The Rupture

            People always say “the truth is relative” meaning, the social realities or the way people live and interact with each other differs in each society. I had never noticed this reality until I traveled out of my country, Togo. In US, I am not enjoying life as I did while living in Togo. In my neighborhood in Togo, we use to have a lot of attractive events to entertain the citizens. I use to hang out and do many activities to have fun including scholarly ones and also in my family there are such small attitudes from family’s members that affect me a lot. I really miss all these feelings. Their absences make me feel like a tree without its roots. However, the interactions in my neighborhood, my friends and my family are part of my life. I cannot get rid of them.

           

              In US, most of people are stocked at home, and the streets are clear of people. My neighborhood in Togo is called Agoe. In this zone, there are many events, which join people to have fun, to enjoy certain traditions. The chief of the district is one responsible for coordinating the events. The habitants of the neighborhood were meeting to enjoy the talents of our young and vigorous men of our community playing soccer, doing an artistic show, or dancing the Djembe. After all these events, most of the people shared local foods and beverages together. Our proud women cooked the foods and the beverages that we shared. I can still remember one of the soccer events. It was during the summer, four years ago. That day, earlier in the morning men and children volunteered to clean up the space where we will play. The women went to the chief‘s house to start cooking the delicious dish “Ayimolou” which is rice, beans and spices. They made also a local beverage call “Tchouc”. Later, we met like around 3 p.m. to watch the match. The sun was shining. People were enjoying the tambours’ and the xylophones’ sounds and watching the game. Just after the game, the food was ready and almost everyone there enjoyed it. It was marvelous. Such occasions help people relieve their stress. Since my arrival in the US, I have never seen such an ambience in a neighborhood. I know Americans have theirs ways to have fun like for instance, the festivals and others but I have not felt it yet as in Agoe. I am sobbing when I think about our activities in Agoe. It is as if a part of me was dead. However, this is not the only thing I miss.

            Beside the group activities I was participating in Agoe, I miss the night clubs and the shows I attended with my friends. In US, in order to go in a night club, and drink alcohol one has to be older than twenty-one. That is the reason why I cannot feel free to hang out here with my friends. That is not our case in Agoe. My friends and I can go out wherever we want and whenever we prefer. We went to night clubs, met to play some games, to study, to walk to school together, to share our individual pains and give comfort to each other. We even decided sometimes to meet and cook. I can still remember as if it was yesterday the moment we all passed our exams and when I announced them that I was going to USA. We were all crying because I will be the missing link of the chain. I was the saddest one because the group will still together expect me. The day I was leaving was the hardest one for me. I was crying as a baby. Before that day, I always thought that I could find this nice sentiment I used to have with my friends back home, with anyone else that will be my friend in another country. Then, I realized that we can take the guy out of the group but not the group out of the guy. It will constantly be a part of me forever.

            One last thing that I miss a lot is my father, my mother and my two brothers -my family. I miss them a lot because they are not with me in US. There are many moments that I had passed together with my family which affect me emotionally when I think about them. Let take the example of my little brother, Samuel. He is a five years old boy and really funny. Back home before I went to sleep he was always with me, discussing about how my day was. He is very curious, and even in the morning he was the first to come and to knock on my door. For my mother, I just miss the delicious dishes that she used to cook to us. They are very tasty. I still remember the last dish she cooked for me the day I left. I was with her that day in the kitchen, five hours before my departure. It was grilled lamb chops served over Djolof rice. I tried to get the secret of her cuisine before go. She had first steamed the rice and cooked it later in a tomato sauce. The lamb was just grilled and marinated in mustard with a little spices. Even though it was delicious, I ate this Djolof rice with pain because it was the last one I was having. It was like the last food Jesus had with the Apostles before been crucified. I even almost miss the flight.

            In sum, the transition from Agoe, Togo, to Chicago is something I don’t want to accept. It is really hard for me to live here without all these fun activities in Agoe, my friends and my family. I cannot clean this missing feeling out of my heart, nor accept the US life style. The only thing I can do is to hold my feeling until I get back home because “things you had lived through cannot clear out of you, they are part of you”.