“Why would you leave a place like Madagascar and come to the United Kingdom?” he asked me when I tried to network during a meeting of students at the university. “To study,” I answered simply as I was shy and still struggling to use the English language properly to express everything I had in mind. How could he understand in one sentence or even more why I left my beloved sunny home for a far-away cold Northern place, away from my loved ones and everything I have ever known? I couldn’t even understand it myself. I just felt that this would be my journey. My thirst for knowledge and my curiosity led me there. Above all, I came to live a new experience. After attending a conference at the University of Manchester, most of the students went for a tour of the Manchester Stadium or the Football Museum. Only a few of them were interested in visiting the Manchester Museum, I was part of that group. Built in the 19th century when Manchester was considered Britain’s second city, I was eager to know more about one of the best museums in Manchester. Stepping inside the museum brought me ten years back in time when I was a schoolgirl. I was able to explore the ancient period with my own eyes and not through books anymore, discovering different fragments of the past from the Jurassic era of the dinosaurs to the prehistorical period. Massive fossils of dinosaurs were showcased at each corner of the ground floor, mesmerizing the visitors and urging those accompanied with children to take a selfie with those famous creatures. After spending some exciting moments recalling what I had learned a decade before at school, I headed upstairs, more curious about what this place could offer me. I felt colder as I entered the Vivarium on the first floor. This Live collection featured some of the wildlife from tropical countries. Coming from a tropical country myself, I enjoyed exploring this indoor green area where the different living habitats reflected the humid tropical environment. Most of the creatures were reptiles and amphibians, especially frogs from Latin America. To my great surprise, some of them, for instance, the golden poison dart frogs were poisonous. I also got slightly scared by the green tree python even if it wasn’t moving. After looking around for a few minutes, I spotted a familiar creature. I approached to see what was on display and there, I could not believe my eyes. An island in the South East of Africa was highlighted. I could read: “Distribution habitat: North and Eastern Madagascar”. Madagascar. I felt like I was winning the lottery. I wanted to shout out loud and guide visitors to this specific spot that would introduce them to my home country. This big colorful lizard that Malagasy children love to transport on bamboo sticks was now on the trunk of a tiny tree, inside a glass container, with a Fijian banded iguana as a neighbor and surrounded by Costa Rican and Panamanian frogs. What I could read was: “Panther Chameleon... Chameleons change color for territorial display, for camouflage, or according to their emotions” I couldn’t help but think of all the way this chameleon had gone to arrive in the industrial city of Manchester and all the changes that it had encountered from the clumsy hands of joyful children to the advanced laboratory equipment of researchers. Its adaptative skills surely helped it to survive in this new environment. Indeed, everything here was unusual for both of us, from historical art galleries, fancy party venues, the trendy Shopping heaven, the famous Old Trafford Stadium and the Etihad Stadium owned by Manchester United and Manchester City, respectively. It was a vibrant and lively place mixing art, fashion and sports. And what skyscrapers! At that moment, we were just two Malagasy creatures who found each other in a foreign place, an appealing environment that was so different from our cozy warm home. Staring at this chameleon for a couple of minutes while nobody else could understand my emotions, I felt highly delighted to be there. For a couple of minutes far away from home, it felt like home.