How Do You Say "You're an Asshole" in Armenian?
So far, my experience here in Armenia has been pretty great. One of my major concerns before arriving in Yerevan was how my race would factor into it. I've noticed that there are very few foreigners here, and I'm guessing the average Armenian hasn't seen too many (if any) Asians in real life. This generally translates into people staring at me for a while, but for the most part, people have been nice, and as friendly as you can be when you don't understand each other's language. I've gotten used to the staring, and have managed to feel comfortable here. Until today, that is. I don't really have much to do on the weekends, so I usually go for a walk around the city, popping into stores to see what they have, and stopping in cafes to grab something to eat or drink. In the last 2 weeks, I've stayed mainly in the Abovyan/Tumanyan Street areas, but today I decided to finally find Mashtots Avenue, which is another main street here in Yerevan that I, up until now, had not been able to locate (there are no street signs). Much to my delight, I did manage to find it, and it looked like an interesting road to explore. So I set off down the road happy to continue my stop-and-go explorations. My general feeling of contentment came to an end when I walked past a group of men on the sidewalk who immediately began loudly saying, "Hong Kong blah blah blah eh, Jackie Chan, da? blah blah blah Jackie Chan Jackie Chan!" and laughing. Maybe I'm overreacting, but I immediately felt saddened and angry. I know I look different from everyone here, ok? I don't need some jackass on the street to point that out to me, especially not in a mean and hurtful way. But what could I say to them? I don't speak Armenian, they probably don't speak much English. And I doubt it would have been a good idea to walk up and slap one of them in the face. As it is, I already feel very alone and extremely aware of my physical appearance. That just made me feel worse. I almost burst into tears right there, but why give the fuckers that sort of satisfaction?
posted by MelissaJ @ 6:54 PM
2 Comments:
I'm really really sorry about that. Sometimes Armenians have so little contact with people different than them that they act really stupid when they meet one. I'm really glad that you, as a non-Armenian, are there and really hope that more foreigners follow. I'm sorry about the hurtful experience and hope that all your other experiences are far more positive.
I have experienced the darkest days of my life in Armenia , tho over 2 months I only went out a total of 5 hours.
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