So after waiting for packages to arrive, I figured I would ask a friend to check at his post office as I had in the past had some packages sent to his address because I was worried about my new one.
So my friend checks, as it turns out I have two packages, one has been there a month. Now a lot of volunteers will talk about the fish bowl we live in as volunteers, where everyone knows our business, sometimes even before we know it. While I do experience this a fair amount it's not much of a problem for me in Vanadzor and I do have some fair amount of anonymity, a whole lot compared to someone living in a village. For example, my package is here for a month and neither me nor any of the other American's have been told.
While I would have loved to have gotten my packages sooner, this does demonstrate that I do have some anonymity here, at least when it comes to the post office across town.
Now that can also make it harder to integrate, feel welcome in a city where people tend to go about their business. There's a shop down below my building that opened up a few months ago that I'll often buy eggs and bread from. Going down there a few weeks ago I went in and I heard the shopkeepers (I think it's a family) told another Armenian their that I was their American, in describing who this strange foreigner was.
It was a great feeling, not one I experience often living in a city.
No comments:
Post a Comment