What's up, people? I smile to myself as I greet before this way, instead of saying As Salam Alaikum, the typical Muslim greeting. I blame my lover Stefano Saint-Mathieu for that. The tall, burly and roughly handsome Haitian has a certain effect on me, what can I say? The things I do for love, I guess. My name is Maimuna Jibril and I'm a tall, curvy and sexy, 36-year-old ( in a couple of months I will be 37 ) Somali Muslim immigrant woman living in the City of Ottawa, Ontario. Got another extremely hot story to share with you.
The other day, Stefano and I went to the City of Gatineau, Quebec, and visited the Canadian Museum of Civilizations. Truth be told, I was nervous about going into the region of Quebec because French Canadians, unlike the rest of Canada, are quite outspoken in their hatred for visible minorities, especially Muslims. Now, don't get me wrong, white Canadians of all stripes hate minorities, and hide it behind their fake smiles but French Canadians are very open about it.
I'm a Hijab-wearing and dark-skinned woman with a foreign accent, Quebec definitely isn't the place for me. Stefano told me that it was time to face my fears, and promised me that he'd protect me if things got dicey. I was still nervous but with Stefano's assurances, I decided to take a chance. Life's a risk, after all. Might as well live a little instead of playing it safe all the damn time. Don't you agree?
Stefano was born on the island of Haiti and raised in provincial Ontario, Canada. The brother speaks English and French without any discernible accents. He's as Canadian as anyone. Me? I feel awkward at times. The French I learned from my cousins in the Republic of Djibouti is quite different from what Canadians speak. I speak Parisian French and it's completely and utterly different from Quebecer French, which is hard on my ears, to tell you the truth.
Hand in hand, Stefano and I boarded the number eight OC Transpo bus at the Rideau Shopping Center and sat in the middle. The bus ride from downtown Ottawa to Gatineau didn't take long, and the Museum of Civilizations was right there on the border between the small town of Gatineau, Quebec, and the City of Ottawa, Ontario. I smiled to myself, and felt contentment and peace as Stefano took my hand and brought it to his lips. The Haitian stud is so romantic, quite unlike the Somali guys I grew up.
As a Muslim woman, raised in Somalia, an Islamic country, I'm not used to romance. I'm not saying that we Muslims don't love, we're as human as anyone else. I'm just saying that in Islamic countries, the rules of behavior for men and women are strict, and prevent us from doing certain things. Marriages are arranged, and dating isn't something that we do. I was wedded to my long-dead husband Ali and produced a daughter, Amina, whom I loved, but I never felt romantic love for my husband although I cared about him.