Not Goodbye, But See you Later

It has been over a week that I’ve been “home”. A week of seeing friends and family that I hadn’t seen for six weeks, but the people and buildings I was missing the most were the people I lived with for six weeks and my homes that I had in Armenia. Instead of turning the radio on and listening to the new popular songs in Los Angeles I have a CD of songs that we would always sing in Armenia whether it be “Made in Armenia” by Grisho (our Gyumri theme song) or “Kharapaghtsi”. I know it sounds ridiculous for me as an individual who is fortunate enough to live the life I live, to be getting the education that I am getting, and to have all the comforts of the world to say that the only one thing I want is to live in a country with the second worst economy in the world. The difference between living in Los Angeles and Armenia is huge with the main one being you actually live there. You don’t live life to satisfy the quota that society has set for you, you live for you. My time in Armenia was short and I may be speaking too soon because six weeks isn’t enough to judge an entire country and judge the queries that the people have which cause them to leave. There is one moment in Armenia that I will never forget however cheesy it is… okay it is more like three separate events that build on each other to make one story.

The day that Arpa and I got the approval to go to Hamahaygagan Panagoum (ARF World Youth Camp) we were ecstatic, but at the same time reluctant to be leaving our kids… yes it was only a day early but it meant not spending an entire six hours with them and not getting to see their hantes on Friday. While saying goodbye Arpa and I were in a corner talking to two of her color boys, Asri and Ara, and Mihran from my color. We explained to them that we would be back in Shushi in four days and it wasn’t a goodbye but more of a see you later. When the boys found out that we were coming back they asked us where we were staying and when we replied that we had no idea Asri turned around with the utmost confidence and told us to not worry… he would find us so we could be reunited. Four long days later we were back in Shushi and while lined up to go inside the hotel Arpa and I spotted Mihran at the same exact time. Now the positions were switched, we were the campers and we had to listen to our khmpabeds (leaders). Mihran ran up and we started all excitedly talking about how we couldn’t believe that we were in Artsakh for less than one hour and already found each other… it was fate! As it turned out Mihran, who is fifteen years old, began working at the hotel three weeks before we stayed there. Mihran took us around the hotel and introduced us to his co-workers and boss, as his teachers that he had talked about for the last week, and in turn we took Mihran around to our friends from Hamahaygagan and introduced him as a participant of Youth Corps’ camp in Shushi. That night we went to sleep, woke up and went travelling, not really expecting to see any of our Jambar kids except for Mihran… surprise surprise when we got to the hotel kids were waiting for us outside. Mihran even went and picked up Asri and Ara so Arpa could see them again, and of course sing for us. The four days we were in Shushi our kids would come visit us every single day and would always ask for people in our group that had not returned. Everyone at Hamahaygagan knew that if there were kids outside the hotel waiting for anybody to call Arpa and I because they were probably the Jambar kids. It was then that I felt the power of Youth Corps. It was at that moment when I was sitting outside the hotel with a few of the Jambar girls talking when I realized that I might have been there for two weeks, I might have only known the kids for such a short amount of time but they will never forget those two weeks and I know I won’t either because I learned so much from the yerekhek (children). Leaving Shushi the second time was bittersweet… we were happy we returned to Artsakh we got to see the kids outside the classroom and hear their thoughts on Jambar (all positive), but at the same time we knew we were nearing the end of the road to our trip in Armenia.

When I got home I had gotten sick on the airplane and Verginie said it best… it was because I was missing my lands, Hayrenikis garoduh, that I got sick. I am counting down the months, days, hours, until next summer when I can return to Armenia and be back on my lands because no matter what, in the end it is mine and yours and we need to take care of it, nurture it, and learn from the people there.

Menk Enk Mer Sareruh.

—
Patil Aslanian