By @xojouri
Dear Libya,
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully explain what you mean to me.
Being mixed is a feeling that is difficult to put into words. It’s growing up with different parts of yourself, belonging to more than one place, yet sometimes feeling like you’re not entirely understood by either. It’s carrying pieces of different worlds within you, trying to find where each piece belongs.
But one thing I’ve always known is that I’ve longed for you. I’ve longed to know you, to experience you, to walk your streets and feel a sense of familiarity in places I may have never even been.
I’ve only had the chance to visit you once, yet somehow you’ve always felt like so much more than a place I’ve been to. It’s strange to miss a place I’ve barely had the chance to know, a place I haven’t had the opportunity to make many memories in. There are so many so many experiences I wish I could say were part of my childhood.
My Libyan roots will always be a part of me, regardless of where I grew up or how much of your culture I’ve had the chance to experience. You are part of me, even in the moments when I feel farthest away from you.
I hope one day I get to know you in all the ways I’ve dreamed of. I hope that one day, being there feels like coming home.
Until then, I’ll carry you with me.
Because no matter how many places make up who I am or how many cultures I belong to, it will ever change the fact that a part of my heart has always belonged to you.