Kpomassie's book is something I need to read. I have travelled to both sub-Saharan West Africa and to Baffin Island opposite Greenland. I encountered African immigrants on Baffin Island and wondered what led them to travel so far to a place so different. Just the extreme change in climate would need courage. My friends in West Africa often wore padded coats and knitted hats in the mildly cool early mornings of the sub-Saharan dry season, and I remember one of them saying to me, while rubbing his hands to warm them on one such morning, "Now we are in Canada!" On the other hand, the Inuit of Baffin Island informed me that even going to the southern part of Canada was too hot for them and that to cool off during Baffin Island's brief chilly summers, they swam in the river supplied by a nearby glacier.
Kpomassie's book is something I need to read. I have travelled to both sub-Saharan West Africa and to Baffin Island opposite Greenland. I encountered African immigrants on Baffin Island and wondered what led them to travel so far to a place so different. Just the extreme change in climate would need courage. My friends in West Africa often wore padded coats and knitted hats in the mildly cool early mornings of the sub-Saharan dry season, and I remember one of them saying to me, while rubbing his hands to warm them on one such morning, "Now we are in Canada!" On the other hand, the Inuit of Baffin Island informed me that even going to the southern part of Canada was too hot for them and that to cool off during Baffin Island's brief chilly summers, they swam in the river supplied by a nearby glacier.
Acclimation is almost as fascinating as acculturation. You get both in Kpomassie! It really is a remarkable memoir.
I don't believe I could do Crossings, the scene changes would be too much for me.
It was challenging the whole way through :) Such an odd way to tell a story.
Cant wait to read them both!
They’re excellent. You won’t be disappointed.