“I inherited my loose hips from Madagascar!” says Eveline. Her father is Dutch, but no one would guess that she also has Madagascan blood through her mother. “Thirty years ago, my father visited a friend in Madagascar and came into contact with my mother, who wanted to learn English. That’s how the spark was ignited. He returned to Madagascar often after that and wrote many love letters; very old-fashioned.” Her mother came to the Netherlands, to Nijmegen. “It wasn’t a very diverse environment. So I always felt Dutch, but there wasn’t really any room for the Madagascan side of me. When people asked me where I was from and I said Dutch, they would then ask me ‘where I was really from’. But there was no room to discover other cultures or anything like that. I think that’s a shame. Because there were others with different cultures at my school. But there was no room for that either. We could have been more open to it and embraced it.”
Double blood
As she got older, she became more drawn to her roots in Madagascar. “I went to study in Tilburg, and there I noticed that I sought more contact with people of color. I was also always more attracted to big cities like Rotterdam and Amsterdam. In Rotterdam, my roots simply came to the fore more.”
Her exchange to Malaysia and subsequent travels to Asian countries further increased her awareness of her identity. “There, they thought I was from there. That’s when I really realized that I don’t look Dutch. That got the ball rolling on questions about my identity. That’s how I came to acknowledge my dual heritage more.
Rotterdam street scene
After six months, she returned to Tilburg. She immediately started looking for a place to live in Rotterdam, even though she was now studying in Utrecht. “I had no reason to live here, but it’s a feeling: I’d actually had it for a long time. I just felt more at home here.” The main reason is the street scene. “I like seeing the diversity on the streets instead of the stereotypical Dutch street scene. It makes me realize that I’m not the only one who isn’t completely Dutch.” In addition, there is something for everyone to do. “The calendar of activities here is so broad… it helps you discover yourself and other people.”
For her parents, the move to Rotterdam came as a surprise. “At first, they thought it was dangerous. But I thought: I’ve been abroad for six months now; I can handle anything.” She has been living here for a few months now. “I was very happy when I arrived here. And then I thought: what now? I had some trouble finding my place. Fortunately, I had a friend who already lived here. She is Filipino and has many international friends and sometimes takes me out. I want to get to know more people. That’s why I’m also looking for a part-time job.”
Getting more out of Madagascar
Despite her awareness that she comes from Madagascar and has dual roots, those roots are not yet very evident in everyday life. “There’s more to it than that,” Eveline acknowledges. She has visited Madagascar a few times. “It’s very different from the Netherlands. The first thing that comes to mind is the warmth. People there are very welcoming; they immediately invite you in for coffee. Here, people are more reserved. They don’t just prepare dinner for strangers. People there are also always positive; they always say that everything will be okay.”
In addition to that warmth and positive vibes, she also inherited her mother’s loose hips. “I dance every day! And I listen to the music from there from time to time; the tropical sounds and the language. I sometimes try to use words from the Malagasy language with my mother to keep it alive.”
Still, she doesn’t want to move to Madagascar. “I would like to visit family. But for that, I need to learn the language better.” But she’s doing all that in Rotterdam. “I hope I can find a good job here when I graduate.”