HOME AND HOMELAND: THE JOURNEY TO ARMENIA
By Avo John Kambourian
ianyan magazine
Aug 13 2010
This is a first in the series called “Home and Homeland,” an
exploration into the Armenian Diaspora’s connection (or sometimes
lack thereof) with Armenia, repatriation, identity, culture and more.
What makes someone leave home, walk away from his or her life, friends,
family, work, school and become a traveler? Seven months ago, fresh
out of quitting art school and returning to community college, I saw
my future ahead of me: dark, bleak and distant. This future entailed
a transfer to a decent university and becoming what I believed to be
a normal person. Since I only needed one semester, endless months lay
ahead of me, with nothing to do except work and be bored of the same
thing; I knew I would never have to opportunity to take a chance as
I did then.
I chose to go to Armenia for four months, not just for fun, but
to finally see and taste the motherland from her roots. I remember
one of the big things going on before I left was the Armenia-Turkey
Protocol situation. I personally don’t side with anything unless I
know its true purpose, so I decided that I would keep my eyes open
while I was in Armenia.
After being there for a few weeks, living with a host family, making
new friends, and mingling with a lot of the everyman, I decided to
ask around. Of course I did run into much bias, as is relevant with
every Armenian cause, and a lot of opinions on Turkey rather than what
trading openly with Turkey can do for Armenia. I realized that there
is a huge difference between these thoughts and what could really
happen. We can really speculate all we want, but really what could
we predict? Absolutely nothing.
I suppose this argument is dead. The protocols subsided around the
big remembrance day of April 24th when the recently apathetic masses
in Armenia picked up the torches and started burning Turkish flags on
the march to the genocide memorial in Yerevan. As soon as I saw these
acts, I was immediately disgusted, enough to not even take part in
the march. Not to put myself on a high horse here, but what the hell
are we doing? What are these types of people in Armenia and around the
world thinking as they desecrate the flag of not just another country,
but Armenia’s neighbor! I’m sure this doesn’t sit well with anyone,
not only the Turks, hell, this even aggravates me.
Armenia through Avo’s lens/ © Avo John Kambourian
What is home? What is Homeland? Does home mean where your parents
live? Does homeland mean where your ancestors are from? If that’s the
case my home is in Turkey. Am I Turkish? Armenian? Ottoman? American?
What am I? I sat through countless arguments in Armenia about
the rightful return of our lands from the Turkish government. To
these people names are everything, aren’t they? For generations
and generations, people have moved around the world, from place
to place, from land mass to land mass, but a lot of that movement
has been forgotten. At one point we all settled, put our bags down,
and called a place home. Don’t get me wrong, I love being Armenian,
I love my heritage, the food, the music, the dancing, the weddings,
the language, and oh yes it would be so sweet to have a place to call
our homeland, but it’s much bigger than that.
Our homeland is in our hearts and our minds, but we have a place to
reference too: Armenia. If you really want to make a difference I
strongly urge you to look at that piece of land and shed some light
on it, because it needs you. Don’t make excuses and whine about the
pain and suffering our people went through, those pains have long
subsided and passed.
Let’s be realistic. Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) needs us; Gyumri,
Spitak, and Javakhk need us. You can export and import all the goods
and supplies to and from Armenia you want, but the greatest source
of import for Armenia is its Diaspora’s influence.
“Tatik yev Papik” or “We Are Our Mountains” in Stepanakert,
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic./© Avo John Kambourian Armenia herself also
has a lot to give, a lot more than anyone could possibly imagine.
Different people are inspired in different ways- the artist might
bring back techniques, the businessman could bring home income from
his ventures, and the traveler such as myself brought back mental
development and concentration on my efforts back home.
Armenia helped me focus on what I wanted for my life. I met new
people, built new habits, and eliminated a few rotten ones. But I
learned, most of all, that life doesn’t begin at any certain point,
it continues constantly, and it is indeed what you make of it.
Armenia will always be with me in my dreams. Whether I realize it or
not, it’s a part of me.
From: A. Papazian