The World Keeps Getting Smaller
Today, I had a chance to take a trip with the two co-founders of the organization I represent in YerazArt and their friends and family during the day. We went to Dilijian, Tsakhkazor, and finally Lake Sevan. We ran into the entire Sayat Nova Dance Troupe at Lake Sevan as they just returned from a rousing show in Karabagh and Goris. Once I headed home, I received a call from Raffi Kojian asking me to stop by a party at the home of Edele Hovnanian near the Hrazdan Dzor. There were a ton of people there and plenty of folks I had not seen in a while. To borrow and line from my friend Arsineh Khachikian, "the surreal moment of the day" happened to be when I met with Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Raffi Hovhanissian and recounted how he can been a Camp Councilor at AYF Camp Big Pines in California while I was a camper there 22 years ago. As I finished my conversation with him, I turned around and saw his brother Garo, who I hadn't seen in over 2 decades as well and we caught up on life and marveled at the fact that we were meeting in Yerevan years later. I accepted his invitation to join his family at the Christening of their child later this week.
The day before was even more surreal in that I was introduced to Ara Barsam, whom I had not seen in 23 years since we last met at Camp St. Gregory, the Mkhitarist Camp on Cape Cod run by Father Luke Arakelian. Ara now lives in Yerevan with his wife and our meeting was beyond cooincidental.
This sort of thing has been happening to me in Yerevan since I arrived with my wife on June 10. Perhaps not as dramatic or far feteched as these two examples, however, it proves a personal point with regards to the Diaspora. In both cases, there were people I befriended at a Diasporan fueled Armenian camp with the main purpose to preserve our Armenian identity. At the time during the early to mid 1980's, those in Armenian camps strove to be surrounded by other Armenian Diasporans. The thought or concept of having Armenia open up and "free" was just a dream at the time. Indeed, the fact that I have ran into, and caught up with both Garo Hovhanissian and Ara Barsam after all these years in Armenia seems only fitting, if not completely random.
However, my point is that after years of "staying in the game" of keeping our Armenian identity outside of the Homeland, there was something inside each of us that drew us back to Armenia herself. And, the more I bump into people on the streets of Yerevan from years ago and at social functions, the more the jigsaw puzzle of the Diasporan world becomes more complete.
There is no doubt that for as many Hayastansis here in Armenia that understand the Diasporan experience, there are just as many that do not. In some cases, there is outright resentment toward us. However, it's at least nice to know that the old Diasporan institutions such as summer camps and youth groups did make an impact that many of us years later can now fully appreciate through the company our old friends.
I was profoundly moved this weekend.
The day before was even more surreal in that I was introduced to Ara Barsam, whom I had not seen in 23 years since we last met at Camp St. Gregory, the Mkhitarist Camp on Cape Cod run by Father Luke Arakelian. Ara now lives in Yerevan with his wife and our meeting was beyond cooincidental.
This sort of thing has been happening to me in Yerevan since I arrived with my wife on June 10. Perhaps not as dramatic or far feteched as these two examples, however, it proves a personal point with regards to the Diaspora. In both cases, there were people I befriended at a Diasporan fueled Armenian camp with the main purpose to preserve our Armenian identity. At the time during the early to mid 1980's, those in Armenian camps strove to be surrounded by other Armenian Diasporans. The thought or concept of having Armenia open up and "free" was just a dream at the time. Indeed, the fact that I have ran into, and caught up with both Garo Hovhanissian and Ara Barsam after all these years in Armenia seems only fitting, if not completely random.
However, my point is that after years of "staying in the game" of keeping our Armenian identity outside of the Homeland, there was something inside each of us that drew us back to Armenia herself. And, the more I bump into people on the streets of Yerevan from years ago and at social functions, the more the jigsaw puzzle of the Diasporan world becomes more complete.
There is no doubt that for as many Hayastansis here in Armenia that understand the Diasporan experience, there are just as many that do not. In some cases, there is outright resentment toward us. However, it's at least nice to know that the old Diasporan institutions such as summer camps and youth groups did make an impact that many of us years later can now fully appreciate through the company our old friends.
I was profoundly moved this weekend.
posted by Raffi at 12:48 AM
1 Comments:
nice point you've wrote about, and so true !
to me it's also an advantage of being an armenian : feeling like a citizen of the world....
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