Natachi

Last day in Dakar - what jollof taught me about people.

Natachi might be one of the coolest people I’ve ever met.

It’s a dangerous thing to say because earlier this year, I said the same thing about Tanya. And every time I say it, I mean it.

But that’s the same way I feel about jollof rice.

I grew up on Nigerian jollof, and for the longest time, that was my only understanding of it. Until I tasted Ghanaian jollof and preached about it like a convert. Then I learned how to cook thieboudienne in Senegal, and something shifted again.

Suddenly, I wasn’t choosing sides.

I wasn’t comparing anymore.

I was understanding.

Naija. Ghana. Senegal.

Similar foundations. Different journeys. None less worthy.

That’s Natachi.

And that’s Tanya.

It was my last day in Dakar. I was supposed to go to the beach I wanted to make sure I had the best of it before leaving. I knew Natachi was still in the city, and I felt we had to meet, even if it was briefly. For some reason, she had postponed her flight a couple of times. I can’t lie, it felt divinely aligned.

We met at Loman Art in Ouakam, an art gallery and creative space holding so much expression within its walls. It felt like the perfect place to meet someone like her. Creative. Observant. Intentional.

She felt familiar, very familiar. Like someone I could have grown up with. Our interests were so similar that my inner child felt free around her. I couldn’t stop talking.

From there, we took a boat to Ngor Island to meet Marian and Isa, two people I had also met in Dakar and shared beautiful moments with. The Atlantic air was soft, and we had some of the best fish by the beach. Simple. Fresh. Honest.

Maybe that’s why the conversations felt the way they did

.

She’s very close to being a natural mystic like me. The kind of person who doesn’t ask surface questions. She asks the ones that make you pause. The ones that gently open doors you didn’t know were locked.

There’s a Japanese proverb that says we all have three faces:

The one we show the world.

The one we show our friends and family.

And the one only we know.

When Bob Marley said you can run from everything but you can’t run from yourself, I think he meant that third face.

That’s the face I showed her.

And she saw me.

Not in a dramatic way. Not in a therapy-session way. Just in a human way.

She brought out her camera often. Not performative at all. In my head, I understood it. I’m the same way, I don’t ever want to lose the moment. I want to remember.

She’s free. You can tell. She doesn’t exist for anyone but herself.

And I saw her too.

I love Tanya.

I love my new friend Natachi.

And I love jollof, all of it.

Because at the end of the day, it was never about the jollof.

You can love both ways and still be free

Because you realization that appreciation doesn’t require comparison.