Americanah

Doris and Ifemelu attend a meeting at the Nigerpolitan. As she talks to fellow returnees about smoothies and natural hair, Ifemelu is struck by the “righteousness in her voice, in all their voices” (502). They commiserate over the loss of fast internet, good customer service, and NPR. The returnees discuss restaurants with Western-style options in Lagos, and Ifemelu feels caught between two worlds. She is happy to be back in the land of Nigerian cooking, “but she longed, also, for the things she had become used to in America” (503), like quinoa and feta cheese. The other returnees rag on Nigerian movies, but Ifemelu defends them. “The urge to be contrarian was strong” (504).

She leaves the meeting, missing Obinze and feeling out of place even among those most like herself. 

Ifemelu goes on a boat trip with her friends, and finds herself thinking, “I’m really home. I’m home” (506). She has developed a routine, going to work, the gym, and meeting up with friends. Yet, she is still not content. Working at Zoe “stifled her” (506), and she is bored by the interviews she must conduct with wealthy, boring women.