Between Two Worlds

Arpa Hacopian

Arpa Hacopian

It takes between twelve and sixteen hours to get from the “third world” to the “first” by plane, but it would take approximately 87,600 hours to comprehend the differences between the two. You might spend your whole life contemplating those differences without ever crossing the divide.

My “third world” home is Armenia. The United States was the “first world” that became my unexpected home for the first year of the pandemic. I could hardly wrap my mind around living so long in such a different place. The language, which handle on those shower activated the hot or cold water, the different voltages on electrical outlets.

Now that I’m back in Armenia, I must readjust to riding the single line for our metro after spending so much time navigating New York’s massive subway system. And I have to re-adjust to sipping coffee and no ocean view.

The borders we draw make things more complicated, but many of our experiences remain the same—fundamental to being human: war, protesting for a better life—always the same. Here or there, a familiar sound, a familiar feeling. You carry them with you.

Arpa Hacopian

Back home in the “third world,” the same sound of a familiar voice still following me, with a totally different view. No skyscrapers in Yerevan—the small city I call home. In our post-war circumstances, we are still struggling for life, for the loved ones who died just five months ago in a senseless war. 

I should take a camper van, go traveling to see what I've been missing while sitting here in the office.   

Arpa Hacopian is a museum curator and graphic designer from Armenia. After a year in the U.S. during the pandemic, she has finally returned home to Armenia.