The Person I was in Namibia and the Person I am Now (Ep. 44 - Desperate Housewives) (Patreon)

Suburban housewives, high school choruses, moving away to college -- these are all icons of normalcy. Nothing could be more ordinary and boring and familiar. But what if things were flipped, and the things that Americans take for granted as mundane became unfamiliar, explored, a source of constant strangeness and discovery?

My guest today is Fabian Igiraneza, who became a refugee at the age of three when his family fled the Rwandan Civil War. He grew up in the relative peace of Namibia, but as he grew older, the culture's emphasis on masculine ideals became harder and harder for him to uphold. He knew that he belonged somewhere else -- somewhere more like the foreign TV shows he saw with strong female characters and sensitive boys. He knew he didn't belong where he was. And so he formulated a plan to get out.

Watch video clips we talked about over at SewersOfParis.com.