Homeless or Homeful?

One of the most difficult questions is where do you live? Or most specifically where is your home address?

Just this last weekend, I have (finally!) moved into the house assigned to me by CDC where I will be living the duration of my time in Mozambique. It's very good to finally be in a place that I can make my own. More on my new house below, back to my different “homes.”

So where is my home now? Or really where are my homes?

If you'd ask me where I've been living more recently, I'd answer that in my first 8 months in Mozambique, I have spent 3 months in 3 different hotels in Maputo and the remaining 5 months subletting a room in an apartment in the center of Maputo.

If you ask me where I'm from, or where my home in the States is, I'd say that my home base in the States continues to be my parents' place (thanks mom and dad) though I know they are happy to see all their garage space open up as I finally move some of my stuff out, some to Mozambique, others to more permanent storage.

If you ask the question from a legal or tax perspective, I'd answer Nevada. Since the length of my time overseas meant that I was no longer a State resident of California, I needed to find/declare a state tax home now that I am directly working for the US Government. So my official state tax home is in Baker Nevada (no state income taxes in Nevada) in care of some old Peace Corps friends.

And to complicate the question yet further, I have also been fortunate enough recently to take advantage of low interest rates and the plunge in the California housing market, and so have just closed on the purchase of my first house, a cute small 2 bed-room house in Rancho Santa Margarita, minutes away from my sister Julie's house. (My parents and sister and fabulous real estate agent, my “village”, deserve lots of credit deserve tremendous thanks for helping me to pull this off from a distant, from the initial screening of houses, the enormous volume of paperwork of offers, counter offers, and closing, the housing inspection, and preparation of the house to rent out.

Homeless or homefull? Yes to both. It's been a bit unsettling to have been “on the road” for the past 10 months since I left Malawi but am grateful for all the many places I can now call home.

P.S. On my new home: the wait for my new home in Maputo appears to have paid off, I'm just moving into a lovely house, just north of Maputo. The US Ggovernment typically finds houses that would be suitable for families, so in my case, I have a much bigger house than I “need” (3 BR, 4.5 bath, an office, lovely living space, a nice garden and even a pool.) I'm still waiting on the crate of my life belongings which will has been in Malawi the last 10 months but will hopefully be making its journey to its new home soon. Lots of work here still to make this “mine” (gardening, painting, etc) and hopefully can then further “fill” the house with guests and visitors to truly make it my home.