Identification.

In honour of Canada day, I thought it was appropriate to post our latest blog assignment given to us by our internship program at York University which was to discuss our experiences when asked the question "where are you from" in the country each of us is visiting.


In Costa Rica there have been a few cases that I can think of when I've been asked that question, and I think my response almost always causes confusion - possibly more so for me rather than the person asking. 


The first instance that made me chuckle was when we had a group visiting the station from the U.S. When they arrived I was asked the question by one of the professors, "where are you originally from?". This one really threw me for a loop. "From Canada", I replied, a confused look still on my face. As I tried to look for any sort of comprehension of what I said, I realized he didn't mean to ask where I'm from, he meant where did you get the colour of your skin. It was then that I had to explain my story - the one I try to avoid because it sometimes seems unnecessary. My parents are from Jamaica and Trinidad. I spent some time in both countries as a child. I was born in Canada and have lived there for the past 14 years. As much as I identify with the Jamaican and Trinidadian populations, I definitely consider myself Canadian - especially with how diverse the Canadian population is. This is amplified even more being here with Shenique who is an international student from Jamaica. With her here I thought the distinction of where I was saying I was from should have been more clear - I guess not.


The next time my story had to be explained was visiting the village of San Francisco for the first time. As we passed through the small town our boss introduced us to many of the people in the community. Each time as she said I was from Canada, she gave the extra explanation of where my parents were from. As soon as that happened each person seemed have the "ah haaaa" or "okay I get it now" look on their faces. I have also found out that one of the ladies in town now refers to me as the "morena" one - which means the tanned one, I think. 


Either way, in my case, I think people have just been more curious about my skin colour rather than where I'm from. It has really made me think about what I identify myself as. Its especially difficult since both of my parents are mixed, and two of my grandparents are also mixed. With nine or more countries floating around in my recent background I usually have a hard time explaining to people "where I'm from". However, what I find cool about all of this is that regardless of the colour of my skin, explaining that I am from Canada really shows those I've met while travelling how diverse Canadians can be.