A few days ago, I was walking home, after coffee with a friend. A stranger called out to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stranger<\/strong>: Hello, my brother. Let me guess, you\u2019re from Brazil?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me<\/strong>: [slowing down]…No, but I\u2019ll give you another chance<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stranger<\/strong>: Portugal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me<\/strong>: ..Okay, two more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stranger<\/strong>: South America, Egypt?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me<\/strong>: Nope. Okay, my turn… Nigeria?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stranger<\/strong>: That side of Africa. Go West<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me<\/strong>: Benin…?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stranger<\/strong>: More West…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me<\/strong>: Mauritania….? Okay, I give up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Stranger<\/strong>: Gambia<\/p>\n\n\n\n [I guess the game was over, but he kept speaking]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stranger:<\/strong> I came here through mountains and forests. I got to Italy from Libya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me<\/strong>: I read Libya was three separate tribes, before Euro colonists drew borders. And also that slave markets still operate there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n [A half-remembered thing my brain produced since curiosity got there before sensitivity.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stranger<\/strong>: …yes. It\u2019s a very dangerous place. There\u2019s a lot of trafficking<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me<\/strong>: What\u2019s your name?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stranger<\/strong>: …Yankuba. I wanted to ask if you could help me buy some food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me<\/strong>: Okay, I can get you a few things if you tell me what you need. But hang back while I pop into the supermarket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n [I’m a Londoner. Directness is a reflex]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yankuba<\/strong>: My brother, thank you so much. I\u2019m living in a camp now, five or six bunks in a tiny space. And I came here with just the clothes on my back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me<\/strong>: Who brought you here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yankuba<\/strong>:\u00a0 Smugglers, big business. \u20ac300 each. 120 people on my boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me<\/strong>: Shit. That\u2019s \u20ac36k<\/p>\n\n\n\n [Again, not the most sensitive response. When someone is being super open, my brain feels permission to inquire about systems and incentives. Trying to make sense of it all.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yankuba<\/strong>: …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me<\/strong>: What can I get you from the shop?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yankuba<\/strong>: Tuna. It lasts a long time. How much would you allow?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me<\/strong>: I have around \u20ac40 till the end of the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yankuba<\/strong>: That\u2019s all? Then brother, don\u2019t worry. I don\u2019t want to use this money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Me<\/strong>: No it\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [For context, I’d spent a third of my \u20ac120 weekly go-crazy allowance on CeraVe the day before]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inside Continente, I wandered past the shelves looking for something more substantial than a collection of tins. I found the hot-meals section, picked up half a roasted chicken, and then added a large can of tuna…the thing that would last. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Outside, I handed the food to Yankuba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yankuba<\/strong>: Thank you, my brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me<\/strong>: Take care of yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We wished each other well, then walked away in opposite directions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A few days ago, I was walking home, after coffee with a friend. A stranger called out to me. Stranger: Hello, my brother. Let me guess, you\u2019re from Brazil? Me: [slowing down]…No, but I\u2019ll give you another chance Stranger: Portugal? Me: ..Okay, two more. Stranger: South America, Egypt? Me: Nope. Okay, my turn… Nigeria? Stranger: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-excerpts"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imruls.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imruls.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imruls.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imruls.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imruls.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=917"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/imruls.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":923,"href":"https:\/\/imruls.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917\/revisions\/923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imruls.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imruls.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imruls.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}