Annie Q Syed

Disclaimer: Although there exist exceptions to all types of generalizations and stereotypes, they remain exceptions; therefore, until the exceptions stand out to the extent that they defy the rule, the majority determines the actuality. That being said, I am grateful to know some anomalies who also happen to be my friends who are exceptional beacons for their communities and countries. Moreover, this article is at best a prologue to a possible research paper in need of further substantiating research.

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This true story belongs in the collection Nectar of the Ordinary.  This piece will come after the “Note”  which a few of you have read.  This is my first finished piece for Nectar of the Ordinary which was intentional. The piece titled “Dawn & Anowar” was not originally meant for Nectar of the Ordinary but I decided it belonged there rightfully (minus some content editing).

Honestly, my only motivation for actually completing this is because I have lost the email address and phone number of the woman to whom this story belongs.

~a.q.s.

First Sap: “The End.”

It doesn’t take that long, about one and a half hour, for the breakfast crowd to clear out from Café Nescafé in Sunninghill, a suburb of Johannesburg, and then I am finally alone. This is followed by a small crowd for brunch or lunch. And then they too leave. The average Saturday or Sunday was always the right amount of busy. It served as a quiet space where I could write. Or attempt. It had just the adequate amount of bustle, which is to say, the least amount of distractions for me.

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South Africa, with or without the awareness required by majority of its citizens on this topic, is silently defining who is an “African”…

These two articles are befitting the age old discussion: what does it mean to be an American…

and what I discovered this time around in S.A.: what does it mean to be an African…given the xenophobia against Africans from other countries…

Africa 2009: Identity, Citizenship, and Nation Building by M. Mawere

and from the Christmas 2009 Edition of The Economist:

Going to America: The Greatest Strength About America Is That People Want To Live Here