Where I'm living

I live in a cute little hut beneath a mango tree in Kolda, Senegal. By day, the place is run by nuns who receive women with sick and malnourished children and try to get their kids to eat well again.

My hut has two twin beds, each equipped with a pillow, sheets and a mosquito net. I have electricity and running water. My floor is tiled. I have an fan, a desk, two chairs, a wardrobe, a bedside table, a lamp, curtains, a teaspoon, a saucer, a mug, a glass, a water heater, a bathroom with a toilet and a shower, and that's plenty! The high ceiling of my thatch roof keeps the place relatively cool.

After a month of eating everyday at African restaurants I finally decided to get my own gas stove, pots, pans and kitchen accessories and start cooking for myself. It hasn't been easy at all but at least, thank God, I haven't set my hut on fire or anything. Food or finding or making what I eat is probably one of my biggest challenges and I have never before appreciated fastfoods or microwaveable meals or my mom's or our helper's cooking as much as I do now.

Mornings on a school day, I wake up to the sound of chattering children waiting for their classes to start at the school just next door. Evenings, I get to enjoy the sounds of birds and lizards and the occassional thump of a mango dropping onto the thatch roof of my hut. On nights when I have no electricity, it's pitch black so I use my flashlight to guide me and I open my windows to let a little breeze in. Each time the wind blows, I feel a little bit more alert, mistaking it for the fan (and hence electricity) turning back on again.

I work for an American NGO doing microfinance. My office has air conditioning and internet. It's really not bad at all. It gets hot and it gets tough when electricity gets cut off sporadically but Kolda, and Senegal in general, still has that charm or allure. I know not many Filipinos get to experience the things I encounter here so it's something I'm grateful for and something I'd like to share.

Maybe you'll get a better idea of the country, the work, the life here, or how I am (I sometimes like to talk about myself). In doing this, I think I'd also like to share a little bit about the Philippines and Filipinos (pinoys and pinays) in general and what it's like being Filipino and being far away from home in a place that couldn't be more different!