Nor Tari — Celebrating the New Year in Armenia

Happy New Year!* (No that’s not an asterisk taking back or amending my “Happy New Year” statement. Read to the end to find out why I put an asterisk there.)

Nor Tari (New Year) in Armenia is not to be taken lightly. The celebrations at this time of year are intense, starting on December 31st, and extending 5, 6, 7, 8… 13 days into January. There is a ton of eating (figuratively, a ton, per person), lots of toasts to health in the New Year and the accompanying drinking, hours of dancing, and not very much sleep, for at least a week.

The food never runs out... And for at least a week, you WILL NOT go hungry.

Granted, my New Year’s was a bit more tame than some I heard about. Being sick tended to dampen my celebratory spirits. Also, since there was a death in my host mom’s family this past year, she didn’t go all out like she might have done otherwise. But she did spend the week leading up to the New Year cooking and baking with her daughter. She also thoroughly cleaned the house. Then, New Year’s Eve, she put an extra leaf in the table to make it bigger, pulled out her pretty linen table cloth, and set it with 8 place settings, even though that first night it was just me, her, and Kevin, my site mate. Contrary to popular tradition, we ate when we got hungry. But normally, the families don’t eat until the clock strikes midnight.

The New Year's table is set up in the evening of December 31, but usually no one eats anything until midnight.

We had eaten our fill long before the Old Year disappeared, and were sitting at the table conversing and watching the celebrations in Yerevan on TV. Right before midnight, fireworks started going off outside, so we braved the cold air and stood outside on the porch for about 15 minutes, enjoying the impromptu displays going off all over our town.

My host mom tried out two new traditions this year. She lit a candle and took it to all the corners of the room, to ward off bad vibes and clear the air for good things to come this year. We each cleared out our bedrooms in like manner, and then she did the kitchen as well. I kind of like the symbolism of this tradition, and think I might keep it up. Then she filled a small glass with water, put some coins in it, and left it on the table overnight, to bring wealth for the new year.

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One very traditional New Year activity in Armenia is to go visiting. You go to people’s houses, visit, and eat. Everyone keeps their table set up and the food coming for at least a week; some keep it set up until the “old New Year” on January 13th.

Close up view of part of the table during NorTari

The amount of food during Nor Tari is insane. I started a list. There were…

…Lots of different kinds of fruits–both fresh and dried:

• bananas
• kiwis
• oranges
• apples
• persimmons
• pomegranates
• pears
• lemons (I asked if Armenians eat lemons plain, and my host mom laughed and said no. But they were in the fruit bowl.)
• figs
• apricots
• plums
• raisins

…Many bottles of drinks:

• wine
• cognac
• vodka (store-bought and home-made from a variety of fruits)
• whisky
• juice
• Coke
• Orange Fanta

…Assortments of nuts:

• walnuts
• peanuts
• cashews
• almonds

…Hot dishes:

• dolma
• blinchik
• pork
• chicken
• cutlet
• kufta (My marz is known for its kufta.)

…Plates of desserts:

• cakes
• different cakes
• gata
• cream puffs
• baklava

…Other random foodstuffs:

• cheese
• caviar
• lavash
• bread
• ganachi
• pickled veggies
• candy
• a variety of mayonnaise-based salads (Be careful eating these after day 2, as they are often left out on the table the entire time.)
• deli-type cuts of meat

Every house had all the same offerings. So, while good food, it becomes too much after awhile. You can’t look forward to visiting another house for the relief of your taste buds, because the dish you just refused at the previous house will be offered to you again at the next house.

Plates of food were stacked on top of plates of food, ensuring no one went hungry. (The dish with the green rolls is called "dolma" and is very tasty.)

I spent a night with my first host family from my training village. A few of my fellow trainees were there at the same time, so we spent the day going around from house to house to house to house to house. Imagine having Thanksgiving dinner 5 times in the same day. Yeah. That’s what it’s like.

My volunteer friends and I met in our training village to celebrate the New Year with our first host families

Nor Tari: tons of fun. It was great to see this Armenian tradition, and I’m glad I got to take part in it. But I am also glad I didn’t have to participate to the full extent that some of my friends did. I only went from house to house for about two days, and I got plenty of sleep. I was never pressured too hard to eat or drink. We had visitors at my host mom’s house, but they didn’t usually stay very long, so we didn’t have to entertain too much. I have heard stories of other volunteers who stayed up until 5:00 a.m. the first night, eating, drinking, speaking Armenian, and dancing (Armenian music can be hard to dance to, for too many hours on end). They went visiting at many houses for many days in a row with little rest, and came away from Nor Tari slightly scarred. At least we have a year to rest up and mentally prepare for the next Nor Tari!

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* I know it’s already over halfway through January, and you were expecting this post weeks ago. I’ve been traveling around Armenia lately, and will have a post about that coming up soon. So because of the posting delay, I have more stories to share with you!