Visitors the rain brings

It rained really hard the last four days so there was no way to leave the house for anything. Roads where flooded to the max and the whole environment was simply on big lake!
Still, times were good. I kept myself busy with some really nice things. It also helps that in this place you will always find company. Whether it´s my family next door or it´s visitors. One of those visitors was Elmo´s brother. The two of them had fun playing and I was really glad to see elmo being active in between the long times of rest the rain gave him.

Another visitor was my three year-old friend Be from the neighbourhood. We decided that we wanna do some painting to be productive. With music and some snacks we created beautiful things.

 Be´s picture shows a "Carabao" which is the local word for waterbuffalo. She also put her family in the picture, Elmo and me!

Rain rules

It is now rain season in our part of the Philippines. Especially January has been full of rainy days. The roof of my little ouse had several holes so the rain could always make a way inside. At times that didn´t feel comfortable. It caused me a lot of cleaning and restricted the area of my house that I could use to hang out. I missed sitting outside on my balcony. A few days ago my roof had been fixed by the parents of my filippino family. Roofs are made out of leaves being tied together like the pictures show.


After some years the compartments of the roof need to be replaced cause they get eaten by worms and weather. The material for the roof is called "Nipa". Many layers are nailed to the wood of the roof-construction and will form a good protection from wind and rain.
Now that my roof is fixed I feel all cosy again inside my house on a rainy day like today. I am happy to have bought some snacks, hot drinks and a stock of food yesterday so I can just stay here, read a book, spend time with people and relax during listening to the sound of rain around me...
I like the rainy days cause they give me time to do stuff that is more quiet. When the sun is out I´m always outside and I like to be very active. Then I find it hard so stay inside the house and rest.



Elmo was really happy when the "Nipa" was replaced because the rubbish formed a huge playground for him. He loves exploring materials and chewing and biting on things. It made me laugh to watch him going crazy that morning :)

When it rains, our surroundings are flooded in no time cause the ground is already completely soaked with water. This time the environment is muddy, wet and sometimes really uncomfortable. Roads are flooded and in really bad conditions cause the rain washes the sand out and leaves the sharp rocks. Most of the time the bicycle that I have needs to stay at home now. Going around on the motorbike is also not very nice anymore.
Still, I like the rain! I know it is needed to flood the rice fields of the many farmers in this place and it also waters the plants that I have been planting in the garden of my friends´new place. It is also fun to go out in the rain and just play with the mud on your feet. Absolutely amazing is to swim in the ocean while it rains. It is just gorgeous to see the raindrops touching the surface of the sea. Sometimes there is lightning on the horizon in the distance.

Elmo, my dog and most of all, my new friend!

beauty all around

setting forth

I moved to beautiful Siargao Island last September. I got there for the first time in 2008 with a friend of mine who invited me to get to know a really friendly family from here which is now also her family cause she is married to one of them. During my visit I fell in love with the people and the place. That love increased with each of the three visits I made during the last two years. Siargao Island is special. Life is simple and still close to nature which is why I love it! I like the climate and the spirit that this place has. Life is is not as fast as it used to be in Germany.

The filippino community is very focused on relationships. Families and friends spend a lot of time being with one another and sharing lives including everything they have from time to material things and finances. To me it is very precious to be part of that community now.

Since I´ve always loved travelling and living abroad it was my desire to live somewhere else than Germany. After spending a year in Australia where my life changed completely because I became a close friend of God I also know that I have the call to make a difference in this world by sharing his life and love with others. My next trip after that was to Panama and Ecuador. I experienced the struggle of people when it comes to very basic needs like food, education, medical help and care for people in society who need it, for example handicapped people. It was when I saw those things that I felt in my heart I want to share my life with people who don´t have all the advantages and the comfort of our western world. I realized how priviliged I am with my upbringing, my financial support, my education and all the possibilities I have to travel and to go around freely! I now want to share all the blessings that come from the background I have. Back home I finished my studies in teaching languages, a little bit of mathematics and a degree for teaching handicapped people. Right now I don´t know how I will use those skills here in the Philippines cause I only just started my journey out here. But I know that if I keep following Jesus and the words he is speaking into my heart, he will use me. And I live with people who also offer their lives to God to serve in that place where he put us.

I missed starting this blog earlier to start telling all about the beginning of my life here. Right now I can say I´ve settled in my little place and the family and also the bigger community arond me. I´m renting in a small house next to the family I first got to know. I made the house my own by putting new paint, decorating it with flowers and a collection of things from nature and I feel very much at home now!

My daily life is attached to the family cause we live very close. Even though I have my own place, I would say we still have shared houses cause we always walk into each others places and share all that is in there. Because of the way our houses are being built we always hear each other. Each house is very close to the other one and it´s as if we he have a camp or something related to that! From the moment I step out of my bed and go downstairs to enter my kitchen I can already expect to meet somebody or at least to be called for breakfast. I share meals with the family most of the time and I take part in their activities and everyday lives. I am happy to be able to get to know people closer now than on my three visits. I really have the time to find out about all the cultural differences and the treasures and the surprises this place has.

Apart from spending time with others I also have a lot of time for living creativity. I love takinng my camera and explore the environment and its´beauty for some good shots that I am using to produce postcards at the moment with hopefully more things to come in the future :)

I created myself a job as a photographer by offering a photography service called "buka mata" which means "open eyes". My first customer is the local "driftwood surfshop". I brought one of my friends to the first shooting we had. The result is that they liked him so much that he is being sponsored by them now.

From now on I will keep everyone who is interested in my life posted on this blog. I am excited to find out how the journey will go on !