Suzy Naomie has been living in Sochi for a year now. After Moscow and Siberia, it feels especially like home there. And, while the locals struggle with the 40 degree Celsius humid summer heat typical of Russia’s subtropical region, a girl from Africa is totally fine with this.
All Gabonese history textbooks have the name of her great-grandfather, 'King Denis' (Antchouwé Kowe Rapontchombo). He was the chief of the large Mpongwe tribe, but, later, converted to Christianity and signed a treaty to bring Gabon under French protection.
Personal archive
“When my great-grandfather's name was mentioned in history class, the students would get indignant and call him a traitor. So, I kept quiet and hid my ancestry,” Suzy says of her years in her homeland.
Why Russia?
Suzy Naomie ended up in Russia because of rather dramatic circumstances. In 2007, she enrolled at a medical university in Gabon. And there, she encountered a student gang that humiliated newcomers.
“At first, they didn't touch me, but, one day, they grabbed me, pushed me into a car and wanted to take me somewhere. I jumped out of the car and ran away,” Susi recalls.
Personal archive
The kidnapping scandal became widely known and the hooligans did not touch the girl anymore, but her parents were still worried and decided she should study far away from there.
A relative who had studied in Russia recommended a medical university in Moscow. Suzy chose endocrinology as her specialty, as she wanted to help her mother, who had diabetes.
Difficulties in translation & the first Russian borsch
Studying medicine in Russian turned out to be not so difficult. Suzy already had knowledge of anatomy, chemistry and biology. She caught on to the languages quickly, and other Gabonese students who had already settled in Russia helped.
“If I got lost in the subway, I would call my friend and she would tell me if I was going the right way or not. I went to the store with a dictionary, they quickly got used to me and, as soon as I appeared with a book, the salespeople were already smiling,” she says.
Personal archive
With a smile, Suzy recalls her first visit to the student canteen. She didn't know what to choose, as all the dishes were unfamiliar. That's when the woman at the serving station turned her attention to her and said, “Are you new here?” - “Yes.” - “Then borsch!”
So, borsch became the favorite Russian dish of the African princess.
Russian husband & Russian mother-in-law
A Russian guy once approached Suzy's friend, also an African woman, in the Moscow Metro. He wanted to practice his French. She, however, did not know French, but recommended Suzy.
That's how she met her future husband. He turned out to be an IT guy from Krasnoyarsk. Within six months, he proposed to her, because he worried that, after graduation, the beautiful girl would return to her homeland.
Personal archive
Unfortunately, the couple divorced. But, Suzy gave birth to a beautiful son she named Naum. And he has a real Russian grandmother, who loves him very much and takes him to Siberia every summer.
The relationship with the Russian mother-in-law after the divorce remained excellent. “But, in the beginning, there was a misunderstanding. When my son was 10 months old, she asked me, 'When are you going to start practicing with him?' I replied, ‘At 10 months? Practicing what? Math?’ I was brought up in a different culture: In my family, parents never did homework with their children. I learned everything on my own,” Suzy says.
But, she decided not to get in the way and the grandmother began teaching the child. This year, he started the first grade at school.
‘A Gabonese in Siberia’
That is the name of the book that Suzy wrote in Russian: She was tired of repeating over and over again who she was and where she came from.
For four years, the girl lived with her husband in Siberia, worked as a doctor and traveled for medical examinations in the smallest towns and working villages. She learned to dress like a real Siberian, in many layers.
“Sometimes, I go to places where there is no road in summer and you can pass there only in winter. Oil and gas are extracted there. People, of course, were shocked when they saw me in the middle of the taiga!” Suzy laughs.
Personal archive
Three years ago, Suzy came second in the Krasnoyarsk beauty pageant and she began to be invited to work as a model. Once, she participated in an international photo modeling contest in Sochi.
“When I got off the airplane, I felt like I got home! There are flowers just like ours here. Of course, smaller, but the same banana trees. And some buildings, the architecture is very similar to Libreville, the capital of Gabon.”
Suzy realized she didn't want to leave. She has been living in Sochi for a year now, working as an endocrinologist.
Personal archive
The ‘African princess’ admits that, like many Russian girls, she constantly goes to cosmetologists and goes for beauty treatments. And friends from Gabon always admire her eyebrows and nails. “In Russia, beauty masters are the best in the world!” she says.
The full version of the interview was published in Russian in the ‘Nation’ magazine.
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