My name Afnan Farooqui means flowering branches. I am a Philippine girl and have been in Bermuda for 10 years. For me being a Philippine girl living in Bermuda is very normal in some ways, and in other ways difficult.

The challenges I face are some people teasing me about my beautiful name and staring at my golden skin and long dark hair as if I don't belong here in Bermuda. There is certainly nothing wrong about being a Philippine girl to me. I think all Philippine girls and boys should be proud of our heritage because it is important!

Don't get me wrong, I do love Bermuda – for its beauty and charm and the people who always smile. It makes me want to smile too. There's always sunshine in Bermuda that makes me have a content, happy, and positive look towards my days here on the island. To put it simply, home is where the heart is, and Bermuda is my home.

I do miss the Philippines sometimes for its lively streets filled with natives selling products, and its gorgeous cities and huge malls. You can never predict what will happen each day in the Philippines. Each day in the Philippines is a delicately wrapped gift, and if you shake it too hard, your surprise might be ruined.

In December 2009, I went back to visit the Philippines and I was so excited, I couldn't sleep the night before. To travel back it took about a day and a half to get there. My family and I caught three planes, from Bermuda to New York, then from New York to Hong Kong, then Hong Kong to the Philippines. All of that flying made me exhausted. The special documents I needed to travel were a residency permit and my passport.

When we arrived the first thing I ate was a delicious Philippine dish called 'ampalaya' (bitter gourd). It's simply ground beef with a vegetable called bitter melon with a side of steamed rice. They say that if you cook it well and if it's delicious, then you have a good heart. But if it's not, that you have a bad heart. The people I saw were school children going in and out of school, men selling ice cream, popsicles and food on a bike or truck, people shopping in a mall, small children playing in a empty neighborhood. The smell in the Philippines is no different than Bermuda's smell – fresh and cool – and I love it!

I love Bermuda and the Philippines. It's really difficult to pick which one is better! But I can tell you one thing: Bermuda and the Philippines, both are my home and I would have it no other way.