Hey Everyone!

So with the semester coming to a close (finally..) and I wanted to share with you what my plans are for Christmas break

This past semester has been a whirlwind. Trying to balance having a life with school work was a huge challenge.  I have had so many fun memories while having so many all nighters.

Overall I think this semester has been great.  I have had tons of time to hangout with my friends and I have traveled a lot. I have gone to San Francisco, Las Vegas, Washington DC, and Houston all in one semester ! I have also learned a lot this semester as well.

Although this semester has been extremely fun and exciting I cannot wait until winter break.  I have a lot planned.  I am going to meet up with a lot of my old high school friends.  For Christmas my large Armenian family is getting together and enjoying a wonderful christmas day.  For New Years eve, I will be going up to my house in Arrowhead with my twin brother and friends.  On New Years I am coming back and going to the Rose Parade in Pasadena and I will be going to tailgate at the Rose Bowl that day as well. However, I am most excited about January 6th … ARMENIAN CHRISTMAS.

Although many of you might think I am joking, I am not.  Armenian Christmas does exist (just like Santa Claus). But seriously it is a holiday. Almost all Armenians celebrate Christmas on January 6th and heres why.  Since the birth of Christ has never been recorded in History. Christians celebrated it on January 6th up until the 4th century. However, according to Roman catholic sources, they had changed the date from Jan 6th to December 25th to override the pagan feast dedicated to the birth of the sun. So the church designed Dec 25th as the officially day of Christmas and Jan 6th as a feast of epiphany.  However, in Armenia there were no pagan practices so this conflict was never a problem. Therefore, Armenians kept Christmas on January 6th.

Armenian Christmas is great.  My family is HUGE (think about My Big Fat Greek wedding but christmas edition).  We have tons of great food and Santa even comes!

Overall, I cannot wait for break to start.  The only things thats standing in my way are 4 finals and my senior design report… Winter Break here I come!

Շնորհաւոր Նոր Տարի եւ Սուրբ Ծնունդ:
(Shnorhavor Nor Daree yev Soorp Dzuhnoont)  -> Merry Christmas!
Բարի կաղանդ և ամանոր
(Paree gaghant yev amanor) -> Happy New Year!

~Caitlin