Where are you from?

Living here in Russia, I often get asked where I am from.  Obviously from the second I open my mouth and speak broken Russian in a terrible accent people know right off the bat that I am a foreigner.  When I am in Southern California, I blend right in.  We all know that Los Angeles is a melting pot of so many cultures and tongues, and of course it is always assumed correctly that I am Hispanic and that I speak Spanish! 

The other day I was asked if Josiah and I were from Armenia.  This surprised me a little because I have never been asked that before.  I often get asked if I am from Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan or any of the other 'stan countries.  People from these countries are generally darker with dark hair and complexions.  For the most part it truly doesn't bother me but the longer I live here the more I see the prejudices people have against people from these nations.  It is a sort  parallel to the prejudices that people have against Hispanics in California...........sort of like "they're here in America and should speak English" or "they're taking all our jobs" or "they're here illegally" and so forth.  And here in Russia it is the same exact thinking against people from these former Soviet countries.

There have been several instances where I have felt discriminated or looked down on from Slavic Russians.  Not too long ago I was at a pharmacy and I was in a hurry to buy some bandages.  I began asking the clerk for the supplies I needed and I know that my grammar wasn't correct and I didn't know the name of one of the bandages that I needed.  She was quite rude to me, rolled her eyes at me several times, and it really felt like she was annoyed with me.  Maybe it wasn't discrimination at all, maybe she is like this all the time but I relayed the story to Jon's language teacher and she told me that most likely I was treated this way because the clerk probably thought I was a foreigner from Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan.  Our teacher told me to just start speaking English to people whenever I feel I am being mistreated so that they know right away that I am American.  I don't know if I will do that.  I don't really know what to answer when people ask where I am from.  At times I just say I'm испанка (ispanka) or Hispanic.  Other times I say I was born in Argentina.    I am not really afraid for my safety even though in Moscow there have been incidents  and news reports of violence against these "darker" people.  Last year we even received an e-mail from the U.S. consulate warning travelers in Russia of these "hate" crimes.  Thankfully, the stores that I frequent already know me and the workers are very friendly.  I always thought that discrimination was only an "American" problem but I see it first hand here.