Travelling — it gives you a home in a thousand strange places, then
leaves you a stranger in your own land - Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta lived in the 14th
century. Of course, by that time it was difficult to keep in touch with home.
Nowadays, that is easier. But still… I feel a bit similar.
I was in the Netherlands for
almost three weeks. It was great to see my family and friends, to play with the
dogs, to meet the daughter of my best friend and all the other babies born in
the last year. It was nice to be able to enter a shop without the entire staff
running to me (‘Chickpeas, is that like chicken?’), to walk in the streets
without people shouting and staring at me and to see the great Dutch roads
where people actually drive on the right instead of in the middle trying to
avoid potholes. It was a culture shock to see white women driving a car or to
go to a supermarket and see all these products.
Going to the supermarket was a
crazy experience, there is so much choice! (Why do you need to choose between
ten types of apples, or ten different spice mixes to cook nasi goreng? I never
thought about it, but now I was really wondering why we need so much choice).
At the same time, some foods are so much better here in Cameroon. Oranges here
taste like oranges instead of water, bananas here smell like banana and avocados
are so much bigger, tastier and cheaper here.
But most importantly, it was
strange to see how little people smile, how much people complain about small
things. It was kind of weird to walk in
town without talking to strangers. It was strange to buy things without having
a talk with the lady selling the eggs, tomatoes or oranges.
I remember that when I left
Benin in 2006 I quoted a song of the Dutch singer Stef Bos. In Dutch; ‘Diep in het zuiden ligt misschien mijn
toekomst, maar ik ben zo bang dat ik het missen zal, het hoge noorden met zijn
koude winters en de grijze hemel waar de sneeuw uit valt’. (Roughly translated; deep in the south
might be my future, but I am scared I will miss the north with its cold winters
and grey snowy skies). It’s true, I miss the Netherlands while I’m here. But
when I am in the Netherlands I also miss my African life.
I think I am home in several
places. In the Netherlands, in Benin, in Nigeria, in Cameroon. At the same
time, will I be really home anywhere again? I think that wherever I will be, I
will miss something. So yes, I am home in different places, but also a stranger
at home (wherever that home will be). It seems like these things didn’t change
since the 14th century!
