Armenian or Albanian — what’s the difference?

It has been almost 42 years since I moved to the United States Of America from the Middle East. And during this time, I had the pleasure of meeting many others who, like me, had traveled all across the globe to finally end up in the land of opportunities, a beautiful country which we all call it home. I have met new comers from Greece, Hungary, Poland, Israel, Latin America and the Far East. But for some strange reason, I had to wait until my wife and I moved to Lakeville to meet an Albanian. And that took place in so-called, amusing circumstances.

After all these years having lived in this country, it is not unusual for me to hear at the grocery store, in the workplace or at a social gathering when in the middle of a conversation someone will approach me and say, “Hey, you have an accent. Where are you from and I wonder what your background is?” To which, I answer by saying that I am an Armenian and I was born in Beirut, Lebanon. But after moving to Lakeville for the first time I heard people responding to my being Armenian with, “ Oh, of course, we know lots of Armenians who live in this area. Like, the pizza delivery guy is Armenian, the people who own and run the restaurant are Armenians and the real estate guy who found my sister a beautiful house is an Armenian”.

And this is when I become a little amazed and puzzled at the way Armenians who as a  small group of people suddenly are so popular and well known by the local town folks. Of course, this acknowledgment provides me with a sense of pride. But as soon as I became friendly with the pizza delivery guy and the real estate person, which I should admit, they were both very gentle, kind and lovely people, I realized that they are actually, not Armenians, but they are indeed, Albanians. And this is when I realized that for a casual American person it is not easy to distinguish that subtle difference of the sound and the way the names of totally different ethnic groups are spelled and pronounced. After all, just listen to the words, Armenians. Albanians. And yes, they do pretty much sound the same.

Except, when we go deeper in identifying the geography, history and the culture of these groups they each have their distinct and authentic ethnic background and identity. Albanians in the recent centuries have accepted Islam as the faith of the majority of their population, while Armenians have been known as the first Christian nation. But they have both through centuries been the victims of foreign powers who have tried to colonize, plunder and steal from them their freedom. But amazingly  both nations have courageously and fearlessly fought back to preserve their national identity.

And as Armenians and Albanians have immigrated to the United States of America, they have been industrious, creative and successful in their businesses while constantly trying to preserve their own unique ethnic identities and family values. And yes, in this respect, there isn’t much difference between an Armenian and an Albanian and it is perfectly fine when people don’t even know the differences between these two ethnic groups.

After all and after all these years whether we are Armenians or Albanians, we have been blessed by all that this country has offered like a security and safety and endless opportunities to create and maintain our ethnic identity and  heritage. And whether we are Armenians or Albanians our main gratitude is towards the country we are all citizens and although we happen to belong to different faiths our prayers are unified when we say:

God Bless America!

Varoujan Froundjian is a digital artist and writer. He can be reached at: varlink3050@gmail.com.