New Column: Diary of an Armenian Journalist

Introduction

Armenia_1 — Mount Ararat (Photo by Tom Vartabedian)

I never intended to keep a journal but my wife had other ideas.

She said, “If you’re going to Armenia, it behooves you to record your daily experiences. Besides, it’ll give me something juicy to read when you come back.”

I didn’t keep a journal my first trip to Hayastan in 2006. My mistake. While sorting through my slides and compiling my stories, I wish I had been more organized.

On the other hand, I needed a break from writing and didn’t entertain the thought of leaving a newspaper behind for two weeks and resuming my journalism in Armenia.

So I skipped a journal and resorted to hen-scratching on pads, which turned out to be rather illegible at times. So disengaged that I actually identified the wrong church in a photo exhibit until a curator brought it to my attention.

One important facet about Armenia. Either get it straight or don’t get it at all.

So my wife went out and purchased this fancy leather journal with a red cover and dark red elastics to keep it bound. “Here’s a little something special to remember your trip by,” she said, handing over a neatly-wrapped package.

It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.

In the days and weeks I spent in Armenia during April and May, the journal became my commitment. And my panacea. Each evening, no matter the time, I would sit on a cozy sofa and make my inscriptions dutifully.

So did my sidekick Joe Dagdigian. He’s been keeping journals for years and encouraged me to make it a daily exercise. “Miss a day and it’s hard to recall,” he told me. “Jot down places in your notepad and transfer them to the journal at night.”

Sounded like sage advice. If Joe was a general in some war, it would never end because he would spend most of his time keeping journals for future books.

Some people say I have such a way with words that I can write my journal in advance. Well, they couldn’t be further from the truth. To keep an accurate journal, no matter where you go, takes work.

The last time I had kept such a journal was at age 19 when I spent a year studying with the Armenian Mekhitarist Fathers in Austria. At the time, I had no intention of becoming a journalist but had begun corresponding for the Hairenik Weekly through the AYF. Its editor, James Tashjian, encouraged me to keep a journal.

Every day for a year, I made my notations, capturing the lives of the Catholic priests and the social climate in Vienna. It turned into my personal diary until I shared it with my wife and loved ones.

I never intended to have it published. It was kept for posterity. What it did was open a window for me that ultimately led to a journalism career and a published series of articles for the Hairenik which were welcomed by the editor.

I wish to share my journal with Weekly readers in the weeks to come. The beauty of any trip, be it Armenia or Africa, is to draw others into the experience. Whether you’ve been to Armenia or not, maybe these installments will take you there.

On the lighter side, I happen to be a big Mister Boffo cartoon fan. And wouldn’t you know it? On the day I was writing this introduction, they showed a man behind bars with the subtitle: “Too Little Too Late Award.” The inmate, presumably a journalist, turns to the jail keeper and says, “Should I be writing this?” I can assure you that I was never incarcerated in Armenia much less given a snide look by any law enforcement officer. Had that occurred, you’d probably be reading about that as well.

Please join me as I transport you to places like Dzidzernagapert and witness April 24th, like Gyumri and Artsakh and the many villages along the way. Come sample the vibrant social life, some of the impoverished areas, and the spiritual encounters in many of the churches. Relive a heritage with me that dates back 5,000 years and refuses to die.

Let my journal become your roadmap.

(To be continued)

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Tom Vartabedian

Tom Vartabedian is a retired journalist with the Haverhill Gazette, where he spent 40 years as an award-winning writer and photographer. He has volunteered his services for the past 46 years as a columnist and correspondent with the Armenian Weekly, where his pet project was the publication of a special issue of the AYF Olympics each September.