Some thoughts about Myrthe in Armenia
I have some good friends in Yerevan, but by far most of my friends live in Spitak, because until now, whenever I was in Armenia I would spend most of my time in Spitak. All the people I know there are pretty much average Armenians, some able to get by, some struggling to get by, some downright poor, but none of them even come close to being rich. On the other hand there is Yerevan: the face of downtown Yerevan keeps on changing and all the new shops that open up are chique and sell overpriced luxury items. Also, over the past eight-nine months, I have met many expats and Diasporans, some of them living fancy lives in fancy homes, going out for dinner every evening. These two different sides of Armenia sometimes give me a very schizophrenic feeling, standing with one foot in one kind of live, with the other in the other kind.
Another thing I realized from my recent, increased interaction with expats and Diaspora-Armenians is, how confined the life of so many Diaspora-Armenians and expats is to (the center of) Yerevan, how little they actually know about life in the rest of the country and how little most of them interact with local Armenians (apart from taxi-drivers, waiters at restaurants and cafe's, shopkeepers etc). I am sure this doesn't hold for any and all of them, but I noticed it in probably most of the expats and Diasporans I have met.
Without making a value judgement about any of the expats or Diasporans I have met, realizing this about their lives in Armenia, made me think about my own visits here and why I decided to come live here. Ever since I first visited Armenia, I have never really been a tourist here. In many ways an outsider, yes, because I have a different background, was born and raised in different circumstances. But by living in Spitak (I lived in a domik there several times for several months - including winter, brrrr!), by getting to know Armenians in Yerevan and in the country who let me into their lives and shared their good times and their hardships with me, at the same time I never have felt entirely like an outsider here. In many ways Armenia will never be 'mine', my home, and there are lots of things here I don't like or that I disapprove of. But at the same time, because of all the good and bad experiences I have had here and because of the many wonderful and the few crappy people that I met here, because of the things I have learned here about people, about life, because of all these reasons and many more, this country in many ways does feel like home, and will always be special to me.
Another thing I realized from my recent, increased interaction with expats and Diaspora-Armenians is, how confined the life of so many Diaspora-Armenians and expats is to (the center of) Yerevan, how little they actually know about life in the rest of the country and how little most of them interact with local Armenians (apart from taxi-drivers, waiters at restaurants and cafe's, shopkeepers etc). I am sure this doesn't hold for any and all of them, but I noticed it in probably most of the expats and Diasporans I have met.
Without making a value judgement about any of the expats or Diasporans I have met, realizing this about their lives in Armenia, made me think about my own visits here and why I decided to come live here. Ever since I first visited Armenia, I have never really been a tourist here. In many ways an outsider, yes, because I have a different background, was born and raised in different circumstances. But by living in Spitak (I lived in a domik there several times for several months - including winter, brrrr!), by getting to know Armenians in Yerevan and in the country who let me into their lives and shared their good times and their hardships with me, at the same time I never have felt entirely like an outsider here. In many ways Armenia will never be 'mine', my home, and there are lots of things here I don't like or that I disapprove of. But at the same time, because of all the good and bad experiences I have had here and because of the many wonderful and the few crappy people that I met here, because of the things I have learned here about people, about life, because of all these reasons and many more, this country in many ways does feel like home, and will always be special to me.
posted by Myrthe at 5:54 PM
8 Comments:
Dear Myrthe,
What an interesting piece you have written. I have a few questions for you regarding daily life in Jrashen, the village next to Spitak. How can I contact you?
Knarik
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Myrthe,
your observations can be right (although I am sure if you speak to any of these Diasporans they will tell you how much they care and do about ordinary folks).
But anyway, I do not see anything wrong with what is going on. Armenia desperately needs to develop tourism, and Diaspoarans are natural part and first step in that direction. Let them come to country in even increasing numbers, occupy hotels, eat out in restaurants hire taxi's and be CARELESS. At the end of the day the revenues are going to be shared (not evenly though) by the population.
Careless, I am not talking about Diasporans who come here on vacation, but about those that live here.
As for Diasporans who come visit only in the summer and do only the touristy things, I agree with you. Tourism is one of the potential growing sectors in this country and, as you said, Diasporans are an obvious and natural part of this development.
By the way, Careless, in my log I specifically stated that I don't want to put any value judgements on any group of Diasporans. It is everyone's good right and own choice to care or not to care. I just wanted to point out the lack of knowledge or awareness about what's going on elsewhere in Armenia.
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Auch!! Read "Concerned" instead of Careless. Slip of the mind, I guess ;-) From your comment I gather that you are not so careless. Don't be offended, no pun intended! I guess it's the result of the wedding party I attended yesterday...
Hi Myrthe,
i did not feel offended or anything, even if it was sarcastic, not slip of mind. And it was my misunderstanding, I did not realise you were speaking about Diasporans living there. Which arises another important point: Diasporans, or great majority of them are not prepared to run for the highest offices in Armenian government yet, because they do not become integral part of the society easily.
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