The House Split Between Two Countries

Some people go to bed in one country and wake up in another. Tag the friend who cannot pick a favorite country. In a small town between Belgium and the Netherlands, the border does not run around the houses. It runs straight through them.

Watu wengine hulala usiku nchi moja na kuamka nchi nyingine. Mtaje rafiki asiyeweza kuchagua nchi anayoipenda zaidi. Katika mji mdogo kati ya Ubelgiji na Uholanzi, mpaka haupiti kuzunguka nyumba. Hupita moja kwa moja ndani yake.

The line between the two countries zigzags through streets, gardens, and living rooms, because of old land deals between local lords centuries ago. When it cuts through a front door, the house gets two street numbers, one for each country. People here decide which country a house belongs to by checking where the front door sits.

Mstari kati ya nchi hizo mbili hupinda kupitia barabara, bustani na sebule za nyumba, kwa sababu ya mikataba ya zamani ya ardhi kati ya machifu wa eneo hilo karne nyingi zilizopita. Unapopita kwenye mlango wa mbele, nyumba hupata namba mbili za barabara, moja kwa kila nchi. Watu hapa huamua nyumba ni ya nchi gani kwa kuangalia mlango wa mbele uko wapi.

For years, families sometimes moved their front door a few steps to one side, just enough to land in whichever country charged lower taxes that year. One house has its front door exactly on the line. Nobody has ever agreed which country that family belongs to, and nobody seems to mind.

Kwa miaka, familia nyingine wakati mwingine walihamisha mlango wao wa mbele hatua chache upande mmoja, kiasi cha kutosha kuingia katika nchi yoyote iliyokuwa na kodi ndogo zaidi mwaka huo. Nyumba moja ina mlango wake wa mbele kwenye mstari halisi. Hakuna aliyewahi kukubaliana familia hiyo ni ya nchi gani, na hakuna anayeonekana kujali.