Motherland Before I start telling you about myself, I want to describe what sort of place I was born into. It'll help you understand. In the middle of the North Atlantic there is a cluster of 18 little islands. The population of this true microcosm has never exceeded 50 000. During the summer months, the sun never sets. The pavement is hot under the children's bare feet, the breeze is cool and everything smells fresh and joyful. Then everything is covered by a thick blanket of mist when autumn comes around. You can hardly see anything in that fog. Little pearls of moisture cling to every remaining blade of grass. I say remaining because most of our grass is put in sheds as hay. It serves as food for our sheep during the cold, stormy winter months. Last year, we had the strongest hurricane since 1989. Unfortunately, I slept through most of it. As opposed to summer winter rarely sees the sun, and when it does shine it's but a bleak spot, low on the horizon. But I digress! I was born in spring. One would find it hard to believe when sat in a shaking, dark house, but the sun does rise again. The fields turn green and become dotted with lambs, the sky turns blue, and the clouds on it slowly dissolve into nothing, preparing for another cloudless summer sky. It's a beautiful place. The mountains and valleys are like a cradle, the eternally fresh air makes you feel alive. But there are two sides to every coin. The politicians are a mob of rotten criminals and they're the only criminals we have here, so nothing ever happens and it makes this country a bore. Suddenly the mountains seem like the impenetrable walls of a prison. There are no jobs for the likes of me, a student graduating college in two months. There is no work for someone with the education I want. And if I don't come home to work, I'll be in serious debt. No one wanted this change in the system, but this change was declared last week and will be in effect later this year. And we're supposed to be a democratic country - hah! Most men are chauvinists and those who aren't, are closet chauvinists. Not the best place for a young girl to be. It's pretty, yes, and I'm sure I'll visit in the future, but I have no desire to live here. Maybe I will when things have been sorted out. It is a rather beautiful place after all.