By: Meghrie Demirdjian
May 16th was just another ordinary day for most people; but for me it was the day that I would come to realize what being an Armenian truly meant.
We arrived in Yerevan at around four in the morning and, struggling to keep our eyes open, barely made it into our hotel rooms before falling into a deep sleep. The following morning I awoke and, out of habit, I climbed out of bed to open the curtains, unprepared for what was waiting for me on the other side. As soon as the first golden ray of sunshine hit my eyes, my jaw dropped as I absorbed the great mass that was in front of me.
My entire life, Mount Ararat had just been an abstract idea, one that all of my Armenian teachers had mentioned numerous times but with very little detail. I now understood why. There are no words in either the English or Armenian dictionaries to describe the beauty of the mountain I had come to believe was fictional.
The small peak, Little Masis, is a perfect triangle, while the larger peak, Big Masis, has a slightly rugged, irregular form. Both peaks were blanketed in a sheet of perfectly white snow that contrasted sharply with the icy blue color of the mountain. As soon as I realized what I was looking at, tears flooded my eyes. My arm was outstretched, as if to grab a hold of the mountain, as I realized that the most perfect image I had ever seen in my life had once belonged to my ancestors. At that moment, I wished that everything would change, so that, once again, this amazing entity would be in the grasp of the Armenian people.
I have never before felt such a burning desire to call something mine. It seemed as though a new purpose had stirred inside of me, one which I had never considered before. I had to make this heavenly monument mine; I could no longer deny its symbolic meaning to the Armenian people. I finally found something worth fighting for, and I would do anything in my power to make this idea possible.
I am very grateful for having had the opportunity to travel to my beautiful motherland of Armenia, and I plan on doing so again sometime in the near future. As for now, I will continue cherishing the culture I am blessed to be a part of and the memories I have come to make.
I had exactly the same feeling when i was in Khor Virap last year, for the first time in my life…And i agree with you, there is no word, neither Armenian nor English, to describe Our Mountain…Annman ev amboghch ashkarum anzuyg e!