Long lost?

Five years ago I did the most spontaneous thing I have done in my entire life. I had just broken up with my first boyfriend, my high school was a ridiculous bore, and basketball season was over. Then I found out that there was one seat left in a student exchange program that my school was going to participate in. So, I called my parents at work, made my dad come down to the school with $200, put in a request to renew and expedite my passport. By the end of the day, I was officially going to spend a month living in Yerevan, Armenia. With people had never met, in a place I had never heard of.

We started the trip about 3 weeks later by spending 3 days in Moscow. It was beautiful, I wish I had my pictures from there, but I'm sure you believe me. For a group of 16 year old naive Americans, it was equally scary. They had warned us all about this before we went. We must've had 4 "culture shock" awareness workshops in those 3 weeks before we left. "It's not better, not worse, just different," they told us. I honestly thought I understood what they meant. But to tell the truth, I forgot it all as soon as I got off the plane. Russians are just different, being from South Florida, we were all so used to seeing the smiling faces of strangers. But in Russia, we knew we were not welcome. Every time one of us was to smile of giggle, it was met with a frowning face that seemed to say "get the hell outta here." None of us understood what we did that made people hate us to bad. If anything, our experience in Russia brought the 12 of us closer.

Armenia was completely different we were welcomed with open arms! It's not really something I can give justice to in writing. I'm not that talented. They loved the idea of having us there, and I've come to believe it was for two reasons. First of all, because America is so different and has such a big influence on the rest of the world. I never really understood this until then, but America is truly a diverse country. They don't even have black people in Armenia. Im telling you that me being tall and black was the most FASCINATING thing for them. I got more attention there than I've had in all the rest of my life put together. For the record, semi celebrity status is pretty damn cool. People legitimately thought I was Naomi Campbell. I heard things like "my friend's sister's cousin knows a black woman!" At least twice a week, some guy on the street would randomly buy me flowers. Needless to say, I grew to LOVE my time in Armenia.

My best friend Nina and I were probably the most embracing of this experience (to be fair, we were the ethnic ones, so they treated us like Queens, that made it easier), so everyday was an adventure. They took us to about 30 schools, and each one was equally excited to have us. Every once in a while, we would get tired of doing it, until one day when we drove up a mountain for three hours to a school in the middle of nowhere. One woman in particular was so perturbed that we had never heard of there country until then. At first we were upset, after all, the United States is (was) a superpower, and its huge on a map. Of course they knew who we are. But she brought up a good point, maybe the reason people don't like Americans is because we tend to be so self absorbed. I don't even think she meant it in a demeaning way, it is reality. Sometimes we get so caught up with our own problems that we never take the time to think about what's going on the the rest of the world. It's like, if they are going to spend so much time learning about us, is it so crazy for us to take 5% of the year to learn something about another culture? I honestly think Nina and I were the only ones (only students) that really listened to what this lady had to say. And I have to tell you that I am so glad we did!

I made relationships with people on the other side of the world, and I balled my eyes out when we left, because the chances that I could ever see them again were slim to none. The people we got closest to were Xachik (ha-chick) and Gevorg (gay-vorg). They took us everywhere and made us try so many knew things. One day, I'll bring in my photo album for you all to see. Well it's five years later, and I am still in contact with them. Not a month goes by that I don't think about them, Grand Candy, hiding from a military revolt, or making wishes on doves and trees. Today was one of those days, and I decided to share it with you. Well guess what? I just checked my email, and this is the email I got from Gevorg...

"HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII. you remember me? Hey you remember I promise you to come to USA, and so I`m here and not far from your stane, exactly in Alabama. I came to wark and travel and maybe one day we will see each other. If toy want you can give me your phone number and addres. :)))"



He is the one on the right, he barely knew any English when I left there.


I am the happiest girl in the world today!! I'm nearly in tears. Best day ever. I highly recommend that everyone try and find an opportunity like I had. It changed my life!