Belonging

Abstract

No, she is not my mom, not my aunt, we are not family. Yes, we do look alike, we do live in the same neighborhood, we smell the same coffee beans each morning, and we share the same zip code. The only difference between us is I do have an actual address here, she does not. Yes, she must have lived here much longer than me, she has a history in this town, a lot of the people would recognize her smiling spirit right away, yet she only occupies a corner in a street near a coffee shop most of the year. Everyone knows that space is hers, except the legal papers. Where are you from? The question may seem so simple, but regardless of how many times I am asked the answer has never been so easy for me each time I am asked, and I am asked very often. Belonging, identity, countries, tribes, bloodlines and borders are things that confuse me a lot, and for that I decided to do my thesis about them, trying to find an answer to a simple question, in a very complicated universe. I chose to study these matters through a transitional program, in a transforming neighborhood and for users who are in their most confused age; an international 6 boarding school in Dupont circle.