From Armenia To Las Vegas: One Immigrant's Strange Transition

LAS VEGAS - APRIL 19: Karine Martirosyan (L) as Marilyn Monroe and Chris Beaty as singer Alice Cooper perform during the nightly parade and introductions of the "Dealertainer" blackjack dealers at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino April 19, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Martirosyan, 37, immigrated to the United States from Armenia in 2000 and became a U.S. citizen in November 2005. In her home country, she worked in a hospital as a doctor specializing in infectious diseases, after graduating from Yerevan State Medical University in the country's capital. Martirosyan said she decided to come to America after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the resulting increased tensions with neighboring Azerbaijan caused a downward turn in the Armenian economy. She obtained a visa and moved to Las Vegas where she only knew one friend from Armenia and a distant relative. Martirosyan, who speaks Armenian and Russian, studied English for two years before starting to take nursing classes at the Community College of Southern Nevada and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. In order to help pay for school, she took gaming dealer classes, and now works at the casino impersonating Monroe and singer Christina Aguilera. She said she earns a great deal more working full time as a dealer in Las Vegas than as a doctor in Armenia. Martirosyan is not sure what her future holds, as the Imperial Palace was recently purchased by Harrah's Entertainment, Inc., and is expected to be torn down and replaced. She is waiting for an evaluation by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools to see if her combined U.S. and Armenian college work qualifies her to take Nevada's nursing board test to become a registered nurse. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)