One of the most beautiful things to know about Nigeria is her multicultural nature. The country has over 300 ethnic groups and more than 500 languages. An interethnic marriage like mine is not uncommon, especially between couples from any of the three major ethnic groups: Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa
I am a Yoruba woman married to an Igbo man. Despite our similarity based of the nationality, the differences between our cultures show forth in the little things like how we pronounce the same English word and the big things like food. It has been a wonderful journey learning about a whole new culture this deeply through my husband and his family. Some of my learnings are observatory like noticing the way the family members show respect to each other. Some other learnings are more direct, like learning how to cook vegetable soup from my sister-in-law.
The first interesting part of this learning was realizing that “vegetable soup” meant very different things in both of our cultures. If someone had asked me to cook vegetable soup, I would have done something entirely different. Having to relearn the process of something I already thought I knew was fascinating. It took a dose of humility to become a learner again.
What probably made the experience the most striking for me was seeing just how different everything was. From the order of the recipe to the type of ingredients used, to the amount of time involved in the process, and of course the taste! Some of the ingredients that were even familiar ended up tasting so different from what I knew. I would never have thought “vegetable soup” could be that different. It made me see just how diverse the human mind can be. And how distinct our approach to seemingly similar goals can be.
