The Best of Two Worlds
Published on May 15, 2017 First it was her appearance - in our class Alina stood out as she did not look typically Caucasian, there was a different softness about her. Then, the surname - it did not end in “-yan” like the rest of us, it wasn't an Armenian name. She was often asked who she was, her favorite answer was simply, “I am half-Armenian, half-Assyrian.” She was obviously proud of who she was, a child of mixed ethnicity. She had something that we didn't. So did Karen. He was in another class, known as “the Russian,” and he indeed looked like one. Anna, my colleague, is always called when there is a need of a translation from Georgian - as her mother is Georgian, and Georgian is her second native tongue. Armenia is a largely homogeneous society and children of mixed ethnicity stick out - be it their appearance, their mindset, their traditions, or their favourite food. And they are aware of it with some feeling lost in a constant state of uncertainty, others navigating comfortably the world -in-between. Yet, all of them tend to represent the best of two, or more, worlds.