We, the Children of the Armenian People

We, the children of the Armenian people
With the first light of the morning
Always smiling, always happy
We go to school in droves of rows

Although our lunch box is quite small
Ours is life and the future
With books plentiful as treasure
We hold in ownership under our arms

Home of the Armenian light
Inside our beloved school
Our sacred language is heard
Like a song forevermore

I sang this song as a child in Lebanon, in Armenian, from a poem by Moushegh Ishkhan and music by Parsegh Ganatchian.  I had a chance to pass it on to the students of the Sunday Armenian School this past school year.  They sang it with piano accompaniment last Sunday for the commencement and made me proud. 

I made a small adjustment.  In the 50s it was natural that our lunch boxes were poor.  We were still recovering from the calamity our parents and grandparents had gone through.  Even I am doing better now, so I thought I'd change the word to small as in small country,  population number, world power ranking, etc. 

I loved the Armenian language when I was a child because I didn't know any other yet.  Imagine how difficult it is to teach kids a language they will thank you later for but now wonder why.  Why should they come to school every Sunday and learn words like "yes", yes, yes.  It is the Armenian word for "I".  Isn't that a positive coincidence?  An affirmation for survival?  There are other magical coincidences between the English and Armenian languages that I was able to share with the students in order for them to find a connection to it.  Most of these kids' parents do not speak the language so how are they to relate to a language they have never heard before?  Enter comparisons, similarities, paradoxes like "IO" which means yes. 

What?  What?  Yes and there is more.  We are all connected somehow. 
Phenomenal.  How did that happen? I suppose we are trying to build the Tower of Babylon the right way.