action 1: homeground

assignment:

• explore how we can learn about each other’s home place / ground
• is home ground where you are in the moment?
• is home ground an ancestral location?
• what/where has meaning to you?
• what is part of your identity?
• how can you share the experience of your home ground in visceral, emotional, or sensory ways?

Let me make you breakfast tacos:

Though I am certain that I am exactly where I should be, I am very thankful to have my roots in Texas. That is where my entire family still lives, where I was born and raised.

I’ve built a home here in British Columbia over the last two years, and through that have led a life much different from that of my family in the South. I feel as though this is my home just as much as that is.

At the same time, I don’t believe that my living in Vancouver makes Vancouver my home ground. I feel as though it would be more appropriate to call the family I’ve found here to be home. British Columbia even could be my home ground, but not the city of Vancouver.

I make salsa, and eat salsa, often. It is cheap, it is salty and spicy, but it is also home. I was raised on Tex-Mex cuisine — on the border between Texas and Mexico — and I treasure that. I share it, if I can hold myself back from finishing the batch myself, and ideally I share it alongside breakfast tacos. My bread and butter. Making that dish for people is one of my most satisfying actions. It as though like I am exactly where I should be, feeding the people around me with the food that raised me. Now I’ve taught my second family here in Canada how to make this food with me, and it fills my heart and stomach with peace.

Reflections:

Sitting at my desk in my apartment in the South Granville neighborhood of Vancouver, I looked at my surroundings. I, like my desk, face a wall — so I glanced to my left and right trying to find inspiration for action 1. As I do not currently live where I was raised, I scanned for pieces of that place around me, and my eyes landed on my refrigerator to the left. The two years I’ve lived in British Columbia have come to define me in ways I never saw coming when I moved here for a six month breath of fresh air. I have worn a few hats in that time, that of a temporary visitor, now expat, student, and forever a cultural ambassador to my homeland. I have a partner of two years here (a coincidence that we met when I had just arrived), and we share a home, a puppy named Millie, a vehicle, and dreams for the future.

Even though I feel grounded by these pillars of my life, I cannot shake the feeling that my roots are shallow here. I have always been officially a “temporary” resident of Canada, and am currently residing here on my third short-term visa. This place has taught me that you can have more than one home ground, even though if my roots are undoubtedly deepest in Texas. If my life here were to crumble, that’s where I would go to regroup. That is why I chose to make salsa for Action 1, and to make a lot of it.

I do not have a southern accent. I did not grow up around horses. I have never voted Republican. I grew up in the city. I do not fit with many non-Americans consider to be the picture of a Texas-raised American, at least from my experiences outside the U.S.. I did have a large pickup truck as my first car when I turned 16. I technically own a gun (inherited, I’ve never even laid eyes on it). I grew up in the Baptist Church where I attended services twice a week for most of my upbringing, and was baptized at age 16. I grew up with many gender roles impressed on me, though I don’t hold it against my parents. They always have, and always will, love me and care for me unconditionally. I instead carry this awareness with me, so that I can unlearn them for future generations. I devotedly keep up with American news, though often I find it is easier to digest when I am hiding here, unaffected by much of it. I feel conflicted about that.

Something I think back to with only fond memories, are the times that our family gathered to eat together. This is not unique to us, I know. But it is a piece of my childhood and of Southern culture that will continue to age well. It will not be reframed with new perspectives on social norms or political correctness. It’s not perfect, but it’s as close as it gets. That is home for me, always will be.