Honey, I am Home!

“Te winti way, yu si fowru lasi.”

(Surinamese for: “When the wind blows, you see the fowl’s back.” It means: “You can only judge afterwards.”)

Two days before I took off to Surinam a random man started to talk to me at the subway station. He seemed in need to express his feelings, so I patiently listened to him while he told me about his Surinamese roots and the unfortunate loss of his wife 49 years ago. This loss resulted in his drinking problem and was a reminder to me to never judge a book by its cover.

“Home is not where you are from, it is where you belong. Some of us travel the world to find it. Others find it in a person.” – Beau Taplin

8:44 PM

Eight kilometers up in the sky, touching up this blog post’s story, reaching after my right shoulder and observing Dutch ground. These acts made me wonder about where I actually feel home. Is it in a person (as the man at the subway station, who probably found home within his wife), in a place or somewhere beyond that?

Roots grow underground

Despite feeling extremely blessed for having a home in The Netherlands, I was relieved returning back to my roots. This relief exhibited through the warm gust of the wind that gently touched my skin, the moment the airplane doors opened and I stepped on Surinamese ground. The exact same ground where my ancestors worked for the opportunities I get to seize today.

Coming home

Coming “home” made me view the world from a different perspective. It made me think fiercely about how I ended up on the other side of the ocean, and why I partly feel like a tourist in my motherland. Coming ‘’home’’ made me plead guilty of adjusting to another culture and partly forgetting my own.

Confronting colonialism

Observing the world from a different perspective made me question several things. For instance, it made me wonder why Surinamese people speak Dutch as their native language. Why do I hear Dutch music in most of the shops, and why is Surinamese not officially a language? Unfortunately, these questions cannot be easily answered by “yes” or “no”, they take more depth. It all has to do with a history which shapes today’s reality.

No stress, even in a car crash?!

One of the remarkable things I noticed during my stay in Surinam, is the relatively low level of stress amongst the residents. A taxi driver who took us places (I will elaborate about this in a bit, so hang on) told us that most of the Surinamese residents barely experience stress. Not when they are broke, experience corruption or are in the middle of a car crash. Slow down, in the middle of a car crash?! Honestly, the taxi driver, as well as I, did experience some stress when we ended up in a car crash. Our Guardian Angels must have been attentive, since there wasn’t much damage afterwards. There was some car damage, but not any physical damage, and most importantly, minimal mental damage. Sadly, stupid accidents like these often happen due to the relatively weak level of infrastructure in the country.

Hey, beautiful babies

Finally, I’ll end this blog post by honouring the beauty of my ‘’home’’, Surinam. This beauty includes some of the most gorgeous babies I’ve ever seen, the sociable and content people, besides the warm tropical rain showers. Moreover, we shouldn’t forget plenty of unmodified nature, amazing food and the persevere and constructive vibe, few years after the declaration of independence.

Now, I might have tickled you a bit to visit Surinam and shout ‘’I Heart SU’’ as loud as you can (at least, you should be). However, I suggest you, educate yourself first on the history of whatever country you plan to put feet on. In this way, we learn from the past, in order to evolve the present.

To make this educational movement easy and enjoyable, I provided some hotspots (the taxi driver drove me to), for the country of Surinam. Furthermore, don’t forget to take a look at my previous blog post (SHE FROM THE JUNGLE – Survival Guide for the Tropics of SU) if you haven’t already. In this manner, we’ll slay the holiday karaoke by not only singing ‘’Survivor’’ by Destiny’s Child, but also ‘’It’s beginning to look a lot like A TROPICAL Christmas’’.

7 colors of the rainbow equal 7 hotspots in Surinam

1. Berg en Dal