The Foreign Service Journal, April 2011

like the movie “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” though the reaction was not antagonistic — just extreme astonish- ment at my presence. Often, I literally stopped traffic: walking down the street meant hearing screeches of drivers slamming on their brakes to stare at me. Going to stores involved being fol- lowed by curious shoppers. When I entered restaurants, all conversation (even chewing) died down for at least a minute and the wait staff stopped serving customers for a few seconds. In cabs and on buses, the drivers gen- erally spent about one-third of their time watching the road and the other two-thirds watching me in their rear- view mirrors. I was initially quite disconcerted by the constant gaping and whispers, as it was far more extensive than anything I had experienced, even during previous travel abroad. It was difficult to be- come accustomed to the staring, but it helped that people were not at all hos- tile. In fact, in spite of their stern coun- tenances (my students said this was a facial holdover from the Soviet Union), Armenians were quite friendly. People guessed that I was British, Russian, Venezuelan, Brazilian, French, Spanish, American, Chilean or African. When they assumed that I was a certain nationality they would strike up conversations with me in that particular country’s language. Thus, I had quite a few “conversations” in French, Spanish and Russian, despite the fact that I do not actually speak any language except English. Shortly after arriving, I attended an embassy debriefing. First, I was in- formed that Naomi Campbell was in town. I expressed surprise that she would be in Armenia, before it be- came clear that the embassy had based its information on reports from local contacts who thought I was Naomi Campbell! Though I am substantially shorter, physically bigger and a com- pletely different complexion than she, I suppose there are worse people for whom to be mistaken. Second, I was warned to expect to be called “negar” (pronounced like the n-word). True to their warnings, this happened fairly often. However, my embassy contacts explained that the term is not an insult at all, but simply the Russian term for a black person (as we understand it in the U.S.). Interestingly, they also told me that Russians consider people from the Caucasus to be “black,” though the term is specifically meant to demean them. Thus, in this part of the world, Caucasian is the equivalent of “black” (which is derogatory) and blacks, as we identify the group in the U.S., are ne- gars (which is fine). I wondered what my reaction would be the first time I heard the term applied to me, and did not have to wait long to find out. I was shop- ping in the market when a beef seller saw me and shouted “Negar!” How- ever, he clearly did not intend to insult me because he then rubbed his chest near his heart and mouthed “love you” in a clear attempt to flirt and, proba- bly, to entice me to buy some very bloody meat that looked as though the cow had only recently been killed. While my gut reaction upon hear- ing the word was shock, I actually had to laugh to myself, given the totally dif- ferent meaning of the term in Arme- nia, relative to the U.S. And I soon became accustomed to hearing the word directed at me without taking of- fense. On Campus During my fellowship I taught an organizational behavior class to politi- cal science graduate students at the American University of Armenia, located in Yerevan. I also conducted research on Armenians’ job search practices. Teaching at AUA was an excellent experience. First, the quality of the fa- cilities, as well as the stellar staff sup- port, made it very easy for me to organize my office and prepare my 42 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 1 1 I had expected to cause a bit of a stir, but judging from the reaction it seemed more like a cross between a circus freak show and an aliens-have- landed spectacle. Dear Readers: In order to produce a high- quality product, the FSJ depends on the revenue it earns from advertising. You can help with this. Please let us know the names of companies that have pro- vided good service to you — a hotel, insurance company, auto dealership, or other concern. A referral from our readers is the best entrée! Ed Miltenberger Advertising & Circulation Manager Tel: (202) 944-5507 E-mail: miltenberger@afsa.org You Are Our Eyes & Ears!