Away from Home: Mirror...Mirror On the Wall

                  Two-storey house, two living rooms, four bedrooms, three bathrooms—this is the kind of place I live in, everyday of my life. I have my own room, air-conditioned, with double-sized bed, study table, laptop and an ipad, comfortable enough that I could just stay here all day long if I wanted to. It may sound like a rich kid but I am not, fyi. I do not have an iphone nor a macbook instead, I am using my six year old laptop at this very moment which has been teaching me the virtue of patience(if you know what I mean). LOL. I do not use a G-tech or a Parker. They’re just too expensive for a pen.  Many times in my life, I wish I had more. Until one day.

                  I woke up. It was cold but there was no air conditioner. I felt my back aching. I realized I was sleeping on a thin foam which separates me from the hard and cold floor. I looked around. I saw two, three, four, five, six, seven familiar people, sleeping too on the floor and chairs. It was then I realized I was with different people, that was not our house and I am away from home.

                  It was a small house, compared to ours. The bathroom is outside. Water is limited. Food is limited. No television. No air conditioner. No wifi. The first few days were quite exciting. The idea of being away in a civilization, away from strict parents plus the being-independent-thing made it more fun and at the same time challenging. Everyone was on their best side, I bet. We had no problems from household chores to academics tasks, initially. But as the days gone by, we got exhausted. The tasks seemed more difficult to accomplish than they used to be. We started to look for the comforts of our homes where everything seems to be easy.  It was different here.  We had to cook. We had to go to market which is kilometers away from us. We had to wash our clothes. We had to clean the house. We had to budget our money.  We had to deal with eight different people, various personalities, whom we have only known for less than a year. We had to serve the people without expecting in return. We had to do these ourselves, without our parents, without our family who used to be there for us and do those for us, for our convenience. It was difficult, here.  If only I could fast track the days, I could have done that.   

                  But it was in this place too, that I found myself changing, gradually. The virtue of patience was put to test. It was not easy live 24/7 with people of different personalities. I had to adjust not just once but many times. I had to appreciate the things that we only have and look not for otherwise. After the experience of being away from home for thirty long days, I can say that it made me a better person. It made me appreciate and value more the life I have. The experience served like a mirror to me, when I looked at it and wished I had more, it showed me how much I already have. 

Written by:

Era Mae M. Ramirez

Medicus Enim Dei

Visit her page: https://www.facebook.com/eramaeramirez025