“Armenia: The Story of A Place...”
Tamara Karakashian
Editor
Armenians young and old listened engrossed as John Hughes, an American
living in Armenia, read one of his emotional and heartfelt essays.
In an essay entitled “…And Be Merry,” Hughes elaborated
on his experiences in Armenia: “…And so I arrived at Hayk’s
house in the morning hour with some expectations. Arrived to the
smell of boiling cow and the laughter of a full house. Cousins,
aunts, uncles. Friends on leave from the army. A table set for a
banquet. The mother of all brunches. It was 10 am.”
A journalist for 20 years, in 1998 Hughes was assigned to write
a series of articles about Armenia for the Orange County Register.
He moved to Armenia to begin a life of research of a people who
have “survived.” Hughes continued to elaborate on his
first experience eating the ever-popular celebration meal of “khash.”
Hughes explained that while in Armenia, do as the Armenians do.
His knowledge of the Armenian language was limited to a choice few
words, one of his favorites of which is “lav,” good. He
basically went along with anything someone suggested. This frame
of mind in place, he had many new experiences while living in Armenia.
Hughes along with award-winning photojournalist, Bruce Strong, decided
to record these ever-strong feelings in a book entitled, “Armenia:
The Story of a Place in Essays and Images.” The combination
of Hughes’ poetic and realistic words with Strong’s ability
to capture the true light of the country of Armenia is a wonderful
portrayal of the beauty of our homeland.
With the images in our minds of the strong odor of “khash,”
the audience listened attentively how Hughes made this dish of “cow’s
feet” sound lovely: “Take that stack of lavash, I’m
told, and break it into the bowl of broth. Lots of it. Reach with
bare fingers to the bowl of salt and sprinkle generously. And from
the bowl of ground garlic, dip spoonfuls, until the taste is no
longer that of cow feet. The idea here is to put enough bread into
the soup until you can eat the soaked dumpling with your bare hands.
‘Lav.’ Good. Whatever.” It takes a person of Hughes’
character to be able to live in a country completely different from
his own - entirely opposite of what he has ever known growing up.
Hughes experiences are vividly recorded in this 133-page book. It
is modern history. This isn’t a six inch text book which we
are required to read in an Armenian history class that goes on and
on telling about this war or that defeat. This is a coffee table
book depicting the happiness and sadness of a country which has
survived as Christians for over 1700 years. A people who have the
strength and the will to continue another 1700 years into the future.
This is possible with help from people like John Hughes, who dedicate
small portions of their busy lives to let the world know about Armenians.
Hughes currently contributes to Armenian International Magazine
on a regular basis. His current project is a children’s book
about his cat, Brian.
The Armenian Studies Program, Armenian Students Organization of
Fresno State, along with the St. Paul Armenian Apostolic Church
co-sponsored Hughes’ presentation on Friday, March 8, in the
St. Paul Haig Berberian Hall.
John Hughes shared with us his experience and life-long memories
of the years he lived in our homeland: Armenia.
