 WE CAN’T BELIEVE THIS HAPPENED!!!!!!!
When we closed our journal yesterday, who would have thought that our quiet
little walk would become history in the making? We arrived at the Hotel Armenia
to drop off information for delegates we met on the plane from Chicago. They
were here to elect the new head of the Armenian Church. At the hotel the staff
was watching the TV. because of the news brief. The reporter just said a
shooting had happened, they thought it was the Prime Minister but few details
were given. Basically "film at 11."
 Once on the street we knew it was a big deal. Police and ambulances were
rushing in the direction we were heading, the direction of the school and the
Parliament building. About a mile from the school our cab had to detour. The
road had been closed because of the shooting. We were on our way to have dinner
at our host Arminah Hovhanissyan but had to go past the school and Parliament to
arrive at her home.
 Upon arrival to Arminah’s home, there still was not a great deal of
information about the shooting. Arminah had returned to school to be with our
principal and her sister. One of their family members was being held hostage in
the parliament and the school has many members of the government’s children
and grandchildren in attendance. This is one politically connected school and
administration.
 We had dinner and Ms. Redell and Mr.
Grigoryan left without knowing the full
extent of the events at Parliament. Arminah returned home well after midnight.
In the morning Ms Merilos was told by Arminah that eight people were dead,
including the Prime Minister and his deputy minister. The others were
legislators. You had more information on the outside then we did on the inside.
Ms Redell had only the information provided by Armenian TV. Details and facts
were obtained from CNN.com, when she arrived at the school.
 The school was opened but few students arrived because all the action was
about a block away at the Parliament building. With a great number of
politically connected children attending this school, classes were cancelled. It
looks like they will be cancelled on Friday also.
After getting the wonderful emails from home Thanks for your concern
we are all fine we met 
with the director of the ACCELS program Ray Reeder, he
assured us that our safety was of concern. He told us he thought the emergency
was ending because they had reopened the street in front of Parliament. He told
us that if the situation worsened, for any reason, he would be in touch. We felt
better about our status after the meeting but insisted on going to the Embassy
to register with them as an additional precaution.
With the afternoon, the crowds in the street seem to become less anxious, and
a sense of normalcy seemed to return. How could it be normal with tanks and
soldiers guarding the building? yet it was. 
We learned from CNN and MSNBC that
the shooters were taken and that their attempt was to kill the Prime Minister
and the others just got in the way. There is a general sense of concern and
sadness among the people. Our school administrators are mourning this man’s
passing very similarly to the mourning of JFK. They knew him personally and are
taking his death very hard. We have no details at this time on the state funeral
or the official period of mourning for the nation. We expect details tomorrow.
We have at least two important lessons from this event, 1) that CNN truly
covers the world, and 2) that being connected with technology can be a real
comfort in times of uncertainty.
Signing off,
Ms. Merilos & Ms. Redell
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