Home is where...

....the heart is.

....your family is.

....you sleep.

....you grew up.

I have been pondering lately what makes home, home.

I am heading to Canada in a week and a half. When I tell people this, this is what I say, "I am going home in a week and a half and will return home on October 6th."

What I mean is that I am going to Canada in a week and a half and will be back in Kenya on October 6th.

As I am about to officially become Kenyan (ok I don't know if I will become a citizen or not), I am starting to think about where I will really call home. What will make Kenya my home? Is it my husband or my group of friends here? I definitely don't fit in with my skin colour and english accent. I have a set up a little place here in Mombasa when I have all my stuff and get to take care of. Its my own little house. It is home in Mombasa.

Kelvin calls the village where his mom lives home even though he didn't grow up there or has never spent a huge amount of time there. In his culture, you have to at least build a house up there so you have a place to stay. But you build this house and maybe spend a few weeks a year up there. We never go to visit his mom just for a visit. We are going home and expected to help out just like it is our own home (that was a big cultural concept that I had to get used to).

I usually call Ilula my home in Kenya. I have been visiting since 2005 and the Rono's have become my Kenyan family. When I go up there, I am just like another one of their children. I am expected to clean, cook (ok not really but I should be doing it), and contribute to the household. When Angelina calls me, I answer, "Hi Mum" and then she asks me, "when are you coming home my daugher?" How did this amazing african woman become my mom and this tiny village in the middle of Kenya become my home?

But I grew up in Castlegar. That small town in the mountains of British Columbia largely shaped who I am today. It is where some of my closest friends and family is. It is where the majority of my things are. It is where my wonderful parents, brother, and dog is. But its not necessarily where my heart is. I don't plan to go back and stay there again for a long period of time.

I want to say the right spiritual thing and say that earth is not my home. Ultimately I am just passing through on my way to heaven. That is where my ultimate citizenship is. That is the truth.

But still there is that warm and wonderful feeling of home here on earth.

What about you? What makes home, home? Where do you feel most at home? Is it family, stuff, heart, where you grew up, or something else?