North to Paradise

by Ousman Umar

One of the judges solemnly read a text asking if I agreed to be Spanish and join this family. “Spanish? No,” I answered. “I want to be Catalan.” Of course, I had no idea that there was a conflict between the Spanish government and Catalans who want to be independent from Spain. I wanted to be Catalan because my family spoke Catalan, not Spanish, and I wanted to be part of my family. I didn’t have any political motivation. As if we were talking about Walas and Dagombas, it seemed strange to me that if my parents were from the Catalan tribe, they would make me become part of the Spanish tribe. Imagine: a seventeen-year-old boy, recently arrived from Ghana, in a Spanish courtroom, saying he wants to be Catalan. It was so strange that everyone fell absolutely silent. No one moved a muscle. As the seconds passed, I realized that I must have said something extremely offensive. But after a few moments of seemingly endless silence, astonishment, and confused looks, people’s lips began to curve upward, and soon everyone in the courtroom was laughing.