The Office

It's well over 100 degrees and I'm pouring sweat in our tiny corner of the office off the kitchen. We have no air conditioning and there are eight of us elbowing one another for a piece of the faux-wood table. We share the office--a converted mansion overlooking the sea--with a Philadelphia-based NGO. We are here on their terms. There is often no phone service and the Internet is slow. Yet we are so grateful to have a place to congregate. The fellows work in different offices around the city. They come here to share ideas and gossip. But recently, while I was out of the country, our computers were stolen. Now there is less a reason to meet at this office, and it's quiet. And I find myself missing the mayhem of eight women crammed into a too small space.