Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
It was interesting to read about life in pre-colonial Nigeria. But I found it more interesting because of the memories it brought up of my time living in Italy. Iwas dating a Nigerian man and spent most of my free time with Nigerians. It made me think about what their lives at home might have been like. Despite the fact that I was the only white person around most of the time and didn't share a language with most of the group, I felt very welcomed and safe. The cultural differences just were too much, though. He didn't treat me that well, leaving me to walk alone at night through the dark alleys of Florence if I wasn't willing to stay with him that night. It took a while to realize, but I finally extricated myself from the whole mess.
Some of his roommates were of the traditional tribal religions. I remember the night that they told me, in all seriousness, that one of the men (Ibo? Ebi? I can't remember who.) had ridden through the sky on a bicycle. Based on my experience of the supernatural, I had no trouble accepting that at true.
I look back on this time with a lot of regret. I wish I had broken things off more cleanly. I wish I'd had the self-respect to stand up for myself sooner. I wish I hadn't let myself fall in love with him.
Posted by rachel at May 21, 2005 01:56 PM