A Different Kind of Celebrity

September 16, 2007

In my last entry, I wrote of my annoyance at being constantly under surveillance in the small of Chamalgan, but at least it comes with celebrity status. Pretty much wherever we go, we are followed by a veritable swarm of pint-sized paparazzi. Even though many have trouble affording textbooks, most of them still have cell phone cameras, and they click away as we walk down for a meeting at the café. Then, there are the autographs. The biggest autograph seekers are the middle schoolers, all of who have at least one copy of our signatures. A few of us even appear to have our own fan clubs. Ms. Kimi is particularly popular with the 11-12 year old boys, and I myself get dozens of handshakes as I walk down the hallway. The others were even joking that I am in the running for prom king, which is kind of nice, considering I was not even a dark horse option when I was actually in high school. That said, much of our celebrity status stems from the fact that were are still so new, rather than them actually liking us, and we are often mixed up or lumped together. It makes one realize that many of the villagers still more often view us as symbols than actual people. The actions and behavior of one, reflects on all of us, and has a huge impact on the locals’ perception of the United States as well. Unfortunately, as I have mentioned before, Team Chamalgan is burdened by a PCV who directly fits the “Ugly American” stereotype. She talks too much, eats too much, and has refused to make half of the adjustments to diet or living situation that the rest of us have. She seems to believe that the locals see her as Russian, which I highly doubt, and even if it is true, its only because she looks like a Babushka. I can only hope that they do not view the rest of us the same way, because in the same way that the other girls in our group tend to resemble Angelina Jolie in appearance and attitude, she resembles Liza Minelli.