tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520188492111298191.post6565756994249658018..comments2023-08-10T09:55:28.557-04:00Comments on Out and About Africa: 'How To Write About Africa'Brandiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18187993135004187931noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520188492111298191.post-89755262035950304462008-03-24T14:31:00.000-04:002008-03-24T14:31:00.000-04:00I posted this very thing on my blog a little more ...I posted this very thing on my blog a little more than a year ago, I think. It really hit home.<BR/><BR/>I could spend years writing about what drives me to live in countries other than the one in which I was born and partially raised. Fascinating stuff...what makes up our identities, where we feel at "home", what makes us crave adventure...<BR/><BR/>On the topic of THE EXPAT, at least in the way this person is described in your citation, I think it is stereotypically very linked to the relocated foreigner who works in development work. There are many expats working in regular jobs like supermarket manager, import/export, tv producer, farmer, etc. who do not necessarily fall into these categories quite as neatly.<BR/><BR/>I think there is a big distinction between those who leave their home countries to "save" someone else (or someone else's country), and those who leave home for other reasons, be it a job, a desire for personal growth, a search for one's roots, to get married, etc.<BR/><BR/>I am an expat, and I certainly struggle to understand what brought me here and what "home" means to me at this point in my life. However, I can also say that I don't feel like I fit in with the rest of the typical expatriate community here. What are the differences, I ask myself...<BR/><BR/>- that I moved here without a guaranteed job?<BR/>- that I have been quite poor for most of my stay in Moz, literally using the last cents in my bank account to pay rent and buy bread?<BR/>- that I have long-term plans to live here, and am not on a 2-year contract?<BR/>- that I hang out with "normal" Mozambicans outside the development crowd?<BR/><BR/>I have no idea...lots of self-analysis still to be done. :)Ali Ambrosiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00521627345210424042noreply@blogger.com