I read Indians on Vacation” – Thomas King. The book had such an impact on me that I thought about it for months.

The book is told in the first person and is narrated by Bird, an Indian descendant of the Cherokee (USA) who is married to Mimi, a descendant of the Blackfoot (Canada).

The couple travels to Prague and Budapest and Bird describes the places they visited in these cities.

Bird is a journalist and Mimi is a visual artist. Mimi is very proud of being indigenous and, therefore, whenever someone asks her where she is from, she says: Blackfoot. To which Bird "corrects" and says that she is Canadian.

Bird is of Greek descent and Cherokee father. He is a bit of a grumpy guy, and tells how he went in search of his parents' origins on other trips, sharing his reflections on understanding his own identity.

Thomas King is SO funny. I laughed several times while rereading the book in Prague and Budapest.

And so that we don't get lost in the book's location (Canada, USA, Greece, Prague, etc.), Bird always says "So, we're in Prague" with a tone of comical boredom.

But why did they go to Prague?

Because Mimi had an uncle named Leroy, also Blackfoot, who had a so-called "crow bag," a bag with indigenous artifacts that was now lost somewhere in Europe.

Uncle Leroy was an adventurous indigenous man who refused to occupy only the reserve space that the Canadian government had given him and who confronted the police who were guarding the reserve's boundaries.

He left for Europe with the Crown bag and Mimi's mission was to find the bag.

The couple is complete opposites: Mimi is excited and happy about everything, Bird is a grump who lives with boredom.

Mimi says that Bird has 5 demons and gives a name to each of them:

Eugene - fear
Cat/Kitty - pessimism
Didi - depression
Desi - despair
Chip - negativity

In truth, we all have demons that we have to deal with all the time. Bird "chooses" to listen to them more often, but despite all the negativity he accompanies Mimi on her adventure through Prague and Budapest.

Places mentioned in the book
Charles Bridge
Monument of the peeing statues, in the Kafka museum
The Franz Kafka museum
The astronomical clock