<span>I</span><span>f the US actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish ever visits Abu Dhabi, I am going to ask her out for dinner – not in the hope of having some romantic connection</span><span> with her or </span><span>envisaging a slap</span><span>-up, celebrity-inspired feast, but </span><span>as a thank you to her for putting our </span><span>home in north-eastern Africa</span><span> on the map.</span> <span>I always felt Eritrea deserved its own </span><span><em>Bambi</em></span><span> moment, and by that I mean an event of cultural relevance that would permanently change perceptions.</span> <span>Before </span><span><em>Bambi</em></span><span>, people often thought of the agile deer as a somewhat aloof creature. But following the success of the 1942 animated film and its subsequent legacy, giving a deer a mean sideways glance is akin to scowling at a baby.</span> <span>Haddish’s star appeal, combined with her arrival at this week’s Oscars in regal traditional Eritrean clothing as a tribute to her father’s heritage, has prompted people to start researching the country, which is just as well, because I am done with explaining it. </span> <span>Not a week has gone by in the </span><span>past seven years that I haven't been quizzed on my heritage, </span><span>and because Eritrea is off the beaten track, it has never been a swift exchange, often mushrooming into a lesson on geography and socio-politics. That's if we even get past the pronunciation. For some reason – perhaps it was a bureaucratic error that stuck – whenever I have travelled throughout the region during my seven-year stint here, Eritrea has always been mispronounced. From Beirut to Casablanca, it has been given an extra syllable and called "Eri-te-ri-ya".</span> <strong><a href="https://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/fashion/why-tiffany-haddish-s-oscar-outfit-is-so-important-for-the-eritrean-diaspora-1.710780">READ MORE: A guide to Tiffany Haddish's Eritrean dress</a></strong> <span>Once that’s promptly corrected, it’s on to the location game. Depending on how much time I have, I provide the short version – “it’s on the coast of Ethiopia” – or if my inquisitor is helplessly marooned, then I will paint them a mental picture starting with the Horn of Africa, before zeroing in on the country.</span> <span>I recall one evening while having dinner with friends at Al Wahda Mall, I had to use utensils – the fork was Ethiopia, the knife Eritrea and a couple of stained tea cups </span><span>were made into Somalia and Sudan.</span> <span>As a child migrant in Australia in the early 1990s, my personal knowledge of my mother country was scant at best – all I knew was the place was in ruins because of war and they probably had no decent television shows for kids.</span> <span>So I did what kids do when bereft of ideas – I bent the truth. </span><span>Because I wasn't in the same school every four years when the World Cup rolled around, my nationality depended on which team was performing well in the football </span><span>at the time. My friends at Kensington Primary School </span><span>in 1990 thought I was from Cameroon (I even gracefully accepted their congratulations for "us" beating Argentina), while to those at Therry College, I was that dude from Nigeria. </span> <span>With the advent of the internet and Google Maps, the </span><span>gig was up by </span><span>2000 and I had to go on my endless explanation campaign once more. All of this would have been easier, if our cuisine hadn't become so popular.</span> <span><strong>____________</strong></span> <strong>Read more from Saeed:</strong> <strong><a href="https://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/comment/spring-in-the-uae-a-time-filled-with-regret-and-guilt-1.707183">Spring in the UAE: A time filled with regret and guilt</a></strong> <strong><a href="https://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/comment/emirati-love-songs-discuss-matters-of-the-heart-in-the-classy-way-1.704908">Emirati love songs discuss matters of the heart in the classy way</a></strong> <strong><a href="https://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/comment/abu-dhabi-street-cricket-evokes-a-deluge-of-memories-1.698684">Abu Dhabi street cricket evokes a deluge of memories</a></strong><br/> <strong>____________ </strong> <span>Now that we are in the midst of the "Haddish Effect", here is hoping her rising stardom will land her a role in the sequel to </span><span><em>Black Panther</em></span><span>, then we can stop all that explaining and perhaps get a few </span><span>children to tell their fellow students they are also Eritrean.</span>