Perles d'Afrique

Five minutes which have changed my day…

On my way to Buckingham for Trooping the colour parade I stopped to buy some couscous spices. I entered a shop. The shop name was written in Arabic, so I hoped to find what I was looking for. The music sounded familiar to me… something which reminds home. It was the recitation of the Koran. I tried to find the spices by myself but I could not, so I asked an Indian seller. Surprised he showed me the precious treasures.

I will be ready for Sunday's cuisine!

When I went to pay I told the lady how happy I was. She asked me how I was going to prepare the couscous.  I said that it is an Algerian one.  Then, a man beside me asked if I knew Oran and Annaba, two of the most beautiful towns in Algeria. He was Algerian!  He thought I was from his country and I said I was French. At the same time, another man came and asked: “Do you speak French?” He explained that he used to speak it when he was in his country Somalia. They had to work so our discussion ended with smiles and lightly faces.

Five minutes.

I started again on my scooter, the memory of their faces in front of me. I realized that those five minutes had changed my day! I felt a foreigner with foreigners, a refugee with refugees. We had shared the best of our origin or love: North African culture (food, music and religion).