Orphelin du bled

About the experience

The narrator describes the journey from Canada to their family's village in Kabylie, Algeria, traveling by plane via Paris CDG, while contrasting it with their cousins' experience traveling from France by car and ferry.

The arrival in Algeria

• Flight on June 26 with brother, arriving at Houari Boumédiène airport
• Expects entire family to greet them with flowers but only one uncle shows up, holding a small white cup of black coffee and a Marlboro
• Two-hour drive to the village in Kabylie without air conditioning, suffocating from the heat
• In the uncle's car, radio is forbidden to turn on—he sings Aznavour, Brel, and Joe Dassin for the entire ride
• Eldest cousin watches from the terrace and opens the gate as the car approaches
• Younger cousins jump on them, older cousins help carry suitcases
• Grandmother gives a kiss and a brief but firm hug lasting less than two seconds—this says she missed them
• Aunt sets the table because they waited for them to eat

The cousins' journey from France

• Uncle from France travels the same day but takes longer—crosses the Mediterranean by boat instead of flying
• They can't afford plane tickets for everyone; the boat is cheaper and allows them to bring their car
• Their trip mirrors the song "Tonton du bled"—they leave from Audincourt in a red Peugeot 806 (not a blue 504 break)
• Suitcases so heavy the car nearly scrapes the ground because the aunt shops for months in advance to buy gifts for everyone
• Nearly seven hours of driving from Audincourt to the port of Marseille with almost no breaks—the uncle stresses and avoids rest stops
• Arriving in Marseille means chaotic traffic to the port and at least four hours of waiting before boarding the car
• At the port, the uncle honks to the rhythm of "Tahia Djazaïr" and other drivers join in—after two hours it becomes unbearable
• They meet friends everywhere—on the road, at the port, on the boat—it feels like the whole neighborhood leaves for the homeland at once

The daily beach ritual

• Wake up around noon; aunt already preparing dinner
• Uncle from France goes to the village café to chat with men
• Must finish eating before 2 PM because they have an hour's drive to the beach
• Prefer arriving before 4 PM to catch the strong sun, coat themselves in olive oil to tan well
• Don't go in the morning because the uncle would have to buy food there and can't afford to feed the entire group
• Each child gets half a pack of wafer cookies as a snack, warned not to ask for anything else if hungry—so they fill up before leaving
• Aunt often makes grilled sardines, everyone's favorite
• Mehdi walks to the café to tell the uncle they're ready
• 806 seats seven but they're twelve—smallest sit on laps in back, others find spots on the floor

Music and shared imagination

• Cousins collect Planète Rap CDs and introduce the narrator to Wallen, Booba, Rohff, Sinik, Psy4 de la Rime—later this replaces the American music popular in Quebec
• Their unanimous favorite is "Unité" by La Fouine, sung in chorus
• Nassim explains the lyrics: "Because in our hands they placed guns, because in towers our mothers are crammed, because too many of our brothers serve long sentences, because in the shit it's always the same ones hanging around, because we're nothing if we don't unite, because too many suffer anonymously"—he says this is their life in France
• Nassim teaches that inequalities cross borders

Choosing the beach: Tigzirt versus Azeffoun

• At the sign: right to Azeffoun (family-friendly sandy beaches with shallow water) and left to Tigzirt (coves, rocks, chebika, fishing, periwinkles)
• They all chant "Tigzirt!" in unison because they love the rocks and coves
• This year the narrator's mother bought plastic sandals from Walmart to protect against sea urchins
• Uncle teases them by pretending to turn right toward Azeffoun—they scream "nooooo!" and when he goes left to Tigzirt, they shout with joy—same scenario every day, uncle relishes their reactions

The narrator's own experience and comparison

• When telling their own travel story, they feel alone—unlike the cousins, their entire neighborhood doesn't follow them; they might be the only Maghrebis in their Quebec neighborhood
• There's no song that represents their experience, no cultural productions about their life in Quebec
• So they improvise: instead of Tati, they go to Dollarama; instead of chocolate and camembert, they bring maple syrup bottles shaped like leaves, Irish Spring soap, pajamas, socks
• Instead of the uncle stressing about the drive, their father stresses at the airport about excess baggage—convinced they'll miss their flight even when four hours early
• They share the same sensation: the first blast of hot air stepping off the plane
• Feels jealous of the cousins' stories being in songs—collective, shared
• Adopts their anecdotes as their own: today, listening to "Tonton du bled" gives goosebumps and tears, even though they never drove to Marseille, raided Tati, or took a boat to Algeria