About November 26, 2008

A wise woman (with whom I spent my most cozy and carefree nine months to date) once explained ‘global nomads’ as people who can’t answer, “Where are you from?”, in one breath.

Instead, they seek clarification — “In terms of birth, citizenship, or current residence?”, “Do you mean my parents?” — or inhale deeply and launch into a convoluted response resembling the biography of a pinball.

My own such response typically involves a combination of “born in Tasmania”, “mum’s Australian but was born in New Zealand”, “dad’s Indian from Singapore”, “moved back and forth between Asia, Australia, and the U.S.”, “worked with youth in Romania, Slovakia, Bosnia, and Kosovo”, “grad school in the UK”, “volunteered in India”, and “met and married my husband in Israel”.

A fellow “TCK“, his cultural identity lands him somewhere at the intersection of the world’s best home-cooked baghali polow , ruz bukhari, and poutine.  Imagine a teenager standing before an all-boys classroom reciting sacred verses in the desert one week, and having to trek through an unfamiliar cold, white, powdery substance to get to class (make that a co-ed, swimming, P.E. class!) the next.  Add in an adorable younger sister (let’s call her Maram) who spent her first weeks in that foreign land lamenting the injustices wrought by a new kindergarten teacher who spoke in strange tongues (i.e. Québécois) and, though they had committed no sin, sent the good kids along with the naughty ones into the “the freezer” (read: recess in a Montreal winter). Well, you get the picture… lots of adjusting and growth and learning for sure!

All of this has resulted in a very mixed family of nomads, and a treasury of remarkable friends scattered across the globe.  My hope is that this site will offer a sampling of the insights and observations gained through our interactions with them, and that it will serve as a platform for exchanging opinions and views with new friends.

– Karina Purushotma Etminani