Sorry for the clickbaity title. After I thought of it, I couldn't resist using it, even if it doesn't fully reflect the story.
This spring, I visited Armenia. It was the first time I was abroad. I had a great time. I thought everyone was so friendly. And not just because we, as tourists, were paying customers — it felt genuine. I didn't learn any words in the Armenian language beforehand — my cousin, who I travelled with, convinced me that we could get by with Russian. And she was right — a lot of people knew Russian to some extent. The owner of our rental actually spoke Russian better than some native speakers — although, I guess, he was a native speaker, given that he received a Soviet education. Yet, for the most part, Armenians talk to each other in their native language, which I liked. But I figured that at least learning the Armenian alphabet and being able to reed street signs could be fun.
On the second day of our trip, I was waiting for my cousin and her daughter on the street while they checked out a clothes store I wasn't interested in. A young man walked up to me and asked for a cigarette. Naturally, I replied in my native language, as you do when you're abroad, and said "не курю" (I don't smoke).
— Oh, Russian?
— Да, да. — For some reason, I couldn't wrap my head around being spoken to in another language.
— I don't speak Russian, sorry.
At this point, I realized what was happening and apologized. We then actually spoke for a few minutes in English. I think it was the first time I had a conversation in English outside of the language learning context, hence the title.
So, the guy was from Morocco. He said he couldn't find a job in Morocco, so he came to Armenia in search of opportunities. But he didn't have any luck in Armenia either. He even said that he was going to try to go to Russia and try his luck there. By that point, he had run out of money several days before. He said, "On days when I get money, I rent a bed in a hostel for the night. If I don't, I sleep on the floor in a 24/7 grocery store. I'm lucky they let me and don't throw me out." His eyes welled up with tears. Naturally, he asked me for money. If he was being honest, I feel sorry for the guy. If he was lying, I'd applaud him for his performance. I'm very sceptical about beggars in general — I've heard many times and even saw once with my own eyes people asking for money, claiming they have nothing to eat — but when provided with the food instead, they'd throw a tantrum or just throw the food away. However, this guy said that if I didn't believe him, we could go to the nearest grocery store and I could buy him something to eat, as he'd barely had anything to eat that day.
I said, "Sorry, I don't have any Armenian cash on me. My cousin has all our cash." He said that there was a currency exchange nearby and he could take rubles if I preferred. So I gave him about two hundred rubles, I think — I don't remember exactly — but it wasn't a lot of money. Maybe enough for a chocolate bar and a bottle of water. He thanked me profusely and left.
I thought about his story. What doesn't make sense to me is how can you go to another country without knowing the language and without any special skills to look for a job? What kind of job did he expect to find, knowing only his native language and English? And in terms of him going to Russia — he'll have no luck finding anything there either. I mean, we have migrants from Central Asia who don't speak Russian, but they at least can work with each other. Who needs a Moroccan?
When my cousin and her daughter came out of the store, I told them what happened, including my thoughts about looking for a job in a country without knowing the language. All she said was, "You never know what people might be running from."
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Your cousin's English is excellent! 👍🏻🤩 And very wise words. I'm like you — I can't stand to see anyone go hungry, but I have no patience for druggies or drunks looking for money to score more of their poison of choice. And let me tell you... you got off easy. I know a Russian guy who went to Armenia and was approached by two women. He thinks they were gypsies. They bewitched him and took him to an ATM and he was about to withdraw his money when the police showed up and arrested them. They had to sit him down on the ground and throw cold water in his face to bring him to. They took him back to his hotel and told him it was a common thing in that part of town.
Thank you, Uly, for the corrections! Your story about the gypsies is scary. When I hear about people getting hypnotized, I think it could never happen to me, that it isn't real, and even if it is, I wouldn't be susceptible. But you never know, right? People are getting scammed all the time by all sorts of means. At least in my case, I gave my money willingly, understanding that there's a possibility it might not be a honest person.
I had another story in my hometown, when a man approached me, asking for food. He didn't look homeless, and I don't remember what happened to him (he was from Belarus, and either he got scammed or had his posessions stolen). He also asked me to come with him to the grocery store to get him anything if I don't believe that he needs money for food. I had a bunch of bananas in my bag and I gave it to him — I didn't really want to go with him anywhere even if I believed him. That's the only two times in my life I gave anything to people on streets — both of their stories were at least plausible.
I feel very sorry for the Moroccan guy. There are sometimes things that we don't need to know, and this is one of them for me. lt's great to communicate with him in English, but if I were you, I wouldn't want to know such information. You're very kind to help him, and I really hope he'll get a job in Russia, if his story was true.
If his story is true, I truly hope he doesn't enter Russia from Armenia by car. I mean, Armenia borders Chechnya. According to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Russian Caucusus should be avoided altogether. You're Russian, so you know more than I do.
In case you're all wondering why on earth I know this specific piece of information, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a dedicated map showing everything bad going on in the world. For example, Mongolia is tackling the spread of a dangerous virus. Indonesia has it all: westerner tourists being drugged, kidnapped and murderd; terrorist groups; extreme violence in villages; dengue fever; and rabies.
I think there are two types of scams. One is the case where you know you'll just lose some money and won't get anything in return. In the other case, you expect something from it in return. I'm more cautious about the second one. The first type doesn't cause much trouble.
For some reason, strangers often talk to me. They tell me their stories, and sometimes I give them money. That's not because I'm sweet or kind; I'm just interested in humans in general. Everyone has their own reasons. Like you, I don't care whether their stories are true or not. I'm happy if they're happy to meet me.
By the way, I'm really surprised that you hadn't had any conversations in English outside of language-learning contexts! I thought you used English daily because your English is so good.
@Akiko Thank you :) I guess my written English is decent. I do use English almost daily, but it's mostly input — watching videos or reading articles. I had a few English lessons with a tutor two years ago, and I had maybe two or three conversations with Uly, but that's about it. Speaking feels like stressful activity to me, but I like writing occasionally.