You are your country

It is not like we are talking about some jungle in Brazil or something, he lives in Norway, The German said to the person on the other end of the phone. She chatted with her caller for the next 10mins, oblivious  of the effect her statement had on her Brazilian team-mate.

The Brazilian was so mad that her beloved Brazil was likened to a jungle, she wrote boldly on a sheet of paper which she held up to my eyes that Brazil is not a jungle, she came up with all the things Brazil is not and sent as an email to me. It was my ears which listened to the rant, it was my eyes which saw the disclaimers;all these the German was not aware of. She was so angry and she made the one statement Nigerians are fond of saying, I am the only one who can insult my country not the German or any other non-Brazilian.

Her rants got no sympathy from me neither did the comment of the German arouse any anger in me.
My reasons;
Ever since I met the Brazilian, she has never had any good thing to say about her country, her hatred for Brazil is well documented in the ears of the German and I. I have listened to her rant and wondered if it is the same country  my Brazilian flatmate in India resigned from a awesome paying job in India to relocate back to Brazil for. From all her description of Brazil, the nation is no better than India or our darling Nigeria.
I always listen with my mouth agape at how much venom she spits about her birth nation.

Every time , the Brazilian opens her mouth to castigate her nation, I see the countless faces of Nigerians who castigate the motherland to foreigners. To them, the nation shall be up to no good. It is even a disease to be associated with such nation. If it was possible, they would deny the country.
Unfortunately they still have to carry the cross of the Nigerian passport and in the case of my friend here the Brazilian passport.

Now she is suddenly patriotic the moment the German called her nation a jungle.
Yet she has forgotten the days when she had opened her stupid mouth to complain about the government and the people of her nation, the German mentally took note of how much disregard she has for her country.
With this in mind, the German did not think twice or have any problem calling Brazil a jungle because she did not ever think the Brazilian would mind or be offended at all.

I actually wonder why some people having nothing to good to say  about or do for their country. Yes, your country is a mess, what have you done about it. What have you done to make things work in that country you complain about. That country you are running to or blabbing about is great today because of the actions and sweat of its citizens. You will also do your part in making this adopted nation of yours great, but would never lift a finger to make the one nation which has given you an identity, great. If you do not have any thing good to say, why not just shut up or better still do something about it.

I once read somewhere that, 'You can love your country without having to love your government.
Till we start respecting our nation, till we stop castigating our nations in the face of foreigners, they will never show any regard for you or your nation.


Kisses from Bonn
♥ Lara