch a glimpse of seniors Rob Apelian, Shaunt Fereshetian, Lisa Setrakian, Ani Shahinyan, and Knar Bedian, all furiously chopping up parsley, sautéing onions, and measuring out cups of diced tomato.

After hours of preparation, the Armenian Club was ready to join the 10 other culture clubs at the Tufts Culinary Society’s 2nd Annual Culture Crawl. With an Armenian flag hanging behind them, and signs explaining each of the three courses—written in both Armenian and English by club member Ani Shahinyan—the club handed out choregs and lahmajoun, scooping spoonfuls of eetch and garnishing with parsley. Senior Kenny Alperin kept busy shuttling lahmajoun straight out of the oven from his suite to the event, keeping a steady supply throughout the event. The Armenian Club received much praise from fellow students and the organizers of the event. While many of the other clubs ran out of food quickly, our club, in typical Armenian fashion, had made more than enough food, and was able to give everyone a little taste of Armenia.

For a club that just recently attained recognition as an official club, and whose presence has not grown to match past sizes, this was certainly a great step towards affirming a place on campus and raising awareness of Armenian culture.

The Tufts Armenian Club would like to thank Lauren Alperin for donating the lahmajoun to the Armenian Club, and the Tufts Culinary Society for the funding and opportunity to participate in their 2nd Annual Culture Crawl.

Knar Bedian in a member of the Chicago AYF Chapter.