Doesn’t matter where I am. I am always asked the question “where are you from?” Since in my case the answer is a long and complicated story, I try to come up with a quick and simple answer. So far I haven’t found the right answer to satisfy people. Here is a poem I wrote on the subject.

Where Are You From?

Last time I went to Mexico
I told everyone I was from China
Silence followed
Startled looks and raised eyebrows
A few opened mouths
Made my hilarity, their conundrum

In Spain People are bolder
They dared question me
When I said I was from India
I got asked
“But how come your name is Elen
and not Indira?”
“Oh! I don’t know”
I rolled my eyes from side to side
“I never thought about it
It is a good question though
Please go ask my parents”

No matter where I go
I never say I am from Zimbabwe or Tanzania
A broader case of probability
Would ruin my mojo

But sometimes, I like to push the boundaries right to the edge
Just to experiment with how much I can get
Without sustaining an injury

When I lived in Jerusalem
I told,on occassion, I was from Nazareth
Which is only an hour and a half drive to the north
In Nazareth I said I was from Jerusalem
And in both places people would Aaaaah!
“Aaaaah!” they would say:
“I knew you were not a local
I saw it from afar
This now makes perfect sense”

I do enjoy playing these pranks
They are terribly fun
But what I secretly long for
Is to one day arrive in place where
Nobody asks me:
“Hey! You! Where are you from?”
Not even once

Life can be complicated for people who have multiple nationalities. You speak several languages. You can see things from multiple perspectives. As a result, you are not sure where you belong. Constantly longing to belong to one place or another. Constantly failing.

Turned “Where Are You From?” poem to a video