Vardkis Andonian is now 93 years old and doesn’t remember much. His father and mother fled #Armenia shortly after he was born in 1921. He grew up in a suburb of Detroit with a small group of #Armenian diasporians. He was taught the language; could speak, read, and write but never took it upon himself to teach his children. Before I left for my trip, I told him what I was doing and the only words he could conjure up as a reaction was his infamous, “unbelievable!”. In preparation for my departure, I had memorized “inchpes es” and “barev” as well as trying to familiarize myself with the Armenian alphabet. Before I said goodbye to my grandpa, I pulled out the sheet of paper containg the forigen characters in hopes that the visual would help explain what I was about to do. He grabbed the sheet of paper from my hands and started reciting the alphabet as if he were back in Armenian school. Being in Hayastan is a HUGE step for my family. I am the first to return to Armenia and speak the language since my Grandpa and his family. — Lexee Andonian, current Birthright Armenia participant :)
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 16:23:33 +0000