E-Mail 'The Shuga Unplugged: Farmer’s Markets in Armenia' To A Friend

9 Comments

1. Abris, Lena. I very much enjoyed reading your article in the AW. Good luck to you and to Go Green Armenia.

2. Love your article, sounds like all the veg. they grow are all ready organic. Little farmers working hard to make a living.

3. I also visited a few farmers markets and roadside stands during my two visits to Armenia this Summer and Autumn; my experiences were always pleasant and informative. The “locals”, whether in Armenia, or Mexico, or Brazil, or Thailand, or U.S.A. etc. have their ways some of which may seem peculiar to me at times, but that is part of their charm. I find the differences in people I have encountered in different countries and different regions within a country part of their beauty and the fun I have meeting them. I’ll never forget a very tiny, wrinkled, old, old lady in a Yerevan market; she was half my size and less than 1/2 my weight pushing past me to get where ever she was going. God bless her. Life taught her to be aggressive and tough. All I could do at the time was smile and try to step out of her way. She reminded me of my maternal grandmother’s youngest sister when they were reunited some 50 years ago. Nanny & mouracour as children had witnessed the Turks murdering my great grandparents. That was 100 years ago. Who would I be to presume my social behaviors, skills and habits are better than hers. Some of these Armenians and their descendants have been surviving for 100 years, and if they are occasionally crude according to my experiences and need to bump into me with their heavily laden carts in order to survive another 100 years. More power to them, and to you, Lena, and to Go Green Armenia for your efforts to help them. We all need to do our part to insure that Armenia & Armenians survive and prosper.

4. Great article! Thank you! I really enjoyed reading it. Best of luck with Go Green Armenia. And finally god bless Armenia!

5. Wonderful article Lena.

   Love the colorful pictures of vegetable and fruit stands brimming with Earth’s bounty: apparently the rumours of starvation in Armenia have been greatly exaggerated. The woman’s smiling face tells more than a thousand words could.
   Love articles that write about all there is in Armenia: bad, ugly, good, great, wonderful.
   Not just the endless doom & gloom prognostications of some Armenian authors writing about Armenia.

   One thing about “closed” shuga: it is unfortunate that this phrase has taken root.
   Even many .am English language sites use the incorrect phrase.

   Because փակ can have two meanings in Armenian – covered/enclosed or closed (e.g. shut for business) – it has been mistranslated to ‘closed’ in English language articles regarding the famous Yerevan Փակ Շուկա.

   The more appropriate phrase would have been ծածկված շուկա, but it is more unwieldy to pronounce in everyday use than փակ շուկա.
   I think in English language articles “covered” shuga, “enclosed” shuga, or “indoor” shuga would make more sense.

6. Great article! Lena.. Thank you for being so unbiased for your daily experience in the Armenian markets (shuga).. that’s what makes your article very unique and interesting. Keep up the good work and may God reward you in all your efforts to keep farmers busy and bless Armenia

7. Great article Lena! Thank you for being unbiased about the experiences you are having daily in Armenian markets…It just shows how hard the life is for this farmers to make their ends meet the end of each day. May god reward you for all you do and bless Armenia…

8. So amazing!!!

9. Loved the article Lena jan!!!! Perfect description of what goes on in the daily vessels of the shuga and the farmers involved!!!! Thanks for the article!!!! :)

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