NEW COLUMN: DIARY OF AN ARMENIAN JOURNALIST
Tom Vartabedian

9/28/new-column-diary-of-an-armenian-journalist/
S eptember 28, 2009

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.