This book tells the story of young Tété-Michel’s journey from Togo to Greenland, where he spent around two years before returning to Africa. It’s an incredible story. This African teenager saw a map of Greenland in his village and decided to go there. It took him eight years to get to the island, working odd jobs and meeting extraordinary people who helped him on his quest. There too, after the initial shock of seeing a black man arrive one afternoon, he was welcomed by the villagers, who were so proud to have him in their home. He will carefully observe and note all the traditions and daily differences between the life of these people and that of his country of origin. On his return to Africa, he will be regarded as a hero, spreading knowledge of this distant and very different place across the continent. A wonderful journey through this book to discover another way of life.
All the time she was talking, Jakobina was serving us coffee, after which she brought in some reindeer fat. Each of us cut off a piece and put it in his hot coffee with or without sugar, laced with akvavit; I did the same. As it melts, the fat forms little oily circles on the surface. After the coffee is drunk, there is a little fat left in the bottom of the cup, which you take out with a spoon and swallow with a lump of sugar. “How do you like it?” Knud asked me. “It’s very good!”.
Original Title : L’Africain du Groenland
Translated from French