What LAND are we in now?

This is the way our kids see it. We’ve lived and traveled to so many different “Lands” that they aren’t exactly sure WHERE we are and what language is to be spoken. America being referred to as “English land”. We’re a mixture, this Felgenhauer Familie. My husband and first born daughter were born in Deutschland, our two younger kids born in Blantyre, Malawi and myself the only one who can truly rock out to “Born in the USA” ! The kids have been away from the only home they knew in Malawi for just a year now. Calling Malawi their home is starting to fade……..sigh. That was a remarkable life for them to be born into. Elias, our faithful gardener whom they learned Chichewa words from and climbed on his back while he weeded the flower beds. He taught them how to know when the rains are coming by the activity of the birds in the air…. We miss him dearly.
Stefan left his homeland 7 years ago and grew to love all that is Africa deeply. If he can’t live in Africa he’d like to try out North America however we find ourselves back in Deutschland for the time being and Stefan is also experiencing the feeling of being a stranger in your own land. As for myself – I think I’ve simply grown to love the adventure of living overseas. Having not yet resided in my own homeland for 12 years I find it difficult to know where I feel at home except to make a HOME wherever we might be. America is nostalgic for me. When there I like to steal the occasional moment to ride down a country highway with the windows down and a country music station blaring……….remembering that once upon a time this was the only life I knew. There I know I can be ME …. no language barrier or culture faux pax. This is a comfort to me. My family is there and they are just like me. But …….if you leave you simply can’t come back the same girl who left all those years ago.