My kindergarten yard looked like a miniature united nations. By age 3 my best friends’ list spanned a dozen countries from the Netherlands to Trinidad and Tobago. I’d feel as much at home mushroom hunting in the Swiss alps, celebrating Ramadan with my pals from Tchad or sharing a meal with tribal cave dwellers in the Himalayas. I make a wicked kimchi. Juggle three passports. Wherever I live or travel, I feel embraced. I just belong. This is not a philosophy of life or a perspective on the world. This is my life. This is my world.

Ndoema

Derivations

African
French
Russian
Sanskrit
German
Dutch

Born

Central Africa Republic

Raised

Central African Republic
France
Cameroon
Switzerland

Citizenships

Central African
French
American

Languages

French
English
Spanish
Italian
Sanskrit
Ancient Greek (no kidding)

Lived

India
Spain
Malawi
Mozambique
Panama
the UK
Italy
Cameroon
Switzerland
Central African Republic
France
the UK
Italy
USA

Habitually mistaken for and embraced as

Brazilian
Fijian
Moroccan
Indian
Malaysian
Algerian
Caribbean
Cuban
Tibetan