Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Armenia in Angola



Last Friday was quite fun- my coworker, Sergey, and his wife, Stella, invited a few people over to their house to celebrate their son Aram’s first tooth. Stella, Segey and Aram are from Armenia. According to Armenian custom, when a baby starts teething, the family and friends hold a party to determine the future profession of the baby. They placed a white sheet on the floor and different objects that represent professions: a stethoscope, optical mouse, book, pen, soccer ball, etc. Stella then placed a white cloth on Aram’s head and put a mixture of grains, nuts, and chocolate on the cloth. This symbolizes the sustenance that he will need in order to become strong and healthy. Then Aram was free to choose his profession- as determined by the first thing that he picked up in his hands. At first he was distracted by all the nuts and grains, which he found to be quite tasty. However, he will follow in his father’s footsteps and become an IT specialist, since the first thing he grabbed was the optical mouse, and the second being the pen drive (Sergey loves technology and although it is not in his job description, is the go-to guy in the office for all things technical).

2 comments:

Sir Chancelot said...

What a cute baby! What is wrong with his head? Is he just trying to lay down? That is a most interesting tradition. Does that family live near you? That's all for now. Lots of rain today in Houston.

Leslie said...

Aram is fine! He just fell asleep very quickly in his high chair...